Beneath the candlelight, compassion and heartache flowed through Madam Ye’s eyes.
Ye Jinghua looked at her, his expression unchanged. Only after a long while did his lashes stir slightly before he lowered his eyes without saying a word.
Candlelight spilled across his brows, casting shadows into his eye sockets and lending him a faintly sinister appearance.
Looking at the youngest son she had loved most since childhood, how could Madam Ye not feel heartbroken?
Her willow brows knitted together. Rising, she walked to Ye Jinghua’s side. Seeing him supporting his forehead with one hand, she asked worriedly: “Is your headache acting up again? Mother will summon a physician.”
She turned to call the servants, but Ye Jinghua stopped her. “No need.”
Madam Ye turned back and, both worried and pained, gently rested a hand on his shoulder, patting his back as she had when caring for him as a child.
“You drank so much at the banquet and refused even the sobering soup. Of course your head hurts. Matters have already reached this point, thinking further is useless. Listen to Mother. Drink some calming medicine and sleep properly. When you wake up, everything will be better.”
Ye Jinghua remained silent, giving little response to her concern. After a long while, he finally said: “Mother should return first. I’ll sit here a while longer.”
He clearly had no intention of resting. Instead, he looked as though he intended to sit there until dawn.
Madam Ye frowned deeply. “How can Mother rest easy seeing you like this? Good child, Mother knows your heart hurts, but you absolutely must not damage your health over this.”
She paused. Seeing Ye Jinghua remain silent, she pressed her lips together and softened her tone further.
“When it comes to matters of affection, feelings alone are not enough. Fate must also be involved. The twists and turns between you and him… truly cannot be blamed on anyone. It only proves that heaven has its own designs, that you were fated to meet, but not fated to be together.”
At those words, Ye Jinghua’s hand resting on the table shifted slightly before slowly tightening.
Madam Ye failed to notice.
Her gaze flickered as she continued gently persuading him: “Though he only placed in the third tier, he is still a jinshi of the same examination cohort as you. Now that His Majesty has granted him an official post, he is a proper official as well. If you truly care for him, then perhaps you should use this opportunity to interact with him honorably, as gentlemen do. Qingzhou is indeed far away, but once your father investigates matters clearly, if this is all a misunderstanding, we can transfer him back. Then the two of you may become close confidants, and in court you would at least have someone with whom you can speak openly.”
At this point, Madam Ye hesitated. Casting Ye Jinghua a cautious glance, she lowered her voice further.
“You… now that things between you and him have become like this, perhaps Mother should decline the Duke’s proposal? Their legitimate granddaughter will turn sixteen after the new year—”
Before she could finish,
Crash!
A tremendous sound exploded through the room.
The green-and-colored porcelain tea bowl on the table was swept to the floor and shattered into pieces.
Madam Ye’s face changed dramatically in shock. She instinctively stumbled back half a step before abruptly stopping herself, staring uncertainly at Ye Jinghua’s right hand, still frozen in midair. Her youngest son had been different from others since birth, he almost never became angry, much less did things like smashing cups or bowls.
Standing to the side, Madam Ye’s expression turned uneasy at once. “No more, Mother won’t say any more. Qing’er, don’t be angry…”
Ye Jinghua’s hand remained suspended in the air, his expression strangely blank. A flicker of astonishment crossed his face, as though even he himself had not expected such an action.
He could not tell whether he had accidentally knocked over the tea bowl while lifting his hand, or whether it had been something else entirely.
After a long while, he bent forward and supported his forehead with one hand, letting out a sigh. A deep crease formed between his brows.
“Yueqin. Take people with you and escort Mother back.”
Only then did Yueqin, waiting outside, finally dare enter. Seeing the shattered porcelain on the floor, her expression changed instantly, fear surfacing in her eyes.
After all, no one had ever seen the Second Young Master lose his temper like this.
She hurried to Madam Ye’s side, gently supporting and soothing her while a group of maids silently streamed in behind her, carefully cleaning up the porcelain shards before withdrawing soundlessly once more.
At the doorway, Madam Ye still could not rest easy. Turning back for one final look, she saw Ye Jinghua sitting alone beneath the solitary lamp, his figure indescribably lonely.
Madam Ye’s lips trembled, and tears instantly fell from her eyes.
Yet in the end, she still said nothing. Pressing a handkerchief to the corner of her eyes, she followed Yueqin out the door.
At last, only Ye Jinghua remained in the room.
The red candles had burned halfway down. His tall yet slightly hunched silhouette was cast against the window paper, causing countless people to feel silent alarm.
***
The following morning, Emperor Yuanzhi, who had spent the night in Jinluan Hall, rose early and was listening to Eunuch Xia’s report.
Seated boldly at the bedside, elbows braced upon his knees, his golden dragon-clasped sleeping robe hanging half-open, the emperor’s tiger-like eyes widened further the more he listened, his expression growing darker and darker.
When Eunuch Xia reached the crucial part, Emperor Yuanzhi’s thick brows twitched sharply as he raised his eyes.
“He even smashed a tea bowl?”
Eunuch Xia swallowed hard and answered tremblingly: “Y-Yes.”
The emperor’s jaw tightened, veins throbbing at his temples. Suddenly he shot to his feet, fury blazing within his tiger eyes. “He truly dares rebel now, does he?! I named him zhuangyuan, and he’s unhappy about it now? What exactly does such a tantrum mean?!”
At the wrath of the Son of Heaven, every palace maid and eunuch in the hall instantly fell to their knees, not daring even to breathe loudly.
The emperor paced irritably twice across the room before suddenly turning back and pointing at Eunuch Xia. “Go summon Ye Zhonglun here immediately! I want to ask him what kind of son he’s raised!”
Seeing that the emperor was truly enraged, Eunuch Xia hurried forward on his knees and kowtowed repeatedly. “Your Majesty! Please calm your anger, perhaps Young Master Ye was not upset over this matter at all? Yesterday the Ye residence was thrown into complete chaos and remained awake deep into the night. To this old servant, it seemed more like something else had happened. Why not allow this old servant to investigate more thoroughly first? If Young Master Ye truly is so ungrateful, then it will not be too late to summon him into the palace and reprimand him after everything is clarified.”
Hearing this, the anger in Emperor Yuanzhi’s expression cooled somewhat.
After all, Ye Jinghua had practically grown up under his watchful eye. He truly did not seem like someone so foolish.
Half a moment later, Emperor Yuanzhi’s gaze shifted. He suddenly kicked Eunuch Xia squarely in the back.
“Then why are you still here? Go!”
Eunuch Xia knew the emperor had come around. He scrambled to his feet in a rush and stumbled out at once.
***
At the same time, at the Ye residence,
Madam Ye was weighed down with worry and had not slept the entire night. At dawn, she arrived at the Ye residence together with Madam Jiang, the wife of Ye Yanzhen.
The two women sat in the main hall, listening to the sounds of argument coming from the study. Both held their breath anxiously, faces full of concern.
At daybreak, however, someone had arrived even earlier than they had.
Standing behind the desk, Cao Lian spoke anxiously: “Ye Er, you must believe me. My father truly knew nothing about this matter. It was one of the suicidal clerks beneath him, they’d been trying to find someone to send to Qingzhou for ages. This time, in order to satisfy the imperial order, they took the easy route and picked someone from this year’s jinshi who looked easy to push around. Those blind idiots just happened to pick Baozhu–”
Cao Lian continued explaining breathlessly until his mouth went dry. Yet Ye Jinghua sat behind the desk like cold jade, showing absolutely no intention of responding.
Cao Lian was sweating profusely with anxiety, inwardly cursing those useless underlings who usually avoided work and acted petty. Why had they suddenly become diligent at precisely this moment? And of all people, why had they chosen to provoke someone they absolutely should not have touched.
The political atmosphere in court was already treacherous. Relations between the Cao and Ye families had long since become like fire and water. The only reason the two sides had not openly torn each other apart in previous years was at least fifty percent because Ye Jinghua had remained in the middle mediating matters.
Now that the Ministry of Personnel had done something like this, if it caused a rift between Ye Jinghua and himself, then everything truly would be over.
Grinding his teeth, Cao Lian circled around the desk and said earnestly: “If you still don’t believe me, then I’ll bring that Director here myself so you can question him personally.” He paused, then added, “Don’t worry. Our Cao family will absolutely deal with him severely. If you’re still not satisfied, once my father submits a memorial and strips him of office, I’ll personally deliver him to you. You can kill or mutilate him however you please, how about it?”
Cao Lian’s attitude had already humbled itself to the dust.
Logically speaking, though the Director from the Ministry of Personnel had certainly been negligent, he had still technically been carrying out an imperial order. If one truly examined the matter, it was clearly a case of bullying the weak and choosing targets based on status, yet the person selected could only swallow the injustice in silence.
Even Old Master Cao, as Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel, would have difficulty dealing with him due to the imperial decree involved. Let alone stripping him of office and then handing him over to the Ye family for punishment, the complications and political maneuvering required to silence public criticism would be immensely troublesome.
For Cao Lian to offer such guarantees already proved that the Cao family likely truly had no prior knowledge of the matter.
Yet Ye Jinghua remained utterly silent.
He too had gone without sleep all night and had not even changed clothes. Dark shadows lingered beneath his eyes, and the elegant refinement usually present in his jade-like face had vanished entirely. The lines of his profile appeared especially cold and severe.
Seeing persuasion fail, Cao Lian finally lost patience and snapped angrily: “Ye Er, has someone cut out your tongue or what? What exactly do you want me to do before you calm down? Should I kneel to you?!”
Naturally, he had no actual intention of kneeling. He only meant to provoke Ye Jinghua into responding.
Yet the moment the words fell, Ye Jinghua suddenly turned his head, revealing a pair of icy eyes.
The instant Cao Lian met his gaze, he froze.
Was this really Ye Er?
Where was the graceful charm that made every young lady in the capital fall for him?
A dark, oppressive aura swirled around Ye Jinghua, making Cao Lian’s heart jolt. For a moment, he could not even speak.
“You kneel?” After a long pause, cold light shot from Ye Jinghua’s eyes as he said slowly: “I want Baozhu standing before me right now. If your kneeling can accomplish that, then go kneel.”
Once those words were spoken, what could Cao Lian possibly say?
Even killing that Ministry Director ten thousand times would not cause Emperor Yuanzhi to retract his decree. Zhao Baozhu had accepted the imperial appointment and gone to that distant place. No matter what, he would not be returning within three to five years.
Now that the man was gone, even if Cao Lian knelt until his knees wore through, he still could not bring him back.
***
Outside the room, Madam Ye listened carefully to the movements within the study and let out another long sigh.
Turning to Madam Jiang, she said: “What are we to do if even those two begin quarreling as well?”
Though she was a woman of the inner household, she understood court affairs clearly enough. Moreover, Cao Lian had long been her son’s close friend. Since the Ministry of Personnel had stumbled into such disastrous misfortune this time, there was no way the Cao family could avoid responsibility. She truly feared matters growing even worse.
Madam Jiang immediately comforted her softly: “Madam, please don’t worry. Let the young masters settle their own affairs. Second Brother is an exceptionally sensible man… He is merely heartbroken for the moment. He would never do anything harmful to the greater situation.”
Hearing this, Madam Ye patted Madam Jiang’s hand and shook her head.
“What he wishes to do, how could either of us possibly know?”
The “he” naturally referred to Ye Jinghua.
Madam Jiang fell silent as well. Her younger brother-in-law’s thoughts truly were impossible for ordinary people to fathom. Perhaps Father-in-law understood a little… but those father and son were like enemies. Everyone in the household knew that the master never interfered in Second Young Master’s affairs.
The two women sat in silence for a time.
Eventually, the study grew quiet.
Only when she heard no sounds of smashed cups or bowls did Madam Ye finally relax slightly.
Letting out a breath, she suddenly remembered something and turned toward Madam Jiang. “When Cao Lian entered earlier, did you notice the injury on his forehead?”
Though Cao Lian had arrived in haste, he had still observed proper etiquette when encountering Madam Ye and Madam Jiang at the gates. Madam Ye’s eyesight was sharp, and she had immediately noticed the large, unhealed bruise upon his forehead. It looked rather alarming and highly unusual.
Hearing this, Madam Jiang paused. Then she leaned closer, covering her mouth with a handkerchief as she whispered softly: “It was caused by the one in Young Master Cao’s inner courtyard. They had a fight in the middle of the night, and he ran away.”
Madam Ye was startled. The matter of Cao Lian keeping an extremely favored young male servant in his rear courtyard had practically become an open secret throughout the capital. Because of Ye Jinghua, Madam Ye had paid particular attention to this matter. Now hearing that the servant had run away, she was deeply surprised.
“It has already been so long. Why would they suddenly quarrel now?”
Madam Jiang’s expression shifted slightly. Lowering her voice further, she replied cautiously: “Speaking of it… this matter is somewhat related to our family as well. Apparently, that servant possessed some ambition. When Lord Cao married, he had already insisted on leaving but was forcibly kept behind. Now that he heard a servant from the Ye family passed the jinshi examination, he became even more unwilling to remain trapped in the petty struggles of the inner household and once again demanded to leave. Naturally Lord Cao refused, and after going back and forth, they finally quarreled.”
She paused, then added: “And not only him. It’s said that in recent days Young Madam Cao has also returned to her natal family.”
Madam Ye’s heart suddenly jumped. “And why is that?”
Madam Jiang sighed. “They say the servant disappeared somewhere after running away, and no one could find him for the time being. Young Master Cao became frantic and lost his temper at home. His wife also comes from a noble marquis family, how could she tolerate such humiliation? She returned to her family home overnight. Now word has spread that she intends to divorce Young Master Cao.”
To Madam Ye, those words struck like thunder from a clear sky. She fell silent for so long that Madam Jiang began worrying she had said the wrong thing.
“Look at the nonsense I’m rambling about. Madam, don’t worry. These are only rumors, uncertain things. Please don’t trouble yourself over them.”
Only after a long while did Madam Ye let out a deep sigh. Closing her eyes slowly, she began turning a string of green jade Buddhist prayer beads in her hand.
Softly, she murmured: “All of this is karmic fate.”
Everything that had happened over these past days flashed through her mind one by one.
The coincidences were simply too perfect.
Ye Jinghua had met him, and yet they were forced apart.
They had investigated everything thoroughly. There had been no human manipulation whatsoever. The more one thought about it, the more it truly seemed as though heaven itself had arranged matters this way, as though this fate had long ago been written into her son’s destiny.
After a long silence, Madam Ye opened her eyes again. A trace of tears flickered within them before disappearing.
A soft sigh escaped her lips.
Slowly rising from her chair, she said to Madam Jiang: “Let us go.”
Madam Jiang stood as well but hesitated. “We’re leaving already? But what about Younger Brother–”
Without explaining further, Madam Ye turned to Yueqin and said: “Go tell your master that from this day onward, I will no longer interfere in his affairs.”
Hearing this, Yueqin’s heart sank violently. Thinking Madam Ye had been angered by yesterday’s smashed tea bowl and meant to estrange herself from their young master, she raised her head in alarm. “Madam—”
Yet the moment she looked up, she saw Madam Ye’s face filled with sorrow, though her expression remained extraordinarily gentle.
Madam Ye merely nodded softly at her before turning and walking out.
Inside the study, neither of the two men knew what had occurred outside.
After speaking that single sentence, Ye Jinghua had fallen silent once more. Cao Lian was frantic like an ant on a hot pan, unable to sit or stand properly. He almost wished he could skip all formal impeachment procedures and simply drag that shameless director here immediately for Ye Jinghua to vent his anger upon.
But this was ultimately a matter of court politics, involving an imperial decree. It was not something a mere Hanlin Academy compiler like himself could casually influence.
What neither of them knew, however, was that the original Ministry of Personnel Director responsible for everything was at that very moment kneeling inside Jinluan Hall, enduring the emperor’s towering rage.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time he had ever seen the emperor in person.
As a mere sixth-rank official, he did not even possess the qualifications to attend court. Years ago, when he passed the jinshi examinations, he had not ranked within the first class. Thus despite serving as an official for many years, he had never once had the opportunity to meet the emperor face-to-face.
Who could have imagined that his first audience with the emperor would take place within Jinluan Hall itself, standing so close to Emperor Yuanzhi that he could even see the dragon patterns embroidered upon the emperor’s bright yellow boots?
The next instant, those boots slammed into his shoulder.
Pain exploded through the clerk’s shoulder as he was sent flying several meters away.
“You worthless b*stard!!”
Emperor Yuanzhi’s tiger eyes blazed with fury. With one kick, he sent the director crashing backward. “I ordered you to find someone experienced and willing to endure hardship to send to Qingzhou, and this is the sort of person you selected?!”
The director’s back slammed violently into the nanmu wood six-gentlemen lacquer screen behind him with a thunderous crash.
Yet though eunuchs and palace maids knelt all across the hall, not a single person dared utter a sound. Even when the screen toppled over, no one dared step forward to right it.
The director was drenched in cold sweat. Ignoring the piercing agony in his shoulder blade, he scrambled back onto his knees and repeatedly smashed his forehead against the floor while tremblingly begging for mercy: “Please forgive me, Your Majesty! Please forgive me, Your Majesty! This guilty subject was foolish, this guilty subject was foolish indeed! Please forgive me–”
He had already been scared out of his wits. No matter what he said, he only repeated that same refrain over and over. Even now, he still could not figure out how the matter had reached the emperor’s ears. He even suspected that the rumored night-roving Imperial Guards had overheard his conversation with Zhao Baozhu, causing the affair to come to light.
But he could not understand it at all, how could a mere third-ranked jinshi provoke such furious rage from the emperor?
While he trembled with confusion and fear, Emperor Yuanzhi was burning with anxiety and fury alike. The hair on his arms had practically stood up from anger. At that moment he paced back and forth across Jinluan Hall in agitation. If earlier he had merely been somewhat angry at Ye Jinghua, now his heart was filled entirely with guilt.
The emperor truly had not expected that the servant from the Ye household who had passed the examinations was actually the young attendant Ye Jinghua favored. Nor had he expected that this suicidal fool would, for the sake of convenience, just happen to assign him to Qingzhou, using an imperial decree personally issued by the emperor himself and stamped with the Imperial Jade Seal.
This misunderstanding had become enormous.
The veins at Emperor Yuanzhi’s temples throbbed violently. He himself was a man more perceptive than most, and he knew well that the thing most feared between ruler and minister was estrangement of hearts. What did these young men want, after all? Nothing more than to have the person they loved remain by their side at all times. And now? The man had finally, after great effort, gone to take the examinations and won first place, only to return home and discover that the treasure of his heart had been taken away! Worse still, it had been done under an order from the emperor himself, leaving him with no place to complain and no avenue for appeal.
The more the emperor thought about it, the more alarmed he became. If Ye Jinghua misunderstood and believed the emperor had deliberately sent the person far away, then true resentment would be born between them.
And the more alarmed he became, the more furious he grew.
Suddenly he stopped in his tracks and shot a cold, arrow-like glance toward the former director kneeling on the ground. Midway through kowtowing, the director met those icy eyes and froze abruptly. His legs trembled violently; he nearly pissed himself on the spot. He stiffened in place, too terrified even to continue kowtowing.
Emperor Yuanzhi strode forward in great steps and kicked him viciously in the stomach. The former director immediately curled up like a shrimp. Yet the emperor’s thunderous rage did not stop there. In front of all the eunuchs and palace maids, he kicked the man from one end of the hall clear to the other.
