Chapter 370: Even More Covert and Vicious

Zhao Nuanyang knew his sisters very well. At lunch, he had noticed something was off about Nuanyue and the Little Red Carp, but he hadn’t asked since an outsider, Wang Yuan, was present.

Now that Wang Yuan was gone, he could finally ask openly. "Sis, what on earth is going on? I noticed you and the Little Red Carp were acting really strange today!"

Zhao Nuanyue thought for a moment. Not wanting to lie to her brother, she sighed and said, "That Wang Yuan tried to drug me. The Little Red Carp found out and swapped my rice and plum tea with hers."

"What?" Zhao Nuanyang was dumbfounded. "Wang Yuan... why would she poison you, Sis?"

"To do someone’s dirty work in exchange for benefits, of course," Zhao Nuanyue replied. "But forget it. I’ve already given her a taste of her own medicine, so she can suffer the consequences. Let’s not dwell on it."

"But I still think you let her off too easy," Zhao Nuanyang said bitterly. "I always thought Wang Yuan was a decent person. I can’t believe she’s actually this horrible."

"I know. To think she’d turn on a friend—and with poison, no less—all for her own gain or to curry favor with someone," Zhao Nuanyue said coldly. She didn’t tell her brother about the time Wang Yuan had poisoned Gu Qingyu.

Zhao Nuanyue guessed the drug was probably the same one used on Gu Qingyu—colorless, odorless, but capable of making someone grow weaker and weaker until they died.

"She brought this on herself. She won’t come to a good end," Zhao Nuanyang said. Seeing the dejected look on his sister’s face, he didn’t want her to carry too much of a psychological burden.

"You’re right. I’ve already come to terms with it. I won’t let myself get upset over someone like her," Zhao Nuanyue replied, trying to convince herself as much as she was convincing him.

"So what kind of poison was it?" Zhao Nuanyang was curious. In his mind, poison was something like arsenic or fast-acting toxins that killed instantly. But today, he hadn’t seen anything unusual about Wang Yuan; she seemed perfectly normal.

"I’m not sure either. Let’s ask the Little Red Carp when she wakes up," Zhao Nuanyue said, shaking her head. ’At least it’s finally over,’ she thought. ’I don’t have to live in fear anymore.’

When the Little Red Carp woke up from her afternoon nap, she happened to overhear the siblings’ conversation.

"It wasn’t a poison that makes you weak. It was a slow-acting poison that makes women infertile, so they can never become mothers," the Little Red Carp said with disgust. She adored children, so she was furious that Wang Yuan would resort to such a method against Nuanyue.

If she hadn’t listened to her sister’s warning about not misusing her Mana, the Little Red Carp wouldn’t have just made Wang Yuan eat the poison; she would have added a little something extra.

Hearing the Little Red Carp’s words, Zhao Nuanyue was utterly stunned.

She had initially guessed that Wang Yuan might have used the same poison as the one given to Gu Qingyu—something that would make a person slowly weaken and then die from physical decline after a year or so.

Zhao Nuanyue had thought that kind of poison was already insidious and vicious enough. But she never imagined the drug Wang Yuan used this time was even more subtle. It didn’t cause weakness; its victim would seem completely normal. If she and the Little Red Carp hadn’t found out beforehand, and she’d unknowingly eaten the drugged rice and tea, she could have spent her whole life unable to have children and never once suspected Wang Yuan’s vile plot.

"My God, how did Wang Yuan get her hands on such a vicious and sinister poison!" Zhao Nuanyang exclaimed, dumbfounded and clicking his tongue. "A woman that wicked... we have to stay far away from her from now on. We can’t associate with someone like that!"

"As far as Wang Yuan is concerned, she already poisoned me. She’s achieved her goal. I doubt she’ll be as attentive as she was before, even if she does visit," Zhao Nuanyue said with contempt. Her understanding of Wang Yuan now far surpassed anyone else’s.

"That’s true. And it’s for the best. At least we won’t have to look at her phony face anymore!" Zhao Nuanyang was deeply disappointed. All of Wang Yuan’s seemingly enthusiastic gestures weren’t because she wanted to get along with them, much less be their friend; she was just looking for an opportunity to use them for her own gain.

Seeing that the siblings were relieved and had calmed down, the Little Red Carp added a reminder, "Sis, the aftereffects of this drug include catching a cold a few times in a row. After that, there won’t be any other strange symptoms."

"Huh?" Zhao Nuanyue paused. "If Wang Yuan gets sick with a cold after taking it, won’t she get suspicious?"

"Haha, of course not! I already changed the poison’s effects. She won’t catch a cold, so she won’t find out. You, on the other hand, Sis, will have to pretend to be sick to fool her and make her certain that you were poisoned," the Little Red Carp replied. Now that she said it out loud, the idea sounded rather fun.

"Alright then. I’ll pretend to be sick the next time Wang Yuan comes to our house," Zhao Nuanyue said with a smile. Having relaxed, the gloom Wang Yuan had brought upon her vanished, and her mood brightened.

Zhao Nuanyang, listening from the side, asked doubtfully, "But Sis, you’re getting married soon. Maybe next year we’ll have a little nephew or niece. Wouldn’t Wang Yuan get suspicious then that you weren’t poisoned? And when she’s the one who can’t have children, she’ll know for sure that we got our revenge."

Hearing Zhao Nuanyang’s words, both the Little Red Carp and Zhao Nuanyue froze. He had a point.

"It doesn’t matter. Wang Yuan poisoned Grandpa Gu before. He’s not going to forgive her for that. She’s destined to have a short life, so we don’t have to worry about her getting revenge," the Little Red Carp said nonchalantly.

"What?" Zhao Nuanyang froze again, then immediately recalled how Gu Qingyu had almost died from an illness back in Nianqiao Village. "That... that was also because Wang Yuan poisoned him?"

"Yes." Since the Little Red Carp had already blurted it out, Zhao Nuanyue saw no reason to hide it anymore. "But you have to keep it a secret. Just be aware of it."

Zhao Nuanyang nodded. "Okay, I will. I’ll be even more careful around Wang Yuan from now on."

「Meanwhile, Wang Yuan was in high spirits after leaving Zhao Nuanyue’s house.」 She didn’t go home. Instead, she found a beautiful park and sat down on a bench.

One moment she was laughing, the next she was crying. Then she was angry, then conflicted.

Her inner turmoil shifted with every change in her expression.

When Wang Yuan smiled, a voice inside her chuckled. ’Oh, Zhao Nuanyue, Zhao Nuanyue, I never actually wanted to poison you. But of all the people to cross, you just had to cross Guo Dongmei. She has something on me from the past, so I have to do what she says. Besides, by doing this, I can also get benefits from Guo Dongmei and Guo Donghai. So, I’m sorry, but this is how it has to be.’

When she cried, another voice spoke. ’I’m so sorry, Nuanyue. I’m so, so sorry. You helped me so much back in Nianqiao Village, and I actually poisoned you. I’m worse than an animal... a heartless, cruel, ungrateful monster...’