WMSG Chapter 22

Chapter 22 Where Did You Get Your Jade?

Ye Lingshen was also afraid that Ye Yueshen would have an accident, but when he first came back, he really couldn’t even walk steadily, his whole body was like kicking around on brewer’s grains, and he would fall even on flat ground.

Although he retorted his eldest brother, he still hurriedly went out after the alcohol strength passed.

After finally bringing the person back, none of them told their father and mother about it. If some things didn’t happen, there was no need to make the whole family worry. On this point, the three brothers had an unusual understanding.

“He’s fine.” Ye Lingshen yawned, “He cried because I scared him.”

Ye Yuanshen just frowned slightly, but today he had already annoyed Ye Er once and didn’t want to argue anymore.

Ye Yueshen was still not used to getting along with people like Ye Lingshen. He had lost a lot of autonomy and respect since he was a child, and especially hated the strong personality that disregarded his wishes.

Although he knew that Ye Lingshen was concerned and confused, he also felt wronged. He could have just asked him, but he had to strip off his clothes to check for any marks.

“What am I?” Ye Yueshen’s voice trembled slightly, “Am I a rag doll?”

Ye Lingshen rolled his eyes, yawned and went into the bedroom to sleep, with no intention of apologizing or saying anything soft.

Ye Yuanshen smoothly straightened Ye Yueshen’s slightly untidy collar, already guessing what had just happened. In his eyes, not to mention Ye Yueshen, even Ye Lingshen was just a child, and these things were nothing at all.

Of course, if his younger brother cried, he would coax him, but he didn’t understand where Ye Yueshen was sad.

“Xiao Yue has grown up, your second brother was too abrupt, right?” Ye Yuanshen patted him on the back, “I’ll have him apologize to you when he sobers up.”

Ye Yueshen was in a bad mood, nestled in the soft chair without moving or speaking.

“What did you do at Qi Wang Manor?” Ye Yuanshen tried to ask casually, treating his visit to Qi Wang Manor as an ordinary polite social interaction.

“I was slapped a few times by Qi Wang’s cat, played chess, had a meal, and had a ‘friendly’ chat with Qi Wang.” Ye Yueshen’s voice was very small.

Ye Yuanshen had a bit of a smile, “That’s best.”

Seeing that Ye Yueshen seemed not awake, Ye Yuanshen considerately left, letting him rest well.

In the evening, the servants from the main courtyard came to invite Ye Yueshen to dinner. Ye Yueshen had just woken up, and his eyes were still erratic. He got out of bed, washed his face, threw the clothes that Gong Xunwu had put on him on the ground, slowly stepped over the clothes, changed into his own clothes, and went to the flower hall in the main courtyard for dinner.

Ye Yueshen realized when he arrived that tonight was a relatively formal dinner. Marquis Ye and Yongning Junzhu were both present. In addition to their three Ye brothers, there was also Yun Bianyin.

Ye Yueshen took the last seat, and Marquis Ye glared at him, “What a big air, everyone is waiting for you.” Yongning Junzhu nudged him with her elbow.

Ye Yueshen didn’t know what to say to him, so he moved his chair closer to Ye Lingshen. The two looked at each other, and both had a secret joy of forming an alliance. Then he was glared at by Marquis Ye again.

Soon Ye Yueshen was overwhelmed by sad emotions again. He sat there watching the tea leaves rise and fall, calculating that Gong Xunwu had people help him clean up the mess, he should be grateful, but he should hate being asked to dedicate himself in return for his kindness. He didn’t know which side was heavier.

“What has Cousin been busy with recently?” Yun Bianyin asked in a low voice, his voice very soft, as if he was whispering to Ye Yueshen, but loud enough for everyone present to hear clearly.

Ye Lingshen first sneered rudely. He was a frank and somewhat crazy person, and didn’t get along with Yun Bianyin and other aloof scholars.

“Not busy.” Ye Yueshen knew that he wasn’t sincerely asking and had no interest in answering seriously.

Yun Bianyin nodded, seemingly puzzled, “I saw Cousin coming and going in a hurry the other day, thinking you were busy with your studies. This foolish brother’s writing is mediocre, but he remembers the books that the teacher lectured on well, and I was thinking of helping Cousin a little.”

Marquis Ye may not be fully aware of the little thoughts between the younger generation, but as an elder, his nephew must maintain his dignity when he lives in his home. He paused for a moment and then opened his mouth gently, “Yin’er is diligent.”

Then he pointed at Ye Yueshen with his chopsticks in the air. Just as he was about to scold him a few words, Ye Yuanshen spoke first, as if he hadn’t noticed, “The Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice has disappeared for no reason. I heard from the Ministry of Justice that his cloak was hanging on the rack and hadn’t moved, as if he had gone somewhere and couldn’t come back. It has caused panic in the court, and everyone brings their family guards to and from court.”

“Disappeared in the Imperial Palace?” Yongning Junzhu put down her chopsticks, “No record of leaving the palace?”

“There is only a record of entering the palace, but no record of leaving the palace.” Ye Yuanshen said, “The person may have disappeared in the palace.”

Marquis Ye also asked, “What did the Holy One say?”

“The Holy One didn’t say anything, but there are a lot more patrols and guards in the palace.”

Ye Yueshen couldn’t help but say, “Big brother, you should bring more people to court tomorrow, and after court too…” He closed his mouth, realizing something.

The “unexplained” disappearance they were talking about was the one I killed… Ye Yueshen pursed his lips and dropped a piece of stuffed lotus root tremblingly on the table.

Ye Yuanshen smiled, “You stopped talking halfway?”

“It’s nothing.” Ye Yueshen’s expression seemed calm, but it was actually stiff. “I originally wanted you to bring more guards, but if I didn’t say anything, Mother would arrange it, so I don’t need to say more.”

“Who said you don’t need to say more.” Ye Yuanshen smiled and put a piece of stuffed lotus root into his bowl.

Yongning Junzhu didn’t move her chopsticks for a long time. Marquis Ye asked softly, “What’s wrong? What are you thinking about?”

“I remember there is an official named Du Ruxiang in the Ministry of Justice?” Yongning Junzhu looked at Ye Yuanshen.

“The one who disappeared is Du Ruxiang.” Ye Yuanshen restrained his smile and asked seriously, “What does Mother know?”

Ye Yueshen’s back straightened, and he looked nervously at Yongning Junzhu.

Yongning Junzhu shook her head gently, “What can I know? I went to the palace to see the Empress Dowager last time, and I haven’t been to the palace since. I just know Du Ruxiang. He is the adopted son of Concubine Xian, originally a distant nephew of Concubine Xian.”

Concubine Xian is the adoptive mother of the Fourth Prince. She once gave birth to the eldest prince, but the eldest prince has passed away, so the Emperor adopted the Fourth Prince under her knees.

Going around and around, it came back to the Fourth Prince. Ye Yueshen had a headache. Although it was very unreasonable, when he thought that the person who wanted to kill him was the considerate Fourth Prince Gong Xuyin, Ye Yueshen felt that he couldn’t survive.

None of the princes in the royal family were easy to deal with. If he had to classify one as easy to deal with, then Ye Yueshen hoped that the person who wanted to kill him was the Third Prince.

In the original book, the Third Prince Gong Yiyin was equivalent to a cannon fodder supporting character. In the end, the protagonist Gong Shengyin didn’t even need to take action, and he was inexplicably killed by the Crown Prince. It was also very sudden in terms of plot.

Ye Yueshen suspected that the author omitted a part of the plot, deleted and revised it during the review, and directly removed a part of the plot that slowed down the rhythm and did not affect the love of the protagonist, which was not impossible.

Ye Yueshen thought for a long time, just waiting for others to bring a knife to kill him was too passive, but there was no reliable entry point.

The next day, Ye Yueshen was also in a daze in the classroom. Yun Bianyin next to him suddenly asked, “Where did you get your jade?”

Ye Yueshen came back to his senses and realized that he had been playing with the jade pendant in his hand unconsciously.

“I stole it.” Ye Yueshen looked at him coldly, “While you were sleeping, I sneaked into your courtyard, jumped into your bedroom from the window, and stole it from under your pillow.”

Yun Bianyin frowned, “I don’t have jade with such good water and such a rich color.”

“Since it’s not yours, why are you questioning me?” Ye Yueshen stared at him, “What does it matter to you where it came from?”

In the past, relying on being a few months older, Yun Bianyin’s difficulties had never been retorted by Ye Yueshen. He was suddenly stunned by the question.

“This jade pendant is a top-notch item. I am afraid that even the imperial palace does not have anything that can surpass it. Moreover, the carving is extremely fine, unlike things on the market.” Yun Bianyin snorted coldly, “That day you said ‘The restaurants in the prosperous areas of the capital are full of wealthy sons in the hall, and it is not uncommon for princes and nobles to chat and drink tea in the elegant rooms upstairs’. Your words revealed that you are well-versed in the trends of the powerful. Could it be that you stole this jade pendant?”

“You’re right.” Ye Yueshen didn’t care, “I stole it. Are you going to report me to the government? Or to skip the roundabout steps, I’ll tell you frankly that I stole it from Qi Wang. You can go to Qi Wang Manor to inform them now. If you didn’t get on the line last time, I’ll give you an excuse this time.”

Yun Bianyin’s face flushed red with anger at his words, and he couldn’t help but slap the table with a small amplitude, glaring at Ye Yueshen, “You…”

“Why are you arguing?” The teacher clapped the wood in front.

Yun Bianyin stood up and saluted respectfully, apologizing to the teacher.

Ye Yueshen, who didn’t know much about their classroom rules, also stood up and saluted, but didn’t say anything.

Someone had already expressed dissatisfaction, “Does Young Master Yun have to get along with Yue Third Master?”

“Why bother, Yue Third Master is the most amiable and easy to talk to. Young Master Yun has repeatedly picked on Yue Third Master’s faults, which is a bit too calculating.”

Everyone was speaking to Ye Yueshen. The teacher scolded them to shut up, “You two go stand in the outer corridor and wake up your brains.”

Ye Yueshen nodded to the teacher and left without hesitation. Yun Bianyin was obviously receiving this kind of treatment for the first time, with a cold face and very unconvinced.

He was somewhat restrained in the classroom just now, but when they arrived at the outer corridor, both of them couldn’t help it.

Yun Bianyin spoke first, “If you steal something, the reputation of the Ye family will be ruined by you, and even I will be implicated. According to the closeness of relatives, I am your cousin, and I am also your classmate and fellow student. Is there no reason for me to ask you a question and advise you to go astray?”

“You better be as upright as you say.” Ye Yueshen had been in close contact with Gong Xunwu and had also learned some of the tricks of intimidating people, looking at him expressionlessly, “Instead of being jealous of me.”

“I’m jealous of you?” Yun Bianyin frowned and glared. Obviously, his cultivation was not deep enough. People with truly strong cores would not get angry easily, but he was already close to being exasperated, “If I’m jealous of you, I’ll be betraying the books of sages I’ve read!”

“If you quarrel, it will never end.” The teacher’s gloomy scolding came from the room, “Did the sages teach you to disturb others’ reading? If so, then punish you to go to Lao Yu’s sugar water shop to get half a catty of brown sugar for me. The bill was settled yesterday.”

It was raining outside at this time, and the rain was heavy. There were oiled paper umbrellas in the corridor, but the mud on the ground was dirty, and it was not a good road to walk.

Yun Bianyin took the umbrella and left first. Ye Yueshen didn’t know the way, so he took an umbrella and followed him.

There were many fewer people on the street than usual. Ye Yueshen called a servant to follow him at the door. He didn’t want to be murdered in the misty rainy day without anyone knowing.

There were very few people on the road. The sugar water shop was not very far away. The two arrived in a quarter of an hour. There were not many people in the shop. The shopkeeper was yawning while serving honey dumplings to a young man.

The young man turned his head, and Ye Yueshen met his eyes. It was still an acquaintance.

Because he was outside, Liu Qingying politely gave him an ordinary greeting.

Ye Yueshen returned the greeting politely, but instead startled Liu Qingying.