Chapter 64: Xie Yuan's True Face

Having lived a life of ease and luxury all these years, Lady Xie was no match for Xie Yuan’s raw strength. She was yanked forward, staggering, while the attendants who usually cared for her dared not step forward to stop his rough treatment.

Helpless, Lady Xie could only care for her throbbing, painful scalp, hurriedly reaching up to press against it as she stumbled along behind him.

All the way, she tried repeatedly to offer an explanation, but Xie Yuan refused to give her even a single opportunity.

Looking at his twisted face, the wave of revulsion she felt toward him surged straight to her head.

All these years, she had done her utmost to play the role of a virtuous and supportive wife, yet he was unwilling to grant her even the smallest shred of decency.

With a creak, the main gates swung open to reveal a sea of dense, dark heads, every face stamped with the eager anticipation of a grand spectacle.

Lady Xie’s pupils contracted sharply when she caught sight of Xie Miaoxuan amidst the crowd.

"It’s you."

Standing beside Xie Miaoxuan was Xie Yuanju, his saber at his waist, while Daoist Priest Qiongshan, who usually possessed the ethereal air of an immortal, collapsed in a disheveled heap right at her feet.

Seeing the Xie family gates open, Xie Yuanju hauled the man up from the ground.

Qiongshan’s face was as pale as paper, his lips a bruised blue, and his legs as limp as noodles, unable to support his weight. He relied entirely on Xie Yuanju gripping his arm to keep from falling.

Xie Miaoxuan stepped leisurely up the stone steps. "The ten-day deadline has arrived, and I have come early. I wonder if the Clan Head and his wife are pleased?"

Without waiting for either of them to answer, she turned and cupped her hands toward the onlookers.

"Kind elders and fellow villagers, I am Xie Miaoxuan, daughter of Xie Qi of the Xie clan. Having recently arrived in the Capital, I heard that Daoist Priest Qiongshan of Xuandu Palace is revered by all under heaven and possesses supreme spiritual arts, so I eagerly went to visit him with my husband. Can you guess what I encountered?"

"I actually stumbled upon a horrifying murder case!"

A stir rippled through the crowd. The gathered onlookers grew curious. Weren't they told that the senior madam of the Xie family was having an illicit affair? How did it suddenly turn into murder?

Yet gossip is human nature, and they quickly urged her to tell them about the murder first and foremost.

A few clever individuals put two and two together: could it be that Lady Xie’s affair with Daoist Priest Qiongshan was actually a crime of passion?

As Xie Miaoxuan moved about, she drew everyone's gaze toward her. "Here is how it happened: because I have loved the beauty of flowers and nature since childhood, after paying my respects to the Three Pure Ones, I walked along until I reached a rarely trodden precipice, where I discovered Daoist Priest Qiongshan at death's door. At that time, he had already stopped breathing. Only after I managed with great difficulty to bring him back to life and understand the full story did I find it utterly terrifying."

She let out a helpless sigh.

"Yet once I knew the truth, I suffered through endless inner turmoil, agonizing over whether or not I should help him seek justice. Because this involved members of my own Xie clan, my conscience finally triumphed over selfish hesitation. Furthermore, because the Daoist priest feared that questioning them privately might lead to another assassination attempt, I had no choice but to accede to his request: to ask you, our elders and fellow villagers, to bear witness and confront the one who tried to murder him face-to-face."

She recounted the origins of the matter in detail, her voice clear and cool like a gentle breeze brushing across the hearts of those present.

"Daoist Priest Qiongshan is a person revered even by the reigning Emperor. Who on earth could possibly dare to lay a hand on him?"

Some sharp-witted observers noticed the unsightly, panicked expressions on Xie Yuanju and Lady Xie's faces and seemed to guess something.

"Could the murderer be the Xie clan head? He discovered his wife's illicit affair and, in a fit of rage and fury, committed murder to silence the witness."

"If you ask me, no, I think it’s Lady Xie. Look at her face—it clearly shows a guilty conscience and terror."

"Stop guessing wildly, everyone. The parties involved are right here; just wait and see."

"The young lady is righteous and benevolent. Since this involves members of your own clan, we all deeply admire your willingness to uphold justice even over your own family. Who on earth is this heinous culprit?"

Xie Miaoxuan smiled at the person who had asked and turned to Daoist Priest Qiongshan.

"Why doesn't the Daoist priest point out in person just who it was that tried to murder you in such a vicious manner?"

From the moment Lady Xie appeared, True Person Qiongshan’s eyes had never left her.

Yesterday, Lady Xie had come to find him in Xuandu Palace. Just as he always did, he had dismissed the attending young Daoist acolytes. After the two of them shared an intimate moment, she said she had specially brought him homemade sweet pastries, serving him tenderly and thoughtfully. Suspecting nothing, he ate them all.

Yet shortly after he finished eating, a searing pain tore through his abdomen, followed by a violent surge of medicinal potency. That familiar sensation made him instantly realize what he had ingested.

It was the golden elixir he refined day after day.

The golden elixirs he concocted were of two kinds: one enhanced vigor and vitality, which he used to present to nobles—the majority of which ended up down the throat of the reigning Emperor.

The other kind was highly toxic, spiked with a rare medicinal herb. In small doses, it induced hallucinations; if consumed in a large dose all at once, it would cause death by poisoning.

And this familiar sensation was unmistakably the highly toxic variety of the golden elixir.

As if adding a massive dose of toxic golden elixir to the entire plate of pastries wasn't enough, Lady Xie, fearing he might survive, had actually dragged him to the cliff and pushed him over.

Having tested medicines for years, his body had already built up a certain immunity. He had managed to hang on by a single breath, clawing at a protruding rock face on the cliff, and was found by Xie Miaoxuan while still clinging to that last shred of life.

Yet even so, he was utterly ruined now!

Not to mention losing his martial arts entirely, even his capacity as a man had been completely and permanently destroyed.

With a hoarse, raspy voice and a look of venomous hatred, he stared straight at Lady Xie, ignoring the plea in her eyes. "The one who harmed me is none other than Lady Xie, wife of the Xie clan head!"

Gasps—

The crowd erupted into an uproar once more. Those who had come to listen to a titillating tale of adultery never expected something so explosive, watching the story transform directly from a sultry romance into a murder mystery.

Someone asked curiously, "Lady Xie is a devout Buddhist. Every year she donates massive sums of silver to the temples. He follows the path of the Buddha while the other cultivates the Dao; they had no natural ties—how could they possibly become entangled?!"

"Indeed, indeed..."

Qiongshan emitted a miserable, hateful laugh. "How did we become acquainted? Ha... Because Lady Xie once begged me for the golden elixir. The elixir blooms once every decade and is difficult to obtain even for one, so naturally I refused. Later, in order to move me, Lady Xie revealed her true intentions. Her phrasing was earnest, and using herself as bait, she played upon my emotions until my heart softened and I granted her request."

"She said that because of her ordinary looks, she had long been neglected by Xie Yuan, and having only borne a daughter without a son to lean on, she conceived a desire to eliminate a major thorn in her husband's side to win back his favor and attention."

"What on earth was the matter?"

"It was to drive Xie Qi deranged so that he would commit an irreversible transgression," he continued, seeming to sink into memory. "At the time, Xie Qi had already gained a renowned reputation throughout the Capital, completely overshadowing his elder brother, Xie Yuan."

"As scions of the primary direct branch, Xie Qi was the most favored voice to succeed as head of the clan, possessing the reputation of an immortal youth. Xie Yuan would vent his grievances to her day after day."

"Therefore, she plotted to have her own sister stay as a guest at the Xie residence, luring Xie Qi into committing an unpardonable grave mistake. That way, Xie Qi would forever lose the prestige to contend with him for the clan headship, and his path to official glory would be severed once and for all."

Her vision blurring with fury, Lady Xie cried out in desperate denial.