Poison Genius Consort

in dim shadows.

“Director Xi, go on,” Qinwang Rong urged in a low voice.
He could tell that Xi Yubo was restless.
Last night, he’d gone with him to see Long Tianmo’s stomach and asked about the crown prince’s condition.
Had he recovered, or had the nature of the illness changed? Xi Yubo hadn’t given him a straight answer.

Xi Yubo darted a glance at Qinwang Rong.
He seemed to want to say something, but held back when he saw that Qinwang Rong had no complaints.
The three elders and Qinwang Rong remained standing while everyone else was still sitting.
Silence pervaded the room as the atmosphere suddenly turned odd.

“What, do the two directors have other matters?” Lady Lianxin asked with creased eyebrows.

Luo Zuishan was about to speak when Xi Yubo opened his mouth at the same time.
“Fifth Elder…”

When they heard each other’s voices, both of them fell silent.

“Just what is going on?” Lady Lianxin was an impatient type, but the other two elders had sat back down.
Xi Yubo looked at Luo Zuishan, who looked back at him.
Both of them harbored sinister intentions but refused to speak.

“Director Luo, you were the one who brought up this consultation.
If there’s anything to say, you say it first,” Lady Lianxin commanded.

Luo Zuishan’s heart was filled with grievances. It wasn’t him who asked for this, all right? He was forced! Gu Qishao said that this Long Tianmo was a fake, so he had to be fake.
Using a false Long Tianmo to do a public consultation would lead to a big mess, Heaven knows how big! Leaving aside the ramifications and the fact that Gu was involved, a public consultation like this could damage the medical academy’s good name.
As the person who brought up the idea, he wouldn’t escape responsibility, either.

Han Yunxi was already astonished to see Luo Zuishan’s hesitation.
It looked like Long Tianmo’s illness had exceeded Luo Zuishan’s control and that Xi Yubo was about to win.

“Luo Zuishan!” Lady Lianxin said crossly.
Though she was 30 years younger and less medically skilled than the man, her status was still there.
Her anger still gave Luo Zuishan a fright.

“These three elders, let’s delay the consultation.
I suspect that the Tianning crown prince is a fake,” Luo Zuishan finally spoke up.

Everyone was startled by his words, Qinwang Rong the most of all.
He grew anxious.
“How could this be? Why do you say so?”

Han Yunxi looked at Gu Beiyue in disbelief.
He was looking back as well, and the two of them grew even more confused.

“Luo Zuishan, what do you mean by your words?” the ever silent Third Elder finally spoke up.

“The stomach…just, just judging by the Tianning crown prince’s illness, it’s impossible for his stomach to recede within these few days,” Luo Zuishan explained hesitantly.
As long as he exposed the matter of using Gu, the three elder would definitely believe him, but he couldn’t do such a thing.

First off, the real Long Tianmo wasn’t present, so he had no evidence.
Secondly, he didn’t dare say it in public.
Although his explanation lacked confidence, it was still reasonable under the circumstances.

“A fake?” Han Yunxi began to think it over carefully.
Long Feiye had reminded her that Jun Yixie would interfere.
Perhaps Jun Yixie had switched the real Long Tianmo for a replacement instead of doing something to him personally.

“As this old man sees it, whether or not the Tianning crown prince’s stomach could recede so quickly should be a question left for discussion at the consultation,” Third Elder said as he glanced at Xi Yubo.

Logically speaking, Xi Yubo should step forward and rebut Luo Zuishan’s claims.
When it came to Long Tianmo’s stomach, he had more right to speak.
But right now, Xi Yubo was extremely quiet.
It was a silence that stretched beyond the surface to turn him restless in the very depths of his heart.
Why was Luo Zuishan so certain that this Long Tianmo was a fake? Did Luo Zuishan know he had used Gu?

Impossible, Luo Zuishan knew of the Gu arts, but definitely not how to use them.
Nor could he tell just by looking.
He had learned his own Gu arts through a lucky chance, and only a bit from secret studies.

The three elders finally lost their patience when they saw Xi Yubo refuse to answer.
“Someone come, arrange for the consultation immediately.”

At these words, Xi Yubo finally sprang up from his seat.
“Not so fast! I suspect that this Tianning crown prince is a fake replacement as well.
Director Luo’s words are reasonable.
There’s no way that the Tianning crown prince’s stomach could recede in such a short time.”

Aside from a high level Gu master, no one else could remove Gu planted in a person.
His own Gu was nearly impossible to remove by anyone other than himself.
Rather than believe there were still expert Gu masters in this world, he’d rather believe that the Long Tianmo in the consultation hall right now was a sham.

How could he formulate a successful strategy for the consultation of a fake crown prince? Heavens knows if Han Yunxi and the rest had acted out a play to get this fake for the consultation?

Xi Yubo’s words surprised everyone present. Could it be that this Long Tianmo really was a fake?

“How could he be a fake? That’s clearly Mo’er!” Qinwang Rong didn’t believe it.

“Prudence first.
Why don’t we delay the consultation until later?” Xi Yubo suggested.
It was rare for him to stand on the same side as Luo Zuishan.

“How do we tell if he’s real or a fake?” Han Yunxi asked quietly.

Gu Beiyue could only shake his head.
Real or fake, these matters had completely gone out of control. Should they delay the consultation? Was this the truth, or a sham?

As everyone stared at each other in silence, a young medical assistant ran over to report, “Three elders, the Tianning crown prince has woken up!”

After a prolonged coma, Long Tianmo was finally awake…

Shen Jueming (沈决明) – Shen is a surname that can also be read as Chen, which means “deep, profound, heavy, to sink.” Jueming means “cassia” in botany; the words themselves means “to determine” and “bright, brilliance, clear,” respectively.  Li Tianci (李天赐) – Li is a surname that also means “plum.” Tianci means “be bestowed by Heaven.”  Lady Lianxin (怜心夫人) – Lian means “sympathize with, pity, love,” and Xin means “heart.”