Chapter 130
Ye Zhilan hung the lantern on the wall and was about to enter the library when a female disciple ran up behind her, calling out from afar, "Senior Sister Ye! The sect leader wants to see you!"
The snow fell heavily at night, and a thick layer of snow accumulated on the steps. Ye Zhilan lifted her skirt, turned around, and asked, "What is it?"
"I don't know," the female disciple said, taking down the lantern and holding it in her hand. "Senior Sister Bai Ling from Liuli Peak has returned, and the letter from Martial Uncle has also arrived. I guess something big has happened. The Sect Leader doesn't look too good. Senior Sister, you should go and take a look."
Upon hearing this, Ye Zhilan frowned, but did not ask any further questions. She immediately opened her umbrella and left Wenxin Peak, heading towards Mingguang Hall.
Upon arriving at the location, Ye Zhilan noticed that the disciples guarding the outside of the hall had been removed for some reason, while several disciples from the Punishment Hall were standing inside. Seeing this, Ye Zhilan couldn't help but feel suspicious. She quickly stepped under the eaves and entered the Mingguang Hall. There, Xie Yijun sat solemnly in the hall, with Bai Ling, who had been away from the mountain for a long time, standing beside her.
"Greetings, Master," Ye Zhilan greeted Xie Yijun first, then looked at Bai Ling and asked, "Junior Sister is back?"
Bai Ling smiled faintly and glanced at her: "I've been back for a few days now."
Just as Ye Zhilan was about to ask her when she returned, Xie Yijun tossed her a letter and said, "Don't chat yet, read this letter first."
Noticing Xie Yijun's somewhat cold tone today, Ye Zhilan looked puzzled, opened the letter and looked at it. After a short while, she exclaimed in surprise, "This... all the secret guards died in Weicheng, and they still want to harm Xiao Qiu?"
“The letter just arrived, but the incident happened several days ago,” Xie Yijun said, fiddling with the beads in her hand, her brows furrowed. “That day I thought they were just playing around, so I sneaked down the mountain. I never imagined they were actually going to Weicheng to kill someone!”
Ye Zhilan's expression changed several times, and she quickly asked, "Are your martial uncle and Xiao Qiu alright?"
“Uncle is fine,” Bai Ling said, glancing at her intentionally or unintentionally. “It’s just that poor Xiao Qiu almost lost her life. She had just woken up when I left, but she should be able to get out of bed and walk around now.”
Ye Zhilan first breathed a sigh of relief, but then frowned and said, "How could this be? Those secret guards have been staying on Jingyue Peak to protect their master for so many years. How could they all become traitors to the palace overnight? Why would they want to kill Xiao Qiu?"
Bai Ling didn't answer, but instead looked at Xie Yijun. Xie Yijun also remained silent, her expression cold as she stared at Ye Zhilan with a complicated look, as if she found it difficult to speak.
Noticing the strange look in the eyes of the two men, Ye Zhilan was greatly puzzled. Holding the letter, she looked around and said, "Master?"
Seeing her blank expression, Xie Yijun sighed, stood up from the wooden chair, and said, "Then I'll have to ask you. You personally selected these secret guards. That year, your grandmaster passed away, and I had just become the sect leader. It was a time of internal and external troubles. Jiang Xue was constantly running around outside for the sake of the sect's stability. When she came back, there wasn't even anyone to serve her tea and water. I asked you to pick a few capable people to send to her so as to share her burden. But how did you manage to pick such good ones? How come they are all spies with malicious intentions?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Zhilan's heart pounded with alarm, and she asked incredulously, "Master, do you mean... you doubt me?"
Xie Yijun frowned, her expression filled with regret. She sighed and said, "Putting aside whether you have any doubts or not, tell me in detail the process of selecting the secret guards back then."
Ye Zhilan could not hide her fear, but she tried her best to remain calm and replied, "Back then... back then, I was ordered by my master to go to the various peaks to select suitable candidates. Each one was selected after going through layers of selection. At that time, I not only looked at their martial arts skills, but also considered each person's background, integrity and character." She glanced at Xie Yijun and added, "...Besides, didn't my master also see that list back then? It was you who gave your approval that I sent them to Jingyue Peak."
Her first few sentences were not inappropriate, but her last few sentences made Xie Yijun's face darken: "I nodded? So, you're saying it's my fault?"
Ye Zhilan's heart trembled, and she quickly knelt down: "Disciple is not blaming Master... I am just telling the truth, please do not be angry, Master!"
"I did nod," Xie Yijun said, suppressing her anger as she paced back and forth. "But Zhilan, don't you know how much I value and trust you? When you handed over the list, I only glanced at it and asked a few questions. I entrusted the whole matter to you. Now that these people have been in trouble, can you say you're completely without fault? According to you, I was the one who ultimately nodded. So what am I supposed to do to Jiang Xue and Yin Qiu? I can even return the position of sect leader to Jiang Xue right now. Why would I want to deal with her? Besides, Yin Qiu is Mandong's daughter and is also half my disciple. Why would I send someone to kill her?"
Ye Zhilan was extremely anxious and hurriedly explained, "Master, that's not what I meant, I..." She couldn't help but choke up, rarely so flustered, "The secret guards were indeed all selected by me, and I also drew up the list, but I don't know why they would do this to Xiao Qiu. Master, please don't be angry, maybe I overlooked something, but so many years have passed, I can't remember it for a moment, but I really have nothing to do with them!"
Seeing her like this, Xie Yijun couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache. She said, "Then think about it carefully again. Is there something wrong? I called you here tonight to find out what happened, not to convict you. With such a big incident, we need to find out where those people came from. They were all selected from the major peaks. How could they just happen to be in the same group? Think back. During the selection process, did anyone interfere with you, or did anyone recommend them to you?"
Ye Zhilan looked stunned, and after thinking hard for a while, she finally said, "No... no one interfered, and no one recommended them. They were all people I chose myself..."
Upon hearing this, Xie Yijun sighed deeply, her face weary, and said, "Zhilan, since you can't explain anything clearly, but this has already happened, and you are in full charge, then tell me, what should I do with you..."
Ye Zhilan's eyes instantly reddened, and she was speechless.
Outside the hall, the wind and snow were raging, and the room was filled with the cold wind. Xie Yijun stood at the door, letting the wind and snow beat against her. She remained silent for a long time before saying without turning her head, "Bai Ling."
Upon receiving the summons, Bai Ling immediately understood and gave a wink to a disciple of the Punishment Hall beside her. The disciple promptly went into the side hall, retrieved a wooden box, and placed it in front of Ye Zhilan.
“On the way to Wenxin Peak, Senior Sister, my fellow disciples and I searched your room,” Bai Ling said, gently opening the wooden box. “Please tell me, Senior Sister, where did these things come from?”
Ye Zhilan stared blankly, slowly casting her gaze toward the wooden box. When she saw what was inside, her face turned deathly pale.
The box contained a variety of materials for making leather masks, some new and some old, all readily available.
"No...this isn't mine," Ye Zhilan said, her eyes red, as she suddenly looked at Xie Yijun. "Master! This isn't mine!"
Xie Yijun turned around, her expression complex. She said slowly, "A few years ago, Wen Chaoyu disguised herself as a female disciple of Tianyin Peak and sneaked into the palace, kidnapping Yin Qiu. Even after Jiang Xue and I investigated so thoroughly, we couldn't find out who gave Wen Chaoyu the mask. Now that the secret guards have run into trouble, we found these things when we searched your room. Zhilan, what's your explanation?"
Ye Zhilan collapsed to the ground, finally bursting into tears. Looking at the deep disappointment and doubt in Xie Yijun's eyes, she said in a hoarse voice, "Master, believe me! I have been by your side for so many years, don't you know me? I have no grudge against Xiao Qiu, let alone my martial uncle. Why would I have schemed to deal with them for so many years?"
"You selected the secret guards, and the materials for these masks were found in your room," Xie Yijun finally couldn't help but shout after a long while, "You're still trying to deny it! I've nurtured you for many years and treated you like my own daughter, yet you've secretly colluded with the Ziwei Sect. You're simply trying to break my heart!"
Ye Zhilan said sadly, "Master, you must believe me! If I were the one colluding with Wen Chaoyu back then, would I have kept this evidence until now? Even the stupidest person would know to deal with it in time. Even if I thought it might be useful in the future, I wouldn't keep it in my room. Master, this is clearly someone deliberately framing me, and it might even be the mastermind behind the secret guards!"
Xie Yijun was filled with grief and indignation, her eyes also red with anger. She looked at Ye Zhilan and said, "The mastermind behind it all? Which of those people weren't handpicked by you? Tell me, who is the mastermind behind it all?" After speaking, she took a few steps forward and pointed at the wooden box, saying, "You are the senior disciple of the palace sect. No one has a better chance of getting this than you. That year, Jiang Xue and I both suspected that there was a problem within Wu Hui Peak, but we couldn't find any clues. Now that I think about it, you are the disciple of the sect leader. Among the various peaks in Yunhua Palace, only you can come and go as you please. You took the item without anyone noticing. Who would suspect you!"
Ye Zhilan's lips trembled, rendered speechless by the questioning. Xie Yijun continued, "Furthermore, regarding the trip to Jincheng back then, I had Jiang Xue deliberately impersonate Man Dong to lure out the palace spies. Besides Jiang Xue and me, only you knew about this, yet the news still leaked out. The Ziwei Sect headed straight for Jincheng without any warning. If it wasn't you who said it, then who was it? I did suspect you at the time, but I eventually let go of my suspicions. Later, when you returned to the palace, I asked you to thoroughly investigate whether any of the disciples from the Jincheng trip were spies, and you ordered that spy to commit suicide by poison! Although I scolded Wan Shu at the time, now that I think about it, what were you doing then? Did you also kill that spy?"
Ye Zhilan, her face pale, sobbed uncontrollably, "Master...it really wasn't me...I really don't know anything!"
“I originally thought that Wan Shu was useless and that her personality was not suitable for the position of sect leader. I even thought about giving the position to you,” Xie Yijun closed her eyes, as if she had aged a lot at this moment. “Zhilan, Zhilan… you have disappointed your master too much.”
Ye Zhilan stared blankly at her, her throat dry, unable to utter another word.
Bai Ling had been watching for a long time, and at this moment she couldn't help but say, "Senior sister, these materials were all found in the hidden compartment in your room. They were hidden very well... We searched for a long time before we found them. You..." She didn't finish her sentence, but just sighed softly.
Faced with the presence of the secret guards and the evidence of the mask's materials, Ye Zhilan was powerless to refute them. She covered her face and wept bitterly, whispering, "Master..."
Xie Yijun sighed deeply, looked at Ye Zhilan for a long time, and finally turned her back and said dejectedly, "Take her away."
Several disciples of the Punishment Hall received the order and immediately pulled Ye Zhilan up from the ground, dragging her out of the hall.
Xie Yijun's eyes welled up with tears, and she staggered a few steps. Bai Ling quickly helped her up, saying with concern, "Sect Leader! You..."
"Never mind, never mind..." Xie Yijun gave a bitter smile and waved her hand. "If it were someone else, I could accept it, but it's Zhilan..."
Bai Ling was also feeling complicated. Seeing this, she could only comfort him, saying, "Sect Leader, please take care of yourself and don't be too sad. Although the evidence is now complete, we still need to wait for Uncle to return before we can make a final judgment. Please don't think too much about it. I will set off to Wei City now to explain to Uncle what happened tonight."
Exhausted, Xie Yijun had no energy left to reply. Bai Ling helped her into the inner chamber and sighed again as she looked at the empty Mingguang Palace.
·
A few days later, news of Ye Zhilan's imprisonment in the torture chamber reached Weicheng, causing quite a stir.
Bai Ling's journey back and forth was truly arduous. She had been caught in several snowstorms in Shangyuan City, and then encountered a rainstorm upon arriving in Wei City. Exhausted from such a trip, she caught a cold. As soon as she entered the house, she hurriedly reported the events in the palace to Man Jiangxue. Meng Jing brewed several large bowls of medicinal soup for her, which Bai Ling drank in one gulp. Afterward, she found a room and slept soundly until the world seemed to end, and she could not be woken up even when called.
After the man in black revealed Ye Zhilan's name, Yin Qiu and Man Jiangxue had been waiting for Bai Ling's letter. This time, when they heard that Ye Zhilan had been detained by Xie Yijun, neither of them showed any joy.
“I can’t figure it out,” Yin Qiu said, sitting at the low table and rolling up her sleeves to brew tea for Man Jiangxue. “Senior Sister Ye has no motive to deal with us. In recent years, she has kept her distance from the Ziwei Sect and has never done anything to arouse suspicion. How could she be a spy in the palace?”
A fine drizzle drifted in through the window. Man Jiangxue left the window open and looked at the rain outside, saying, "If she really is a spy planted in the palace by the Ziwei Sect, then her order for the secret guards to attack you could only be based on orders from Nangong Min. But Nangong Min clearly didn't mean that. Not only did she inform you in advance that someone wanted to kill you, but she also didn't take any action after arriving in Weicheng. This shows that Zhilan is not acting on her orders."
"So Senior Sister Ye wanted to kill me herself?" Yin Qiu frowned deeply and pondered, "But she has nothing to do with the Ruyi Sect incident. Why would she want to kill me? We analyzed it before. The reason why the secret guards wanted to attack me was to warn Meng Wugui not to reveal who the other murderer who destroyed the Ruyi Sect was. However, Senior Sister Ye has been by the sect leader's side since she was very young. We know her very well. Apart from my mother, she has almost no contact with the Ruyi Sect. There is no reason for her to deal with me. Moreover, when the Ruyi Sect was in trouble, she was still very young and did not have the ability to bring about the destruction of the Ruyi Sect. How does this make sense?"
However, the current situation is that the Dark Guard disciples were indeed formed by Ye Zhilan, and the materials for those masks were indeed found in a secret compartment in her room.
Even if the mask material might have been a deliberate frame-up against her, she couldn't give a definite explanation for the matter of the secret guard disciples. Each of them was carefully selected by her and came from different peaks. Now that these people have run into trouble, the man in black also said that Ye Zhilan was the one who brought them together. This matter is basically unclear. From any perspective, Ye Zhilan is highly suspicious.
Over the years since entering the palace, Yin Qiu has received a lot of care and love from many people. However, she still remembers the first night she entered Yunhua Palace. She secretly left the disciples' courtyard to find Man Jiangxue, but was stopped by the patrolling disciples and was about to be taken to the punishment hall for questioning. At that time, Ye Zhilan stepped in to help her out. Not only that, after sending Yin Qiu back to the disciples' courtyard, she stayed by Yin Qiu's bedside for a long time. Only after Yin Qiu fell asleep did Ye Zhilan leave quietly.
That year, because of her identity as a descendant of Shen Mandong, Yin Qiu was the subject of much gossip in the palace. When she entered the palace, everyone looked at her with scrutiny and curiosity. Only Ye Zhilan remained calm and composed, never making a fuss. Her attitude towards Yin Qiu was neither enthusiastic nor cold. New disciples were not allowed to leave the disciple's quarters easily, but she knew that Yin Qiu depended on Man Jiangxue. Therefore, whenever Yin Qiu asked to go to Jingyue Peak, Ye Zhilan would never refuse her and would take her there no matter how busy she was.
These were all small things, not great favors, but Yin Qiu kept them in her heart. She remembered everyone's kindness to her. However, this gentle and unassuming senior sister suddenly became the one who wanted to deal with her.
If the eldest and sixth senior brothers hadn't died in the bamboo forest, perhaps they could have interrogated them about whether they were under Ye Zhilan's command. Unfortunately, they were already dead, and the only surviving man in black didn't know who the mastermind was. He hadn't even seen that person's face. He only knew that they had all been sent to Jingyue Peak by Ye Zhilan, and in his heart, he had always believed that all the secret guards were under Ye Zhilan's command. As for whether Ye Zhilan was actually her, he himself couldn't confirm it, but this was the only clue he could provide.
“I always felt that this matter was not so simple,” Yin Qiu said after a long silence. “Senior Sister Ye may have been set up. Perhaps someone had already set up the scheme before that batch of secret guards was even formed. Once things have developed to this point, whoever gets involved in the selection of secret guard disciples will become the target of everyone’s criticism. Even if Senior Sister Ye were replaced by someone else, the outcome would have been predetermined long ago. So I guess Senior Sister Ye herself must be completely confused. She probably doesn’t know why things have turned out this way.”
Seeing her furrowed brows and grave expression, Man Jiangxue reached out and smoothed Yin Qiu's furrowed brows, saying, "But there's a problem here. The secret guards weren't bribed after they went to Jingyue Peak. They were already involved in the Ruyi Sect's affairs before that. In other words, after the Ruyi Sect incident, they appeared to be staying in different peaks, seemingly unrelated, but in reality, they were already in cahoots. Then, Zhilan precisely selected them from among the many disciples and sent them to Jingyue Peak. Since you think Zhilan was set up, then think again, is there really such a coincidence in the world?"
Hearing this, Yin Qiu couldn't help but sigh, looking quite troubled. "Yeah, what a coincidence!" She rubbed her temples, then slumped against Man Jiangxue, resting her head on Man Jiangxue's lap. She continued, "It's like when I go to the market to buy steamed buns at noon. The vendor makes fresh ones, but he wants me to buy the ones that were left over from the morning. How can he do that so that I buy all the leftovers without even touching them to me?"
Man Jiangxue said, "Either you're unlucky enough to pick out every single one accurately, or the boss will explicitly tell you that you can only choose those few and he won't sell you the others."
Yin Qiu's heart skipped a beat, and she looked up at Man Jiangxue, saying, "So, someone instructed Senior Sister Ye?"
Man Jiangxue looked down at her, then suddenly smiled and said, "Well, even my martial uncle wouldn't be able to guess."
Seeing that she was actually laughing, Yin Qiu said in disbelief, "How can you still laugh at a time like this, Martial Aunt? I'm so worried about you..."
“I’m worried too,” Man Jiangxue said, “but worrying is useless, so I might as well relax.”
Yin Qiu drooped her eyelids: "I can't relax. If these secret guards were just after me, that would be one thing, but they've been lying in ambush at Jingyue Peak for years. It's clear they were originally after you, Uncle Master. If we can't find out who's behind this, we'll still face unknown dangers. I can't help but worry."
Man Jiangxue looked at Yin Qiu and asked, "So, do you believe in Zhilan?"
Yin Qiu paused for a moment, then shook her head and chuckled: "It's not that I believe her. Ever since what happened with the Dark Guards, I've been somewhat suspicious of everyone. But this matter with Senior Sister Ye is really strange. I need to look at it rationally and not make hasty judgments based on appearances. It's easy to convict someone, but it's not easy to clear their name. So I need to be careful and not ruin someone's future so easily."
Man Jiangxue stretched out her hand and added some charcoal to the stove, calmly saying, "Actually, it's not necessarily a bad thing that she's been locked up. Since everyone now thinks she's a spy for the Ziwei Cult, let's assume that's the case too. If someone in the palace is still stirring up trouble in secret, it will indirectly prove Zhilan's innocence. But if things calm down after she's been put in the torture chamber, it will only prove that she is indeed a spy."
Exhausted, Yin Qiu turned over and threw herself into Man Jiangxue's arms, saying in a muffled voice, "Bai Ling's side has made some progress, but I don't know how Senior Sister Ji is doing. However, Senior Sister Lu stays outside the palace all year round, and the secret guards have no dealings with her. She has never touched the secret guards either. I'm afraid Senior Sister Ji's secret investigation will not yield any useful clues."
Man Jiangxue touched her face, thought for a moment and said, "Actually, as long as Meng Wugui is willing to tell us who that person is, everything will be easy. But she wants to rebuild Ruyi Sect and also wants to deal with Yunhua Palace and Ziwei Sect at the same time. She has great ambitions. Without my explicit offer to help her, she will definitely not say anything. Furthermore, she used Senior Sister's information to lure us to Weicheng, and you had an accident. Out of consideration for you, she probably won't do anything else."
Yin Qiu tilted her head: "Then should I go see her?"
Man Jiangxue said, "She won't see you."
Yin Qiu then fell silent again.
After a moment, she suddenly remembered something, stood up and said, "Meng Wugui refuses to see me, but someone else will definitely see me!"
Author's Note: I'm practically on the verge of a mental breakdown. Aside from sleeping, my mind is completely consumed by the plot, the plot, the plot...
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