"My lady. It's the second miss," reminded Hua Yue.
Ye Xingyi "mhmmed" lightly, and from her body's internal memory she knew that Ye Qingyi was treated indulgently by her father, Ye Zuohuo, which made her other sisters, who were birthed by her father's concubines, always fawn upon her, but whenever they could they would always secretly do harm to her.
Truth be told, Ye Qingyi's notorious reputation in the past mostly did credit to her young sisters, and among all of the other girls the most sinister was the second youngest miss, Ye Hongling.
As expected, once Ye Hongling saw Ye Qingyi she motioned swiftly towards her. "Sister, you worried me so much being out for a whole night! I heard that you went to Beauty & Fragrance Pavilion to find Prince Xuan. Is this true? Ah, what's wrong with your forehead, sister? Are you hurt?"
Ye Hongling then tried to pull Ye Qingyi's hand with worry written across her face. Ye Qingyi sneered inwardly. If someone who didn't know Ye Hongling better, they must be moved by her attachment to her sisters. The previous Ye Qingyi was willful but simple.
Ye Hongling bore a mouth that praised and a hand that killed. She was also very scheming, so the previous Ye Qingyi liked Ye Hongling a lot, while she would never know that Ye Hongling envied and hated her the most. Now Ye Hongling spoke loudly and openly about Ye Qingyi's visit to a brothel, which sounded concerned but really she would rather let everyone hear that Ye Qingyi had been to a brothel and not returned home all night. Unsurprisingly, every passer-by locked their gaze onto Ye Qingyi.
Ye Qingyi flicked aside Ye Hongling's stretching hand, wearing a vague smile. "Second sister, what do you mean by this? Are you truly worrying about me, or trying to ruin my reputation as an unmarried maiden?"
I indeed went to Beauty & Fragrance Pavilion. I am honoured to marry Prince Xuan arranged by His Majesty and the wedding ceremony is just around the corner; although it isn't pleasant for Prince Xuan's reputation since he went to such places at this particular time, so I went there to give him a reminder. However, I didn't expect that those women at Beauty & Fragrance Pavilion were so wild and arrogant. Relying on the indulgence of His Highness, they pushed me down and I hurt my forehead. The wound kept bleeding so I had no choice but to spend a night in Beauty & Fragrance Pavilion."
Ye Qingyi didn't speak loudly but what she said had all been conveyed clearly to the ears of those passers-by who judged her just now and whose gaze towards her suddenly changed into sympathy.
Hua Yue's lips twitched as she heard this. She couldn't help recalling how free and unfettered her ladyship was last night while listening songs and drinking leisurely in Beauty & Fragrance Pavilion. Now her ladyship narrated so well the story and the looks of grievance scrawled on her face. If Hua Yue were not there last time with her ladyship, she would really believe that her ladyship cared about Prince Xuan.
Ye Hongling failed to grab Ye Qingyi with her arm poising awkwardly in the air; moreover, when she heard what Ye Qingyi said, Ye Hongling's face suddenly became paler. She then bit her lips in a moment of maliciousness which flashed in her eyes. Ye Hongling suspected in her heart that she felt Ye Qingyi's attitude towards her today had been changed from heaven into hell. She appeared so distant today.
Ye Qingyi didn't want to waste time chatting with Ye Hongling. She intended to go directly to the mansion but Ye Hongling stepped forward ahead of her, blocking her way, and said in an artificially sad tone, "Sister, it's all my fault. I didn't protect you properly, allowing you to get hurt by others. If you had sent someone home last night to give us a message, I would surly have sent our men to pick you up, so that sister didn't have to sleep overnight at such a place and end up with an ill-reputation over nothing."
Ye Qingyi immediately flushed red, cursing Ye Hongling's evilness in her mind. The evil woman said nothing about her staying overnight in a brothel and if this wouldn't make her end up with an ill-reputation then what would?
Ye Qingyi hadn't spoken a word when Hua Yue said nimbly, "Second young Miss, it's all my fault. My lady was bleeding too much at the time and I was too panicked to come up with any ideas, so I forgot there was a way."
Ye Hongling then scolded Hua Yue fiercely. "God-damned maid, if you can't even serve your lady well, what do we have you here for? I may sell you to a brothel someday."
Hua Yue heard this and became white as a sheet, trembling all over.
Ye Qingyi softened her gaze and put on a vague smile. "Is sister reproaching me for not knowing how to discipline my own people? Over-consideration upsets the order of one's mind, so it's perfectly understandable if Hua Yue was a little bit inconsiderate at that moment. But if sister was worried about me so much, why didn't you send someone to look for me last night? Didn't you just say that you've heard I went to Beauty & Fragrance Pavilion? Why didn't you send someone to pick me up there when it was late and I hadn't come back home? So is all this so-called worry and concern you have for me just made-up?"
"Sister, Iā¦" Ye Hongling's whole face turned red and she couldn't find a single word to defend herself.
For a moment, Ye Hongling was in a complicated and uncertain mood, and felt that today's Ye Qingyi was more eloquent than ever before. Ye Qingyi was so wary of her, and had lost all the intimacy she had shared with her before.
Hua Yue looked at her ladyship with both gratification and pleasure. Hua Yue always felt that the second young Miss was a scheming person who did not treat her ladyship with sincerity, though her ladyship wasn't at all aware of it. Hua Yue had reminded her ladyship many times to be wary of the second young Miss but only got scolded as a reward, but now her ladyship had not only stood up for her but spoke so forthrightly to the second young Miss. Hua Yue was almost about to applaud for her ladyship. She felt that her ladyship was becoming more and more profound.
Ye Hongling was frozen on the spot for quite a while. When she calmed down she then found herself being stared at by those passers-by with a mocking sort of look. Ye Hongling was burning with rage and clenched her fist. Her nails pierced her palm making several red scratches but she didn't even feel a thing. She was the one who came to corrupt Ye Qingyi's reputation but now she found the tables had turned!
Ye Hongling was grinding her teeth when, just by then, a carriage with crimson wheels and a grand canopy came from the east to the west. The whole carriage was fringed in gold, which looked even more luxurious in the sunshine. There were pearl tassels on the four corners of the carriage, dancing in the wind. The galloping horses were sweeping white without a speck of other colours. With one glance one could at once tell that the identity of the passenger must not be someone ordinary.
Ye Hongling noticed the luxurious carriage in the distance and her heart fluttered. She had heard that the most mysterious Prince in Donglai State, the Grim Rakshasa Lord had recently returned to the capital. When the horse got a bit nearer she looked at it hard and saw a fearful skull printed on the brocaded curtain of the carriage.
The next moment a flash of ruthlessness appeared in Ye Hongling's eyes. She slightly raised her delicate hands and darted several tiny silver needles into the white horses galloping at full speed. The horses were hurt badly, neighing aloud and then began to run amok, as if out of control.
Ye Qingyi was standing with her back facing the carriage and she was just about to run away from it when Ye Hongling abruptly dragged her and then nimbly pushed her out of the way. Ye Hongling had been cultivating herself in dancing since childhood and she had a firm grip. Ye Qingyi wasn't paying attention to her movements and actually got thrown.
Meanwhile, Ye Hongling shouted aloud, "Ah, sister, grab my hands! Watch out!"
Ye Hongling had manipulated it well. She was the one who committed the crime but not a single detail had betrayed her and she had deceived almost everyone, but what Ye Hongling had really done was perfectly witnessed by the one sitting in the carriage.
Ye Hongling had timed it well, letting Ye Qingyi be thrown so that her whole body smashed against the speeding carriage.