No sooner had she finished speaking than loud shouts rang out from outside.
“Everyone up! Assemble! We’re departing!”
The soldiers were already driving people out early.
Ye Si Ming woke up briefly, only to pass out again from the pain. Before losing consciousness, he gripped her wrist tightly.“Help me… take care of my mother and the others… If I don’t die… I will repay you a hundredfold.”
“Alright.”
“……”
Ye Si Yun was jolted awake by the noise. Seeing her father and elder brother, she was overwhelmed with worry and could only turn to Mu Mianmian.“Big Sister-in-law, we’re setting off. With my brother and father like this, how are we supposed to travel?”
“Go find two people. I’ll treat Ye Si Ming’s wounds first.”
Mu Mianmian removed the pair of earrings from behind her ear and handed them to her.
“This is Big Sister-in-law’s only dowry…” Ye Si Yun’s eyes reddened as tears welled up.
“Mmm. We’ll have more in the future.”
All her dowry had already been moved into her storage space—Mu Mianmian wasn’t distressed at all.
Ye Si Yun wiped her tears. “When Big Brother recovers, he’ll definitely treat you well, Sister-in-law.”
She went out, using the earrings to ask the soldiers for help.
Taking advantage of the moment, Mu Mianmian quickly treated Ye Si Ming’s leg. Ye Si Yun had stopped the bleeding the night before, but no medicine had been applied.
When she finished, Ye Si Yun returned.“Sister-in-law, they agreed to give us two stretchers and help carry Big Brother and Father—but they want payment.”
Money wasn’t the problem.
The problem was that taking it out now would attract trouble.
After thinking for a moment, Mu Mianmian said, “Go get Second Uncle and Third Uncle. There are adult men in the family—they can help carry them.”
The second and third branches both had several sons, the eldest already twenty.
Ye Si Yun ran to fetch them.
Everyone was already gathered in the courtyard.
“It’s not impossible for us to carry them,” Second Uncle said slowly, “but you’ll have to wash our clothes, cook for us, and serve us like slaves.”
They were being exiled now—there would be no servants like before.
Ye Si Yun’s heart turned ice-cold. “Second Uncle… Third Uncle… how can you say that?”
“What? Don’t want to?” someone sneered. “Don’t forget—it’s your main branch that dragged us into this misery. We didn’t even blame you, and now you still want us to do hard labor?”
“Not a chance. Two half-dead men—carry them yourselves if you want.”
The old matriarch snapped impatiently. “If you don’t want to, forget it. They have money to hire people anyway.”
“Come help carry them,” Mu Mianmian said coolly.
She sneered inwardly. Without wasting words, she stepped forward, grabbed the arms of Ye Second and Ye Third, and twisted hard.
“Or I’ll cripple your arms.”
The two grown men howled in pain.
“Mu Mianmian, how dare you!” the old matriarch shrieked in fury.
Mu Mianmian’s voice was icy. “Why wouldn’t I dare? The Night Prince’s estate was built by my husband, Ye Si Ming. You enjoyed more than a decade of wealth and glory for nothing—shouldn’t you repay it?”
“We’re members of the Ye family too! The estate belongs to us as well!” the old matriarch shouted, wishing she could kill Mu Mianmian on the spot.“If it weren’t for Ye Si Ming, we wouldn’t be suffering now!”
“Exactly—”
“The Ye estate was ancestral property! What right do you have to say it belongs to the main branch alone?”
Ye Si Yun looked at these shameless people, finally seeing their true faces.“The Ye family’s achievements were earned by my father and my brother—it belongs to our main branch, so what? You’ve been leeching off us for years, drinking my brother’s blood and eating his flesh, and now you dare say this? Are you even human?”
“Wretched girl! Are you rebelling?” the old matriarch snapped.
Second Madam Shen sneered mockingly.“Si Yun, say less. You’re the ones begging us now. Look at Mu Mianmian’s attitude.”
“If your brother had married my niece Jiajia back then, would things have turned out like this? I say Mu Mianmian is a jinx. Everyone said she was a disaster star—look, nothing good has happened since she entered the household.”
The Shen family’s eldest daughter, Shen Jia, had once admired Ye Si Ming, but he had rejected her due to his engagement.
She later married Ye Second Young Master, Ye Si Lan.
Seeing Ye Si Ming reduced to this state secretly delighted her.
“Big Sister-in-law,” Shen Jia said softly, feigning concern,“Big Brother is already like this—he’s basically useless now. Why don’t you say a few nice words and beg Grandmother? She’ll let Si Lan and the others help carry him.”
Mu Mianmian looked at them coldly, her grip on Ye Third’s arm never loosening.
“Since you refuse to help, then we’ll split the family. Right now.”
“From today onward, our main branch cuts all ties with you—forever.”