Chapter 23: Transcendental Prince's Accusation
"Ting Yue, this consort has said so before, regardless of whether it's you or Liu Xing, this consort has sworn to protect you from the day you chose to follow this consort. Since Ye Liyu has hurt you, this consort will make him pay tenfold for it! Rest well. Once you wake up, you'll see this consort's sincerity." Yao Mowan's eyes were cold and she stayed there for a long while before returning to the main hall of Guan Osprey Palace.
"Yao Mowan, were you scared dumb by him or something? Why didn't you call for Yin Xue!?" The moment Yao Mowan stepped into the main hall, Ye Junqing abruptly rushed over and threw angry questions at her.
"Calling Yin Xue out in that sort of situation would only serve to alert the enemy. The gains do not make up for the losses." Despite the fact that Ye Junqing was reproaching her, she actually felt happy.
"The gains do not make up for the losses? A situation in which the gains do not make up for the losses would be if someone found out that you were killed by someone with third-rate martial arts despite having a hidden guard of the Yin clan with you!" Ye Junqing voiced his disagreement.
"Is Prince worried about Mowan?" Yao Mowan lifted her brows with a slight smile.
"This prince… This prince is just worried about Yin Xue's future prospects! If someone found out that her master had died in such a pathetic way, she wouldn't be able to survive in these circles anymore!" It was only now that Ye Junqing realized that he was acting a little too excitable. He immediately turned around and tried to feign calmness while coming up with an explanation.
"Yin Xue, hurry and thank the esteemed prince. It's rare for him to worry about someone else!" said Yao Mowan teasingly.
"Thank you, Prince!" A distant-sounding voice reverberated in the air above Guan Osprey Palace, but the origin of the voice couldn't be located.
"But the person that should be saying thanks isn't saying it…" muttered Ye Junqing. For better or for worse, he had saved her life, so shouldn't there at least be a word of thanks?
"What did Prince say?" Yao Mowan walked gracefully over to Ye Junqing's side and leaned over slightly as she asked this.
"Cough cough… Nothing, just eat! Why isn't anyone bringing up the food? Where are the servants?" When Ye Junqing felt the warm breath that hit his cheek, his heart abruptly sped up. To conceal his embarrassment, he picked up his bowl, but Yao Mowan took it out of his hands.
"What are you doing?" Ye Junqing looked towards Yao Mowan in confusion.
"Ting Yue has been severely injured by Ye Liyu and is still unconscious. There aren't any other palace maids in Guan Osprey Palace right now, so allow Mowan to attend to Prince's meal. Treat it as thanks for your life-saving grace. Don't worry, Prince, Mowan never owes favors. Mowan will find a chance to return this favor, so Prince shouldn't try to ask Mowan to repay with her body for this!" As she spoke, she filled the bowl with porridge before pushing it back towards him.
"Do you have a fever? Why would this prince ever force you to repay with your body? If it weren't for the fact that you were Moxin's younger sister, this prince wouldn't have even gotten involved!" Ye Junqing's face flushed as he denied this.
"Oh? Yao Suluan is also Eldest Sister's younger sister though. Why hadn't Prince jumped into Jade Lake to save her? I hear that her current fever is quite severe." Yao Mowan threw a couple of the pastries to Fluffy and Jewel before looking towards Ye Junqing to hear his reply.
"How could she possibly be the same!?" At some point, Ye Junqing came to only think of Yao Mowan as Yao Moxin's younger sister.
"Out of everything that Prince has said, this last sentence is the most pleasing. Those who aren't born of the same mother are inherently different. Even though the transcendental prince had been arrogant enough to barge into Guan Osprey Palace, His Majesty still didn't do much to punish him! However, there's no way Mowan can just swallow this anger," said Yao Mowan leisurely.
"What are you planning?" Ye Junqing looked towards Yao Mowan as he silently said a few prayers for Ye Liyu. Out of everyone he could've offended, he had chosen to offend this personification of pestilence. There was no way this demon was going to let him off.
"Since you don't share the same mother, you should spare yourself the worry." Ye Junqing was speechless. It really sounded like Yao Mowan had been planning to say this from the start. He felt his hair rise on end upon seeing Yao Mowan's slight smile, but it really wasn't his business. Ye Liyu should just pray for himself.
After breakfast, Yao Mowan called for Yin Xue and gave her a few instructions before leaving the imperial palace with Liu Xing to head back to Prime Minister Yao's residence. It had been a long time since she had last visited. As a daughter, no matter what she needed to congratulate her father on having obtained a son.
Inside the imperial study, Ye Hongyi glanced up at Ye Liyu who had already been standing in front of the dragon desk for almost an hour. He threw the brush aside and sighed heavily.
"Liyu, we really can't understand. How did Consort Yao offend you? Why must you make things difficult for her? She's a fool so life is already very difficult for her, but you actually tried to kill her! What exactly are you thinking?" Whenever Ye Hongyi recalled how scared Yao Mowan had been that day, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to yell at Ye Liyu.
"Imperial Older Brother, what must this subject brother say for you to believe? That Yao Mowan isn't a fool at all! She's just pretending! This subject brother hadn't hit her that day!" Ye Liyu wanted to argue, but Ye Hongyi stopped him.
"If this is all you're going to say, we don't want to listen. If you don't have anything else to say, you can leave!" Ye Hongyi firmly believed in the fact that Yao Mowan was a fool! He trusted his own eyes more than Ye Liyu's claims.
"Fine! This subject brother won't mention Yao Mowan anymore. What about Ye Junqing? Imperial Older Brother, why didn't you just kill him? Leaving him alive will surely cause a disaster! Not only that, you're actually allowing him to stay in Guan Osprey Palace. You couldn't have forgotten how he had always loved the empress. Now you're letting him stay with the empress's younger sister…" Before Ye Liyu could finish his words, Ye Hongyi abruptly slapped the desk and stood up with a cold glare.
"Ye Liyu! We've told you not to mention the empress in front of us! You shouldn't think that you can do whatever you like without any consequences just because you're our biological younger brother! Get out!" Ye Hongyi pointed towards the doors angrily.
Ye Liyu was stunned by Ye Hongyi's reaction. He still had more to say, but when he saw Ye Hongyi's cold glare, he forced his words back.
The moment the palace doors closed, the light in Ye Hongyi's eyes became even colder. He clenched both his fists, then angrily slapped all the memorials off the desk. It was a long time before he finally collapsed back onto the dragon seat. Yao Moxin, you've already died! You can't torment us anymore! You won't ever be able to torment us again!
Ye Liyu was very puzzled as he left the imperial study. Why was it such a taboo to bring up Yao Moxin in front of Imperial Older Brother? Perhaps he missed her too much? After all, everyone could see how much Yao Moxin had done to help Imperial Older Brother obtain the throne. If there was no Yao Moxin, the current Imperial Older Brother wouldn't exist. Ye Liyu had always felt this. If it weren't for her relationship with Ye Junqing, he would've respected this imperial sister-in-law a lot more.
Just as he was sinking into his thoughts, a young eunuch ran over to him.
"Reporting, Transcendental Prince, the steward of your residence is currently waiting at the palace doors. He said that something terrible has happened to the residence and asks that you hurry back," reported the young eunuch as he gasped for breath.
"Something's happened? What?" Ye Liyu furrowed his brows, causing the scar on his face to look even more sinister.
"This servant doesn't know," replied the eunuch respectfully. Ye Liyu quickened his steps as a bad premonition hit him. Most people found their bad premonitions to be most accurate, and Ye Liyu was clearly part of this majority.
When Ye Liyu opened the doors to his residence, he froze in shock. The place was a mess and all of the servants were on the ground, convulsing in pain while vomiting blood.
"This… What's going on!?" Ye Liyu's brows furrowed tightly as he stepped inside and looked around incredulously. The entire residence seemed to have been turned over. Not only were all the servants severely injured, all the plants in the residence had been uprooted and all the antiques on display had been smashed. The thing Ye Liyu couldn't tolerate the most was the fact that even the hunting dog that he had been raising in the back courtyard had been severely injured.
__________Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira's Corner]Another little change. I'm still using the royal we for the king, but I've removed the italics because I feel like it interrupts the flow of the words too much.
