Chapter 121: Chapter 121: Who Is the Poisoner: The Beast Emperor or Yu Yun?

"Fine," Yu An shrugged. "Go ahead. But as a friendly reminder, since we’re family and all, if you don’t buy it this time, it’ll be two hundred gold coins per serving next time."

Lei Wang considered himself an elder. How could he let a junior like Yu An threaten him?

He snorted coldly and turned to leave, but Yu An clearly saw him swallow as he turned away.

He had only taken two steps when Yu An’s lips curled into a smile. She called out, "Let’s pick up the pace and try to close up shop early!"

Lei Wang’s steps faltered for a moment, then he quickened his pace.

’Even if he went to get an edict from the Beast Emperor ordering that damn girl Yu An to present him, her elder, with a few servings of food, what good would the edict be if the food was all gone?’

Unfortunately, Lei Wang didn’t get his wish. Before he could even see the Beast Emperor, Qiuyue stopped him.

"Prince, His Majesty said that if this is about Princess Yu An, you should please return."

She said politely, "His Majesty will not interfere in anything Princess Yu An does."

’And he wouldn’t be able to interfere anyway.’ Qiuyue could clearly sense that since returning to the Imperial City, Yu An was different from before.

’Even the Beast Emperor couldn’t control her, let alone the powerless Lei Wang.’

Lei Wang was furious, but he knew he was in no position to challenge the Beast Emperor.

He was useless at everything but eating, and he never left a single scrap behind. It was precisely because of this that he had survived unscathed when the Beast Emperor, Yu Tinglan, had purged his own brothers and sisters.

’Whatever. It was only one hundred... no, two hundred gold coins. To display his benevolence, the Beast Emperor had never let him want for material possessions.’

But by the time he rushed back in a panic, Yu An and the others were already gone.

He grabbed a random passerby and asked, "Where’s Yu An?"

"Princess Yu An? She sold all her food and went back to the palace."

Lei Wang: "..."

’A wasted trip, and I still didn’t get any food!’

’Oh well, I can just buy it tomorrow,’ Lei Wang consoled himself. ’I’ll just consider it saving money today.’

His attendant said weakly, "Prince, you spent fifty gold coins just now to buy a spot at the front of the line."

Lei Wang: "..."

With Chef Jiao’s help at the stall this time, he and Mo Yan handled almost all the work, making things much easier for Yu An.

Yu An had been planning to cook a nice meal to treat the whole family, but just as she was about to head to the kitchen, Yu Yun arrived.

"Sister," Yu Yun said, running in with a brilliant smile. "I originally wanted to stay with you, but something came up at my residence that day, so I had to leave early."

"A few things happened while you were away from the Imperial City. Should I tell you about them?"

"Sure," Yu An agreed at once. "Let’s talk inside."

Yu Yun nodded, leaving her Beast Husband outside.

Yu An glanced over nonchalantly. "Oh, by the way, I heard today that you have quite a few Beast Husbands. It’s just... they don’t seem to live very long."

The corners of Yu Yun’s upturned lips fell. She gave a helpless smile. "Sister, there’s something you don’t know. My Beast Husbands heard that I enjoy taming wild beasts, so they tried to win my favor, but they weren’t strong enough and lost their lives."

Yu An nodded in understanding. "So that’s how it is."

’It was exactly what Zhou Dayong had said.’

Yu Yun talked on and on, pouring out how much she had missed Yu An. Holding a teacup, Yu An listened quietly, offering a noncommittal reply every now and then.

’Nine and a half out of every ten sentences were complete fluff. Yu An really couldn’t figure out what she was getting at.’

’Just making small talk? Reminiscing about old times?’

Seeing that she was constantly distracted, Yu Yun frowned imperceptibly.

"Oh my, it’s already dark."

She slapped her forehead, saying with feigned annoyance, "Sister, it’s getting late. I should go back. I’ll come see you again tomorrow."

"Alright, I won’t see you out then," Yu An said, putting down her teacup and getting up to open the door. "Goodbye."

Yu Yun’s smile almost faltered. She paused for a moment, then said coquettishly, "Sister, you’re not even going to ask me to stay for dinner?"

"We haven’t seen each other in so long, and I wanted to chat with you a little longer."

Yu An’s suspicion deepened. ’Did Yu Yun come all this way just for a meal?’

To figure out what Yu Yun was really up to, she went along with it and agreed.

A smile immediately blossomed on Yu Yun’s face. She affectionately linked arms with Yu An as they left the room for dinner.

Her two Beast Husbands, both males from noble families in the Imperial City, came with her as well.

After they were seated, Yu Yun endlessly praised how delicious the food was and how cute the Zaizai were.

"Sister, you have no idea. Those little Zaizai of mine are so naughty, not at all as cute as Da Hu and the others."

Yu An casually picked up some vegetables with her chopsticks and put them in the picky Da Hu’s bowl. "The Zaizai just have different personalities."

Da Hu made a face, about to force himself to eat it, when the Red Fox, who had been lying in the corner like a piece of scenery, suddenly pounced. He lost his grip on the bowl, and it fell to the floor and shattered.

At the same time, Lu Lu said anxiously, "An’an, there’s poison in the vegetables! No, wait, it’s not poison, it’s the same kind of Gu Worm that was inside Zhu Qingqing and Bai Ruo!"

Yu An’s expression turned grim, but she didn’t let it show on her face. Her Wood Element Ability silently scanned the food on the table, discovering that there was nothing in the serving dishes, only in the portions that had been put into the Zaizai’s bowls.

Yu Yun quickly said, "Sister, is Da Hu hurt? Where did this fox come from? I’ll have someone chase it away."

"Xiaohong is my pet," Yu An said, waving her hand. "It’s fine. He must have been hungry."

She put some food into an empty bowl for the Red Fox, then glanced at Mo Yan. "Mo Yan, did you give Da Hu and the others snacks earlier? I see they’re not eating their dinner properly."

Although Mo Yan didn’t know why Yu An was saying this, he played along. "Yes. They said they were hungry earlier, so I gave them some of the snacks I made before to tide them over."

Xiao Hu tilted his head in confusion. ’When did Beast Father Mo Yan give us snacks?’ he wondered. Then he heard his older brother Da Hu say, "Mhm, Female Mother, we ate lots of jerky and french fries. We’re still full."

As he spoke, Da Hu patted his little tummy to show that he was indeed full.

"Then take your little brothers to go play," Yu An said, patting his little head and giving him an approving look. "Go play in your room."

Da Hu nodded and led his three younger brothers, who were clearly oblivious to the situation, back to their room.

Yu Yun’s expression remained normal, but her nails dug a mark into her palm.

After dinner, she announced her departure.

But Yu An instead tried to make her stay. "Didn’t you say you still had a lot you wanted to talk to me about? Why are you leaving already?"

Yu Yun pretended as if she had just remembered something. "Sister, I forgot I have some things to take care of at home. Let’s talk again next time."

Yu An didn’t stop them this time, letting them leave.

When the door was closed and only her own family remained, Yu An told them what had happened.

"Aunt Bai said she saw the Beast Emperor raising Gu Worms, and the Beast Emperor has a grudge against my Female Mother, so we guessed the one who poisoned Aunt Bai and Qingqing was the Beast Emperor. But now Yu Yun has this stuff too, and she was trying to poison the Zaizai."

Yu An was completely baffled. "Who do you guys think was the one who did the poisoning back then?"

Han Li’s imagination ran wild. "Could it be that Yu Yun was ordered by the Beast Emperor to poison the Zaizai? An’an, think about it. The Beast Emperor isn’t close to you, so getting close to you for no reason would definitely arouse suspicion. But Yu Yun is different."

For once, Ao Wu agreed. "Exactly! Even though that Yu Yun seems to have a good relationship with you, what if poisoning them one time would get her named as the Beast Emperor’s successor?"

Yu An started following their train of thought, but Mo Yan, who could bear it no longer, interrupted. "Great guessing, but the answer to this question can only be the Beast Emperor."

"If you two don’t have brains, then don’t mislead An’an! An’an, talk to these two less in the future. They’re leading you astray!"