Ye Yizhen’s expression suddenly changed, and she rebuked sternly: “Yun Zheng, you’re harming me again! Ghost Doctor? Just the name sounds terrifying. I’m a woman raised in the inner chambers—how could I know such people? I’m not like you, born of merchants, always mingling with shady sorts.”
Her words painted herself as the most innocent, the most pure—framed by Yunzheng. She forced the sweetest smile. “Child, she’s deceived you.”
An Kang’s eyes flickered. “Then swear it. Swear you don’t know who my grandfather is. Otherwise, may your husband die early, may you live childless, poisoned, cast into a mass grave, without even a burial place.”
So vicious! The entire crowd fell silent, staring at Ye Yizhen. Would she dare swear?
Her heart felt seized by an invisible hand; her face grew paler and paler; her body swayed and collapsed against Jiang Wenzhou.
Jiang Wenzhou, distressed, shouted angrily: “How can you be so cruel at such a young age? Yunzheng—it’s you, you taught him this!”
Yun Zheng smiled faintly. “Ye Yizhen, you’re afraid.”
Seeing her so terrified, An Kang was completely convinced by Yun Zheng’s words. “How strange. If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t fear the oath. What are you afraid of?”
Everyone else wondered the same—what was she afraid of?
Ye Yizhen, quick‑witted, rolled her eyes and found a new excuse. “I won’t swear on my reputation. That itself is a humiliation. I refuse.”
An Kang grew angry. “Then you’re guilty. I won’t let my grandfather help you poison people.”
At that, everyone’s gaze toward Ye Yizhen changed. So she really had deceived them all? Today’s spectacle was a setup—to win a good name and also secure a master of medicine and poison? High, too high. One arrow, two targets—playing everyone in the palm of her hand. What a terrifying woman.
Ye Yizhen trembled all over, desperately denying.
Yun Zheng savored her downfall, her plan backfiring. Whoever sets a trap must be ready to fail. “Ye Yizhen, who do you want to kill? Me? Or some noble? Is that the great deed you planned?”
Duke Ding’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Linking it to her earlier words—entering the palace to do great deeds—it all connected. The hair on his back stood on end. He looked at Ye Yizhen coldly.
Ye Yizhen was on the verge of collapse, her face ashen, tears brimming.
“Yun Zheng, will you only be satisfied when you destroy me? Fine—then I’ll grant your wish.”
Ye Yizhen suddenly shoved Jiang Wenzhou aside, her face set with grim resolve, and hurled herself toward the wall.
Jiang Wenzhou’s heart nearly split apart, terror gripping him as he lunged to stop her. “Zhenzhen, don’t!”
He pulled her back just in time. She only struck partially, but still her head split open, blood flowing, her eyes shut tight as she fainted.
Jiang Wenzhou cried her name in panic, his emotions in turmoil.
The crowd fell silent. No one dared say more. Perhaps… she was innocent. Perhaps they had misunderstood her.
Yun Zheng arched a brow. “I must admit, Ye Yizhen is a strategist. The moment she saw things turning against her, she smashed her head against the wall to prove her innocence, silencing everyone. Now, anyone who accuses her will seem cruel. Brilliant move.”
At those words, the wavering onlookers thought—wasn’t that true? Perhaps this was just a tactic to escape blame.
Jiang Wenzhou exploded with fury. “Yun Zheng, you drove her to this! Doesn’t your conscience ache? If Zhenzhen suffers even the slightest harm, I’ll never forgive you.”
An Kang crept closer to take a look. Being just a child, he posed no threat, and Jiang Wenzhou was too busy tending to Ye Yizhen’s wound to chase him away.
After watching for a while, An Kang suddenly said, “This isn’t right.”
Yun Zheng tilted her head curiously. “What do you mean?”
An Kang pointed at the woman lying in Jiang Wenzhou’s arms. “Look—the angle shows she held back. Even if he hadn’t pulled her, she wouldn’t have died.”
Yun Zheng, knowing Ye Yizhen’s nature, agreed. Even if the whole world perished, a selfish, cold woman like her would never truly kill herself.
“You mean… she’s faking?”
An Kang frowned, full of disdain. “Yes. She’s putting on a show—crying, making a scene, pretending to commit suicide. She’s so fake.”
Hateful. Not only had she hurt him, but she had also deceived his feelings. If Yun Zheng hadn’t exposed the truth, he and his grandfather would have been tricked by this wicked woman, enslaved by her schemes for life. The outside world was terrifying. He wanted to go home. Grandpa, hurry!
Jiang Wenzhou barked. “You’re just a child—what do you know?”
An Kang refused to back down. “My family has deep learning. What don’t I know? She’d rather hit her head than swear an oath. Why?”
Why else? Because she was guilty.
At that moment, Ye Yizhen’s carefully cultivated image shattered completely. Hypocritical, malicious—those became her labels.
Unlike last time, when things could be whitewashed as two women fighting over a man—mere matters of love, with no clear right or wrong—this time, how could she possibly cleanse herself?
Staging a play, deceiving the world, using a child as a stepping stone—such a person was truly terrifying. From now on, who would dare trust her?
Qin Susu wore a bitter smile. “So we were all played. That whole ‘beautiful and kindhearted’ image was just an act.”
Her father had always warned her that she was too simple‑minded, that she should think more carefully about people and situations. She had nearly become an accomplice.
The thought made her even less able to forgive Ye Yizhen. “Despicable. I swear, I will never accept this vicious woman into our circle.”
Her close friend, Cheng Mingli, the eldest daughter of a general’s household, sighed softly, her face full of melancholy. “How could the heir of the Pingxi household love such a hypocritical woman?” Once, she herself had secretly admired the heir. When he married, she had even cried in secret.
Qin Susu pressed her lips together. “Some men are just born cheap—they like bad women.”
Cheng Mingli: …
Suddenly, she felt the heir wasn’t so admirable after all.
Yet Jiang Wenzhou saw no fault in Ye Yizhen. Instead, he shifted all blame onto Yun Zheng. “Yun Zheng, this child was arranged by you. Today’s entire spectacle was planned by you in advance, just to frame us, just to vent your spite. How venomous your heart is.”
An Kang glared furiously, picked up a stone, and hurled it. “You’re the ones who arranged it! Your whole family arranged it! Villains—you plotted to kidnap me. My grandfather won’t spare you. Just wait!”
Jiang Wenzhou tilted his head slightly, avoiding the stone, but was thoroughly enraged. “Men! Take this brat and Yun Zheng to the magistrate’s office. Charge them with colluding with criminals and insulting officials’ families.”
At this point, only by branding the two of them as criminals could Ye Yizhen’s reputation be salvaged, allowing her to stand firm in society.
For Jiang Wenzhou, as long as Ye Yizhen lived well, the lives and deaths of others meant nothing to him.
The worshippers were stunned. To twist right and wrong, to send his lawful wife to the magistrate for the sake of a scheming woman—was this something a human being would do?
Yun Zheng covered her face, appearing heartbroken, though the corners of her lips curved faintly upward. If you insist on acting out, you’ll only hasten your own downfall.
This was only the beginning. Let the backlash grow fiercer still.