The Reversal

By what he errr she guessed was three o'clock, she had Dongling boil water for her bath again and take out her best casual dress for ironing. Dongling was happy that she no longer needed to worry about firewood soot staining her dress each time she irons now that there's a fire crystal for use!

'Miss, why take out your best dress? What's going on?' Dongling wondered as she helped Itachi take a bath by shampooing her long hair.

'When sneaking some things out, I overheard laughing servants making a mockery out of me that a fiancee I didn't know I had will repudiate me after shaming me first.' said Itachi coolly to Dongling's indignance. 'Good thing I got my beauty back thanks to mother's preparations. I want nothing to do with such a shallow man either so I'm fine with dumping him. I never knew he existed anyway.' she said uncaringly.

'Heee...but how are you gonna do it tonight?'

'You'll see. After this, take a bath too Dongling. You better be the better smelling maid tonight.'

She kept drinking prepared medicine in bowls to keep improving her body to fully recover from poison and improve her looks, while giving herself a cleaning manicure as he was used to, considering part of Akatsuki Uniform were purple-painted nails. Soon, she'll run out of his supplies of medicine and vanity pills save for her detoxification pills.

For now, she's confident that maids lit up the newly-purchased high-quality incense in the mansion.

Filling the mansion with poisonous air as she wanted, wanting the room to be fragrant.

Good.

That means everyone in that hall, will have a dose of poison.

She had caught the maids on duty and cast genjutsu on them while Dongling was busy with her chores. They're in charge of the incense burning, so poison some more!

After a bath, she dressed into her normal dress first. After all, the plan was to 'spring' this on her without warning by those bastards.

That's assuming that they haven't fallen ill yet!

She knows their itinerary.

They're there since 5:00, getting to know his eldest sister Ling and second older Yun.

By then party will be ruined due to symptoms...and they won't even have time. Heh. Yan made all the poisons he applied stronger than it should.

xxx

Princess Royal's Mansion...

"I feel weird..."

"I think I'm tired for sitting/standing an hour..."

They were starting to feel the symptoms of weakness and lethargy.

'I think we should eat first, hunger is getting to me, Yuancheng.' said Xue Yang, the Gong of Anguo Prefecture, mistaking his weakness for hunger. 'Getting to know Ling and Yun more can wait a bit.'

'I agree, it's about time for dinner.'

They decided to have dinner first and talking some more, unaware that the diningware was laced with poison.

The first to show symptoms was Ling and the servants present in the hall exposed to the poisoned incense. But she kept herself strong, wanting to look good to score the handsome Xue Che but gradually, she can't resist anymore and collapsed sideways, startling the whole table.

'Ling'er?!' Yuancheng cried in alarm as Ling collapsed so he got up to pick up Ling who was unresponsive. Suddenly a manservant burst in.

'Master! Some of our maids collapsed in the hallway!' he burst out.

'What?!'

That wasn't the end of it as another maid came in.

'Master, some of our maids collapsed in the kitchens!'

'Just what's going on here?!' Concubine Qin cried irritably, nursing a headache. 'I don't feel so good...' she and Xue also collapsed as well, getting the people worried.

'Father!' Yun cried worriedly, getting scared now as she picked up her mother. 'Something's wrong!'

'Yuancheng what's going on with your family?' Anguo Gong cried in alarm. Yuancheng placed a hand on both his concubines.

'I don't know!' Yuancheng sputtered, 'Ling and my wives feel cold!' he cried as a maid ran off.

'I think we should hurry this up, I don't feel good either.' said Xue Che, looking a little peaky.

'Get Beiyue now.' Yuancheng ordered. 'We'll just have her sign the papers and our kids can meet another time.' he suggested to Anguo Gong.

'Agreed...I'm starting to feel strange as well.' said Anguo Gong as Yun was the next to fall ill.

'Father, my body feels really weak...' Yun croaked out, slumping against the table.

'Mine too.' said Xue Che, slumping as well. 'Why are we feeling this way?' he griped out. 'We were alright earlier!'

Instead of a night of fun on Huang Beiyue's existence, an epidemic broke out in Xiao Estate, causing a panic and a night of fear instead!

xxx

Flowing Cloud Pavilion...

'Oi! You're being called to the Dining Hall!' a servant barked rudely.

'You're being rude!' Dongling snapped angrily. 'What do you want?!'

'Shut it, bitch!' the servant sneered at her before looking down on Itachi. 'Like I said the waste is being called to the Dining Hall in the Residence, so move it!' the servant grunted and left.

'They're getting way too full of themselves!' Dongling growled, seething.

'Probably got punished or something. Ignore him.' said Itachi. 'Oh well, let's do our part, Dongling.' she said as to keep her appearance of being caught off-guard, she wore her hair down. Besides, all himes back home wear their hair down, no?

'Heh, they don't know you're better now.' Dongling smirked. 'But we'll keep up with the act.'

xxx

Dining Hall...

They were treated to a sight of both ill and unwell people.

Huang Beiyue the famous chronically-ill waste came. She was thin, but glowed in beauty that her being thin barely mattered. Even when not dolled up, her beauty far effortlessly upstaged that of Ling and Yun's who were common-born beauties instead of 'bred beauties' from purely-noble and royal families spanning for generations. Her long hair worn loose fresh from a bath just gave her a more ethereal look.

Even Yuancheng and his servants wondered how she got her beauty back when before she was akin to a living corpse with sunken, dark eyes and gaunt face with sunken cheeks. Then again, considering Xue's bringing her medicine, perhaps she was feeling a bit better?

'...what's going on?' Itachi feigned cluelessness while inwardly amused that his plan worked. 'Did you guys eat bad food?'

'That's impossible as we bought the freshest in the market!' Yuancheng grunted irritably, striding over by just sheer will alone as he doesn't feel good. 'Just sign this and get out of my sight!' he shoved the papers at her face.

Itachi 'read' the papers.

'Ara, an annullment? Oh well, I don't know who this Xue Che is anyway, I don't care about a person I never met.' said Itachi casually.

'An annullment? You were engaged?' Dongling played along.

'Apparently. Never knew. Mother never said anything about this. Even when she was alive, she never took me to meet him. How should I know this existed?' Itachi shrugged as a maid gave Beiyue an inked brush and she signed her name while pinning the paper to the wall with her left hand and wrote with the other. 'Besides, engagements are just mere business deals with a couple sealing the deal, unless some cause causes it to be called off.' she said nonchalantly much to universal disbelief that she really doesn't care. 'Perhaps this Xue Che found a lady he likes since he never met me either. Well, let the bird fly away then.'

She clearly doesn't care as she cheerfully signed her name. 'Here.' she gave the papers to Yuancheng who took it. One copy for him and Xue Yang.

"This waste clearly doesn't care that I, a well-sought-after bachelor just dumped her!" Xue Che gaped in shock. "I, a 4-star summoner of well-repute, from a Dukedom?! How dare she?! Humph" he fumed. "Beauty is nothing if she is good for nothing!" he had his eye on Xiao Yun, both a beauty and a 3-star genius! Who the heck reaches 3-star at fifteen? If she marries him, they can have genius children!

He conveniently overlooked that Beiyue was far more beautiful. And that Xiao Yun's beauty was inferior but he cared more for power like anyone else.

It was supposed to be HIM dumping her if not for feeling funny tonight, that SHE dumped him in public instead of what's planned!

'Let's go home, it's quite a chilly spring. They got what they want anyway.'

'Yes, miss.' Dongling helped her lady walk out of the dining hall.

'Did that just happen?' Xiao Zhongqi croaked out. 'Weren't we supposed to amuse ourselves?'

'Like hell we can do that now, we all feel sick!' Xue Che grunted. 'Father, let's go home. Maybe this will be gone by tomorrow.' he said, turning to his father.

'I agree, Yuancheng, we best retire early.' said Anguo Gong. 'Maybe this will pass tomorrow. Take care of the ladies.'

'Mm.'

While they snatched a prize from his fool of a daughter, how are they supposed to give a good impression to Anguo Gong now when they all fell ill in his household?!

He has to find a way out of this somehow!

'Go get father, he'll help us sort this out!'

xxx

At home...

'Cold...Dongling, tea.' Itachi kept up the sick act until they got to the gate of their home. 'It's colder this year I might have a fever again...I don't feel so good...'

'Eek! Yes miss, please hang on until we get to your room!' Dongling wailed as she wound up carrying Itachi bridal style as she fell limp in her arms so Dongling kicked the gate open so they could get in and kicked the gate back close. '...well?' she whispered.

'We were followed as I suspected.' Itachi whispered back. 'We may have to keep up this act all night.'

'Ok...'

xxx

Back at the Main Residence...

The fact that two families and some of their retinues fell ill at the exact same time was the talk of the servants as the healthy had to assist their ill masters and young masters and mistresses.

Naturally, gossiping servants will have that detail leaked out in no time flat.

Time for Yan to do Stage 3.

The sightings.

She had given Yan 50% freedom since the seals aren't like that of Jinchuuriki's. But the mechanics of dying together remains the same. Unlike a Jinchuuriki's Seal, the prison was powered up by Ki when normally, a prison sucks their power to be used as a weapon.

But who and whydunnit, was the question.

Letting Yan out under conditions fair to them both lessened the ki burden. But Itachi would rather make chakra than cultivate Ki that'll amount to nothing.

xxx

Flowing Cloud Pavilion...

'Miss, by any chance, do you have an inkling of what happened just now?' Dongling asked Itachi after putting tea on a small table in the room.

'Hehe...I admit I have a hand in it.' Itachi smiled at her. 'It helps that I have no ki that they couldn't sense me.' she said.

'How did you do it?'

'I went to Xue's stash of poison pills and stole two pills. They were Grade 9 poison pills that she's using on me for years by mixing trace amounts into a pot of grass juice mixed with water she calls 'medicine'.' Dongling gawked at her.

Grade 9 pills were extremely illegal, that being seen possessing one will get you a Life Sentence at easiest, and Generational Punishment if you piss off the jury. Pharmacists don't take blame as they simply make what they were asked to make. But even then they charge extremely high in hopes to deter such killers. This was because Grade 9 pills cannot be traced. They are colorless, tasteless and odorless. A hidden killer only the very wealthy can afford!

'I have no idea how Xue has access to such poison.' Itachi continued thoughtfully. 'Yuancheng's pouring all his money as well as mine onto Zhongqi and Yun's cultivation leaving only enough for running the estate, servant salaries and food. So I decided that they should know how I feel all these years starting today.' Itachi smirked. 'And the only cure, is a Grade 9 detoxification pill. Have fun trying to buy that, though...' Itachi snorted. 'Last I checked, they're expensive.'

'Oh, you are so bad~!' Dongling giggled. 'They should have a taste of their own medicine! Have fun being weak indeed!'

'In the meantime, I have a task for you.' said Itachi. 'Me cultivating is forever hopeless. Whenever I try, it sinks into my dantian and disappears.' he told her to her astonishment as she reached into her pocket and took out the space ring to materialize something. 'You're the only one who can protect me now, so on your free time, cultivate.' she instructed, giving Dongling a brown pill.

'This pill...it's to awaken and open my Dantian...' Dongling croaked out, shakily taking the pill as Itachi nodded.

'Mother saved some pills for you.' she said. 'Go. I will train hard too even if I can't cultivate.'

'Y-yes!'

Dongling swallowed the pill and minutes later, felt warmth in her abdomen.

'I-I start now?'

'Yes.' said Itachi seriously. 'We start getting stronger today.'

xxx

Next day...

'No good.' said Zhongqi to his anxious younger sister Xiao Rou as their mother's condition hasn't changed as he got out of their mother's room. 'It didn't disappear overnight as we hoped.'

'How soon can grandfather get here? Where is he anyway?!' Rou cried, upset.

'Eight years ago, he went to Seclusion after making a Contract with his Fire Leopard to rise in cultivation.' said Zhongqi. 'Butler Zhou knows where he is and sent a Servant to go get him to rush home to help us out. We can only wait and hopefully he gets here in time.' he said worriedly.

'I hope so...I hope mom lives and that slag Xue dies, then we can be legal together.' Rou sighed. Zhongqi snorted and patted his sister's head.

'I'll check on the situation with Xue and Yun. With luck, we'll be Trueborns soon.' Zhongqi smirked. 'With Yun out of the way, I'll look better now!'