"So?"Alcina raised her brow. She was already in pain and this dumbo was making her headache too. "Whether they are enemies or not … it had nothing to do with me."
"Really?" Zhang Boyan asked sarcastically. "Are you not in a relationship with that man? Is he not a Tang?"
"Zhang Boyan, you still haven't got me all figured out like you think. If there comes a day where I have to choose between Zhangs and him, trust me, it will always be him. Whether I am his woman or not… this has nothing to do with where my loyalty lies."
"Alcina, why must you choose such a dangerous life when you can live like a queen here between your own people?" questioned Zhang Boyan.
" Queen?"Alcina sneered. "I am already one. As for my own people, you guys are not. I'm still a Zhang because my grandfather wants someone to pay for the death of his daughter….and that is me… Long Ah Shaan's daughter."
"Now please get the hell out of her. I have to leave for 'home'."
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A few minutes later Alcina alighted the stairs and found Zhang Ye Bo sitting on his wheelchair and from his attitude, it appeared as if he had been waiting for her.
"Are you leaving?" He directly asked her. He could see that she was ready to leave. Seeing her walking normally, it seemed she was not as injured as these people were making a big deal out of it.
"Yeah," She replied shortly.
Both the old man and Alcina were straightforward and people. They would not revolve in circles to make their point.
"I heard you are looking for Boyan's new medicine." The old man had heard from his spies in the medical council that Alcina was asking about one particular medicine. Boyan was in charge of that medicine. And so, the young man had tried to suppress the news that Alcina was inquiring about it from reaching his ear.
"Yeah. The party is willing to pay any price," Alcina replied. She wasn't surprised to find that the old man knew about it. It would be really surprising if he didn't know about it.
"I will have someone send you the medicine but not before you pay the price," Zhang Ye Bo said immediately.
"Are you sure?" Alcina paused as she heard his words. She needed medicine as soon as possible. The medicine could save Ryuu. As for price, she was ready to pay any price.
"Yeah," He replied, staring at his granddaughter's slightly twinkling eyes.
"Okay, tell me what's the price? I will take the medicine with me. You can send a doctor too to see the patient. Tell me quickly what's the price?" See, Alcina was really excited. She had been trying to treat Ryuu but medicine was completely working on him. If she got this medicine, they could minimize the side effects.
But only she knew what a heavy price she had to pay to get it.
"The price is that... you marry Boyan immediately." Zhang Ye Bo was hellbent on clipping her wings.
"What?!!" Alcina stood there shell-shocked.
"Marry him and the medicine is yours," The old man indifferently answered.
"Are you kidding me?!" Alcina shouted for the first time at the old man.
He glanced at her as if he hadn't dropped a bomb on her head and said, "Alcina, I will repeat once again, marry Boyan immediately and take medicine after that."
Suddenly, Alcina burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that her stomach started hurting. Zhang Ye Bo and others started looking at her in confusion. Did they just crack a joke?
"Grandfather…" Still, she couldn't control her laughter.
"Did Boyan not tell you that he had already sent the medicine?"Alcina asked, still laughing.
"Impossible!!" The old man shouted. "The council would never make a decision without asking me."
"Do you remember mom's caretaker?" Alcina asked him slightly amused. "She was poisoned. Your people found her dead in her home. Zhang Boyan was obsessed with her case, remember? He along with the core members of your council wanted that poison. They were ready to pay any price for that poison."
Of course, Zhang Ye Bo remembered. The council was of the view that if they found who created that poison, they could create medicine out of it because the content of the poison was almost similar to the content of the medicine they were working on. And so, they had announced that if they found the genius who had concocted the poison, they would agree with all of his/her conditions for persuading him/her to join their team.
A week ago, that genius contacted them and informed them of his conditions. He would give the council formula of the poison and in return, they were to sign a contract with him. And they successfully signed the contract.
"That…" The old man was at a loss for words.
"Of course, that genius was me, Alcina Long... soon to be Alcina Tang." Alcina was quite aware of the fact that the Zhangs were greedy for knowledge. And so, she used this weakness against them. She got the medicine before the old man could shove his shaky legs in the deal. "And, you see old man, this is the last time you will see me or meet me. I tolerated all of your torture because I wanted answers. But since I realized that there was no benefit in living in the past and avenging those people who brought the calamity on themselves, there is no meaning in staying a Zhang. After all, I never wanted to be one."
"You are making a mistake, Zhang Alcina," Zhang Ye Bo said, too calmly.
Alcina just shrugged like it had nothing to do with her. "Goodbye, Grandfather. Let's not kidnap me like this again in the future. You may not know but Ryuu has a tendency of going berserk if someone touches his people."
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Note:
Volume three after Alcina and Ryuu's love confession.. If I remember correctly,I informed you all that Volume two will be focused on unveiling Longs and Xins secret.