Chapter 4: Saving the Brother Who Was Cheating in the Imperial Examination!

Chapter 4

Ye Xiren lowered her head and did not answer.

The person in the carriage opposite glanced at Liu Duoxi, then looked at Ye Xiren who had bowed her head and stepped aside, and slowly said, "It was my subordinate who was ignorant and offended the young lady."

He looked at the coachman and said calmly, "Go on, Moller, go back and accept your punishment."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiren looked up.

Inside the carriage was a young man with a fair complexion, sharp eyebrows, and bright eyes, quite different from the other rough-skinned people of Northern Yan. He leaned lazily against the carriage, with a charcoal stove nailed to it, burning brightly.

He spoke words of apology, but there was little remorse in them. He was nonchalant, dressed in brocade robes, with a furry fox fur vest that framed his face, making his red lips and white teeth stand out. His gaze casually swept over Ye Xiren, and their eyes met briefly.

Ye Xiren's eyelids twitched, she withdrew her gaze, and stood quietly to the side with her head bowed.

"Yes." The Northern Yan coachman glared at Ye Xiren's coachman, but dared not say anything more. He carefully drove the carriage away, and Liu Duoxi and the others followed. The sounds of their greetings gradually faded into the distance.

A disturbance vanished without a trace.

The coachman, somewhat aggrieved, muttered, "Second Miss, it's not my fault. It was that coachman from Northern Yan who was arrogant and disregarded the rules, suddenly rushing out. If I hadn't reined in the horse in time, I'm afraid..."

Ye Xiren slowly exhaled, her tense shoulders relaxing. She looked at him and said calmly, "So what? Do you want to reason with the Crown Prince of Northern Yan?"

Do you think everyone else is blind and can't see who's wrong?

The coachman, forgetting his anger, exclaimed in shock: "The Crown Prince of Northern Yan? That eldest prince who's known as the military strategist of Northern Yan?!"

The late emperor was young and had no brothers; the current emperor is young and unmarried. Upon hearing the title "Your Highness," Ye Xiren guessed that there was no one else but the prince of Northern Yan, and moreover…

The leader of the Northern Yan delegation this time was none other than the eldest prince of Northern Yan, the next king of Northern Yan, Chi Zhanlan Ce.

If His Highness of the current dynasty could still reason with people, if he had dared to argue with the Northern Yan people a dozen or so years ago, who would dare to mess with the Northern Yan people now that the two countries are at this point of peace talks?

Among the officials who arrived later, the leaders were Liu Duoxi, the Vice Chancellor, and Li Renyi, the Minister of Rites. The Northern Yan delegation was so important that the court had to fawn over them. They couldn't afford to offend Ye Xiren, who was terrified of death and cowardly.

They were lucky today, as they didn't get into any trouble.

The driver was also shaken, repeatedly patting his chest: "Luckily, that person was polite and didn't make things difficult for us."

Thinking of the person he had just seen, he couldn't help but sigh, "I never imagined that the eldest prince of Northern Yan would be such an ethereal being, with such a good temper..."

"Let's go back." Ye Xiren neither agreed nor disagreed, and got back into the carriage.

She didn't have a good impression of the Northern Yan people.

Not to mention their wanton encroachment on Daliang and their various misdeeds.

Just recently, Ye Xiren hadn't forgotten what the Imperial City Guard had said yesterday: when the news of "examination cheating" reached the palace, if it weren't for the Northern Yan people gloating, their entire family might not have been executed immediately... What good impression could there be between national hatred and family feuds?

The driver drove away, this time deliberately slowing down, afraid of running into such an important person again.

On the other side.

Chi Zhanlan Ce suddenly asked, "Whose family are they?"

Li Renyi was taken aback.

Liu Duoxi smiled slightly: "Judging from that carriage, it belongs to the Ye family, Ye Pei, the Minister of Revenue. They only have one son and one daughter, so it must be the second young lady of the Ye family."

Chi Zhanlan nodded.

After a long pause, he said, "He's a smart one."

The carriage finally returned to the Ye residence.

Ye Xiren stood at the door and could vaguely hear the commotion inside, as well as Ye Changming's howling and Liao's attempts to comfort him.

"Mother, I want to go to the imperial examination!"

"Oh dear, calm down. The imperial examinations have already started. How can you go like this? Can you even hold a pen? Besides, you're young. You can take the examinations next time."

"Ahhh!"

...

Chickens flew and dogs barked, creating a lively and chaotic scene.

Ye Xiren lifted her skirt and quickly went inside.

Inside the room, Ye Changming was wailing on the bed: "It hurts so much! Is there any medicine to stop the pain in my arm? This quack doctor!"

"Young master, be careful not to hurt your hand again." Fatty Jin's round face was full of worry. "The doctor said that although it's not serious, it takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, so you'll have to take good care of yourself."

"Yes, the medicine has already been taken, so we just have to bear the pain for now." Madam Liao put the bowl of medicine aside.

Seeing Ye Xiren come in, Liao stood up and said, "Quickly look at your brother. He's been crying nonstop since he came back. His hand injury has been treated, but he couldn't participate in the imperial examination, and he's throwing a tantrum right now."

She shook her head, looking quite helpless.

Ye Changming sat up abruptly, slammed his undamaged hand down, and cursed loudly:

"I don't know which bastard ruined my life, just you wait, I'll definitely find the culprit! Ruin someone's future, what a despicable person! I wish his whole family bad luck, that none of them will pass the exam!"

Ah, this...

Maybe you shouldn't curse yourself?

Ye Xiren subconsciously shrank her neck, feeling a little guilty.

But when he thought of the crimes he had suffered by having his entire family executed several times, and his brother who insisted on going to his death despite being stopped, his guilt vanished.

Liao shook her head and went out. Ye Xiren brought over the candy that was placed beside her, her voice gentle:

"Brother, you'll definitely be the champion next time you go. Maybe the heavens didn't let you participate this time because they were protecting you. Have a candy, don't be angry."

She fed the candy to Ye Changming.

Ye Changming swallowed it in one gulp, moved: "It's still you, little sister, who cares about me the most."

He crunched the candy loudly, forcing out the words from his throat: "Don't let me catch that scoundrel who harmed me!"

"Good sister" Ye Xiren smiled gently and remained silent.

-

When Ye Pei returned from his shift, he had probably already received the news and went straight to Ye Changming's room.

"Father." Ye Xiren put down her book and stood up.

Ye Pei was no longer young, already in his early forties. He didn't look old a few years ago, but since becoming the Minister of Revenue, the continuous wars in Daliang have caused his hair to gradually turn white and his wrinkles to deepen.

But he was thin and slender. You could tell from Ye Xiren and Ye Changming's faces that Ye Pei was a handsome man when he was young. Now that he is older, he is refined and kind.

"Xixi." Ye Pei smiled, looked at Ye Changming who had started howling on the bed, and frowned. "That's enough. If you didn't make it to the imperial examination this time, you can try again next time. What's with all the yelling?"

Ye Xiren took the book and left, leaving the father and son to talk inside.

Ye Xiren walked out of the house.

Outside, the Liao family brought in their account books and were checking the accounts.

Ye Xiren went over and sat down on the stone bench opposite her. Her skirt draped down, and her slender fingers naturally picked up the familiar account book and flipped through it.

Liao looked up for a moment, then lowered her head to continue checking the accounts, saying, "Don't worry about your brother. Let him wail. Not going to the imperial examination isn't a bad thing. Your father and I both disagree with him entering the court now. The situation is too chaotic, and he's impulsive."

After saying that, she pushed the other ledgers over:

"You should calculate how much you spent on shopping last month. You'll be in charge of the household finances after you get married, so if you can't figure it out..."

Ye Xiren's reaction was almost instinctive:

"Twenty-six taels and three mace."

Liao was taken aback, and looked up in surprise: "When did you calculate that?"

Ye Xiren smiled suddenly and shook her head: "I calculated it yesterday."

Wasn't it "yesterday"?

Although it's still the first day of the third lunar month.

Ms. Liao found it strange; when did her daughter settle accounts yesterday? How come she didn't know?

Ye Xiren picked up her pen and wrote down the number, murmuring, "The expenses of the household are getting bigger and bigger. This is just the money for buying rice and vegetables. With grain prices so high, no wonder there are refugees everywhere."

Upon hearing this, Madam Liao sighed deeply, her eyes filled with helplessness. "There's nothing we can do. The war continues, and in March there's a food shortage. The price of grain has risen from ten coins per liter to fifty coins. Our household can still afford to eat, but I wonder how many people have starved to death in the north?"

After the capital was moved south, the Northern Capital was almost entirely left to the Northern Yan. The entire area north of the Huai'an Canal was left to be ravaged by the Northern Yan army. Those fierce barbarians did nothing to ruin the northern land.

Ye Xiren thought of Ma Shan with a sickle hanging from his waist, and of those people who secretly slept in the alleys... The refugees were not allowed to enter the capital, and what she saw in the Southern Capital was only the tip of the iceberg, and the best part of it.

Seeing her frown, Mrs. Liao comforted her again:

"Fortunately, Northern Yan is preparing for peace talks. Since Chi Zhanlan entered the Southern Capital, news has been received from various places one after another. With the court's reassurance, the price of grain has dropped to twenty coins per liter a few days ago. Things will get better."

Ye Xiren nodded.

War is never good. The peace talks haven't even started yet, but the situation is already quite different everywhere. Isn't that a good thing?

She looked at the ledger and calculated the time.

The sun slowly set, time passed slowly, the shadows grew longer and longer, the closed door was quiet and still, without any abnormality, except for the occasional sound of Ye Changming cursing.

Liao had already left, and Ye Xiren sat alone in the courtyard, waiting quietly.

Ta-ta-ta.

Ye Xiren tapped her fingers lightly, counting the time. The sun had set on the horizon, and her eyes gradually welled up with tears. Her eyelids trembled, and a tear fell onto the ledger, splashing gently.

"Miss?" Xuechan exclaimed in surprise and rushed forward.

Ye Xiren shook her head and didn't say anything.

The golden sunset shone on her face. She looked up to meet the light. The fiery red sun on the horizon was not dazzling. It slowly descended, and the clouds surrounded the sun like a circle, layer upon layer, dyeing half the sky red. Flocks of birds flew over the sunset, and white smoke rose from the chimneys of the houses.

As Ye Xiren watched, her face was covered in tears, but a bright smile slowly appeared on her face. Her dark eyes grew brighter and brighter, and the anxiety she had been holding in finally subsided with the setting sun.

A note from the author:

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Ye Xiren: I saved her!

Ye family: ...You're overthinking it.