This couple is wicked and will surely be punished.

Ye Xianya had already calculated that Fang Dayong would break his leg while chopping firewood on the mountain early next year, leaving him with a lifelong disability, and the family's life would certainly not be as good as it is now.

The child in Wang's womb could not be saved in the end.

Fang Dayong will come looking for Fang Qi and his sister.

“When I’m older, I’ll be able to support my sister.” Fang Qi said, turning his head to look at the small courtyard at home, clenching his fists tightly: “If I could, I would never want to come back.”

Over the past two years, he has become completely disillusioned with his father and has no intention of returning once he leaves.

"Then let's stay at Peach Blossom Residence!" These matters can be left to Auntie to arrange; Ye Xianya doesn't have time to worry too much.

Seeing them leave like that, Wang grabbed Fang Dayong's arm: "You good-for-nothing, you just let her take the child away like that? You should at least give her thirty taels of silver, if not fifty!"

"I...I can't do anything about it!" Fang Dayong said with trembling hands, "My wife, you saw it too, they are really too powerful. My whole body is still in a lot of pain, like it's falling apart."

"Don't be angry, my wife. Haven't you always disliked Fang Qi and his sister? It's better that they've been taken away. We won't have to support them anymore." Fang Dayong said, gently touching Wang's swollen belly. "The one in your belly is our precious child."

"Of course!" Wang glared at him and said somewhat irritably, "No matter what, we still lost out. If we had known this would happen, we should have sent them to the brokerage in the capital to sell. We could have gotten at least twenty taels of silver."

Fang Dayong's expression turned somewhat unpleasant upon hearing this.

Their family is doing quite well; they haven't come to the point of selling their child.

"I'm a virgin, and marrying you is already a disservice to me. You promised to send them away and have them fostered by your aunt, which is why my mother agreed to let me marry you, but..."

Wang rolled her eyes at Fang Dayong: "You went back on your word first. I only scolded and beat them a few times, what's that? These two little rascals even ran off with someone else, they're such ungrateful wretches..."

"Yes, yes, yes, my wife is right!" Fang Dayong nodded quickly.

At first, he was reluctant to part with the two children left by his first wife and still loved them. But as time went on, he became afraid of Wang Shi and let her have her way in everything.

After hearing what the two men said, the villagers who were watching spat and dispersed.

Ye Xianya originally wanted to hire a horse-drawn carriage to go back, but Santang Village was quite remote. By the time they reached the main road, it was already very late, and they still hadn't seen any horse-drawn carriages available for rent.

Zhengzheng then carried everyone back together.

It was strong, and Fang Qi and his sister were very thin, so it was no big deal for it.

However, it didn't want to carry anyone else, except for Ye Xianya, so it didn't make the suggestion at first.

Ye Xianya brought the brother and sister back to Taoyuan Residence, where Zhou quickly settled them in.

By the time she returned to the palace, it was almost dark.

As usual, Ye Miaoyun and Qi Jiu were waiting for her to have dinner together.

"Xianya, it's already night. Don't leave the palace. Go stay at Liuyun Palace instead." After dinner, Ye Miaoyun opened the window, looked at the twinkling stars outside, and turned to say to her daughter.

"Okay!" Ye Xianya nodded. For her, it didn't matter where she lived. She wasn't picky, as long as her mother was at ease.

Ye Miaoyun smiled and quickly took her hand, escorting her daughter to Liuyun Palace.

The mother and daughter chatted for a while longer before Ye Miaoyun returned to the East Palace.

When she finished washing up and returned to her dormitory, she found that Qi Jiu was still waiting for her.

"Can't sleep?" Ye Miaoyun asked, somewhat surprised.

This person has been busy with state affairs lately, so he gets up very early every day and goes to bed early as well.

It's getting late today!

"I can't sleep without holding my wife!" Qi Jiu said as he reached out to hug Ye Miaoyun.

Ye Miaoyun blushed and was about to say something when she heard Qi Jiu's rather ambiguous voice: "Wife, we agreed before that we would have a child. Have you forgotten?"

"No... I haven't forgotten!" Ye Miaoyun shook her head.

Since they have become husband and wife and accepted each other, there is no reason for them to sleep in separate rooms.

The two had been living together before they even went to Beijing.

However, Qi Jiu has become more persistent than before.

He's not young anymore, yet he's so unrestrained. Ye Miaoyun worries that his body can't handle it, and occasionally tries to dissuade him, but the man simply won't listen to her.

"Xianya gave us some medicine to nourish our bodies and said that we would definitely have our own children. Of course, we can't let our daughter down. We have to work hard." Qi Jiu said, kissing Ye Miaoyun as he spoke. "Xianya must also be hoping that we will give her a younger brother or sister soon."

In the past, Qi Jiu didn't care about this.

After all, Ye Miaoyun is over thirty years old, so whether she can have children or not is not important.

However, he is about to inherit the throne, which will be different from before.

He had Ye Miaoyun ask Xianya privately, and Xianya said that they could definitely have a child of their own. With her around, Ye Miaoyun would definitely not suffer any harm to her body, so... he has been working extra hard lately.

Don't think he didn't know; the fifth and seventh princes thought he couldn't have children and were hoping to give him their sons so he could inherit the throne.

No way!

...

In the extremely famous Qingfeng Teahouse in Beijing, Ye Xianya and Qi Chengshuo sat facing each other, enjoying freshly brewed tea.

"This Yunwu Qingcha is extremely famous, you should try it!" Qi Chengshuo said as he poured the tea.

"Mmm!" Ye Xianya took a sip and nodded gently.

Her master was a great tea connoisseur, and in her previous life, Ye Xianya would always bring back fine tea for her master whenever she went down the mountain.

However, even the best tea can't compare to the deliciousness of Lingcha.

The so-called "spiritual tea" is a tea tree that has absorbed a great deal of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, undergoing a complete transformation and becoming something far beyond the ordinary.

Tea leaves picked from this type of tea tree are extremely rare and hard to come by.

Once, when Master went on a journey, he obtained some tea and specially brewed it for his fellow disciples to try. That kind of tea could leave a lingering fragrance on one's lips and teeth for several days, with a sweet aftertaste.

Moreover, it has the effect of refreshing the mind and improving eyesight; drinking more of it can also nourish one's soul.

As Ye Xianya was reminiscing about the past, a commotion suddenly broke out on the street below the teahouse.

"It must be people from the Taiyi Sect who have arrived," Ye Xianya said, looking out the window.

Before long, the city guards came to clear the way.

A group of Taoist priests dressed in robes came over, surrounding one person.

The man, dressed in a dark blue robe with a jade pendant hanging from his waist, rode a large blue wolf as he slowly approached.

This dark blue robe is the Taoist robe of male disciples of the Taiyi Sect, and only inner disciples can wear it.

The jade pendant hanging from his waist was also a symbol of his status as an inner disciple.

As for the blue wolf, Ye Xianya had seen it before; it was a spirit beast of the Taiyi Sect.

In the Taiyi Sect, besides the sect leader and elders, some of the direct disciples also possess spirit beasts.

The sect will also lend spirit beasts to disciples who go out on missions.

"How was it? Could you beat him?" Qi Chengshuo asked with a smile after the others had walked away.

Ye Xianya glanced at him and said calmly, "If the two of us join forces and unleash our full power, we still have a 50% chance of success. If we're not afraid of getting injured... we have a 90% chance."

"What if I join you?" Zhengzheng, who was drinking a little wine nearby, flew over and asked expectantly.

"It's already quite good that you were able to hold off the blue wolf he brought."

Ye Xianya frowned slightly as she spoke: "Among the many spirit beasts of the Taiyi Sect, that blue wolf is only of average strength. It only joined the Taiyi Sect more than a hundred years ago, and it is still no match for the Xuan Turtle and the Red Serpent that we saw a few days ago."

Upon hearing this, Zhengzheng's golden eyes lit up.

"Of course, precisely because its strength is average, whenever a disciple goes out to carry out a mission, especially... to preside over the Daoist Grand Competition in the capital, it is almost always the wolf that carries the person. This blue wolf is extremely fast; it can travel thousands of miles from Taiyi Sect to the capital in a single day."

Ye Xianya smiled and said, "Although it can't fly, it's just as fast as you. If a fight breaks out, be careful."

"Don't worry, sister, I will do my best!" Zhengzheng flapped her wings and said with a solemn expression.

It's not that it's weak, but rather that these spirit beasts have cultivated for far longer than it. In their eyes, it's just a little kid who hasn't even grown all its feathers yet.

Ultimately, it's because he's young that he suffers!

"Let's go, let's go and see!" Ye Xianya said, then stood up.

Qi Chengshuo followed him, and the two left the teahouse and headed towards the palace.

The annual Taoist Grand Competition is held outside the Imperial Palace. The arena has been set up, and the people of the capital can go and watch.

It can be said that the first day of the Taoist Grand Competition was even more lively than the New Year, and it was practically a grand event in the capital.

Of course, because there were tens of thousands of people maintaining order, there was never any trouble.

When Ye Xianya and Qi Chengshuo arrived, Yu Yanzhong was standing proudly in the center of the arena, looking down at everyone.

As a disciple of the third elder of the Taiyi Sect, Yu Yanzhong felt an overwhelming sense of superiority when he looked at these ordinary people.

Although he was over fifty years old, he looked only in his early thirties, in the prime of his life, because he had been cultivating for many years and nourishing his body with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

"Everyone, I am Yu Yanzhong, a disciple of the Third Elder of the Taiyi Sect. Thirty years ago, I defeated all my opponents here and gained the favor of the Taiyi Sect, becoming its disciple. Today, I am here on the orders of the sect to preside over this year's Daoist Grand Competition to select disciples for the Taiyi Sect. All of you Daoists are welcome to step onto the arena and test your Daoist skills. The winner will be admitted to the Taiyi Sect," Yu Yanzhong said loudly.

He deliberately used mystical arts, his voice resounding throughout the heavens and earth, even reaching Qi Jiu and the others deep within the palace.

It is said that all members of the Taoist sect can compete on the arena. In fact, the Taoist disciples usually spar with each other. Before Yu Yanzhong arrived, they had already competed in advance at Xuantian Temple, the top of the ten major Taoist sects.

According to the annual rules, five hundred Taoist priests from all over the world can participate in the grand competition, and the candidates have already been selected.

At Yu Yanzhong's command, the Taoist priests drew lots and began the competition.

"This competition will last for about a month, until the Chinese New Year," Qi Chengshuo said in a low voice.

"Yes!" Ye Xianya nodded. She had already spotted the people from Yunxiao Palace in the crowd, including the palace master Xie Peng.

The members of the ten major Taoist sects each wear different Taoist robes, making them quite easy to identify.

The Taoist temples outside the capital city all wore similar robes, except that each temple had some markings on the back of its robes to distinguish them.

"Senior Brother!" Xie Peng found Yu Yanzhong and hurriedly bowed, his face full of excitement.

Last month, Feng Daozhi, the abbot of Xuantian Temple, told him that Yu Yanzhong would be presiding over the Taoist Grand Competition this year.

Xie Peng was overjoyed; he had been looking forward to it for many days, and finally, his long-awaited arrival was here.

Yu Yanzhong glanced at Xie Peng and frowned slightly: "So it's Fifth Junior Brother."

He glanced at Xie Peng's attire, his brows furrowing even more: "Are you now in charge of the Cloud Palace?"

"Yes, thanks to Master's trust, when he passed away, he entrusted Yunxiao Palace to Junior Brother. Senior Brother... our Yunxiao Palace also has many promising talents, and we hope Senior Brother will take care of them." Xie Peng said in a low voice.

"A promising talent?" Yu Yanzhong sneered upon hearing this: "A bunch of wicked and crooked people, where would they find a promising talent?"

He came from Yunxiao Palace and had just checked all six people from Yunxiao Palace who participated in this year's sect competition. Not only were they all mediocre, but they also... had the aura of evil cultivators.

Including Xie Peng right in front of me!

Even if the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is scarce, it hasn't fallen to the point where it has to rely on evil arts to cultivate!

He had already used his powerful soul force to investigate and found that most of the Taoists participating in the sect competition were righteous people.

Only the six people from Yunxiao Palace had the aura of evil cultivators.

"Senior Brother!" Xie Peng's spine slumped completely, his face covered in cold sweat: "We... our Cloud Palace is not what it used to be. If we hadn't embarked on this path, we would have ceased to exist long ago. Now... the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is scarce, and cultivation is not easy. Junior Brother is also at his wit's end!"

He was even wearing a magical artifact to conceal his evil cultivation aura, but Yu Yanzhong still managed to see through it.

However, Yu Yanzhong was once a disciple of Yunxiao Palace, and now he's doing quite well. We can't forget his roots and destroy Yunxiao Palace, can we?

That's why Xie Peng didn't bother to say anything more and just admitted it!

They used to be fellow disciples and had a very good personal relationship. The senior brother would definitely not kill him!

"You step aside for now, we'll talk about the rest later!" Yu Yanzhong said in a deep voice.

Just now, when the two brothers were talking, Yu Yanzhong deliberately set up a barrier to ensure that no one could hear what they were saying.

"Yes!" Xie Peng responded and quickly stepped back, standing with the other leaders of the nine major Daoist sects.

Seeing that he had escaped unscathed, Feng Daozhi knew that the envoy from Taiyi Sect would neither destroy Yunxiao Palace nor Xie Peng.

He subconsciously looked outside, trying to find Ye Xianya, and he actually found her.

That girl definitely won't let it go.

If Xie Peng wants to live, he will probably ask Yu Yanzhong to kill Ye Xianya.

It's hard to say who will win in the end.

Not only was Feng Daozhi looking at Ye Xianya, but Xie Peng also discovered Ye Xianya.

This damned girl killed his son!

Xie Peng stared intently at Ye Xianya, his eyes filled with resentment and venom.

After learning that Fang Yuzhen, the abbot of Biyun Temple, had died at the hands of Ye Xianya, he hurriedly left Yunxiao Palace and went into hiding, only daring to appear today.

To avenge his son and to protect himself and the entire Cloud Palace, he was determined to ask his senior brother to kill that damned girl!