Free Web NovelChapter 9: Chapter 9: The First Branch
Ye Lingyue felt indescribably awkward. She wondered why most of her secrets had started to get exposed in front of Ye Lingrui?!
It had only been a few hours since they met, and he already knew that she might not be his real sister—despite his insistence that she was—and... also the existence of her storage space.
Is it what they called twin telepathy?
However, she wasn’t his real twin... or was she?
At this moment, Ye Lingyue had started to be extremely suspicious. The System had promised to make her return to her original body...
That damn deceitful thing wasn’t referring to this body, right? Could it be that the modern times didn’t exist at all and she was actually a soul from ancient times?
There were a lot of such stories she read before in her spare time... well, based on her memories in the modern times.
Ye Lingyue had become more and more confused. It sounded so outrageous that she refused to accept it. She must have been overthinking it. She must be!
"Yue’er, you are going to slam yourself into a–" Ye Lingrui’s gentle reminder was too late.
She already slammed herself into a tree. Her head started to become a little dizzy from the impact.
Since one of Ye Lanxi’s arms was circled around her shoulder, he was also getting pulled away from the impact. Ye Lanxi hissed and groaned slightly, and he started to sober up.
Pretending to be a fool, Ye Lingyue rubbed her head and giggled as though she found it funny. However, inside her mind, she was cursing her own recklessness, a little embarrassed.
A lot of people have started to notice them, including the imperial guards assigned to watch over Ye Lingyue and the people she had drugged with the hallucinogen powder.
They were also currently coming over with hurried steps.
"Where have you two been?" An imperial guard shouted at them fiercely.
Ye Lingrui immediately answered. "Our brother has gotten hurt, so we are going to escort him to the carriage first."
The imperial guard examined them and didn’t say anything further. His colleagues also arrived in no time, putting on stern looks. Still, when they heard the siblings’s reasoning and Ye Lanxi’s wounds, they didn’t forbid them from helping the latter.
Ye Lingyue’s eyes flashed. She was sure that after she left Ye Lanxi’s room, some imperial guards must have done something to him.
There was actually a flash of smugness in their eyes.
She looked back at the huge tree she had slammed into, and then steadied herself, putting on a confused and foolish look on her face.
"She is pretty, but a pity she is a fool..."
"If not for us being assigned to escort the exile team, we wouldn’t have known the Ye family actually have a fool for a daughter."
"They didn’t deliberately hide her. There were already some rumors circulating around, but since she rarely appeared in public, people gradually forgot that she exists."
Ye Lingyue listened to the discussion around, still putting on a confused look as though she wasn’t the one they were talking about.
In front of the Ye family’s mansion, a few worn out carriages were ready.
They met the guard who was assigned to watch over Ye Lingyue’s room; he had a tense look on his face.
"Imperial Guard, where is the carriage that will escort us?" Ye Lingrui asked him.
The person looked up, and a stunned look crossed his face, then his expression turned slightly grim, but he didn’t say anything. After a while, he just sighed and pointed to the second carriage.
They had to squeeze in with the first and third branch. There was only so much space, and they might need to take turns riding inside the carriage or walking outside.
Zheng Huizhen, the wife of the first branch family was crying inside the carriage when they pulled open the curtain. The moment she saw the second branch’s children coming inside, she snapped.
"It’a all because of your family!" She sobbed, pointing at the siblings tremblingly. "It’s your branch who killed an imperial family member! Why do we also have to get punished with you?! I don’t want to leave the Capital into some unknown place!"
"It’s all your fault. Get out! Get out! There is no place for you here!" She got up and tried to push Ye Lingyue who was holding the curtain.
However, before she could even slap the girl’s hand, Ye Lingyue blinked innocently and giggled, grabbing Zheng Huizhen’s wrist as though the woman was playing with her.
The previous generation of the Ye family was relatively unremarkable. The head of the family had an average ability and could only get an ordinary official title.
Their status kept on declining with each generation, and people thought it wouldn’t be long before they faded from the ranks of noble families in the Capital.
Then, the second son was born, which was Ye Lingyue’s father. He was excelling in his studies and kept on showing outstanding abilities. During the imperial examination, he was one of the top scholars.
The Ye family gradually rose because of him, their status climbing to the ranks of the top families in the Capital again after the second son held the post of Minister of Rites.
Without a doubt, the head of the Ye family’s status also fell into his lap.
Ye Lingyue inwardly was mocking the Ye family’s first branch in her mind. After all, the first branch also received a lot of benefits and advantages from the second branch’s status.
With her previous status as Shen Wuqing, even she had heard one or two about their arrogant actions which almost implicated Ye Chengde, the Minister of Rites, off his status.
It had taken a lot of effort for Ye Chengde to help his brother’s family.
Now that the second branch was in trouble, they were so quick in wanting to sever relations with them.
"Eldest Aunt," Ye Lingyue continued to giggle, swaying Zheng Huizhen’s hand back and forth.
Zheng Huizhen tried to retract her hand from the foolish girl’s hand to no avail. Why has this wretched girl’s hand become so strong?
