Ye Dacheng dared not cause a scene in the marketplace. He was afraid his daughter might pull some trick again, and he also dared not go to his son-in-law’s house to beat his daughter. After all, his son-in-law was a Prince—just the title alone was intimidating enough.
He could scheme behind the scenes all he wanted, but facing him directly made his legs go weak just thinking about it.
So he decided to intercept her on the road, right on the mountainside where Ye Ningxin would pass on her way home, waiting for her like a hunter lying in ambush.
When he saw a figure approaching, he jumped out with a sharp knife in hand, only to come face-to-face with Zhao Zhiping.
Zhao Zhiping was helping to deliver vegetables up the mountain.
“My dear daughter, how is it that you have money to buy vegetables and hire porters, but no money to show filial piety to your own father?”
Seeing Ye Dacheng’s shameless state, Ye Ningxin knew that today’s situation would be difficult to resolve peacefully.
This scoundrel, greedy for money and addicted to gambling, in the end only dared to bully his own daughter.
“I’m truly sorry, but as I’ve said before, I have no money.”
“You…” Ye Dacheng gritted his teeth. “You’re forcing me to take action against you!”
Zhao Zhiping had never seen anything like this—a father holding a knife while his daughter refused to back down.
“Let’s talk this out calmly. Don’t let family disputes turn violent,” Zhao Zhiping tried to mediate.
“If you don’t hand over ten taels of silver today, don’t even think about passing!”
“Hah!” Ye Ningxin sneered. “I suggest you go rob a bank instead. That would be much faster.”
Whoosh—Ye Dacheng lunged forward with the knife. However, Ye Ningxin quickly realized that his moves were all for show, lacking any real lethality, designed only to intimidate the timid.
Zhao Zhiping wanted to help block him, but the sight of the gleaming sharp knife made his eyelids twitch uncontrollably. Unconsciously, he kept hiding behind Ye Ningxin.
Seizing the opportunity, Ye Ningxin aimed a sweeping kick at the charging Ye Dacheng. Her intention was to trip him and then stomp on him a few times to vent her anger. But she never expected that when Ye Dacheng fell, his momentum carried him forward, and the knife plunged directly into the abdomen of Zhao Zhiping, who was too slow to dodge.
All three of them froze at once, stunned by the bizarre turn of events.
An unexpected calamity—Ye Ningxin felt a sense of injustice on Zhao Zhiping’s behalf.
Ye Dacheng had bought the knife solely for intimidation. Now, seeing blood, he felt genuine fear. After trembling for a moment, he turned and fled.
Chasing him would be pointless. The priority now was to examine the victim’s wound.
Ye Ningxin helped the trembling Zhao Zhiping lie flat on the ground. The knife couldn’t be recklessly pulled out—if it caused massive bleeding, he might not survive.
In this critical moment, that haughty medical room Spatial Dimension appeared once again, as expected.
“Whose temperament does this Spatial Dimension take after, anyway?” Ye Ningxin rolled her eyes.
Without wasting time, she first took out a syringe of anesthetic and injected it into Zhao Zhiping, rendering him unconscious.
After a thorough examination, she was relieved to find that the knife hadn’t penetrated deeply and hadn’t caused a through-and-through wound. After disinfecting and suturing the wound, she gave Zhao Zhiping injections for tetanus and anti-inflammatory purposes. She didn’t apply any wound-healing ointment to speed up recovery—if the wound healed too quickly, it couldn’t be used as leverage.
This family had come to cause trouble time and again. Ye Ningxin felt it was necessary to set some rules for them, to make it clear that they couldn’t bully their daughter just because she was their own.
When the anesthetic wore off, Zhao Zhiping woke up groggily and muttered, “Am I dead?”
Seeing Ye Ningxin beside him, he realized he was still alive.
“What a mess this is!” the honest man Zhao Zhiping sighed. He had lived his whole life abiding by the rules, never expecting to suffer such an unjust calamity.
“I’m sorry, Brother Zhao, for getting you innocently involved,” Ye Ningxin felt deeply apologetic.
“I’ve already treated your wound simply. Here are 10 taels of silver. When you go back tonight, get some medicine from the pharmacy to take,” Ye Ningxin said.
“10 taels of silver!” The Princess Consort’s generosity once again shocked the honest Zhao Zhiping; this was nearly his income for a year.
After a pause, Ye Ningxin continued, “But I also have a small request.”
Zhao Zhiping: “What request?”
Ye Ningxin: “Tomorrow, go to the county magistrate’s office to file a complaint, accusing Ye Dacheng of highway robbery and stabbing you severely.”
“Highway robbery?” Zhao Zhiping was somewhat dazed. After all, in this dynasty, robbery was a major crime. Could the Princess Consort really take action against her own father?
Seeing his hesitation, Ye Ningxin said, “My father stabbed you today. Given his character, he would never voluntarily compensate you. If you don’t pursue this matter, he’ll think you’re weak and easy to bully, and he might cause trouble for you in the future.”
Some people are just like that—they like to pick on the soft and easy targets.
Seeing that Zhao Zhiping was listening, she continued, “Tomorrow, just go and report it to the authorities. I’ll go with you. You don’t need to worry about anything else. No matter the outcome, I promise everything I said will still be fulfilled.”
Zhao Zhiping: “Alright!”
Helping Zhao Zhiping back to the carriage at the foot of the mountain, Ye Ningxin hired a cart driver from the village to drive the carriage back for him.
The wound wouldn’t worsen overnight. Tomorrow, after the court examined the injury, Ye Ningxin could apply medicine to help it heal.
She had already taken the medicine from the laboratory. Besides that, she had also taken some other emergency medicines and simple suturing tools.
She didn’t dare take too much, fearing she would be seen as an oddity if discovered. If it weren’t for the fact that the Prince couldn’t see, she wouldn’t even know where to hide these few things.
After returning to the small, dilapidated house, Ye Ningxin recounted her recent experiences to the Prince while cooking.
After hearing her story, the Prince asked, “Have you thought it through? You want to send your father to prison?”
“If I can send him in, that would be even better. If not, at least I can give him a beating to deflate his arrogance.” Ye Ningxin chopped fiercely at the fish head, as if only this could vent her anger.
Hearing this, the Prince fell silent.
For dinner, it was fish soup with shredded bamboo shoots porridge. Afraid the Prince might get pricked by fish bones, Ye Ningxin made the porridge without fish meat, using only the broth, but it was still delicious. After reheating the buns, the Prince’s dinner was ready. Ye Ningxin herself drank half a bowl of porridge with the fish meat.
Before going to bed, she boiled two large pots of water, closed the kitchen doors and windows, and washed herself inside the house.
Originally, she had planned to return early and bathe in the hot springs on the mountain, but she had been delayed all afternoon and had no energy left to go.
The kitchen roof also had a small leak, but fortunately, it wasn’t too cold yet.
Today, her body’s pores secreted more black grime, and the water from washing was truly disgusting. But Ye Ningxin knew this was a product of her body’s rapid metabolism—she was moving toward her goal of success.
Thinking about all this and looking at the black grime, she suddenly felt her mood become surprisingly good. She couldn’t help but hum a little tune: “I love bathing, skin so nice, oh oh oh oh, wearing a shower cap, singing and dancing, oh oh oh oh…”
The Prince lay on the bed, listening to the commotion from her side, knowing this woman was in high spirits again. But what kind of awful song was she howling?
…
Well, actually, it wasn’t that bad.
The Prince’s mood also lifted, but he knew that by tomorrow, Ye Ningxin’s spirits would surely be low.