WMSG Chapter 8

Chapter 8 How Much Did You See?

With his emotions valued and well taken care of, Ye Yueshen felt a slight, comfortable ache in both his stomach and heart.

Seeing the Junzhu standing right beside him, he gently pushed away Ye Lingshen, then turned and buried himself in the Junzhu’s embrace, softly calling out, “Mother.”

The moment the word left his lips, he was a little surprised himself, his cheeks quickly flushing a rosy pink.

In his childhood dreams, he often woke up calling for his mother. After growing up and becoming accustomed to the coldness of the world, this address had become an embarrassing thing he couldn’t bring himself to say.

If he had to transmigrate into a world where he had to call someone “Mother,” he would find it difficult to say.

The term “Mother,” both warm and intimate, yet unfamiliar and uncommon, perfectly alleviated the inferiority and resistance that came from years of yearning, making it just right for him.

The Junzhu held him close, feeling for a moment as if she were caring for a young child.

Ye Lingshen, however, became the first choice for his younger brother’s reliance in front of his parents and older brother, which gave rise to a bit of arrogance. His attitude naturally carried some reproach. He thought that if only he was the one his brother ran into the arms of, then naturally he would have fulfilled his duty as an older brother.

He coldly said, “Yesterday, San Yueshen was almost hit by an arrow, and the lodging where we rested at night caught fire. With one scare after another, plus the fatigue of walking down the mountain, how could he withstand Father showing off his authority? After escaping death, he should be crying in our arms.”

“What?” The Junzhu cupped Ye Yueshen’s face and carefully examined it all over, then pushed up his sleeves to check. After not seeing any wounds, she let him go and pulled Ye Lingshen over to examine him as well.

Ye Daijin and Ye Yuanshen both looked tense. After exchanging a glance, they both fell into thought, wondering who would find it necessary to do such a thing to their son and brother.

Since Ye Lingshen didn’t believe his words, Ye Yueshen chose not to waste his breath at the moment, waiting for them to speak first.

Ye Yuanshen spoke first, asking Ye Lingshen about several old disputes he had with others, demanding that Ye Lingshen explain the whole story in detail, without missing any details.

Even though Ye Yueshen felt that his second brother had already spoken very thoroughly, his eldest brother was still able to ask for more information in some of the pauses.

After a long time, Ye Lingshen, finally let off the hook, went to the side to drink water. Ye Yuanshen then turned his gaze to another brother.

The Junzhu and Marquis Ye were both relieved and quietly listened on the side, not even needing to speak. Their eldest son was already properly handling things in their place.

Ye Yueshen recalled the details from the book, automatically omitting the part about Gong Shengyin, and narrating as much as possible from his own perspective: “That day, Mother was talking to the Empress Dowager, and I had nothing to do, so I went to the Imperial Garden. But the Imperial Garden is also uninteresting when it’s not the flowering season, so I was planning to go back when…”

He pondered for a moment. If he wasn’t familiar with Gong Shengyin and these princes, let alone the servants in front of the Third Prince.

Ye Yuanshen pressed, “What happened?”

“A palace servant told me that some winter jasmine was blooming in the east, so I followed the direction he pointed in. Gong, the Fifth Prince, ran towards me, with many palace servants chasing and bullying him, so I scolded them.”

Ye Yuanshen only asked after he finished speaking, “Which palace servant was it?”

“I don’t know him.” Ye Yueshen could only lie, but he followed Ye Yueshen’s train of thought and pondered for a while longer.

Could it be that it wasn’t the Fourth Prince, but the Third Prince’s men who were chasing him? But that made no sense at all. The Third Prince’s men guiding him to witness the Fifth Prince being surrounded and chased by the Fourth Prince, and the Third Prince plotting to murder him, were two things that had no logic to them at all.

Ye Yuanshen asked again, “How did they bully the Fifth Prince? How much did you see?”

This matter was originally Ye Yueshen’s personal understanding in the original book. Strictly speaking, all he saw was the palace servants chasing Gong Shengyin.

Ye Yueshen felt embarrassed on behalf of the previous Ye Yueshen, “They… were chasing the Fifth Prince.”

As soon as he said the answer, the atmosphere became solemn. Ye Yuanshen had a squinting movement when he fell into contemplation.

Ye Lingshen, on the other hand, found it somewhat absurd. He chuckled briefly, “Obviously, this isn’t worth the Fourth Prince killing to silence him. Besides, Mother has already taken San Yueshen into the palace to see the Empress Dowager. Unless the Fourth Prince is crazy.”

The Marquis Ye and the Junzhu simultaneously gave him a reproachful look, dissatisfied with him easily saying something like “the prince is crazy.”

After another moment of silence, Ye Yueshen fell into thought, even more focused than his parents and older brother, who were more sophisticated. After all, the other party was aiming for his life.

It was impossible for there to be no discord between the princes. This matter also didn’t cause any waves. At least no one was punished by the Emperor and Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager also mediated for him in the middle. The Fourth Prince wouldn’t disrespect the Empress Dowager.

Targeting Ye Yueshen at this time would be targeting the Ye Manor, and at the same time offending the Empress Dowager. The Fourth Prince’s character setting in the original novel had always leaned towards intelligence. He was clever as a child, and resourceful and smooth as he grew up. He wouldn’t be unable to see this bit of gain and loss.

This matter wasn’t worth murdering Ye Yueshen for. Ye Yueshen unconsciously muttered, “Killing… silencing…”

Killing to silence.

Ye Yueshen suddenly remembered the Third Prince’s servant he had encountered.

Having just finished the college entrance examination for more than two months, Ye Yueshen, who had practiced hundreds of reading comprehension questions, felt that since this was a novel plot, there shouldn’t be meaningless strokes.

That servant was definitely deliberately guiding him.

The servant guiding him over might not have been to make him witness Gong Shengyin being bullied, but perhaps to make him become a witness for Gong Shengyin pushing the Fourth Prince into the water.

If he became this witness, then the person who would silence him would be the murderer – Gong Shengyin.

Ye Yueshen’s fingers trembled slightly as he gripped the velvet cushion beneath him.

Although he didn’t witness Gong Shengyin pushing someone into the water in the original novel, Gong Shengyin, who failed to commit the crime for the first time, might not be suspicious.

Gong Shengyin’s setting in the original novel was gloomy, scheming, petty, and ruthless. The protagonist who became the final winner couldn’t be anything but cautious and careful.

Faced with this unclear situation, was the white moonlight really worth the peace of mind of a permanent solution?

Ye Yueshen remembered the plot where someone wanted to expose the murderer who killed Ye Yueshen in the ending, in exchange for a chance to save their life.

At that time, Gong Shengyin’s reply was, “No need, I’ll kill you all, and one of you will be the murderer.”

Was it really “no need,” or was he clearer than anyone else?

Ye Yueshen adjusted his breathing and pretended to be calm, but there were still many vague points and intuitive things that felt wrong about this conjecture.

Ye Yuanshen had obviously thought of silencing as well. He asked again, “Xiao Yueshen, did you see anything else?”

Ye Yueshen pondered for a moment, and decided to only give the perspective of the original Ye Yueshen. He couldn’t interfere with or mislead his older brother from the perspective of a reader. That was just his hindsight after knowing the result. Before things were settled, he couldn’t determine the truth.

“I’ve said everything I saw.” Ye Yueshen said, “If there are any details I haven’t remembered, I’ll tell you when I remember them.”

Ye Yuanshen nodded, not putting any pressure on him. Seeing that his father and mother didn’t say anything, he temporarily put this matter aside and told them, “Three days later, the Fourth Prince will be rewarded with a manor and will hold a banquet to invite us. Yesterday, the Fourth Prince personally spoke up during the morning court, inviting the three of us brothers to attend, especially Xiao Yueshen.”

The Junzhu nodded, “It should be. The Empress Dowager sent someone to invite the Fourth Prince that day, but the Fourth Prince claimed to have something to do and declined. But we have no reason to decline.”

Ye Lingshen didn’t cooperate, “I’m still in confinement for my sins, so it’s inconvenient for me to show my face.”

“No.” Ye Yuanshen’s tone was calm and left no room for argument, “I have something to do in the capital that day, so you must go with Xiao Yueshen, and try to stay by his side at the banquet.”

The Junzhu and Marquis Ye meant the same thing. Ye Lingshen forced the corners of his mouth into a flat line, pretending to smile without any emotion, which could be considered as agreeing, but he wasn’t very happy.

The princes of the Great Yu Dynasty were usually granted a prince’s estate after their coming-of-age ceremony. From then on, they could either stay overnight in the palace or leave the palace to live in the prince’s estate after registering.

There were also a few princes who were favored by the Emperor, or who had made contributions, who would be able to receive this honor before their coming-of-age ceremony. But there were also those whose coming-of-age ceremony had passed but the Emperor hadn’t mentioned it for a long time, and they only received their mansion when they were granted a marriage.

The Fourth Prince was granted a mansion at the age of nineteen, only a month later than the Third Prince, who had just come of age.

The Fourth Prince, Gong Xuyin, should be considered the protagonist Gong Shengyin’s first enemy in life. When the dust had settled and the years were quiet and good, Gong Shengyin mentioned this Fourth Brother with a gloomy look in his eyes, saying that he was the first lesson that imperial power taught him: the imperial family doesn’t value kinship.

Gong Xuyin was the most common type of bad kid, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. He was servile to his older and stronger brothers, and he insulted and bullied Gong Shengyin, who was a year younger than him.

But he happened to have some intelligence and cleverness, knowing when to hide his malice. In front of the adults and elders, he pretended to be kind.

Because of this, he was very favored by the Emperor. The Third Prince was only granted a mansion after his coming-of-age ceremony, but he was granted one before he even came of age, and was only a month behind the Third Prince, which outsiders saw as great favor.

Ye Yueshen felt that the protagonist’s darkening was inseparable from the early groundwork laid by this Fourth Prince.

On the way, Ye Yueshen remembered that he had been reminded by the Matron that his etiquette was not proper. He asked Ye Lingshen, who was eating dou rong pastry, “Second Brother, the Eldest Brother calls himself ‘chen’ when speaking to Qi Wang. I don’t have any official position, what should I call myself when speaking to a prince? Should I call myself ‘commoner’?”

Ye Lingshen recalled, “The few times he entered the palace with his younger brother, his mother was the one who socialized with others, and they rarely got a chance to speak. He hadn’t really noticed how Ye Yueshen used to address himself.”

“Could it be that you haven’t said much at all these years you’ve been in the palace? Mother is really biased, actually always saying that you’re sweet-tongued and make the Empress Dowager happy.” Ye Lingshen snorted, mocked him, and then taught him, “Our family can be considered related to the imperial family, so you can just call yourself by your name when you see a member of the imperial family. When you become an official in the future, you’ll call yourself ‘weichen,’ like Eldest Brother and me.”

Ye Yueshen nodded, “Understood, thank you.” Then he picked up a piece of dou rong pastry and ate it.

“You’ve changed,” Ye Lingshen said.

…Ye Yueshen stopped chewing. After a moment, he slowly chewed again, and asked in a seemingly casual manner, “Really?”

“Changed a lot.” Ye Lingshen turned his head and looked seriously at Ye Yueshen, who had unconsciously opened his mouth slightly in tension. Then he stuffed the dou rong pastry that he had bitten in half into Ye Yueshen’s mouth, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ye Yueshen felt his brain go blank from shock. He forced himself to cheer up and chewed and swallowed the dou rong pastry.

Ye Lingshen’s eyes became deep and suspicious. His younger brother, whom he disliked for being mischievous and frivolous, and with whom he only maintained a superficial relationship, and who usually didn’t interfere with each other, would actually eat the food he fed him without hesitation, and that he had bitten, which was unlikely no matter how he thought about it.

After a moment, Ye Yueshen thought of an excuse: “I forgot a lot of things after waking up from my coma, it’s just…” Ye Yueshen raised his head and looked directly at his older brother, in order to make his excuse more sincere and persuasive, “I seem to have lost a lot of memories. I originally thought it would be fine in a few days, but it’s still blank even now. I didn’t want you to worry, so I didn’t say anything.”

His eyes were clear and moist, like a pool of spring water. Ye Lingshen immediately felt that his younger brother was obedient and pitiful again, reached out and patted his face, and asked, “Really forgot?”

Ye Lingshen’s tone unconsciously became gentle. Ye Yueshen knew that he had fooled him, nodded, “Really forgot, Second Brother, do you think I’ll never remember?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Ye Lingshen comforted him, “Second Brother will ask an imperial physician for you when we get back. If the imperial physician can’t cure it, we’ll look for folk doctors. We’ll definitely make you remember.”

In reality, what he was thinking was, “It’s pretty good like this now, so don’t remember.”

Ye Yueshen completely immersed himself in his acting skills, and took the opportunity to put on a patch in advance: “Second Brother, I’ve forgotten almost all the books I’ve read, what should I do if I become a fool…”

“What’s that?” Ye Lingshen comforted him, “You have parents and older brothers, so how can we be afraid of not being able to support a fool? Besides, you’re not a fool, you’ve just forgotten some things, it’s nothing, Brother isn’t coax you.”

He had been worried about revealing his secrets during the imperial examination these past few days. Now that he had solved a problem by accident, Ye Yueshen felt that he was so awesome. After relaxing, he leaned against the wall of the carriage, slid to the side little by little, leisurely leaning on Ye Lingshen’s shoulder, thinking that he was really eloquent.

When the carriage stopped, Ye Yueshen, who had unknowingly fallen asleep, leaned forward due to inertia. After waking up in surprise, he found that his head had been caught by his older brother.

He rubbed his eyes and asked, “By the way, the Fourth Prince’s housewarming banquet, Qi Wang can’t come, right?”