Chapter 8: Confrontation with the grandmother who secretly possessed evidence of treason!
Chapter 8
The second day of the third lunar month, at the hour of Si (9-11 AM).
Ye Xiren, along with her grandmother and Liao Changying, knelt inside the Buddhist hall. The Bodhisattva statue at the head of the hall was covered with a red cloth, and incense smoke swirled around them. Her grandmother, Zhao, was moving her prayer beads and chanting scriptures.
Ms. Liao prayed for her children's safety and health.
Ye Xiren still clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and looked devout.
It's the second day of the third lunar month again.
After stopping Ye Changming yesterday, she used the excuse of "left foot first" to tie up Liu Xu and throw her into the woodshed, with the aim of controlling him.
Without the willow catkins, what will happen today?
Compared to yesterday's piety, Ye Xiren's mind was filled with other things today. There were countless things to sort out, a complete mess, and a crisis that could strike at any moment, like a guillotine hanging over her head.
Ye Xiren exhaled, counting the time. Then, her eyelids trembled, and she slowly opened her eyes, silently saying: "I'm here."
"Bang!"
The door was kicked open, and familiar footsteps rang out. A dense tremor spread from the door into the Buddhist hall, which Ye Xiren heard particularly clearly today.
These people didn't linger and went straight to the Buddhist hall.
They weren't raiding; they already knew where they were going and were just waiting to find "evidence."
Ye Xiren took a deep breath, closed her eyes again, and then quickly opened them. The fear and terror in her dark eyes were completely hidden, replaced by calmness.
The excessive tension caused her body to tense up, her heart to race, and her clasped hands to tremble slightly uncontrollably, but it did not prevent her mind from becoming increasingly clear and her thoughts from being exceptionally sharp.
Ye Xiren turned her head back.
Lu Qian led his men through the courtyard, stepped onto the corridor, and stormed into the Buddhist hall. He still wore a black veil, his red robes were as red as blood, his eyes were like knives, and he held a scroll of yellow paper edict in his hand, coldly looking at the people inside.
They all carried knives and had fierce expressions, which made people feel terrified.
"What are you doing?!" Liao Changying exclaimed in shock.
Lu Qian said coldly, "Bring your men up."
"Thump."
A person was thrown in, and Ye Xiren immediately looked over and saw that it was Yunxiang from her grandmother's courtyard!
Yunxiang pointed tremblingly at the Bodhisattva statue covered by a red cloth at the head of the table, and said with a guilty expression, "In...inside Guanyin, I saw with my own eyes the old lady put the things in..."
Ye Xiren's fingers tightened.
Sure enough, even without the willow catkins, there was still the fragrance of clouds; what mattered was never the people. It wasn't that the people in Grandmother's courtyard stuffed the thing into the Guanyin statue; rather, that thing had been there from the very beginning!
"What?" Liao Changying was taken aback.
Lu Qian sneered and stepped forward to take the Guanyin statue.
Ye Xiren suddenly stood up, blocking Lu Qian with her body. Her usually gentle voice had a hint of sharpness as she pursed her lips and asked, "What are you doing, sir? Searching the Ye family?"
"Although my Ye family is insignificant, my father is, after all, the Minister of Revenue, a high-ranking official of the second rank, and my grandmother was a Lady of Imperial Decree who served three emperors. Searching the homes of officials... Who is Lord Lu acting on orders, and what is the reason?"
The sound grew clearer and clearer, becoming increasingly resounding.
Lu Qian raised an eyebrow, looked at her with surprise, sized her up, and said meaningfully, "You're quite bold, aren't you?"
Ye Xiren raised her chin, her gentle and beautiful features also showing a cold and aloof demeanor when she was cold-faced, and she did not give an inch. "If you want to search, you must tell me the reason or produce a written statement. Otherwise, this is the Imperial City Guard overstepping its authority."
Being timid is nothing more than being afraid of death.
she……
We've died so many times already, what's there to be afraid of?!
Lu Qian's expression was cold, and his voice was chilling: "Your Ye family is on the verge of death, yet you still dare to be so presumptuous?"
With a slight lift of his hand, he shoved Ye Xiren to the ground, her arm hitting the table where the Guanyin statue was placed with a dull thud.
Ye Xiren let out a soft cry, her face turning pale with pain and her brows furrowing.
"Xixi!" Liao Changying rushed to help her up.
Zhao stood up, turned to look at Lu Qian, her aged face cold. "My granddaughter is right. If Lord Lu wants to search, he must produce an imperial edict and explain the reason. We haven't found any evidence yet, so why are you treating us as suspects?"
Lu Qian's eyes turned dangerous.
Immediately, a mocking expression appeared on his face. He opened the imperial edict in his hand and held it up, saying, "This is a handwritten edict from Zhang Yuanmou, the Vice Minister of State Affairs. All officials in the court must cooperate with the Vice Minister in interrogating the rebels."
“We have already learned from the rebels that your Ye family is an accomplice. My Imperial City Guard has the responsibility to monitor this. Now, there are witnesses who have seen Madam Ye hide evidence of treason inside a Buddha statue. Why can’t I search it?”
Ye Xiren's pupils contracted.
Zhang, the Councilor!
There are two Councilors in Daliang. One is Liu Duoxi, whom I met before, who is currently accompanying and receiving the Crown Prince Chizhan Lance of Northern Yan. The other is Zhang Yuanmou, who is also a Councilor. The Councilors are equivalent to the Vice Chancellors and wield immense power.
...Could it be that it was Councilor Zhang who framed the Ye family?
“Lu Qian, you act recklessly and domineeringly. If we don’t find any evidence of your so-called treason, can my Ye family sue you for abusing your power and being arrogant?”
She held on tightly and wouldn't let go.
The two stood facing each other in front of the covered Guanyin statue, one on the left and one on the right.
Lu Qian's lips curled into a bloodthirsty smile, his eyes fixed on Ye Xiren like a venomous snake. He said, word by word, "You're facing death, and you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin. This little girl is young, but she has quite the temper. She'll fall into my hands later..."
Ye Xiren's heart skipped a beat, but she still looked back at him:
"Please think this through, sir."
The sound stopped abruptly.
On the desk, the red cloth, when pulled back, did not reveal the Guanyin statue as imagined, but rather... a shoe.
The black boots were about the same height as the Guanyin statue, and with the red cloth on top, they looked almost exactly like the Guanyin statue. At this moment, the boots stood here, with mud still stuck to the soles.
It was as if it were a silent mockery.
"You changed?!" Lu Qian's expression changed drastically as he stared intently at Ye Xiren, then glanced at everyone present.
Liao Changying still didn't understand what had happened.
Zhao looked at the shoe, her brows furrowed slightly, then quickly relaxed.
Ye Xiren straightened her back, her slender fingers clenching her clothes, making herself stand still in place. She met Lu Qian's murderous gaze and said, word by word, "What are you saying, sir? We don't understand?"
Where is the Guanyin statue?
"There is no Guanyin statue. Didn't you see it with your own eyes, sir? It's just a shoe."
Lu Qian laughed angrily, smashed the shoe to the ground, pulled out a knife and held it to Ye Xiren's neck, gritting his teeth: "Do you think I'm stupid? A shoe is right here, and you're kneeling... worshipping the shoe?"
It's clearly already been taken!
He just couldn't understand how the Ye family received the news of this sudden operation.
Ye Xiren, with the knife pressed against her neck, remained fearless and slowly smiled.
"It seems you don't understand my family's situation. My brother was injured in the arms and legs on the way to the imperial examination yesterday. We are offering prayers for his speedy recovery, is that not allowed?"
The words had barely left his lips.
A figure was helped in by two other people. Ye Changming was initially anxious, but when he saw the shoe on the floor, he exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? How did my shoe get here?"
He was lying in bed recovering from his injury when he heard a commotion outside and wanted to come out, but he found that he only had one of his favorite boots left. He wasted some time looking for the shoe, so he came now.
"Let go of my sister!" Ye Changming shouted again.
Lu Qian moved from that shoe to Ye Changming's foot. One foot was wrapped in cloth, and since he couldn't find a shoe, he simply wore only one. He was carried over by Fatty Jin and Skinny Silver...
Finally, Lu Qian withdrew his gaze and looked at Ye Xiren again, staring intently without saying a word, his eyes filled with a terrifying murderous intent.
Ye Xiren gripped her skirt tightly and calmly looked back at him: "My lord, there's no rule in the Imperial City Guard that forbids bowing to shoes, is there?"
"Okay, okay." Lu Qian smiled.
He laughed for a moment, then abruptly withdrew his sword. He gave Ye Xiren a cold, sweeping look, took a deep breath, and sheathed his blade. Reluctantly, he ordered, "Go!"
After saying that, he was about to leave with Yunxiang in his arms.
Ye Xiren took two steps forward and spoke again: "You may leave on your own, but Yunxiang must stay; she is a member of the Ye family."
We need to find out... who threatened Yunxiang in order to get closer to the truth.
"She gave false testimony to deceive the Imperial City Guard. I'm taking her back for personal interrogation," Lu Qian said coldly, picking her up and preparing to leave.
Even without Ye Xiren saying anything, Zhao slammed her cane on the ground and rebuked:
“Lu Ergou, we haven’t settled accounts with you for breaking into the Ye family’s residence and searching it. Yunxiang, you have no right to take her away. She framed the Ye family, which means she has a grudge against the Ye family. We should find out the truth ourselves and not bother the Imperial City Guard.”
"Trying to stop me?" Annoyance flashed in Lu Qian's eyes. "Aren't you qualified?"
He brought enough Imperial City Guards, but the Ye family didn't have enough guards to stop him. Even if it meant forcibly taking him, he was going to take him away today.
Once it's taken away, it doesn't matter how much they investigate afterward.
After saying that, he led his men away by force.
"If they can't do it, what about me?"
Ye Xiren was overjoyed.
They're finally back.
If they don't come back soon, she won't be able to delay any longer. Today's stunt is meant to lure them out. Yunxiang is of utmost importance and must not be allowed to leave.
Ye Pei, dressed in a purple round-necked robe with a gold belt and a gold fish-shaped pouch hanging from his waist, entered side by side with another official in a purple robe. A group of yamen runners followed them in, forming a semi-circle around them from the entrance, clearly intending to block Lu Qian.
Lu Qian narrowed his eyes. "Lord Ye."
His gaze shifted to the man beside Ye Pei, and he frowned. "Lord Zheng? What brings the Prefect of Nandu here?"
Prefect Zheng Wenjue of Nandu looked at him with disdain, expressionless. "Your Imperial City Guards act with impunity in Nandu, arbitrarily breaking into the homes of officials and disturbing their families. As the Prefect of Nandu, shouldn't I intervene?"
"I'm here to seize evidence."
"Did you find it?"
Lu Qian's breath hitched.
Taking advantage of the moment when Ye Xiren gave Ye Changming a meaningful look: Hurry up.
Ye Changming looked bewildered: Huh?
Ye Xiren was almost frantic. She glanced at Fatty Jin and Thin Yin, then at Yun Xiang who was still with Lu Qian, and kept giving her meaningful looks: Why aren't you taking advantage of their standoff and snatching her away?! You're so stupid!!
Ye Changming finally realized what was going on and quietly nudged Fatty Jin and Thin Yin.
The next moment, before Lu Qian could figure out how to deal with it, the skinny silver man grabbed Lu Qian's wrist, and the fat gold man nimbly scooped up Yun Xiang and threw her behind him.
The movement was too fast, and Lu Qian was distracted. Even though his martial arts skills were superior to Fatty Jin and Thin Silver, he still lost the person.
"You!" Lu Qian's expression changed.
Ye Xiren stepped forward and stood next to Ye Changming, blocking Yun Xiang and confronting Lu Qian. The two of them straightened their chests and refused to give an inch.
A note from the author:
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Ye Xiren (puffing out her chest): Finally, I can stand up for myself!
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