Ye Yunfeng quay người lên ngựa. Ye Chutang nhìn về phía Feng Zhang đang tiến lại.
“Từ nay về sau, xin phải nhờ ông Feng quan tâm nhiều hơn nữa.”
Feng Zhang cảm thấy xúc động trong lòng.
Người phụ nữ này trông có vẻ thanh tú và dịu dàng, nhưng bản chất lại cực kỳ kiên cường.
Nếu là người khác, có lẽ họ sẽ không nỡ gửi đứa em trai mới mười ba tuổi của mình đi.
Cũng đúng thôi.
Vào độ tuổi của cô ấy, cô ấy cũng đã trải qua vô số gian khổ rồi.
Làm sao một chàng trai trẻ không trải qua thử thách có thể thực sự trưởng thành được?
Anh ta cúi chào Ye Chutang và những người khác, sau đó nhanh chóng nắm lấy dây cương và hét lớn:
“Đi!”
Tiếng móng ngựa vang lên, bóng dáng anh ta dần khuất xa.
Nước mắt của Tiểu Ngũ bỗng trào ra, cô bé quay người lao vào vòng tay Ye Chutang, thân hình nhỏ bé của cô run rẩy không ngừng.
Ye Chutang nhanh chóng cảm nhận thấy vai mình ướt đẫm bởi hơi ấm từ nước mắt Tiểu Ngũ.
Cô nhẹ nhàng vỗ lưng Tiểu Ngũ:
“Đừng lo, anh trai cậu rất coi trọng mạng sống của mình. Hơn nữa, anh ấy đã hứa sẽ trở lại, thì chắc chắn sẽ không phụ lời.”
Tiểu Ngũ với đôi mắt đỏ hoe tựa vào vai cô, khóc lóc và gật đầu.
Ye Jingyan nhìn theo họ rời đi, quay đầu lại thấy cảnh tượng này cũng không khỏi xúc động.
Ye Chutang nói:
“Được rồi, A Phong đã đi rồi, A Yan cũng trở về Quốc Tử Giám đi.”
Gần đây anh ấy thực sự đã xin nghỉ khá nhiều lần.
Ye Jingyan lắc đầu:
“Không sao cả.”
Tiến trình học tập ở Quốc Tử Giám chậm, không ảnh hưởng gì đến anh ấy cả.
Ye Chutang cũng không hỏi thêm.
A Yan luôn làm mọi việc có phép tắc.
Cô ôm Tiểu Ngũ quay người muốn trở về, nhưng bỗng nhiên nghe thấy tiếng bước chân vội vã từ phía sau.
“Cô gái Ye thứ hai!”
Bước chân Ye Chutang dừng lại, cô quay đầu nhìn lại và thấy một viên chức đang tiến về phía này.
Trông có vẻ quen thuộc.
Ye Chutang nhìn kỹ hơn và nhận ra đó là người của Sư Uy.
Cô mỉm cười nhẹ nhàng:
“Phải chăng là ông Sư muốn tìm tôi?”
Viên chức đó bỗng ngẩn ngơ:
“Làm sao cô biết vậy? Ông Sư muốn mời cô đến Tòa án Đại Lý một chút!”
Ye Jingyan nhíu mày, vô thức bước lên phía trước, che chở Ye Chutang sau lưng mình:
“Tòa án Đại Lý? Có chuyện gì vậy?”
“A Yan.”
Ye Chutang gọi tên anh ấy một tiếng, nhẹ nhàng lắc đầu:
“Không sao đâu, cứ để anh ấy tự lo.”
Ye Jingyan hesitated for a moment, “Should I still accompany you…”
Ye Chutang smiled and said, “I can go alone.”
Seeing her insistence, Ye Jingyan could only nod in agreement.
“Alright, then… if there’s anything, please let me know at any time.”
Now that Afeng is not here, he must protect his sister and Xiao Wu even more.
Ye Chutang nodded with a smile, “I know.”
This young man is truly growing more mature by the day.
She turned to the official and said, “Let’s go.”
……
This was Ye Chutang’s first time visiting the Dali Temple officially.
Su Wei had been waiting for a while already.
Upon seeing Ye Chutang coming over with Xiao Wu, he immediately stood up. Only then did Ye Chutang notice that there were also several other people in official robes beside him; they all seemed to be officials from the Dali Temple.
“I pay my respects to Lord Su.”
Ye Chutang bowed.
Su Wei hurriedly said, “Miss Ye, there’s no need for such formalities. I invited you here today because I actually have something to ask you about.”
Ye Chutang nodded and said, “Please ask, Lord Su; I will surely answer everything I know.”
Su Wei exchanged glances with the other people, pondered for a moment, and then asked,
“Here’s the situation. During a court meeting earlier, the heir to the Dingbei Marquis mentioned that when Lord Ye Jing was assassinated, Miss Ye Chutang witnessed it with her own eyes. The arrows used by the assassin were engraved with a special pattern.”
Ye Chutang’s eyebrows slightly raised.
“He also said that you had seen such arrows in Qingzhou before, and suspected that those people knew you had returned to Qingzhou and deliberately went there to wipe you out. However, for various reasons, they were unable to take action.”
Ye Chutang: “……”
Xiao Wu: ????
She looked up at Ye Chutang, confused.
— Sister, have we met before? Why don’t I have any memory of it at all?
Ye Chutang’s mind raced.
Shen Yanchuan actually brought her such a pleasant surprise.
Since that’s the case, she would accept it with gratitude.
She nodded:
“Yes, I have seen them before.”
Xiao Wu: ????
Su Wei quickly asked,
“What exactly did those arrows look like?”
The others also turned to listen.
What Ye Chutang said next might provide them with a clue to help them find the answer as soon as possible.
There were witnesses in the case of Xiao Chengxuan, but more evidence would be even better.
And Ye Chutang was a crucial link in this matter.
Ye Chutang’s eyes flashed slightly:
“Didn’t the heir mention this before?”
Su Wei shook his head: “The situation during the court meeting was tense; the heir didn’t have the chance to explain in detail.”
They had also wanted to ask Shen Yanchuan in person, but after some thought, they decided it would be better to ask the person involved directly.
That’s why they had sent for Ye Chutang.
Ye Chutang slightly raised the corners of her eyebrows: “Oh?”
He didn’t say anything, so then it was her turn to speak—
She lowered her eyelashes, as if lost in memory.
After a moment, she spoke softly, “Please prepare some paper and pen for me.”
Su Wei immediately replied, “That’s readily available. Someone, bring it here!”
Soon, someone brought over the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone.
“Miss Ye Er, please.”
Ye Chutang stood in front of the desk and picked up the pen.
Everyone’s gaze was drawn towards her.
With calm and graceful strokes, in no time a strange pattern appeared on the paper.
“Probably it’s just like this.”
Ye Chutang put down the pen and said, “Please take a look, gentlemen.”
Su Wei picked up the paper and began to examine it along with the other officials.
After studying it for a while, however, they couldn’t figure anything out.
“This pattern… we have indeed never seen it before.”
Su Wei was not surprised, though. He said, “The person behind this is cautious. Fortunately, Miss Ye Er remembers it. Even if we don’t understand it now, with careful investigation, we will surely find out the truth!”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
One of them suddenly remarked, “Miss Ye Er only stayed in Qingzhou for a short time, yet they seemed to have prepared well in advance. It seems they are very well-informed about what’s going on in the capital.”
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
This matter was related to Xiao Chengxuan; how could he not be aware of all the major and minor events happening in the capital?
She hadn’t thought of it before, but now that she knew it was all orchestrated by Xiao Chengxuan from behind the scenes, everything made sense.
The more they investigated, the more clues they found!
Su Wei nodded to break the silence: “After all, Qingzhou is the hometown of Lord Ye Zhong. It’s only natural that the person behind this pays extra attention to it. Perhaps…”
His expression became even more serious.
“Perhaps, there have indeed been problems in Qingzhou for some time, and we really should conduct a thorough investigation!”
