Chapter 449: Keep It a Secret for Me (1)
Ye Zhen did not argue with Qi Jin because she also knew Empress Dowager and Mo Rongzhan would certainly not agree with her and permit her to go to Huaijiang. However, this did not mean anything to her as she always had a way to get there on her own.
The next day, it was a rest day for Ye Zhen. She decided to leave the palace at an earlier time instead of her usual one. The reason was simple when she learned that Huangfu Chen was trying to find a method to detoxify Lu Lingzhi last night, everything froze over and the pit of her stomach seemed as if it was laden by bad Qi. Even now that the day had changed, she still felt uncomfortable about the news, hence her decision to get out of the palace.
She’s going to find Huangfu Chen…
Therefore, after she left the palace, Ye Zhen directly asked the carriage to take her to the Ten Li long Wu’s Bamboo Forest. As expected, Huangfu Chen was in the medicine field behind the bamboo forest. He looked surprised when he saw her coming.
“Mister Chen, I heard you’re going to detoxify Lu Lingzhi?” Ye Zhen, having run over after getting out from the carriage, asked with a little wheeze.
Huangfu Chen put the few herbs in his hands aside and smiled as he said, “I haven’t found the most effective method to detoxify him. Furthermore, because I have already used fire lotus before, the poison in his body has changed somewhat, so I need to be careful.”
“Why should Mister Chen help him?” Her glittering jet-black eyes looked straight at the man questioningly. She knew that she should not say these words to him, but she just couldn’t help herself. The only person in this world who could help Lu Lingzhi was Huangfu Chen. And before last night, she had always thought that this man would not do so. But now…
Huangfu Chen squinted his eyes and looked at the little girl. “Yaoyao, you don’t want me to detoxify your eldest brother?”
Ye Zhen pursed her lips tightly and did not speak. She was Lu Yaoyao now and Lu Lingzhi her cousin. She should act like the rest of the Lu Family, eagerly hoping that he could get rid of the remnant poison as soon as possible. However, she wanted to ask Huangfu Chen to not save him… Yet she couldn’t say anything.
“Yaoyao—” Huangfu Chen lowered his eyes and looked at her. Her stubborn little face was taut as if she had hidden some unspeakable secret at the bottom of her heart that she dared not say even if she wanted to say it.
Ye Zhen didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t get out of the predicament she was mired in these days. And now that Lu Lingzhi had a chance to cure his residual poison, she became even more confused about what she should do next.
“Is it because of your sister, Ye Zhen, or is it for other reasons?” Huangfu Chen asked in a low voice.
“Mister Chen?” Ye Zhen raised her head in surprise. Does Huangfu Chen already know her life experience?
Huangfu Chen sighed. “Let’s go inside and talk.”
Ye Zhen was surprised. She didn’t know that Huangfu Chen already knew of her relations.h.i.+p with the Ye Family and he never mentioned it either.
Inside the house, Huangfu Chen motioned for Ye Zhen to take a seat before him at the opposite tea table. He saw the disbelief in her expression and just smiled as he said, “You’re surprised and confused about how I know the relations.h.i.+p between you and Ye Zhen?”
“There are probably not many people in this world who know it now except for me,” Ye Zhen whispered. For a moment there, she thought that Huangfu Chen knew that she was Ye Zhen.
Huangfu Chen smiled and said, “I met your father more than ten years ago and made divination for you two sisters because your father once helped me a lot. However, you had to be sent out of the Ye Family because of my divination. Therefore, I secretly inquired about your news.”
Ye Zhen’s eyes widened in shock. She didn’t know what to say. And she suddenly remembered what Teacher Shan once said to her. “That… Teacher Shan is also you… You’re the one who asked her to come and help me?”
“Did she mention it to you?” Huangfu Chen frowned. Unexpectedly, Lu Yaoyao had managed to guess it.
“Teacher Shan only said that someone was helping me behind my back, but I didn’t know it was you,” she said softly. She looked up and asked, “Since Mister Chen is an old friend of my father, do you know how my father lives now?”
Huangfu Chen shook his head. “I don’t know… By the time I learned that the Ye Family was cut off, it was already too late. I didn’t have time to save your family. It’s just… Yaoyao, forgive me for being rude and speaking out of turn, but since you already know your own history, why didn’t you tell the Lu Family? Or… you have something difficult to speak of?”
“If Lu Lingzhi knew that I am Ye Zhen’s sister, he would not let me go.” Ye Zhen shook her head with a bitter smile and continued. “Mister Chen perhaps does not know this, but Ye Zhen was killed by Lu Lingzhi’s poisoned wine.”
Huangfu Chen froze. “What did you say?”
Ye Zhen hesitated for a while. In the end, she decided not to reveal the truth that she was the one who saved Mo Rongzhan all those years ago. Anyway, he and she were even now, they did not owe anything to the other anymore. Furthermore, Lu Wushuang had been abandoned already, so there was no need to mention that again.
“I met Ye Zhen’s maid. Lu Lingzhi’s betrayed Ye Zhen’s trust and in the end, for Lu Wushuang, he pretended that he was ordered to bestow her wine. Then, after her death, he set fire to Qin w.a.n.gfu. Mister Chen, although I did not live together with Ye Zhen, we are still sisters born to the same parents. That’s why I am unable to forgive Lu Lingzhi for being despicable and shameless.” Ye Zhen spoke simply. However, she knew not if Huangfu Chen would believe her or not.
With how thoughtful and sharp Huangfu Chen’s mind was, how could he not hear the meaning hidden in Ye Zhen’s words? Thus, he was certain that Lu Lingzhi must have done more than this to Ye Zhen… otherwise, she would not have hated him this much.