“I know some Disguise Technique. If you need it, I can assist you.”
The money was hidden so meticulously that finding it wouldn’t be easy.
If Xie Tingzhou had come today merely to inquire about the assassin’s identity, he wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble.
He also needed her to keep his identity secret, hence he used those pieces of evidence as leverage against her.
In her previous life, he hadn’t returned to the capital, yet here he was now. Ye Zhen surmised that her intervention against the assassin that day had altered events.
Not being the true Zhongyong Hou Shizi, he couldn’t risk exposure, so her fairly proficient Disguise Technique would be useful to him.
Ye Zhen’s words were both a threat and an offer of allegiance.
They held leverage over each other. Being isolated and vulnerable in Jingcheng, Ye Zhen found the identity of Zhongyong Hou Shizi quite handy.
At the very least, the Marquise was wary of it.
And the Marquis Zhongyong seemed to hold him in high regard as well.
Xie Tingzhou’s eyes were deep and cold as he stepped closer to Ye Zhen, staring into her eyes. “Are you really Ye Zhen?”
That spineless Ye Zhengqing, who always hid behind his sister—could he really have a daughter like this?
He was deeply skeptical.
Ye Zhen met his gaze without flinching and smiled. “The genuine article.”
She wasn’t Ye Zhengqing’s daughter, but she was Ye Zhen.
This name was originally given by her mother.
Back then, her mother and aunt were both pregnant around the same time. The physician diagnosed that both were carrying girls, so her mother settled on the names Ye Zhen and Ye Wantang.
They planned to choose based on the children’s temperaments after birth.
But on the day of delivery, an urgent decree arrived, requiring her to rush to the battlefield to defend against enemies. She had no choice but to entrust her newborn daughter to her sister-in-law, who had given birth two days earlier.
Her uncle and aunt found the character “Zhen” too rigid and gave the name Wantang to their own biological daughter.
To the outside world, they claimed they hoped their child would be as outstanding as her aunt, hence naming her “Zhen.”
No one knew the babies had been switched, and that the name Zhen was what they had discarded.
But Ye Zhen liked it.
Because when her mother saw her, she had stroked her head and smiled, “You and I, aunt and niece, are truly fated. Originally, I preferred the character Zhen. But your cousin’s temperament is too gentle and weak, it doesn’t suit her. Instead, you are resilient and steadfast—it’s perfect.”
Xie Tingzhou could detect no flaws in her expression.
He could only assume it was a case of a bad tree producing good bamboo, or that Ye Zhen took after her aunt, who could stand against ten thousand foes.
He left through the door.
Wan Xing was extremely nervous, following closely step by step. Only after they left the courtyard and confirmed that no one had noticed Xie Tingzhou leaving the young lady’s quarters did she hurriedly close the courtyard gate and return to the room.
“Young lady, are you alright?”
Ye Zhen said, “Fetch some hot water.”
Her back was soaked with sweat.
Dealing with Xie Tingzhou was no easy task.
He was even more formidable than the Marquis Zhongyong. Fortunately, she hadn’t chosen to make an enemy of him.
While Wan Xing went to get hot water, Ye Zhen personally cleaned up the mess on the table. When her fingers touched the broken teacup fragments, her breath hitched slightly.
Earlier, when Xie Tingzhou suddenly changed his attitude—it was out of pity, wasn’t it?
Someone capable of pity couldn’t be entirely wicked.
But Ye Zhen didn’t dare let her guard down.
At the same time, she pondered why Xie Tingzhou wanted to investigate the assassin’s information.
Knowing yourself and your enemy is essential for effective cooperation.
After changing her clothes, she took Wan Xing to the estate’s kitchen.
They were to return to the capital tomorrow, and Old Madam Wang’s kindness couldn’t go unthanked.
Having come to the estate on short notice, she hadn’t brought anything suitable as a gift. After much thought, she decided to prepare a few dishes of Vegetarian Feast for the elderly lady.
When she picked up the kitchen knife, she couldn’t help but sigh.
The County Magistrate’s wealth was truly substantial, and now that it had fallen into Xie Tingzhou’s hands, it was such a pity.
Her own finances were far from abundant. Having grown up on the estate, the Ye family had never sent her anything of real value. Later, when she married into the Marquis Estate, her dowry appeared impressive on the surface but was actually quite meager.
Although she had earned some money privately, she had taken in several homeless children in the south, and the expenses were considerable.
After she took her revenge and fled far away, she would need even more money to rely on.
“After you return, contact Yin Yue and have her come back to the capital.”
Yin Yue was another maidservant of hers, a few years older than her and Wan Xing. She was capable, steady, and far more skilled in martial arts than Wan Xing.
When Ye Zhen first entered the Marquis Estate, the Marquise had recognized that Yin Yue was not someone to be trifled with and deliberately picked faults with her, intending to punish her.
Ye Zhen took the opportunity to have Yin Yue leave the estate and manage some affairs for her outside.
Now, she needed assistance and missed Yin Yue as well.
On the other side, when the Marquise heard that Marquis Zhongyong had disowned Xie Yunzhou and buried him hastily, her vision darkened repeatedly.
She cried out, “I want to see the Marquis.”
Guarding the door were Marquis Zhongyong’s personal guards. Without his orders, no one dared to let her out.
The Marquise immediately sensed that something was terribly wrong.
When she saw that lunch consisted only of a bowl of plain congee and a small dish of vegetables, she felt both furious and fearful.
She realized this was Marquis Zhongyong’s punishment for her.
He had discovered her lies.
The Marquise instantly thought of Ye Zhen.
“I underestimated her and looked down on her, only to be harmed by her and end up in such a state.”
Ye Zhen actually had the ability to make the Marquis believe her words.
This was truly disastrous.
She hurriedly had someone prepare writing materials and wrote a letter to her daughter, Xie Jinyao, the eldest young lady of the Zhongyong Hou Estate.
On the surface, the letter informed her daughter that she was unwell and needed to recuperate at the estate, urging her to comfort her young brother.
Secretly, however, it conveyed a message only the mother and daughter would understand: Ye Zhen had harmed her, and she wanted her daughter to investigate the whereabouts of Ye Zhen’s other maidservant, Yin Yue.
After being confined, the Marquise carefully thought through the entire incident.
Ye Zhen might have been hiding her abilities all these years, but no matter how capable she was, she couldn’t have accomplished so much alone. She must have had other helpers by her side.
Then she remembered the maidservant named Yin Yue.
Yin Yue had once beaten one of her elderly servants and seemed quite skilled in martial arts. This explained how Ye Zhen had managed to evade her schemes and turn the tables.
She had the meal sent back untouched, hoping to evoke Marquis Zhongyong’s pity.
The letter ended up in Marquis Zhongyong’s hands. He glanced at it briefly, tucked it into his robe, and planned to pass it to his daughter after returning to the capital.
He had no intention of visiting the Marquise.
Instead of waiting for Marquis Zhongyong, the Marquise heard that a grand barbecue feast was being prepared at the estate. It felt as if the sky had fallen.
By feasting and drinking so lavishly, the Marquis was making it clear to everyone that the deceased was not his son.
Otherwise, what father would indulge in fine food and drink during his son’s mourning period?
He had completely disavowed Xie Yunzhou.
It was evident that the Marquis was deeply angered this time. He was angry at Yun Zhou, and naturally, he was angry at her, his wife.
The Marquise felt anxious and panicked.
This time, she truly lost her appetite. She sent back her dinner again and knelt in the courtyard wearing only thin inner garments.
She had to find a way to win back the Marquis’s heart.
Then, she would make Ye Zhen pay a hundred—no, a thousand—times over for today’s humiliation.
However, once the heart of a battle-hardened general hardens, it is not easily softened.
Upon hearing the guards’ report, Marquis Zhongyong merely said indifferently, “If she’s ill, send for a doctor later.”
Without even lifting his gaze, he picked up a piece of vegetarian meat from the plate and took another sip of soup.
The ingredients were ordinary, but the flavor was remarkably good.
These dishes were prepared by Ye Zhen to express gratitude to Old Madam Wang for lending medical resources, and she had sent him a portion as well.
The Marquis Zhongyong thus considered Ye Zhen someone who knew how to repay kindness.
In contrast, his own wife, who still refused to reflect on her actions and continued to act clever, was truly detestable.
The Marquise remained unaware that her behavior had further angered the Marquis Zhongyong.
The early spring chill of March was biting, and the nights at the estate were particularly cold. The Marquise shivered from the cold, yet her heart grew warm with anticipation.
She had thought of someone who could restrain the Marquis Zhongyong and would also help her deal with Ye Zhen.
She was saved.