QWAPMP Chapter 109

Chapter 109: The Eunuch Little Husband

No one expected Yan Ye’s investigation would start from the Yan family itself. In less than a day, he found out who the culprit was.

In the courtyard, all the servants dared not breathe loudly, lowering their heads and trying to minimize their presence, fearing involvement.

Lu Yishuang, who had been forcibly brought over, had never seen such a grand display. She saw her cousin sitting high up in the courtyard, with burly servants holding sticks on either side, and in front of them was Steward Chen, constantly groaning in pain.

When Steward Chen saw her come in, it was as if he had seen a life-saving straw. “Cousin, help, save this servant.”

Lu Yishuang’s face turned pale when she saw the bloodstains on Steward Chen’s body. “Cousin, what are you doing?”

How long had Song Yi been in Nanyang City? Who could he have gotten into a feud with? Yan Ye could only think of people in the Yan residence, which was why he could eliminate everyone else and pinpoint Steward Chen in just a few hours.

And Steward Chen was not a tough person. After a few blows, he confessed everything he should and shouldn’t have said.

Just a few hours ago, Lu Yishuang found him and claimed that Yan lady had given instructions for him to buy a horse at the market and then make the horse startled, causing it to rush out where Song Yi and the others were getting into the carriage.

“Yi’er was almost hit by a mad horse on the street today. Does Cousin know about this matter?”

It was indeed because of this. Lu Yishuang nervously twisted the handkerchief in her hand and forced a smile. “How would I know this? Aunt is seriously ill, and I’ve been in the room taking care of Aunt all day. How would I know these things?”

Yan Ye rested his palm on his forehead, smiling noncommittally. “Since that’s the case, is Steward Chen slandering Cousin?”

Steward Chen, who was kneeling on the ground, heard this and said in a panic, “Cousin, this servant did as you instructed. Please save this servant.”

A hint of guilt flashed in Lu Yishuang’s eyes. Facing her cousin’s questioning gaze, she just wanted to distance herself from Steward Chen. “Cousin, Aunt can testify for me.”

Her anxiousness to bring up Yan lady was also to make Yan Ye give face to his “mother” and not pursue the matter further.

“Our Yan family cannot keep a servant who wants to harm the master.” Yan Ye lightly tapped the armrest of his chair twice with his index finger and slowly opened his lips. “Break both his legs and send him to the authorities.”

“Have mercy, Young Master, have mercy, Young Master! This servant has evidence to prove that Cousin instructed this servant to do it.”

Steward Chen took out the silver Lu Yishuang gave him that day, including the golden hairpin he greedily asked Lu Yishuang for more of.

Lu Yishuang had given him forty taels of silver at the time. Steward Chen implied that the silver was too little and was unwilling to do it. Lu Yishuang had no choice but to casually pull out a golden hairpin and give it to him.

He never expected this to become evidence.

Yan Ye’s smile carried a hint of chill. He slowly asked, “Cousin, do you have anything else to say?”

Lu Yishuang’s face turned pale with fright. “Cousin, I… this wasn’t my idea.”

Yan Ye’s voice was cold. “Then whose idea was it?”

Lu Yishuang’s voice trembled with fear. “Aunt, it was Aunt.”

Yan Ye had already guessed. Hearing this, his expression showed neither joy nor sorrow. “Escort Steward Chen and Lu Yishuang to the authorities.”

“No, Cousin, Cousin, I was wrong, this was all Aunt’s idea.” Lu Yishuang fell to the ground, not expecting her cousin to be so ruthless.

“Young Master, please spare me, Young Master…”

As soon as the two were dragged out of the courtyard, they ran into Old Master Yan. Lu Yishuang cried out, “Uncle, help! Cousin is sending me to the authorities.”

Old Master Yan frowned severely, as if he had guessed something. He looked at them with distaste and then said to Yan Ye, “Yan Ye, you cannot send these two to the authorities.”

Yan Ye calmly got up. “Why?”

“If these two see the authorities, then how will outsiders look at our Yan family? That the Madam is unkind, and the son is unfilial?”

“Son doesn’t care about others’ opinions.”

“But your husband must care, right? You just married your husband. If it’s rumored now that you are not getting along with your mother because you married a husband, and it’s your husband influencing you, isn’t that pushing your husband into the eye of the storm?” Old Master Yan persuaded.

Yan Ye remained calm. “Then what is Father’s suggestion?”

Seeing that his persuasion was effective, Old Master Yan felt that his son still listened to him. “Steward Chen harmed the master, he cannot stay. Dismiss him to the estate, never to return to the city. As for the Lu family’s daughter, send her back. As for your mother, let her cultivate her character well in the Plum Blossom Garden for the rest of her life.”

Old Master Yan’s solution did not completely satisfy Yan Ye, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he brought up a condition with Old Master Yan. “My husband was quite frightened this time. This son is busy with matters on weekdays and cannot be by his side at all times, so I want to ask Aunt Liu to help this son take care of my husband.”

“Okay.” Old Master Yan said nonchalantly.

Yan Ye continued, “But Aunt Liu doesn’t know that I am her biological son. This son is afraid that Aunt Liu cannot take care of my husband like she would a daughter-in-law.”

Hearing this, Old Master Yan also understood that his son was proposing a condition.

He could let these three people go, but there was one condition: let Concubine Liu know that she still had a son.

Old Master Yan was silent for a long time. He was truly afraid of a rumor spreading in Nanyang City about a son sending his mother to the authorities, so he nodded and agreed.

Yan Ye curved his lips into a smile. As he passed Steward Chen and Lu Yishuang, a hint of ruthlessness flickered in his eyes.

That day, when Yan lady learned that Lu Yishuang was being sent away, she fell out of bed in agitation, shouting, “Let that wicked son come see me! Did you hear me? Go call him to see me!”

The people in her room had been replaced with a new batch of servants that day. No one listened to her instructions, and instead, they silently helped her back onto the bed.

The next afternoon, a servant returned with a letter. The letter said that the carriages that took Cousin and Steward Chen away today suddenly went mad, completely out of control, throwing the people in the carriages out and injuring two people by stepping on them. By the time they were sent to the clinic, both Cousin and Steward Chen had suffered severe waist injuries and were completely paralyzed and unable to walk.

Seeing the letter, Old Master Yan looked at his son with a strange gaze, feeling that this was definitely related to his son.

In the evening, Old Master Yan stayed overnight in Concubine Liu’s room. After pondering for a long time, he said guiltily, “Hexiang, there is something I need to tell you.”

Concubine Liu gently massaged Old Master Yan’s shoulders and smiled tenderly. “What does the master want to tell me?”

Old Master Yan held Concubine Liu’s hand placed on his shoulder. His gaze was heavy, as if recalling something. “Do you remember that Lu Shi was pregnant at the same time as you back then?”

“I remember. Why is the master mentioning this?” At that time, both of them wanted to be the first to give birth to the eldest son, but unfortunately, she didn’t have that fortune.

Old Master Yan seemed to sense her sadness and patted the back of her hand. “Actually, Lu Shi was not pregnant back then.”

Concubine Liu’s fingers slipped from his shoulder. She asked in surprise, “Then whose son is Yan Ye?”

Lu Shi was not pregnant, so how did Yan Ye come about?

Old Master Yan said something astonishing. “Back then, when Lu Shi knew you were pregnant, she was afraid that her position as Madam would not be secure, so she came up with the idea of faking pregnancy. When the child was supposed to be born, she…”

Speaking up to this point, Old Master Yan couldn’t bear to continue. He turned his head to look at the woman whose smile had frozen on her face. “What did she do?”

“She took your child, claimed it was hers, and then lied to you, saying your child died from difficult labor.”

When Old Master Yan said these words, Concubine Liu fell back into the chair, her lips parted silently, her almond-shaped eyes misty, her expression disbelieving.

She raised her hand to cover her mouth, preventing any sound from escaping, and then looked up, staring fixedly at Old Master Yan for a long time.

This was a silent confrontation. She wanted to ask Old Master Yan if he had known all along.

She knew this man. If he had just found out, he would definitely not be as calm as he was now.

Concubine Liu lowered her hand, two streams of tears silently flowing down. “You are so cruel. Why did you deceive me for so long? Don’t you know how much I miss my child?”

Her voice was hoarse, no longer as gentle as it used to be.

Old Master Yan lowered his head in shame.

Concubine Liu wiped away her tears, unwilling to say anything more to Old Master Yan. She stood up and ran towards Qingfeng Pavilion.

Mother and son recognizing each other was bound to happen sooner or later. Yan Ye was not too surprised to see Concubine Liu running over in the middle of the night. He was not the original host, and he couldn’t give much emotional response to Concubine Liu.

However, just one word, ‘Mother’, made Concubine Liu so happy that she cried. She had always thought her son was gone, but she never expected that her son had been by her side all along.

Concubine Liu, who had recognized her biological son, rushed to the Plum Blossom Garden the next day. Not long after, the sound of porcelain shattering came from inside, along with Yan lady’s hoarse shouts to ‘get out’.

Lu Yishuang returned home paralyzed. The Lu family sent a letter demanding an explanation from the Yan family, but after receiving Yan Ye’s reply and learning that their daughter had a weakness in Yan Ye’s hands, they chose to become quiet like quail.

Half a month later, Yan Ye and Song Yi went north together. Concubine Liu tearfully saw them off.

A year later, the border was in chaos, and the enemy invaded. The emperor was slow to send reinforcements, causing Yang Qing to repeatedly lose battles, and countless soldiers died or were injured.

That year, there was heavy snow. The imperial court’s military funds had not been disbursed for a month. General Yang’s mansion also had no grain left to feed the soldiers. Yang Qing guarded the city wall, his usually resolute face filled with unwillingness.

Yes, the new emperor was willing to sacrifice five cities at any cost to ensure Yang Qing died on the battlefield, because in that way, the Third Prince would lose his most reliable support.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Yan Ye appeared in this snow-covered city with a merchant caravan, and made a deal with the Third Prince, who was living in anonymity there, using enough supplies to keep all the soldiers here fed and warm.

He could provide money to help the Third Prince, but the Third Prince had to grant him the title of Imperial Merchant.

And what did this mean! It meant that the Third Prince had to rebel to grant him the title.

Facing the lives of the soldiers, the Third Prince agreed without hesitation to the transaction.

Yang Qing would forever follow this man, rebelling as soon as he said so.

And those soldiers who had been abandoned by the imperial court felt the same way.

Yan Ye returned through the snow. Song Yi was lying by the window looking at the snow. Seeing him return, he smiled. “Do you think the Third Prince can succeed this time?”

If this good-for-nothing doesn’t succeed again, might as well kill him.

Yan Ye saw the anger in his eyes and walked over with a smile. “This might just be an auspicious snow.”