Under the lamplight, Ye Zhen and Xie Tingzhou leaned their heads together, looking at the letters on the table.
Ye Zhen asked, "Who could this person be?"
The letter contained only a few lines: "I was shocked to hear of the passing of your mother, Madam Wang. I am overwhelmed with grief and long to see you to ease my sorrow."
The letter was sent to Ye Wantang by the steward of the royal estate, but Xie Tingzhou intercepted it.
Xie Tingzhou shook his head. "I really have no clue right now."
Judging from the content of the letter, the sender knew the true relationship between Ye Wantang and Wang, hence the use of "your mother Wang" in the letter. It was more accurate to say that the sender was using this as leverage to threaten Ye Wantang, rather than expressing a desire to meet.
Knowing that Ye Wantang was aware of her true background, it's clear this person understood Ye Wantang and must have had frequent contact with her.
However, the three members of the Ye family were very careful about the switch, so much so that even their close confidants were unaware of it, and those who knew were all dead.
Otherwise, they wouldn't still be unable to find evidence to prove Ye Zhen's identity.
The paper used to write the letter was the roughest and cheapest kind, indicating that the other party was not in a good situation and would hardly have any connection with Ye Wantang.
However, it cannot be ruled out that they have fallen on hard times.
Xie Tingzhou rested his head on Ye Zhen's shoulder. "Xing Ze should be back soon."
Upon receiving the letter, he interrogated the steward of the imperial estate. According to the steward, the person who entrusted him to deliver the letter was a young man from a nearby village, who lived with only his elderly mother.
Both of them are native locals, not people who settled elsewhere. It's really hard to guess whose instructions the younger one received.
"This person is quite cautious. If you and I didn't know Ye Wantang's background, an ordinary person might not suspect anything upon seeing this letter. But this handwriting... it looks somewhat familiar to me..."
Ye Zhen couldn't remember, so he reached back and stroked Xie Tingzhou's chin repeatedly, lost in thought.
Xie Tingzhou, like a loyal dog, nudged him with his head in enjoyment. "Save your brains, don't overthink it. You'll know when Xing Ze comes back."
Upon hearing this, Ye Zhen thought it made sense. Feeling tired late at night, she rested her head on Xie Tingzhou's head.
When Xing Ze returned, he saw the two heads leaning against each other, a very heartwarming scene, so much so that he didn't want to disturb them.
But I have no choice but to disturb them.
"My lord, Princess, the letter was written by Xie Jinyao. She is not dead."
But his forehead injury was quite severe, and he looked weak; he must not have been completely dead that day, allowing her to escape.
Both heads immediately stood up, and they exclaimed in unison, "Not dead?"
How could He Ming be so careless?
Or did he intentionally release them?
The thought had barely formed in his mind when Xie Tingzhou dismissed it. He Ming hated Xie Jinyao to the bone and would never intentionally spare her life.
Ye Zhen wondered how Xie Jinyao knew about Ye Wantang's background.
She and Ye Wantang used to be irreconcilable enemies. If she had known Ye Wantang's secret from the beginning, she would have made it known to everyone.
That's what the female slave knew?
"Go and investigate whether the female slave has any connections with the Ye family."
After thinking for a moment, she stood up. "I have to go and see Xie Jinyao myself."
Although Xie Jinyao is no longer the young lady of the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion, she may still have other friends.
At least Luo Lanqiao, the daughter of Deputy General Luo, had visited the slave quarters, but Xie Jinyao, after escaping, wanted to see her former enemy.
Ye Zhen found the matter suspicious.
Xie Tingzhou also got up; he was going to accompany her.
The village where Xie Jinyao settled was called Lingquan Village, which was not far from Huangzhuang.
The two of them used their light-footed skills to appear outside Xie Jinyao's window in less than half an hour.
It was late at night, but Xie Jinyao was not asleep. She sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) with her knees drawn up to her chest, staring at the dim light, lost in thought.
There was another woman on the kang (a heated brick bed), the mother of Shuanzi who had saved her.
There were only two rooms in the house. Shuanzi had one room, so Xie Jinyao had to live with Shuanzi's mother.
Despite having endured many hardships, Xie Jinyao still couldn't adapt to her current life; she hated Shuanzi's mother's snoring.
This made her even more irritable, and she wanted to go out and calm down.
The sound of her getting out of bed woke up Shuanzi's mother.
When Shuanzi's mother woke up, she found the oil lamp still lit and felt very sorry for it, so she got up and blew it out.
"Mingyue, go to sleep. The doctor said you need to rest more because of your injury. If you don't sleep now, it will be dawn soon."
She usually wouldn't light it, so it's such a waste to leave it burning in the middle of the night.
Xie Jinyao was displeased.
But she still needed the old lady's help to stay, so she could only pretend to be obedient, "Auntie, you go to sleep first, I need to go to the toilet, I'll be right back."
Upon hearing this, Shuanzi's mother didn't say much, but lay down and sighed almost inaudibly.
At first, he felt sorry for the girl and wanted to help her, but he didn't expect her injuries to be so serious that the treatment would cost two taels of silver.
For a poor person like her, compassion was a luxury. The two taels of silver were the savings she and her deceased husband had accumulated over a lifetime, meant for their son's wedding.
She suppressed her pity, but her son took a liking to the girl, and the girl promised to become her daughter-in-law.
The mother couldn't refuse her son's request and gave away all her savings, but the girl didn't seem content to stay and live with her family.
She frequently inquired about the situation in the capital, and this morning she even begged her son to take her out, only returning in the evening.
The usually obedient son, for the first time, had a secret from this girl and refused to tell her where they had gone.
He even took the last of his family's dried meat to the scholar's house and exchanged it for paper and pens...
Thinking of all this, Shuanzi's mother sighed again.
Regardless of whether Xie Jinyao used the excuse of going to the toilet to escape, since she was ungrateful, it was better to let her go. If she ran away overnight, her son would be lost and eventually forgotten.
As for the silver, consider it as accumulating good karma for your son.
The woman, exhausted from a long day's work, thought things through and started snoring again.
Xie Jinyao tiptoed into the hall, came out of the house, and sat down on a small stool in the courtyard, gazing at the pale moonlight in the sky.
But I was extremely anxious.
She didn't wait for Ye Wantang.
According to Shuanzi, the steward held a high position in the imperial estate and should be able to deliver the letter to Ye Wantang.
Ye Wantang cared most about her status as the legitimate daughter of a first-rank general's mansion, so how could she dare not come to see her?
Could it be that she can't go out at night?
Should I go to the imperial estate? No, if she is discovered by the Marquis's people, she will definitely be sent to the slave quarters again.
At the same time, she wondered if Ye Wantang really came and saw her, would he kill her to silence her or expose her whereabouts?
Xie Jinyao recalled Ye Wantang's character and concluded that it was highly likely.
She needed to have leverage to persuade Ye Wantang not to kill her, and those memories from her past life were it.
Xie Jinyao wanted to recall those memories again in detail. Perhaps because she cared too much and was afraid of forgetting, she became uncertain about a few things when she thought about them again.
She panicked, and her back was instantly soaked with sweat.
This is the source of her confidence in saving her life and reversing her fate; she must not forget it, she must never forget it.
Xie Jinyao pushed open Shuanzi's door and reached the edge of Shuanzi's bed.
"Brother Shuanzi, Brother Shuanzi..."
The young man, snoring loudly, was woken up. Just as he was about to speak, Xie Jinyao covered his mouth. "Brother Shuanzi, it's me, Mingyue. Could you give me some more tissues?"
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