Dong Bai continued, "General Lan has a daughter who is beautiful and has a forthright personality. When she was young, General Lan often took her to the military camp to train with everyone. Even now that she's grown up, Miss Lan still goes to the military camp frequently."
"After General Lan and his men quelled the bandits, the Second Young Master became famous in the army. Miss Lan heard about it and went to the military camp to challenge him to a duel."
"On that very day, the eldest son also made a special trip to the military camp to visit the second son, saying that it was getting cold and snowing was imminent, so he was sending him winter clothes in advance."
“The military camp is a restricted area, and outsiders naturally cannot enter. However, the eldest son is the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and the young master of the Marquis of Zhongyong’s mansion. He inherited the old Marquis’s title. General Lan has always admired the old Marquis, so he personally took him to find the second son.”
"Later, General Lan had to leave on business, so he let the eldest and second sons chat alone. After all, the brothers hadn't seen each other for a long time, and General Lan had intended for them to reminisce about their brotherhood, but..."
Dong Bai suddenly stopped, his brows furrowing.
"What happened next is unknown to everyone. In short, the second young master bullied Miss Lan and was caught red-handed by the eldest young master. The incident caused quite a stir, and nearby soldiers all gathered to watch the excitement."
"The eldest young master immediately picked up the second young master and, in front of everyone, severely beat him until he vomited blood."
"There happened to be a wooden stick nearby, and he threatened to beat the second young master to death to give Miss Lan an explanation. As a result, when the stick was used, it not only beat the second young master until his head was covered in blood, but also crippled him."
Ye Qingxue waited for a long time, but Dong Bai didn't continue speaking, so she took the initiative to ask, "Didn't the Second Young Master defend himself at the time?"
Dong Bai said, "He didn't offer any explanation; he swallowed everything. Moreover, the information I gathered is that Miss Lan was indeed disheveled at the time. She, who is usually so forthright, was only concerned with feeling wronged and shedding tears. She was quite pitiful."
"When the incident happened, it caused such a big commotion that General Lan couldn't suppress it. So, not only did people in the military know about it, but people outside also heard about it. Miss Lan's reputation was ruined, and no one has come to propose marriage to her since."
"The second young master was brought back to the Marquis's mansion. In order to give the Lan family and Miss Lan an explanation, Madam Min and the young Marquis not only refused to heal the second young master's leg, but also offered to make him work as a servant. That's why we saw the second young master like that last night."
Ye Qingxue rubbed her chin. So, when Madam Min made Ye Cunsi a servant, the eldest son directly crippled him. In reality, it was a ruse to protect Ye Cunsi from being killed by General Lan in front of the army.
How dare he bully the general's daughter! If it weren't for the eldest son's quick action, beating Ye Cunsi until he was covered in blood, Ye Cunsi would probably have been beheaded by General Lan that very day.
However, Ye Cunsi's attitude last night did not seem like that of someone who had bullied Miss Lan. If he were such a despicable person, he would have admitted his mistake and begged for mercy long ago in order to save his leg or even just to maintain his reputation as a young master.
Moreover, he is the second son of the Marquis's family and has just made meritorious contributions in suppressing bandits. He has a bright future ahead of him. It would not be impossible for the General's Mansion to ask for Miss Lan's hand in marriage. There is no need for him to do such a risky thing that would ruin his future.
When Miss Lan went to the military camp, the eldest son also happened to be there. This "happily" was handled perfectly, which makes one think deeply.
Another puzzling point is that if Madam Min and Ye Cunjin's punishment of Ye Cunsi was merely a ruse to get the General's Mansion to let him go, then given Madam Min's personality, she should have secretly arranged for a doctor to treat his injured leg.
After all, Ye Cunsi had already been sent back to the Marquis's residence, so even if he received treatment secretly, no one outside would know.
But Madam Min and the young marquis both let him be a cripple!
Dongbai had no idea about these things. After inquiring about Ye Cunsi, she felt that the Marquis's mansion was very complicated and that nothing in it was clean. She really wanted her young lady to break off the engagement as soon as possible.
When autumn deepened and the divine physician was brought in, they returned to their estate in Jingzhou and never entered the Marquis's mansion again.
She was so hoarse from talking that she picked up her cup to drink some water when a chopstick suddenly came flying at her. Dongbai reacted quickly and caught the chopstick on the spot. When she opened her hand, her palm was bright red.
If she had been even a fraction slower, the chopsticks would have knocked her water glass to the ground. Dongbai turned her head and saw an old man sitting at the middle table, watching her and the young lady.
The old man was dressed in plain clothes, but he was in high spirits and had sharp eyes. He had smashed the chopsticks with great force, clearly indicating that he was a trained fighter.
Strangely, there was a hint of anger flashing in his eyes.
What Dongbai saw, Ye Qingxue also saw; and what Dongbai didn't see, Ye Qingxue still saw.
The old man looked at her as if she were an acquaintance, and his anger seemed to stem from disappointment and frustration.
After a moment's thought, Ye Qingxue took the chopsticks from Dong Bai's hand, stood up and walked towards the old man, presenting the chopsticks with both hands: "Uncle, here are your chopsticks."
The old man snorted coldly, suddenly stood up, and shoved the bench behind him aside, the bench legs scraping against the floor with a screeching sound.
But the old man didn't care at all, turned around and left, leaving behind three words: "Come with me!"
He walked very fast and disappeared at the top of the stairs in the blink of an eye. Ye Qingxue wanted to chase after him, but Dongbai grabbed her shoulder and shook his head.
"Miss, he's quite skilled; there might be a trap!"
"What's meant to be will be." Ye Qingxue sensed that the old man had a secret, one that was related to her.
She said, "I'll go and meet him. You protect me secretly. If there are any problems and we can't beat him, we'll run away as soon as possible."
Dong Bai said: "Okay!"
Ye Qingxue quickly went downstairs. The old man was still waiting for her at the entrance of the teahouse. When he saw her following him, he quickly went into the crowd, making several turns, and finally stopped in a quiet alley.
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