Chapter 486: The Enduring Feud Between the Yi and Yun Families

Chapter 486: The Enduring Feud Between the Yi and Yun Families

Yun Mu instantly recalled the heated argument they had in the Shangguan family's backyard. Was Grandpa Shangguan nearby at that time?

Yun Mu looked at him: "So, you know about me being poisoned?"

Grandpa Shangguan nodded, his face etched with sorrow.

"Why didn't you come to talk to me about it?" Yun Mu asked.

Grandpa Shangguan's eyes brimmed with tears, his voice choked with emotion, "I understand how you young people think, always putting on a brave face and hiding your troubles, not wanting us elders to worry. Since you didn't tell me on your own, I pretended not to know, so things wouldn't be so awkward between us. Amu, you're not mad at me for overhearing your conversation, are you?"

"No, it's my fault for making Grandpa Shangguan worry."

Yun Mu didn't want to doubt this old man because if it weren't for him, she might not even be alive today.

In the South Ming continent, she had never known familial warmth, and her relationship with her biological father was also very distant.

The only elders she looked up to were Grandma Gu and Grandpa Shangguan.

Besides, Grandpa Shangguan bore no ill will toward the Yun family and had no reason to harm her.

So she wouldn't suspect Grandpa Shangguan unless she had no other choice.

Grandpa Shangguan seemed deeply affected, tears streaming down his face. "In my life, without children or grandchildren, you're the only one I consider family. When I thought you had died, I cried my heart out. Now that you're back, but... Amu, do you know who poisoned you? Grandpa will make them pay!"

Yun Mu shook her head with a light smile: "No need, he's already gotten what he deserved. It was Yi Hou who did it."

"Yi Hou?" Grandpa Shangguan paused, not entirely surprised, and sighed, "It had to be him. The bad blood between your families might never be settled."

Hearing this, Yun Mu's heart raced, and she quickly asked, "Grandpa Shangguan, do you know about the bad blood between our families?"

Grandpa Shangguan shook his head, "This is something only your families know. As an outsider, I shouldn't know, but since I was close to your grandfather, I know a bit about it. When will this cycle of vengeance end? Your two families can no longer tell who is right or wrong, it's just a pity for the innocent like you."

"So, Grandpa Shangguan, you know some of the origins of this matter?"

"I know some, do you want to hear it?"

"Yes," Yun Mu nodded.

Grandpa Shangguan sighed, his gaze distant as he looked out the window, lost in memories.

"It all started about a hundred years ago... During the wars in the South Ming continent, the people were suffering everywhere. It was then that the Yun, Yi, Xuanyuan families, and the Ji family, descendants of the royal family, allied against external enemies. At that time, the Yun family was still the leader of the four great families. On the battlefield, the head of the Yun family always led the charge, naturally suffering the most casualties. The Yi and Yun families were still on good terms then, the heads of both families were brothers who had survived the battlefield together. During the wars, with corpses everywhere, plagues were prone to break out. With all resources scarce at the time, once infected with the plague, there was almost no way to survive. The Yun family, skilled in medicine, naturally treated the people on the front lines. But at that time, the Yun family had just welcomed a pair of twin sons who were not suitable to stay on the front lines, so the Yun family head entrusted his young children to his good brother, the head of the Yi family."

"And then?"

"At that time, the plague was spreading everywhere, and medicine was scarce. The Yun family head trusted the Yi family head, entrusting him not only with his twin children but also with the antidote for the plague. He thought the Yi family head would safely bring back his children and distribute the medicine to the Yun family members infected with the plague. But he never expected the Yi family head to be a selfish, treacherous villain who embezzled the medicine, causing countless deaths in the Yun family due to the lack of the antidote! Even one of the Yun family head's twin children died!"

Yun Mu was overwhelmed with emotion, finding it hard to breathe.

"So, after returning from the front lines and finding his family dead and his child deceased, the Yun family head used withering grass to develop a blood disease poison and secretly poisoned the Yi family?"

Grandpa Shangguan nodded, "That's roughly how it happened. The Yi family head at that time wiped out most of the Yun family, severely crippling them, and the Yi family naturally became the leader of the four great families. How could the Yun family head bear this? Naturally, he wanted to retaliate in kind. He probably didn't expect that over a hundred years later, this hatred would still continue, even intensifying."

Yun Mu never imagined that the feud between the two families started this way.

"The past grievances are in the past. You young people of this generation should not bear this burden anymore," Grandpa Shangguan sighed.

"Thank you, Grandpa Shangguan, for telling me this. My father, while he was alive, never mentioned it to me," Yun Mu sighed in frustration, "It seems in his eyes, I was still unreliable, not worthy of entrusting everything to."

Grandpa Shangguan hesitated for a moment before comforting her, "Perhaps he just didn't want you to be involved in these feuds again, but things didn’t go as planned, and you still ended up getting dragged into it."

Yun Mu managed a bitter smile.

Seeing how weak Yun Mu was and realizing she wasn’t up for prolonged mental strain, Grandpa Shangguan offered a few more words of comfort before leaving.

The moment Grandpa Shangguan left the ward, Yi Jue stepped out from the inner room and took Yun Mu’s hand in his.

"Did you catch everything Grandpa Shangguan said?" Yun Mu asked.

Yi Jue nodded, though his dark eyes were hard to read.

Yun Mu frowned, "You still don't trust him?"

Yi Jue pondered for a moment, "Grandpa Shangguan’s explanation was airtight, leaving no room for doubt, but... his explanation felt too perfect, which only makes it more suspicious."

Yun Mu remained silent.

Yi Jue continued, "Plus, he picked this exact moment to bring up the century-old feud between the Yun family and the Yi family, maybe to distract you."

Yi Jue’s words jogged Yun Mu’s memory, and she recalled a clue. "Remember what Grandpa Shangguan said? He mentioned a pair of twin brothers."

Yi Jue nodded, "What about it?"

"A pair of twin brothers from over a hundred years ago. Do you think the other child might’ve survived and ended up with the Yun family in the capital?"

The timing lines up perfectly.

But...

"If that's the case, why hasn't the Yun family from the capital returned to the South Dark Continent to reunite with their clan?" Yi Jue countered.

Yun Mu’s temples pounded, and the more she thought about it, the worse her headache got.

Why does it feel like her brain’s been slowing down lately?

Yi Jue stepped forward and gently massaged her temples, comforting her, "Don’t stress over it. If you can’t figure it out, just let it go. Leave it to me, I'll investigate it for you."

Yun Mu leaned into Yi Jue’s embrace, letting herself rely on him, and as she inhaled his familiar scent, her headache eased somewhat: "Maybe I should just go home. Staying here isn’t getting me any closer to finding clues."

Yi Jue nodded, "As you wish, I'll handle the discharge procedures for you."