Chapter 17 - Interrogation
Translator: Coca5156
Editor: Drea
Gu Lingzhi would have been taught askew if she did not have access to her Inheritance Space. She was extremely glad that Gu Chengze did not spread the word that she was able to successfully cultivate Spiritual Medicine. Otherwise, her plan to take revenge on Lin Yue-er would be foiled.
Gu Lingzhi did not expose Lin Yue-er’s schemes even though she had known about them from the start because she was waiting for the right timing.
Every day, she went to the Martial Arts Training Grounds to train in the morning and spent an hour in her quarters practicing Alchemy in the afternoon. She spent her remaining time cultivating.
After all, the most important thing now was to increase her cultivation. She could achieve much more as long as her cultivation level increased.
A few days later, when Gu Lingzhi went to the Medicinal Kitchen again to retrieve medicinal ingredients, the shopkeeper looked at Gu Lingzhi with disdain and stated plainly that he would no longer provide ingredients for her. This was because after almost half a month of practicing alchemy, she had never once brought a medicinal pill to exchange for the ingredients.
In other words, he was implying that Gu Lingzhi had never successfully refined even a single pill.
Although she knew full well that the reason why the shopkeeper was acting this way was because he had been instructed to by Lin Yue-er, Gu Lingzhi feigned embarrassment and left quietly.
Returning to her house, she instructed Cui Lian to report to Lin Yue-er that she had finished using up all her medicinal ingredients and did not manage to successfully cultivate a single pill.
Cui Lian trembled slightly, but she still agreed. After all, she had no choice because her life was now under Gu Lingzhi's control. Even though she knew that doing this would cause her to get punished by Lin Yue-er, she had no choice.
At that moment, she felt her displeasure towards Lin Yue-er increase yet again.
Cui Lian had unknowingly gotten used to pushing all the blame to Lin Yue-er under Gu Lingzhi's influence. After all, whatever Gu Lingzhi did was a result of being constantly pushed over the edge by Lin Yue-er. If Lin Yue-er had not targeted Gu Lingzhi this entire time, Cui Lian would not have found herself caught between the two of them like a chess piece.
Cui Lian could already imagine the reaction of Lin Yue-er once she had gotten this news. She would quickly report Gu Lingzhi’s situation to Gu Rong, bursting with enthusiasm and Gu Rong would once again be disappointed in Gu Lingzhi once he had received the news.
The more disappointed Gu Rong was in Gu Lingzhi, the happier Lin Yue-er would become. The impact would be even greater when she eventually finds out Gu Lingzhi’s talent for Alchemy.
Now, Cui Lian's admiration for Gu Lingzhi's composure was boundless. The fact that she could launch a counterattack without raising any suspicions really caused Cui Lian to look at her in a new light.
That night, when Lin Yue-er looked for Cui Lian to 'reminisce old times', Cui Lian told Lin Yue-er about the 'situation’, like Gu Lingzhi had ordered her to.
Lin Yue-er's eyebrows rose in delight upon hearing Cui Lian’s words.
"Not bad, you have done well. Once Gu Rong completely gives up on Gu Lingzhi, I will bring you back here."
Cui Lian immediately broke out into a facade of gratefulness, but deep down in her heart, she remained cynical. Given the poison in her body, as well as Gu Lingzhi's schemes, Lin Yue-er might be overthrown even before Cui Lian could be transferred back.
Everything was going exactly as Gu Lingzhi had intended. Lin Yue-er was restless knowing that Gu Lingzhi did not manage to cultivate even a single pill. That very night, she acted as if she was very troubled when she told Gu Rong about Gu Lingzhi. With a face etched with worry, she said, "At first, I thought the two Master Alchemists were exaggerating when they said that she was untalented and stupid, I never thought that it would be true. Husband, we should visit Gu Lingzhi tomorrow to see what is going on and try to fix the problem as early on as we can.”
Gu Rong nodded his head, a serious expression on his face. "We should. If it is like what you said, we should definitely go and check it out."
The next afternoon, Lin Yue-er and Gu Rong both came to Gu Lingzhi’s quarters. Even Gu Linglong went down to see what was going on.
"Cui Lian, why is Lingzhi not out to greet us? Is she practicing?" Lin Yue-er asked, looking towards the Pill Cultivation Room.
"The First Mistress is currently not cultivating medicine."
"Oh? Then what is she doing?"
Cui Lian acted like she was placed in a tough spot as she glanced at Gu Rong and replied, "First Mistress practiced till late last night and is currently in her room taking a nap."
Taking a nap? Lin Yue-er was filled with joy the moment she heard that.
Lin Yue-er was initially afraid that she could not completely beat Gu Lingzhi into submission, but who knew that Gu Lingzhi would give up on herself so easily? Not only was she not making full use of the day to practice, she even dared to laze around in bed. It seemed to Lin Yue-er that she would not need to do anything for Gu Rong to give up on her sooner or later. A person like her with such a weak personality would never amount to anything.
Alas, Gu Rong frowned angrily when he heard what Cui Lian had said. Gu Linglong looked on excitedly as she added, "Big Sister is actually sleeping in on a good day like this, she must’ve practiced until very late last night."
Training to be a Martial Artist was bound to be tough; but there was no way to become a strong Martial Artist if one gives up training just because it had been tough the previous day.
Immediately, Gu Rong instructed Cui Lian to wake Gu Lingzhi up. Anger could easily be detected in his voice.
Lin Yue-er attempted to calm Gu Rong down as she took on the image of a concerned mother, "My dear husband, don’t be angry. Lingzhi has only started cultivation, it’s normal to not be able to withstand the difficulty. When Linglong started training, she would also whine for a few days about not wanting to go."
Gu Rong became even more angry.
"How is this the same? Although Linglong always complained, she still persisted and went for training every day. How is it anything like what Lingzhi is doing? How dare she laze when it’s bright outside!”
Gu Linglong immediately went along with what her father had said, “Exactly, when I had first started training, I had back aches every day but I did not skip a single day of training."
Naturally, she left out the fact that the intensity of her training initially was far from how much Gu Lingzhi had been training.
Rejoice glowed in Lin Yue-er's eyes at the chaos she created, although she maintained her farce in trying to calm Gu Rong down.
"Yes dear husband, you are right. When Lingzhi comes out later, just remember to talk nicely to her instead of flaring up."
"Father, Mother, why have you all come?"
At this moment, Gu Lingzhi appeared, looking like she just had a satisfying nap. She had a bewildered expression, as if she had been caught red-handed as she looked at the Lin Yue-er and Gu Rong.
"Hmph, why can't I be here?" Gu Rong huffed coldly as he steeled his gaze and lectured, "Lingzhi, for someone practicing Martial Arts, the first thing they need to learn is to be able to bear hardships. If you can't even bear this little bit of hardship, then you will not be able to go far in the future. In order to help you focus on Alchemy, your mother specially built a Pill Cultivation Room for you. It was not for you to slack off!"