Let Yuan Fu go find Yuan Xiao, and Shi Jingxian could already predict the current situation.

Yuan Fu was a stutterer; when he got nervous, he couldn’t speak at all, let alone explain the whole process to Yuan Xiao in the banquet hall. At this celebration banquet, there would definitely be quite a few people wanting to curry favor with Yuan Xiao. Seeing Yuan Fu so flustered, they would surely volunteer to help, just in time to enjoy the spectacular showdown between Yuan Mu and Lin Na.

Although the appearance of the Queen was unexpected, the more people there were to watch the fun, the better. After all, Yuan Mu had slapped Ji Xuanran in front of everyone in the banquet hall. Shi Jingxian always believed in reciprocity; how could he not promote Yuan Mu’s fighting prowess?

However, it was clear that Yuan Mu’s fighting ability was limited to verbal disputes. She had no special abilities and had already lost her voice when the guards subdued her. Although the guards quickly released her under Shi Jingxian’s persuasion, Yuan Mu’s wrist was red and swollen, her complexion was purple, and her mouth was crooked, unable to say a word. It was evident that she had been intimidated by the guards’ abilities, leaving her with aftereffects.

Most of the nobles present were special ability users, so they naturally understood the kind of harm that abilities could inflict on ordinary people. Under everyone’s gaze, the swaying Yuan Mu looked like a collapsed mountain of flesh, leaning awkwardly against the flustered Yuan Fu, almost crushing him with her weight. In the end, it was Yuan Xiao who reached out to help her stand steady.

This comical scene was indeed laughable, but with Yuan Xiao present, the nobles couldn’t really laugh out loud; they could only suppress their laughter, their expressions becoming particularly forced.

The Queen apologetically comforted Yuan Xiao a few times, frowning as she asked, “Lin Na! What on earth is going on?”

Under the Queen’s stern gaze, Lin Na dared not cry anymore. She sniffled and recounted the facts to the Queen, but her unintentional embellishments made the speechless Yuan Mu gasp in anger.

If she weren’t so unsteady, she probably would have lunged at Lin Na to slap her again.

As the fire burned down, people gradually began to notice Shi Jingxian, after all, he was a direct witness. However, Shi Jingxian had no interest in being the scapegoat who would offend both sides with just a few words. He glanced at Yuan Mu with concern and quietly said to Yuan Xiao, “Marshal, I’ll go get some healing potions for the lady, shall I?”

Yuan Xiao’s expression was not good; his handsome face was filled with gloom, and even his aura subtly became sharp.

But facing Shi Jingxian, who was walking into a hornet’s nest, Yuan Xiao suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, “Go ahead.”

Shi Jingxian left with a worried expression.

He certainly wouldn’t interpret Yuan Xiao’s patience as concern; the fact was, the more favor Yuan Xiao showed Ji Xuanran, the more Ji Xuanran would have to pay in return.

After fetching the potions, Shi Jingxian returned the same way, but the lounge was already empty. He headed straight for the banquet hall, calculating the time; His Majesty the King should have arrived by now.

Sure enough, when Shi Jingxian walked into the banquet hall, the King was already present, preparing to give a speech. Shi Jingxian scanned the banquet hall and walked towards Yuan Mu.

The main character of the celebration banquet was Yuan Xiao, and the King’s speech was nothing more than praise and compliments for him. He spared no flowery words. The nobles listened, nodding in agreement, their faces adorned with appropriate smiles.

A fake smile was certainly easier than holding back laughter.

After the flattery, the King generously bestowed many rewards upon Yuan Xiao. He smiled at Yuan Xiao, who was bowing to thank him, and kindly said, “No need to be so polite; the Marshal is already close to the royal family. After today, it will be even closer.”

As he spoke, the King gestured to the Queen, “Where’s Lin Na? Hurry and bring her over.”

Upon hearing that name, the expressions of the nobles present became somewhat subtle.

However, the King, who hadn’t heard the Queen’s report, was unaware. He smiled at Yuan Xiao and said, “You’ve been married for many years and still have no offspring. Today, I will take charge with the Queen and marry Lin Na to you. There are also three suitable young ladies to be given to you, who can help take care of your family…”

The banquet hall suddenly fell into an eerie silence.

The King was oblivious to this; he saw Lin Na walking over with her head down and thought she was just shy, urging, “Come on, don’t dawdle like that!”

When Lin Na got closer, her swollen face was impossible to hide, and the King finally noticed her predicament: “You…”

In a short while, the imprint on Lin Na’s right cheek had swollen even higher, half of her face was distorted, and she looked somewhat horrifying.

“What happened to you?!”

Lin Na covered her face and began to cry, while the Queen hurriedly stepped forward, urging her to step aside.

“Your Majesty, Lin Na had a little accident today. Please calm down; I will teach her a lesson when we return.”

The King’s face darkened, his earlier kindness replaced by impatience and disgust. The Queen knew this was bad and quickly looked at Yuan Xiao.

Yuan Xiao’s brows furrowed slightly, but his tone remained respectful: “Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty. However, Yuan Xiao is already committed; I vowed long ago to only have Xuanran in this life and will not marry anyone else.”

Although this statement was a rejection, it relieved the Queen. After all, without Yuan Xiao, Lin Na could still marry someone else. If the King were to take out his anger on her, Lin Na would be in real danger. Yuan Xiao’s excuse was just right, enough to clear Lin Na’s relationship.

Moreover, looking at Yuan Mu’s condition, marrying Lin Na probably wouldn’t be a good thing either.

Like the Queen, the nobles who witnessed the earlier commotion didn’t take Yuan Xiao’s declaration seriously—anyone with eyes could see that Yuan Mu was glaring at Lin Na from a distance. If Yuan Xiao really agreed to marry Lin Na, who knew how Yuan Mu would react?

Finding an excuse to refuse also salvaged the royal family’s face.

However… looking at Ji Xuanran, who was being scolded by Yuan Mu while trying to take out the healing potions, many people felt a sense of sympathy.

This pharmacist was indeed quite unfortunate; not only was he being oppressed by such a crude elder like Yuan Mu, but he was also being dragged out to take the blame by Yuan Xiao.

It seemed that marrying the Marshal wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

【Ding——Task repair progress, 5%】

Shi Jingxian handed the healing potions to Yuan Fu, quietly stepping back to stand in a place where the slumped Yuan Mu couldn’t reach.

The system prompt was within his expectations; only Shi Jingxian knew what Ji Xuanran had gone through back then.

After being slapped and insulted by Yuan Mu in public, Ji Xuanran’s patience was nearing its limit. However, Yuan Xiao’s honest declaration had reignited his hope. Because of him, Yuan Xiao risked angering the King by refusing the rewards, leaving Ji Xuanran both surprised and touched, his heart softening to a defenseless state.

The nobles present were equally astonished; they all sighed at Yuan Xiao’s deep feelings, and some even felt jealousy towards Ji Xuanran.

The one who couldn’t take it the most was Lin Na, who had been directly rejected. Yuan Mu, who had been complaining about Ji Xuanran’s inability to bear children, began to make things even more difficult for him. The royal family also took Yuan Xiao’s words seriously, so when Yuan Xiao was invited to the core country, the royal family of Country A, worried that he might not return, poisoned Ji Xuanran, who was accompanying him.

If Yuan Xiao was really poached by the core country, they would use the antidote to coerce him back.

—Yuan Xiao said he loved him, but Ji Xuanran paid tenfold, a hundredfold price.

Now, Yuan Xiao had also declared that he would only have Ji Xuanran, but no one took this statement seriously anymore. In fact, many people felt sympathy for Ji Xuanran, who was forced to take the blame.

In the end, the King retracted the marriage order, but those three young ladies were still quietly sent to Yuan Xiao’s side by the Queen.

The banquet hall remained peaceful, but how much gossip would spread after tonight was anyone’s guess.

The dinner lasted until late at night before it ended. Shi Jingxian found someone to take Yuan Xiao’s parents back. He didn’t plan to join Yuan Xiao for a separate celebration with his subordinates—after all, Ji Xuanran had been ignored from start to finish when he attended.

Not returning to Yuan Xiao’s mansion, Shi Jingxian went alone to Ji Xuanran’s potion research room. Since it was too late, when he arrived, the research room was already empty.

Shi Jingxian looked around, familiarizing himself with the various equipment. After five years of marriage, Ji Xuanran had become an outstanding mid-level pharmacist, only a thin layer of paper away from becoming a high-level pharmacist.

The task given by the system was to repair the original body’s collapsed spirit, but the original body’s skills remained intact. Shi Jingxian took some time to adapt and quickly mastered the skills needed to make potions.

Throughout the long night, he stayed alone in the research room.

As dawn broke, Shi Jingxian took the results of his busy night and hurried to another research institute on the east side of the city.

Although it was also a personal research room, the scale of the eastern research institute was nearly ten times that of Ji Xuanran’s, as the owner of this institute was a high-level pharmacist—there were no more than three high-level pharmacists in the entire Country A.

The research institute was vast, with low-level plants forming a natural barrier around it. Shi Jingxian skillfully avoided all attacks and traps, quickly arriving at the front door of the institute.

He politely said to the two guards at the door, “Could you please inform them? I am a former researcher here, code 13913, and I would like to see Master Fendelin.”

Upon hearing that he was looking for the Master Pharmacist, the two guards initially wanted to refuse, but when Shi Jingxian provided his researcher code, they discussed it and ultimately decided that one of them would go into the institute.

Shi Jingxian patiently waited at the door.

Before marrying Yuan Xiao, Ji Xuanran had spent seven years in this research institute. He had come here during his school years and eventually became the only assistant to the high-level pharmacist Fendelin.

After getting married, Ji Xuanran had no intention of leaving. He had learned too many valuable things from Fendelin, and it would be a pity to give up the hard-earned assistant position.

But Yuan Xiao told Ji Xuanran that he didn’t want him working under someone else and would build a separate research room for him. As soon as the research room was completed, Yuan Xiao directly resigned Ji Xuanran from his position.

That research room belonging to Ji Xuanran indeed maximized its effectiveness—Yuan Xiao and his subordinates needed a large supply of potions, and Ji Xuanran alone took on nearly eighty percent of the workload.

The excessive repetitive labor did not benefit the pharmacist; Ji Xuanran wasted too much time on exhausting work day and night. And Yuan Xiao, knowing about his excessive fatigue, still specifically told Ji Xuanran—”When it comes to making potions, I only trust you.”

Shi Jingxian planned to respond to this statement with practical actions.

—”Thank you, but I’ve decided to resign and run away.”