Chapter 2 The Lone Phoenix's Curse (Part Two) Finding Faults.
"Big brother!"
Ye Mu, with her short legs, stumbled and pounced towards Ye Xingjian.
Ye Xingjian took two quick steps, caught the little bundle of flesh that rushed towards him, lifted him up easily, and spun him around on the spot.
Ye Mu giggled, her little hands tightly wrapped around his neck, "When did big brother come back?"
“Yesterday the teacher gave us a spot check, and we finished school late. I didn’t get back to the manor with your second brother until midnight. I was afraid you were asleep, so I didn’t go to see you.”
The family did not have many children. The eldest son, Lady Wang, had one son, Ye Xingjian.
The second wife, Zhou, had a son and a daughter: Ye Xingwen, the second son, and Ye Qing, the third daughter. Xingwen and Xingjian were the same age and both studied at the Imperial Academy, where many sons of noble families studied classics and historical texts to pave the way for their future official careers.
The third wife, Liu, had only one daughter, Ye Mu.
Ye Xingjian held Ye Mu in his arms, weighed her in his hand, and laughed, "Hmm, Fourth Sister has gotten a bit heavier. Looks like she's been eating well."
"It's not heavy at all, it's just that brother's strength has decreased!" Ye Mu puffed out her cheeks, still seemingly unconvinced, and stuffed the twisted dough stick in her hand into his mouth, "Brother should eat more."
This eldest brother, born of the main branch of the family, treated her like a precious jewel. In her past life, no matter how unconventional she was, he always stood behind her.
When Ye Mu insisted on marrying Jiang Si, who came from a poor family, the whole household objected. Only he patted her on the shoulder and said, "As long as Fourth Sister is truly happy, don't worry about what others say. It's up to the two of you to live your lives. I trust your judgment."
Later, when she married into a poor family and struggled to make ends meet, he quietly slipped her some money to help her out of her predicament, saying, "Take this. It's only right for an older brother to help his younger sister with her dowry."
However, once Jiang Si rose to prominence and held power, he turned around and framed Ye Xingjian, who was involved in grading the imperial examinations, for accepting bribes and leaking the exam questions.
Ye Xingjian was thrown into the imperial prison and severely tortured. Although no evidence was found in the end, he was dismissed from his post for his negligence, and his legs were also severely injured in prison, rendering them completely useless.
When he was released from prison, two jailers threw him out of the prison like a tattered sack.
He was so thin that he was just a bony skeleton, wrapped in a tattered shirt whose original color was indistinguishable. His legs dragged limply on the ground, rubbing against the rough stone, leaving two blurry, intermittent dark red wet streaks.
Below the knees, it swayed lifelessly like a broken rag doll stripped of all its bones and tendons...
Ye Mu hugged Ye Xingjian's neck tightly. Thank goodness, thank goodness, he still had his legs in this life and could still stand and play with her.
Ye Xingjian's mouth was filled with her honey cakes, leaving him speechless. He took it as his little sister being coquettish, swallowed with difficulty, and patted her back. "Next time, your brother will definitely come back early and bring you freshly baked ghee snails from East Street, okay?"
"Fourth Sister won't be greedy," Ye Mu said, tilting her little face up. "Brother, Fourth Sister will protect you from now on!"
Ye Xingjian laughed loudly, rubbing a crumb of biscuit from the corner of her mouth with his fingertip, "Okay, big brother will wait for Fourth Sister to grow up and be big brother's support!"
The tone was affectionate and indulgent, clearly taking it as just a child's innocent and playful remark.
This scene of brotherly affection and sisterly respect was quite jarring to Zhou, who was standing to the side.
She had just suffered a setback and had nowhere to vent her anger. Now, seeing Ye Xingjian so affectionate towards the third branch of the family, while ignoring her daughter standing to the side, her sour jealousy and resentment suddenly surged up.
She pushed Ye Qing forward two steps. "Oh! In Dalang's eyes, he can only see Fourth Miss. Our Qing'er has been standing here for half a day, politely greeting her brother, but Dalang just didn't see or hear her."
Caught off guard, Ye Qing stumbled as her mother pushed her, her face flushing red. She instinctively clutched the hem of her clothes, timidly glancing up at Ye Xingjian. Her lips trembled slightly, but she ultimately didn't dare to utter a sound.
Ye Xingjian's smile faded.
He turned around with Ye Mu in his arms, his posture upright like a pine tree. His gaze calmly swept over Zhou Shi and landed on Ye Qing. He nodded slightly and said, "I hope my third sister is well."
Ye Mu's gaze swept to her hand, "Third sister, does the back of your hand not hurt anymore?"
"What happened to the back of my third sister's hand?"
Ye Mu whispered what had just happened in Ye Xingjian's ear, but she looked at Zhou Shi with a wide, exaggerated expression and her eyes wide open.
Zhou thought she must have exaggerated, but she couldn't pull her down to ask her what she had said. She was met with a rebuff and felt suffocated. Seeing Ye Qing standing there like a block of wood, she felt even more suffocated.
Just then, Master Ye, along with Ye Xingwen and several monks dressed in ochre robes, entered the courtyard in front of the ancestral hall through the side gate, and Zhou's expression softened slightly.
"What's wrong, Second Brother?" Grandpa Ye asked.
Master Ye glanced at Madam Zhou, cleared his throat, and said loudly, "Elder brother and sister-in-law, today is the Winter Solstice Festival. I thought that it might not be enough for us descendants to sincerely pray. So I specially invited several eminent monks from Baoxiang Temple to chant sutras and pray for blessings together, so that our Ye family ancestors can enjoy boundless peace and joy in the afterlife and bless our Ye family with lasting blessings."
The monks behind him clasped their hands in prayer and chanted Buddhist mantras.
Wang frowned slightly. In noble families, ancestral worship has always followed ancient rites, emphasizing bloodline and incense offerings, and is solemn and dignified, rarely involving Buddhist activities. Ye Erye's actions were somewhat superfluous.
She glanced at Zhou Shi, who was standing next to her with a hint of smugness in her expression, and immediately understood what was going on. The old lady was a devout Buddhist, so this was probably the second branch of the family doing this on their own to curry favor with her.
Although the old lady valued Buddhist practices, she disliked fanfare and noise. Wang Shi did not point this out, but simply smiled and praised, "You are so thoughtful."
When the old lady, supported by her maid, arrived at the front courtyard of the ancestral hall, her expression froze as her gaze swept over the monks dressed in ochre robes.
Madam Zhou immediately stepped forward, her face beaming with smiles. "Mother, look! Second Master, thinking of today's grand ceremony, specially invited several eminent monks from Baoxiang Temple to chant sutras and pray for blessings, so that our Marquis's mansion may prosper for generations to come."
The old lady, nearing sixty, had her full head of silver hair meticulously combed. She wore a headband inlaid with emeralds and a dark brown satin jacket and skirt. Her eyes were sharp as she glanced at Master Ye and Madam Zhou, then at the monks with their heads bowed and hands clasped in prayer. Her expression was unreadable; she simply gave a faint "hmm," as if to say she understood.
This overly bland reaction left Zhou's face flushed with embarrassment. She immediately tightened her grip on the old lady's arm and became even more attentive.
Grandpa Ye walked over, his voice steady, "Mother, it's almost time, what do you think..."
The old lady nodded slightly, her gaze sweeping over the crowd before finally settling on Liu Shi. Her brows furrowed slightly. "Where is the third son? Today is the Winter Solstice Festival, a major event for the whole family to worship their ancestors. Where has he gone off to find some peace and quiet?"
The old lady's question made Liu's heart tighten. She quickly stepped forward and said, "Replying to Mother, Third Master stayed up late last night reading and had a headache this morning. Seeing that he was really unwell, I was afraid of losing face in front of our ancestors, so I dared to ask him to rest for a while before coming. He should be on his way now."
Her tone was gentle, conveying a sense of apology.
"Third Master really knows how to pick a day to study. He doesn't seem to make much progress on ordinary days, but he just happens to be studying so hard on the important day of ancestor worship that he even got a headache?"
Before the old lady could speak, Zhou interrupted, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. Seeing that the old lady did not stop her, she continued, "Third sister-in-law, it's not that I'm being nosy, but you're too good-natured. Ancestral worship is such an important matter! How can you let him treat it so lightly? You, as a daughter-in-law, only know how to indulge in poetry and romance, and you've even forgotten your duty to advise your husband to abide by etiquette."
Zhou smiled, covering her face with her handkerchief, and glanced up and down. "It's strange, isn't your father the most particular about etiquette and manners? How come he didn't teach you any of that?"
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