The Emperor’s expression finally softened a few degrees.
Only then did Yun Qingge slowly rise to her feet. At that moment, a palace maid handed tea cups to the two of them.
She had just reached out to take hers when the maid’s hand slipped, and the tea cup was clearly about to fall. Before she could even react to catch it, another large hand suddenly shot out and steadily caught the cup that was about to hit the ground.
The hand, with its exceptionally elegant bone structure, held the tea cup and passed it back to her.
“Be careful.” The owner of the hand spoke in a low, indifferent tone.
Yun Qingge was momentarily stunned, then took the tea cup from Ye Feimo. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
“Hehe, Fourth Sister is still so clumsy. Do be careful.” Yun Wanyue spoke softly, looking at Yun Qingge with a sweet, harmless smile.
Others would think it was merely an older sister kindly reminding her younger sister, but to Yun Qingge’s ears, it was completely different—nothing short of deliberate mockery.
Yun Qingge gave Yun Wanyue a simple-minded smile, though her face was covered by the veil, only a hint of amusement could be seen in her eyes.
“Thank you for the reminder, Third Sister.”
Everyone could smell the gunpowder in the air, even though all faces wore polite expressions.
Yun Wanyue subtly tucked her hands into her sleeves, clenching the fabric tightly.
She couldn’t understand why Yun Qingge was still alive!
What she couldn’t understand even more was why today’s Yun Qingge would appear so calmly in the palace to offer tea?
Although she had been surprised when she heard Yun Qingge was coming to the palace to offer tea, she had always been excellent at concealing her emotions—no outsider could detect the slightest trace of anything amiss on her sweet, enchanting face.
When Yun Qingge and Ye Feimo offered tea to the Empress, the Empress accepted it with a smile, took a light sip at the rim of the cup, and set it down. No one knew whether she had actually drunk any.
But…
When it came to the Emperor, he gave a cold snort, took the tea cup, and set it aside without touching it. His attitude was unmistakably clear.
“Feimo, since you are now married, treat Fourth Miss Yun of the Yun family well.”
“…Your son obeys.” Ye Feimo lowered his eyes and responded flatly, neither warm nor cold.
The Emperor was accustomed to this attitude of his. He turned back to look at Yun Qingge and said, “Yun Qingge, as a newcomer to the imperial family, do your duty well. Do not let your mind wander or stir up trouble.”
Hearing this, Yun Qingge felt quite bitter inside.
Let her mind wander? Wasn’t that referring to the original owner’s fixation on Ye Tianjue?
But things were different now.
Over there, Ye Tianjue frowned and swept a disgusted glance at Yun Qingge. Even his frown was a pleasure to behold.
However, Yun Qingge merely cast him a brief, indifferent glance before looking away.
So what if he was handsome? No matter how handsome an enemy was, he was still an enemy!
Ye Feimo subtly swept a glance at Yun Qingge, assessing his new wife’s demeanor and attitude.
She was exceptionally composed, indeed keeping her promise made in the carriage—not causing him trouble, staying well-behaved and in her place.
Ye Feimo lowered his eyes with a measure of satisfaction.
“Alright, I need to attend to state affairs. Empress, stay and chat with the children.” The Emperor rose, and eunuchs and palace maids immediately stepped forward to attend to his departure.
Once the Emperor left, the grand procession of palace attendants also departed from Yuhuayuan.
Only then did the Empress look at her son with a gentle smile and say, “Jue’er, tomorrow is the ceremony for appointing the Crown Prince. Prepare well. And Wanyue, your engagement is imminent. I will leave the remaining matters to the Ministry of Rites to prepare.”
These words undoubtedly provided the answer—the Crown Prince was to be Ye Tianjue.
Yun Qingge understood that whether or not this cannon-fodder supporting character died, the plot was still developing in one direction. Though the process had changed, the outcome remained the same.
Unless she could alter some of the details along the way.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
In the end, since Can Wang was never harmed, his right to enter the court and his military authority would not be stripped away. And in the end, this supporting character hadn’t died either—but Yun Wanyue would still find ways to kill her.
Her true face was known only to Yun Wanyue.
Ye Tianjue nodded over there and said, “I understand. Rest assured, Mother.”
The Empress nodded, paying no mind to Ye Feimo and Yun Qingge at all. She rose and left, supported by her elderly attendant.
In an instant, only the four of them remained in Yuhuayuan.
“Fifth Brother, did your wedding night go smoothly yesterday?” Ye Tianjue asked once the Emperor and Empress had left.
“Thanks to Brother’s concern, quite well.” The man in the wheelchair spoke coldly and clearly.
Ye Tianjue’s voice was of the clear, bright type—pleasant to hear. He merely smiled lightly and said, “That’s good to hear. I was worried Fifth Brother might bully his new wife. After all, I heard… yesterday you locked your wife in the woodshed?”
Ye Feimo’s brow furrowed beneath his mask, and he said coldly, “A daily marital pleasure.”
Hearing this explanation, Yun Qingge’s mouth twitched violently.
Good heavens, was this man a devil?
Saying “a daily marital pleasure” with such a straight face—what an absolutely divine comeback.
Even Qingxuan was thunderstruck.
As for Ye Tianjue, a hint of oddity crossed his expression, but he could find no words to refute it. After all, it was not his place to pry into another couple’s affairs.
On the surface, the two brothers seemed harmonious, but in truth, they had already exchanged countless silent glares.
…
With the tea ceremony concluded, Yun Qingge finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As she reached the palace gates, someone called out to her.
“Fourth sister.”
The soft, gentle female voice belonged to none other than Yun Wanyue.
Yun Qingge paused mid-step, glanced at Ye Feimo, then smiled and said, “Your Highness, you—”
Before she could even finish her sentence, Qingxuan had already pushed Ye Feimo’s wheelchair onto the carriage, as if he had no intention of waiting for her at all.
Yun Qingge grumbled inwardly—not even letting a person finish speaking, what an ill-mannered fellow!
She turned around, looking at the beauty who came running over while lifting her skirts, and forced a smile. “Third sister, is something the matter?”
Yun Wanyue looked at her strangely. “You… are you alright?”
She pretended to show concern for this younger sister, first letting her lower her guard.
“Third sister, what a strange question. What could possibly be wrong with me? Has sister heard some unfavorable news, that you would ask me such a thing?”
Yun Wanyue’s expression shifted slightly, and she quickly shook her head.
“No, no.”
She paused, glanced toward the carriage at the palace gates, then pulled Yun Qingge to a corner by the entrance and lowered her voice.
“Didn’t we agree before? You assassinate Can Wang, and I’ll help you find a way to escape. After that, I’ll tell Jue-gege the truth and let him know that the jade pendant was something I picked up. We can share Jue-gege’s love.”
Right—eleven years ago, before the accident that befell Ye Tianjue, he had gifted a jade pendant to the original owner, who was only five at the time.
But as written in the book, the original owner had lost that pendant, and it was so “coincidentally” picked up by Yun Wanyue, while the original owner had no idea about any of this.
With both the peach blossom birthmark and the jade pendant, Yun Wanyue naturally made Ye Tianjue instantly believe she was the girl he had been thinking of.
Truly frightening—every move calculated so perfectly.
Yun Qingge thought she was insane, and coolly waited for her to finish speaking on her own.