Chapter 126: Chapter 126: Is Bai Ruo Lying?

"My sister would be upset," Yu Tinglan murmured. "She sent you back and asked me to protect you."

"But I can’t bring myself to treat you well..."

’If I send Yu An over to them, will my sister be able to return?’ she couldn’t help but wonder.

She couldn’t restrain herself, so she had to place Yu An as far away from herself as possible.

Later, when Yu An was found to have no Fertility, her appearance was ruined, and her personality changed drastically, Yu Tinglan didn’t know whether to feel regret or relief.

’It was probably mostly relief. At least this way, she could convince herself not to trade Yu An to get her sister back.’

"When you disappeared, I thought those people had taken you. I’m telling you this because I was thinking that maybe, one day, you could rescue your Female Mother."

After saying all this, the Beast Emperor reined in her emotions. "Alright. From now on, I won’t force you to do anything. I will respect your wishes."

She turned to leave, but Yu An spread her wings. "Wait—"

’She can speak now?’

Yu An was delighted and quickly said, "I still have questions for you!"

The Beast Emperor paused. "Ask away."

Yu An told the Beast Emperor about the Gu Worms in Bai Ruo’s and Zhu Qingqing’s bodies, as well as what Yu Yun had said.

The Beast Emperor turned back, a look of confusion on her face. "Since when have I ever raised Gu Worms?"

"Cui Su was the one who poisoned you. I know that, but it wasn’t on my orders."

The Beast Emperor let Yu An scrutinize her, saying sternly, "I admit to what I’ve done, but don’t even think about framing me for something I haven’t."

"I will have someone bring Yu Yun over for questioning. After we find out what’s going on, I’ll have Qiuyue come and tell you."

Qiuyue, who was standing to the side, also said, "Princess, I have served Her Majesty since we were children, and I have never seen her raise any Gu Worms. Her Majesty is terrified of bugs. Whenever she saw one, she would hide behind Princess Huang..."

"Ahem!"

The Beast Emperor cut her off with a light cough. "Alright, let’s go."

Once Yu An was alone in the room, she fiddled with her feathers, trying to figure out who was lying.

But neither Bai Ruo nor the Beast Emperor seemed to be lying. She entered her space to ask Chun Nuan.

"Gu Worms?"

Chun Nuan thought carefully for a moment. "The Beast Emperor was terrified of bugs as a child. I’ve certainly never heard of her raising any Gu Worms."

Yu An pressed, "But Aunt Bai said the Beast Emperor loved to raise all sorts of strange and bizarre things, and that these bugs were among them."

She even drew a picture of what the Gu Worm looked like. After examining it, Chun Nuan shook her head. "I’ve never seen it."

"I’m like Qiuyue—she’s served the Beast Emperor since they were children, and I’ve served the Princess. It stands to reason that if the Beast Emperor had enjoyed raising such things in her youth, I would have seen them at least once."

In other words, it was very likely that Bai Ruo was lying.

Yu An was silent for a moment. Then she found Han Li and had him write a letter to Housekeeper Han.

Aside from that, she was desperate to recover quickly so she could use visiting the sick as an excuse to go and investigate Yu Yun’s Princess Mansion.

Perhaps the Beast God heard her wish, because the very next day, Yu An recovered.

Ao Wu had slept with her the previous night. To keep from crushing her, he had placed her on the pillow and laid a small piece of cloth over her navel to serve as a blanket.

The next morning, Yu An found herself being held in Ao Wu’s arms. The two of them... were stark naked, pressed tightly together.

Feeling the heat from his body, Yu An’s face flushed red.

’It was one thing for her to be naked, but why was Ao Wu also...’

Yu An struggled a little, trying to get out of his arms, but the arm around her waist tightened.

With his eyes still closed, Ao Wu pressed her head into his chest. "An’an, don’t squirm. Let’s sleep a little longer."

"Still sleeping," Yu An said, patting him. "Time to get up. The sun is already out."

Ao Wu reluctantly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by a beautiful sight.

Noticing his gaze, Yu An pulled up the blanket to cover herself and said, flustered and annoyed, "What are you looking at? Get up already!"

"An’an’s beautiful," Ao Wu said with a wide smile, kissing her on the forehead. "What’s wrong with me getting a better look?" he added, perfectly justified.

The corner of Yu An’s mouth twitched. ’Fine, he’s complimenting me, so I’ll let it slide.’

After lingering in bed for a while, the two finally got up.

The Zaizai, who had been up for a while, saw that Yu An had recovered and ran over to get kisses from her one by one.

Their previous Female Mother was a little bird, and her kisses were pecks that made their heads hurt.

Now that she had recovered, the work of the Beast God Envoy had to continue. However, Yu An had outsourced these tasks... yes, to Chef Jiao.

Chef Jiao first taught a few of his own apprentices, who would then go on to teach others.

At Noon that day, Chef Jiao set off with a group of people, while Yu An took Mo Yan and others to Yu Yun’s Princess Mansion.

On the way, Yu An ran into Lei Wang.

He was ecstatic. "Yu An, my girl! I heard you were kidnapped and have had my men searching for you this whole time. Now that I see you’re safe, I can finally rest easy!"

Seeing Lei Wang, Yu An recalled the Beast Emperor’s assessment of him.

The Beast Emperor had said the reasons she hadn’t locked Lei Wang up with her other siblings were, one, to keep him around as a display of her benevolence, and two, with Lei Wang’s intelligence, any cubs he produced wouldn’t be much better.

Regardless of his motives, Lei Wang had indeed sent people to look for her, so Yu An thanked him.

Lei Wang rubbed his hands together. "Don’t mention it, don’t mention it! We’re all family, after all. It’s just that, there’s one little thing..."

He hadn’t managed to buy any of the delicious food on the first day, and on the second, she had disappeared entirely. The less he was able to eat it, the more Lei Wang craved it, to the point that he even dreamed about it.

Yu An understood. "Uncle, are you hoping to buy a serving of my noodles with mashed potatoes?"

Lei Wang nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, yes! Of course, it would be even better if I could have one of all three kinds!"

Yu An hesitated. "It’s just that I’m on my way to visit Yu Yun right now. Uncle, you could send someone to the old spot. Chef Jiao has already learned how to make it and is teaching others. Anyone can learn."

"However, the taste might not be quite as good as when I make it."

There were some seasonings the Beastmen couldn’t find, so there would inevitably be some slight differences in the flavor.

Lei Wang immediately said, "As it happens, I have nothing to do right now! Why don’t I go with you to visit Yu Yun? Afterward, we can have a proper uncle-niece get-together. An’an, you can’t refuse!"

"As their grand-uncle, I even prepared gifts for the Zaizai, but I forgot to bring them! Housekeeper, hurry back to the manor, get them, and deliver them to the palace."

The housekeeper behind Lei Wang immediately acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

With him having said all that, Yu An couldn’t very well refuse, so she went with Lei Wang to Yu Yun’s Princess Mansion.

In the basement of the Princess Mansion, Yu Yun was writhing and struggling in agony. Granny Gu remained expressionless. Seeing that Yu Yun’s screams had quieted, she released several more Gu Worms.

After that, Yu Yun’s screams became even more harrowing.

"Granny, it hurts too much... I don’t want to be treated anymore... Just let me die!"

Granny Gu didn’t even frown. "Continue. We’re already halfway through. If you give up now, all our previous effort will be wasted."

Yu Yun knew this as well, but it was too painful. So painful she wanted to die.

Just then, footsteps were heard from outside the basement. "Granny, Princess, Princess Yu An and Lei Wang are here."