Ye Gengxin instinctively lowered his head, but Wen Yan seized his wrist and secretly applied a bit of force to hold his hand down. Then, putting on an expression of pity, he said, “Since General Ye is certain that Third Miss Ye is dead, you should return to the residence and arrange her funeral!”
Ye Gengxin did not understand why Wen Yan had slipped him a note, but no matter how slow he was, he knew that Wen Yan was doing this to keep the Wei Family from finding out.
For Prince Cheng’s sake, he could only cooperate.
Afterward, he and the members of the Wei Family saluted Yuchi Ling and took their leave.
Once they had left Prince Cheng’s Residence, Madam Ge suggested that their whole family go to the General’s Residence and arrange Third Miss Ye’s funeral together.
Ye Gengxin was deeply moved by their concern for his family. But when he thought of the note hidden in his wide sleeve, he hesitated briefly before saying, “Shuer’s belongings still need to be sorted out. I’ll return to the residence and have the servants make the preparations first. You’ve all been exhausted from dealing with Shuer’s affairs today, so go back and rest for now. Tomorrow, I’ll send someone to fetch you.”
Since he had put it that way, the three members of the Wei Family could not insist.
After all, Ye Shishu was dead, and the ghost marriage was already a certainty. All they needed was for Ye Gengxin to see their family’s sincerity.
Ye Gengxin immediately boarded the carriage from the General’s Residence.
As soon as he lowered the curtain, he eagerly opened the note Wen Yan had secretly slipped to him.
When he recognized the familiar, graceful handwriting on the paper, his eyes widened. And when he read the words formed by those strokes, his pupils filled with shock and disbelief!
How could he fail to recognize his daughter’s handwriting?
He simply never would have dreamed that his daughter’s “death” today was actually…
……
Back at Prince Cheng’s Residence.
Ye Gengxin and the members of the Wei Family had barely left when Ye Shishu entered the study.
“Thank you, Prince Cheng. I will never forget your great kindness.” Dragging her weak, exhausted legs, she walked over to the wheelchair and gave a deeply sincere curtsy of gratitude.
The water in the City Moat had been deeper than she had imagined. Fortunately, Wen Yan and his men had found her downstream. Otherwise, she really might have drowned in the City Moat.
She would certainly remember this debt of gratitude.
Yuchi Ling stared at her pale, colorless face. “No one asked you to come out. There was no need to push yourself just to offer this small token of thanks.”
Ye Shishu had been soaked in the river for quite some time and was indeed weak. But whenever she thought of her “good-for-nothing” father, she felt uncomfortable even lying down.
She knew that her father would definitely come to Prince Cheng’s Residence, so she had pleaded with Prince Cheng beforehand to conceal the fact that he had rescued her.
She wanted to use this incident to make her father see just how sinister and despicable the Wei Family truly was!
“Prince, you helped me enormously. I had to come personally to express my gratitude.” Ye Shishu straightened up and was just about to give him a faint smile when her body suddenly swayed. Her entire person lurched uncontrollably toward the wheelchair!
She was only two steps away from the wheelchair, so the sudden lunge was disastrous. In the crisis, she instinctively threw up both hands, striking Yuchi Ling in the abdomen. When her body landed on Yuchi Ling’s thighs, her forehead slammed directly into his crotch—
“Mm!”
“Prince!” Wen Yan and Wen Mo cried out despite themselves.
As Yuchi Ling let out a muffled groan of pain, he quickly clamped his legs shut. His already scarred face became even more ferocious beneath the dark aura.
Damn woman! Was she trying to make him lose all hope of having descendants?
What ingratitude!
Ye Shishu was stunned by her own lunge as well.
She was so mortified that she wanted to roll her eyes and faint dead away!
But given the situation, did she dare faint?
If she fainted on Prince Cheng, he might have her thrown out of the residence the very next moment!
Her instinct for survival made her hurriedly grab the wheelchair’s armrest and pull herself up. Afraid that she would be punished, she blurted out nervously, “Prince, I didn’t do it on purpose. Where are you hurt? I’ll rub it for you!”
The moment the words left her mouth, her previously pale face flushed bright red.
“Ahem, ahem, ahem…” Wen Yan and Wen Mo both coughed dryly at the same time, their shoulders trembling as they struggled to suppress their laughter.
Ye Shishu glanced at the man in the wheelchair.
He was glaring at her viciously, his long, narrow black eyes full of menace, his legs clamped tightly together.
Her scalp went numb, and she hurriedly dropped to her knees to admit her mistake. “Prince, I truly didn’t do it on purpose…”
“Leave!” the man growled through clenched teeth.
“Yes.” As if pardoned, Ye Shishu scrambled up from the floor without even having time to care about her weakness and exhaustion, then stumbled out of the study.
Only after she had left did Wen Yan and Wen Mo step forward to ask after him.
“Prince, are you all right?”
“Prince, were you injured?”
Yuchi Ling shot them a sideways glare. “You two leave as well!”
Wen Yan and Wen Mo lowered their heads and withdrew together.
……
Meanwhile, at Ye Gengxin’s residence.
After returning home, Ye Gengxin made no arrangements at all. When Hao Fu came to discuss setting up the mourning hall, wiping away his tears, Ye Gengxin said grimly, “What’s the hurry? We need to see her alive or see her corpse. Even if Shuer jumped into the City Moat, we have to wait until her body floats to the surface!”
Hao Fu thought this made sense. Without seeing the body of their Third Miss, at most they could say that her life or death was unknown. Arranging a funeral now would indeed be too hasty.
He rolled up his sleeve and wiped away his tears, no longer crying.
Suddenly, the gate guard came to report, “General, the Marquis Yufeng’s family has arrived.”
Ye Gengxin’s expression darkened, but he still had Hao Fu bring them inside.
After his father-in-law passed away, the eldest son of the You Family, You Jianbin, inherited the title of Marquis Yufeng. However, Ye Gengxin had never had a favorable impression of this Eldest Brother-in-Law. Compared with his wife’s second brother, You Jianchuan, and his family, he was much more willing to associate with them.
Having heard the tragic news that Ye Shishu had jumped into the City Moat, You Jianbin and his wife, Madam Wen; You Jianchuan and his wife, Madam Ma; and the children of both households had all come.
After several of the younger generation had finished saluting Ye Gengxin, Madam Wen asked anxiously, “General, I heard something happened to Shuer. Is it true?”
Ye Gengxin took a deep breath, then nodded stiffly.
Seeing this, everyone from the You Family revealed sorrowful expressions. Madam Ma, her son You Hongze, and her daughter You Hongxin turned away and began to weep.
You Jianchuan choked out, unable to accept it, “General, what exactly happened? Just yesterday, we heard that Shuer had gone to Prince Cheng’s Residence. How could she… how could she be gone?”
Ye Gengxin closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t know the reason either. I’m still investigating…”
Madam Wen suddenly asked, “General, then what should be done about Shuer’s marriage to the Wei Family?”
You Jianbin echoed her question. “That’s right. Wasn’t Shuer engaged to the Wei Family’s son? Now that she’s gone, how is that engagement to be fulfilled?”
A trace of coldness flashed through Ye Gengxin’s eyes at the questions from the couple. He then countered, “The marriage agreement between the Ye and Wei Families still stands, but Shuer is dead. What do you think should be done with this marriage?”
Madam Wen immediately said, “General, the marriage between the Ye and Wei Families was arranged by Yueqin and Madam Wei. Although Shuer is gone, we cannot betray Yueqin’s final wish. I have a suggestion: why not let my Rou’er be adopted into your name, so she can fulfill the marriage agreement between the two families in Shuer’s place and comfort Yueqin’s spirit in heaven?”
You Jianbin chimed in, “General, I think this is feasible. That way, you can be comforted in your grief over losing your beloved daughter, Yueqin’s final wish can be fulfilled, and Rou’er can serve you filial devotion under your roof in the future. It would accomplish several things at once!”