Chapter 13: The Tables have Turned: A Mouthful of Blood
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Fifth Concubine spewed blood excessively as a result of the impact from Su Yufeng’s blow. Her body flew like a kite with cut strings.
Ye Jiuge leapt to catch the Fifth Concubine. When she landed, she bellowed at Su Yufeng angrily, “Su Yufeng, you really are cold-blooded. Not only did you not stop at harming Fourth Sister, you also did not spare the Fifth Concubine. Are you even human?”
Before Su Yufeng could reply, Ye Shanshan was unable to restrain herself. She stepped forward to curse at Ye Jiuge, “Ye Jiuge, what nonsense are you saying? When did my mother harm Fourth Sister? It is clear that you were committing adultery with an uncultured man out there in the wilderness, and Fourth Sister accidentally stumbled into the midst of it, so you used False Dream to harm her.”
Pa! Ye Jiuge slapped her immediately. She said coldly, “You are a n.o.body without any manners. Your elder sister is speaking. Since when do you have the right to interrupt me?”
Ye Shanshan covered her face with her hands and glared at Ye Jiuge. Her voice trembled as she said, “You, you dare to hit me?”
Pa! Ye Jiuge slapped her again. “How did your mother raise you? Don’t you know to use honorifics when speaking to your elder sister?”
Ye Shanshan was afraid that she would be slapped again, so she retreated behind Su Yufeng’s back and cried, “Mother!”
“Ye Jiuge, you dare to beat your younger sister in front of your father and me. Do you even respect your elders?” Su Yufeng trembled with anger. She raised her hand, ready to hit her back.
However, Ye Jiuge caught her wrist. She threw her very fiercely to the ground, “Anyone else could claim that I am ill-mannered, anyone except a wicked woman like you. You have no right to say this.”
Su Yufeng dropped to her knees pitifully in front of Ye Yuxuan. Her hair was disheveled as she shouted, “Old Master!”
“Ye Jiuge, what is wrong with you?” Ye Yuxuan’s face was ashen. He was so angry that he was trembling.
“Father, there is nothing wrong with me. Su Yufeng is the one who is out of her mind. You must not be aware that, last night, she and her accomplices rushed into the Fifth Concubine’s residence. It is unthinkable that she would pin Fourth Sister and force poison down her throat.” Ye Jiuge was stony as she spoke.
How could Ye Yuxuan not know about it? He had agreed to the whole plan. However, shameless as he was, he would never admit his involvement to Ye Jiuge. Therefore, he said coldly, “What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Why would she make my fourth daughter ingest poison for no reason?”
“That’s right. A sickly child like Ye Ruyi cannot live long, even if we left her alone. Who has so much spare time as to force her to ingest poison?” Ye Shanshan helped Su Yufeng up. Her gaze was filled with resentment as she looked at the Fifth Concubine and said, “Not only that, neither the Fifth Concubine nor her daughter’s lowly lives are even worth an elixir, so why would someone want to incur these losses?”
“Second Miss, my life is worthless. However, the Fourth Miss is the Old Master’s flesh and blood. Don’t tell me that, in your eyes, the Old Master is worthless too?” The Fifth Concubine panted as she spoke.
“Fifth Concubine, I truly think that you are possessed. How dare you speak in such a disgraceful manner!”
Su Yufeng glared at the Fifth Concubine, who had switched sides at the last minute. She wished that she could dismember her corpse into a thousand pieces. She turned to Zhi Hua and commanded, “Someone, come and take the Fifth Concubine away, then invite a physician over to treat her properly!”
She emphasized ‘treat’ on purpose. It was obvious that she wanted to take her life.
“Let us see who has the audacity to touch her?!” Ye Jiuge s.h.i.+elded the Fifth Concubine with her body.
Zhi Hua did not dare move. She looked at Su Yufeng in a submissive manner.
Su Yufeng screamed at Ye Yuxuan, “Old Master, are you going to watch Ye Jiuge humiliate my daughter and me and not do anything?!”
“Su Yufeng, don’t blame your crimes on me when you were the one who committed them. It was you and your daughter who were treating other people with contempt!” Ye Jiuge smiled coldly. She turned around and spoke to the ashen-faced Ye Yuxuan, “Father, if you do not look deeply into this, you will definitely regret it for life!”
Ye Yuxuan’s eyebrows creased. He abhorred the kind of att.i.tude that Ye Jiuge was displaying right now.
It reminded him of how smug his father-in-law, Yun Tianwei, had been in the past.
However, he also knew that, when someone was acting this smug, it meant that something was happening that should not be overlooked.
“Father, please, don’t listen to Elder Sister’s nonsense. Mother has always been virtuous and upright. It is impossible that she would harm the Fourth Sister. They are framing her.” Ye Shanshan gritted her teeth as she spoke.
Ye Jiuge did not even look at her. She leveled her burning gaze at Ye Yuxuan. One could not ignore her. If he missed this chance to probe into what was going on with her today, he would regret it his whole life.
Ye Yuxuan really wanted to leave everything behind and go. But after thinking about it properly, in the end, he harrumphed, “Alright, I want to see what kind of tricks you have up your sleeve.”
Ye Jiuge lowered her head. She spoke softly to the Fifth Concubine, “Fifth Concubine, if you have faced any injustice, feel free to tell Father. I believe that Father will definitely help you and Fourth Sister redress it.”
The Fifth Concubine wiped the fresh blood from the sides of her lips and walked unsteadily to Ye Yuxuan. Her voice was quaking as she said, “Old Master, Madame has plotted against the Fourth Miss’s life. It was because she found out about Fourth Miss’s exceptionally favorable attribute.”
“What exceptionally favorable attribute?” Ye Yuxuan’s curiosity was piqued. He could not help but look at Ye Jiuge. Could it be that this wretched girl had given his fourth daughter a beneficial item and Su Yufeng wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h it away when she found out?
He was immediately displeased at the thought of Su Yufeng misappropriating a valuable treasure behind his back.
“Old Master, please do not listen to her baseless accusations. The Fourth Miss stays in her residence every day without setting a foot outside. How is it possible that she possesses an exceptionally favorable attribute? It was clearly…” Su Yufeng started to feel a little anxious. She felt that matters had escalated beyond her control and were rapidly heading in an unknown direction.
“Shut up.” Ye Yuxuan interrupted Su Yufeng impatiently. Afterwards, he told the Fifth Concubine, “You better be honest and tell me clearly what kind of favorable attribute my fourth daughter possesses. If there is any lie to it…”
He did not need to threaten her further. He believed that the Fifth Concubine understood what could happen to her.
Without a doubt, she knew.
She straightened her back and swept her gaze past Su Yufeng and Ye Shanshan’s vindictive faces. After looking at Ye Jiuge’s encouraging eyes, she spoke in a serious voice, “Old Master, actually, I wanted to inform you a long time ago that our Fourth Miss’s Wood Fire Spiritual Root has awakened. In the future, she will be the Ye Clan’s most powerful spiritual alchemist!”
“What did you say?” Ye Yuxuan stood up abruptly. His gaze burned into Fifth Concubine as he spoke, “Did you say that our fourth daughter possesses a Wood Fire Spiritual Root?”
“Old Master, I speak nothing but the truth. A few days ago, the Fourth Miss could not stop coughing. I kneeled in front of Madame for a long time. Finally, Madame agreed to let a physician take a look at her. The physician said that this was the sign that the Fourth Miss’s spiritual root has awakened. However, her body is too weak so she can only survive if she has sufficient rest. I reported this to Madame, hoping to request some tonic. I never thought that, rather than sending me tonic, she would give me poison instead…”
As the Fifth Concubine spoke, she cried. Her tears flowed down her face and dripped from her chin, mingling with the fresh blood on her lapel. With that miserable appearance, no one could suspect her of lying.
“Nonsense!” Su Yufeng replied in a shrill voice, as if she was a hen seized by the neck.
She had no idea that Ye Ruyi’s Wood Fire Spiritual Root had awakened. If she had known about it earlier, weeds would already be growing over the stupid girl’s grave.