The hidden arrow that came whistling through the air grazed Yu Xuan’s hair and embedded itself in the door panel.
Yu Xuan had narrowly escaped death, her face instantly turning pale with fright, her legs so weak she could barely stand.
Yu Sheng steadied Yu Xuan and glanced up toward the eaves.
Only a fleeting shadow was visible high above, vanishing in an instant.
She thought to herself: One strike missed, and they withdrew immediately—clearly, they weren’t here solely to kill.
“Eldest Miss!” Feihong and Dicui exclaimed in unison, rushing forward together.
Uncle Li and a group of servants and maids hurriedly gathered around, asking, “Is the Eldest Miss all right?”
“Is Fourth Miss injured?”
Yu Sheng replied, “I’m fine. Feihong, help Xuan’er over to sit down and rest for a moment.”
She then turned to look at the arrow lodged in the door.
“There’s a note on the arrow.”
The sharp-eyed Dicui spoke as she immediately pulled the arrow out, removed the note, and handed it to Yu Sheng.
Yu Sheng unfolded the note and read—
“Be sensible and settle this matter quietly, or else watch out for the lives of your entire family!”
After reading it, her heart sank.
Though unsigned, it was clearly a threatening letter from Liyang Houfu.
The person who had fired the hidden arrow earlier had aimed at Yu Xuan. If not for Yu Sheng’s quick reflexes, her younger half-sister would have been either dead or severely injured.
Xu Liu had been taken away by Sheng Huaijin half a day ago. Presumably, Shiziye’s swift and decisive actions had left Liyang Houfu at a disadvantage, forcing them to resort to threatening the lives of the entire Yujia family to pressure them into settling the matter quietly.
If Yujia truly yielded to such threats today, they would have no place left to stand in Lizhou from then on.
The more this was the case, the less they could bow their heads.
Uncle Li, who had seen the note’s contents from the side, asked anxiously, “Eldest Miss, what… what should we do?”
Yu Sheng replied calmly, “Xu Liu was shouting the same thing this morning. Look at what happened to him.”
Upon hearing this, Uncle Li immediately felt less panicked.
After a moment of contemplation, Yu Sheng already had a plan. “This evidence couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Sheng Huaijin had said he would thoroughly investigate Xu Liu’s actions, and Yujia was lacking evidence. Now, Liyang Houfu had delivered it right to their doorstep.
“Kongqing.” She folded the note and, together with the arrow Dicui had pulled out, handed them to Kongqing, instructing him, “Take this to the posthouse and deliver it to Zhenguo Gong Shizi. Let him decide what to do.”
“Yes, I’ll go right away.” Kongqing accepted them with both hands and immediately set off to carry out the task.
Due to the sudden appearance of the hidden arrow earlier, the people in the courtyard were still somewhat unsettled.
Yu Sheng, however, had already sent both the arrow and the note as evidence to Shiziye.
The sky grew darker, and the servants and maids in the garden lit lamps in various places.
Seeing Yu Xuan’s face as pale as paper and drenched in cold sweat, Yu Sheng urged her to return to her room, but Yu Xuan refused. Instead, Yu Sheng had a maid prepare a calming soup, watched Yu Xuan drink it, and then had her lie down in the side room to rest for a while.
After a long while, the tightly closed door finally opened.
A-Mo, his eyes covered with a black silk cloth, pushed Ye Feibai, seated in a wheelchair, out.
With her heart in her throat, Yu Sheng stepped forward to meet them. “How is my father?”
Almost simultaneously, Ye Feibai looked up and asked, “You promised a welcoming feast to wash away the dust. What’s for dinner tonight?”
Yu Sheng paused for a moment before adding, “The banquet is already prepared. There’s plenty of good wine and food for you. But my father, he…”
“With me on the case, your father is naturally blessed with great fortune and a strong fate. His life is saved, and he’ll wake up within a day,” Ye Feibai said, his tone almost matching Yu Sheng’s. “However…”
Ye Feibai shifted gears, explaining that Father Yu would need someone to feed him medicine and soup, and attend to his every need for at least a year or more. Moreover, in the future, “even if his body recovers, it will never be what it was before. Forget about traveling far and wide for business—he won’t be able to handle even the slightest bit of exhaustion.”
In other words, Father Yu had survived.
But he was already a broken man.
Uncle Li and the others wore troubled expressions upon hearing this.
Only Yu Sheng said, “It’s enough that he survived.”
As long as he lived, there would be a future.
Ye Feibai stretched lazily. “You certainly take things in stride.”
Whether one took things in stride or not, life had to go on. It was better to take things in stride and make it easier on oneself.
Yu Sheng had no mind for pleasantries and simply said, “Uncle Li, please arrange for the banquet to be set up in the flower hall. I’ll trouble you to escort our two guests there to dine at their leisure. I must attend to Father tonight and won’t be able to join you.”
“Go on, go on,” Ye Feibai waved dismissively. “You clearly have no appetite right now. Forcing yourself to keep us company would only ruin A-Mo’s and my meal.”
A-Mo immediately called him out. “How strange. Is there anything in this world that could possibly ruin your appetite?”
This guy was the type who could happily devour a meal while watching blood and gore, and still chop away with gusto.
Ye Feibai shot an unseen glare at A-Mo and urged Uncle Li to lead the way to the flower hall.
“Uncle Li,” Yu Sheng said gently, “please find a good courtyard to settle our two guests properly. I’ll personally host and thank them once I have some free time in a couple of days.”
“Yes, Eldest Miss,” Uncle Li replied, treating Ye Feibai and A-Mo with even more enthusiasm and warmth.
With that, the group went on their way.
Yu Sheng entered the room to check on Father Yu.
Father Yu remained unconscious, but his complexion was slightly better than it had been that morning, and his pulse and breathing were not as weak as before.
Yu Sheng brought over an embroidered stool and kept vigil by the sickbed. Throughout the night, she fed him ginseng soup once and medicinal broth twice.
By the late hours of the night, Father Yu still hadn’t woken up.
Exhausted, Yu Sheng leaned over the bedside and fell asleep.
“Why is the Eldest Miss sleeping here like this?” Feihong initially wanted to wake her and persuade her to return to her room to sleep, but Yu Xuan raised a hand to stop her.
“Shh,” Yu Xuan whispered as she tiptoed over from the side room, draping an outer garment over Yu Sheng. “Let Eldest Sister sleep a little longer.”
Dawn was approaching, and with so many matters awaiting Eldest Sister’s attention at home, once she woke, she likely wouldn’t go back to sleep.
Feihong and Dicui exchanged a glance and said nothing more.
Before long, daylight broke.
Yu Sheng rubbed her sore neck, opened her eyes, and saw that Father Yu on the sickbed still hadn’t woken. She couldn’t help but feel like calling Ye Feibai over to take another look.
He had promised he’d wake within a day, so why wasn’t he awake yet?
But before she could speak, a servant boy reported from outside the door, “Eldest Miss, Second Master and Fourth Master are already waiting in the main hall. They sent me to ask you to come over.”
The day before, Yu Sheng had told them to prepare the account books for inspection.
At the time, they had seemed quite unwilling, so why were they now coming to her first thing in the morning?
As Yu Sheng pondered this, Yu Xuan said, “Eldest Sister, wipe your face first.” She soaked a towel in hot water, wrung it out, and handed it to her.
Yu Sheng thanked her, took the towel, and wiped her hands.
Then she called out to the door, “I’ll be right there.”
“Then please hurry, Eldest Miss. I’ll go deliver the message,” the servant boy said, arriving in a rush and leaving just as quickly.
Though Yu Sheng said she would come right away, her movements were unhurried as she went to the side room to wash up and change. Dicui brought in the young maids to attend to her.
The quick-witted Feihong had already made a round to the front hall and returned to report, “Miss, Second Master and the others have invited Old Madame over. They’re putting on quite a show in the front hall, waiting for you right now.”