The room fell utterly silent, as though even the air had frozen solid.
Even the two guards standing beside the bed stared at their own Prince in stunned disbelief.
Compared with the astonished expressions of the three members of the Wei Family and Ye Gengxin, Ye Shishu looked at Prince Cheng incredulously. She had only been thinking of using him; she had never imagined that Prince Cheng would take the initiative to speak—and that the moment he did, he would shock everyone present!
Madam Ge was the first to recover. She blurted out, “Prince Cheng, Shuer had no intention of offending you. In that situation, she only knew that your safety was of the utmost importance…”
Yuchi Ling shot her a cold sidelong glance. Without even waiting for her to finish, he turned his icy gaze on Ye Shishu. “Third Miss, I want an explanation from you!”
Ye Shishu was so excited that, if she could, she would have immediately pasted up double-happiness characters, lit red candles, and gone straight through the wedding ceremony with him on the spot…
“Prince, I have offended you. I know my guilt and will accept whatever punishment you deem fit.” She stepped forward gracefully and knelt beside the bed, her manner apologetic and respectful.
“Very well. Then I shall punish you. From today onward, you will go to Prince Cheng’s Residence and serve as a maid for one year!”
Ye Shishu lifted her head and looked at the enormous, ugly scar on his face. Not to mention that this ugly face was fake—even if the man before her had truly been disfigured, even if that enormous scar had been real, at this very moment he would still be the most beautiful man in the world in her eyes!
“Thank you, Prince Cheng!” Her eyes reddened, and her voice caught with emotion.
Compared with marrying Prince Cheng, she was of course much more willing to go to Prince Cheng’s Residence as a maid!
One year…
She had a full year to expose the Wei Family’s false affection!
She might even be able to uncover the shameful affair between Wei Yonghuai and Luo Lixian during that year!
But when faced with Prince Cheng’s punishment, the faces of the three members of the Wei Family turned the color of pig liver. Their eyes were full of fury, yet because of Prince Cheng’s identity, none of them dared to object.
Even Ye Gengxin was left speechless.
After all, Prince Cheng had not forcibly broken off his daughter’s engagement to Wei Yonghuai. He had merely ordered his daughter to serve as a maid at Prince Cheng’s Residence for a year. Though the punishment was humiliating to the Zhihe General’s Residence—his daughter was, after all, its legitimate daughter—if they considered the matter carefully, she had indeed touched Prince Cheng while rescuing him. They could only accept the charge of offending him.
Besides, judging from the way his daughter was thanking him, she did not seem humiliated in the slightest. If anything, she looked quite willing…
His daughter had always been close to Wei Yonghuai. Even though they could not meet often, they had never stopped exchanging letters. How had she suddenly come to dislike Wei Yonghuai?
No, he had noticed the way she treated the Wei Family. The icy expression on her face was completely different from her usual gentle nature. There was even a strange, indescribable hatred in her eyes…
What exactly was going on?
While everyone remained silent, Yuchi Ling continued speaking, still addressing Ye Shishu. “Go pack your things. You will return to Prince Cheng’s Residence with me immediately.”
“Yes!” Ye Shishu wished she had wings so she could fly out of the Wei Family’s sight. With that command from him, she hurriedly rose and completely ignored the three members of the Wei Family and the many guests gathered outside the door to watch the spectacle. She swiftly returned to her Delighted Heart Courtyard!
The faster Ye Shishu left, the more awkward and humiliated the three members of the Wei Family looked.
Their daughter-in-law-to-be was going to serve another man. That was even more disgraceful than Ye Shishu shouting that she wanted to break off the engagement. What family could possibly endure such humiliation?
Yet Ye Shishu had been the one to “provoke” Prince Cheng, and the punishment had been personally pronounced by Prince Cheng himself. They did not even have the grounds to criticize her!
With a dark expression, Wei Guangzheng said to Ye Gengxin, “Brother Ye, there are still matters to attend to at home, so we will not impose on you any longer.”
After saying this, he shot a meaningful glance at Madam Ge and his son.
The family of three stiffly bowed to Yuchi Ling, then left the Zhihe General’s Residence in humiliation amid the guests’ whispers and discussion.
After watching them leave, Ye Gengxin took a deep breath and worked to calm his emotions before saying to Yuchi Ling, “Prince, please make yourself at home. I will go speak with my daughter and tell her that once she arrives at Prince Cheng’s Residence, she must do her utmost to serve you. I would not want her careless nature to cause her to offend you again.”
Yuchi Ling nodded indifferently.
Before long, only the master and his two servants remained in the room.
The two guards had been holding back a bellyful of questions. Once there was no one else around, they could not wait to speak. “Prince…”
But Yuchi Ling raised a hand and regarded them with a stern, cold gaze. “Whatever you have to say can wait until we return to the residence!”
The two guards had no choice but to swallow their words.
Delighted Heart Courtyard.
Ye Shishu was packing clothes and other necessities with Dong Qiao when Ye Gengxin entered. She was not surprised at all and took the initiative to send Dong Qiao away.
“Shuer, why did you…”
Before he could finish, Ye Shishu knelt before him and looked up to ask, “Father, do you believe me?”
Ye Gengxin immediately pulled her to her feet. “What are you doing? Why can’t you simply speak to Father properly? Believe you or not—apart from your Eldest Brother and Second Brother, you are my only daughter. If I don’t believe you, who else could I believe?”
Ye Shishu’s eyes reddened, and she choked out, “Father, if I told you that Wei Yonghuai is not a good man, would you believe me? If I told you that Luo Lixian is carrying Wei Yonghuai’s child, would you believe me? If I told you that the Wei Family married me for my mother’s dowry, would you believe me?”
Her string of questions left Ye Gengxin staring wide-eyed, as though he had just heard the greatest absurdity in the world. He blurted out, “Shuer, what nonsense are you talking about? How could Luo Lixian possibly be carrying Yonghuai’s child? Though her husband died young, it was Madam Wei who arranged her marriage. If she and Yonghuai were having an affair, why wouldn’t Madam Wei simply arrange for them to marry? And it is even more impossible that the Wei Family covets your mother’s dowry! Your mother and Madam Wei were close friends for many years. If Madam Wei had truly harbored selfish intentions, she would have acted against your mother long ago. Why would she wait to scheme against you?”
The corner of Ye Shishu’s lips lifted in a bitter smile. She had known he would react this way.
But she could not blame him for failing to recognize the Wei Family’s true nature. They had not yet revealed their malicious intentions.
Just then, the old steward, Hao Fu, came to report, “General, the Crown Prince has arrived!”
At this, Ye Gengxin could not help frowning. Most of all, he still had not gotten to the bottom of why his daughter wanted to break off the engagement.
Ye Shishu offered no explanation. Instead, she suddenly stepped forward and took his arm, looking up at him earnestly. “Father, since Prince Cheng wants me to go to Prince Cheng’s Residence and serve as a maid, let’s put my marriage aside for now and let things take their natural course, all right?”
Ye Gengxin glared at her unhappily. “What I’m worried about right now isn’t your marriage to Yonghuai. I’m worried that once you go to Prince Cheng’s Residence, not only will the Wei Family find a way to break off the engagement, but you may not even be able to find a husband in the future!”
Ye Shishu fell silent.
Yes, once she went to Prince Cheng’s Residence, she would surely face countless rumors and slanders. After all, what family would dare marry a woman who had personally served another man?
Her father saw Prince Cheng as a disaster sent to ruin her.
But only Heaven knew that Prince Cheng was her lucky star!
A living Bodhisattva who had come to help her escape her suffering!
Let alone serving Prince Cheng as a slave or maid—even if he made her burn incense and bow before him every day, she would gladly do so once every hour until she had enshrined him in heaven!
Although the officials who had come to attend the banquet had gotten their fill of entertainment from Ye Shishu rescuing Prince Cheng from the water that day, no one could honestly say that Ye Shishu had done anything wrong.
After all, who would dare claim they had watched Prince Cheng fall into the water and left him to die?
Naturally, no one dared openly discuss anything concerning Prince Cheng. But Wei Guangzheng was merely a fourth-rank official—how many people could resist laughing at the Wei Family a few times?
In the eyes of outsiders, the marriage between the Wei and Ye Families had never been an equal match. The legitimate daughter of a first-rank general was marrying the son of a fourth-rank official; it was a thoroughly inferior marriage for her. Now that Prince Cheng had “inserted himself into the matter,” the Wei Family could say that they did not mind their daughter-in-law-to-be jumping into the water to rescue Prince Cheng. But with their daughter-in-law-to-be now going to Prince Cheng’s Residence to serve him, no matter how often the Wei Family claimed they did not care, they had lost all face, inside and out!
When the family of three returned to the Wei Family, all of their faces were ashen.
Madam Ge was the first to start cursing. “I never imagined Ye Shishu could be so shameless. She actually ran off to seduce Prince Cheng!” Afterward, she glared furiously at her son. “Huaier, tell me the truth. Exactly how did you offend her? Why did she suddenly want to break off the engagement?”
“I…”
Before her son could speak, Madam Ge turned her furious glare on Luo Lixian beside her. “Did Ye Shishu discover what the two of you have been doing? What have I told you all this time? Have you stuffed it all into a dog’s belly? I told you that if you let Ye Shishu discover your affair with Huaier before she entered the family, I would kill you. Did you really think I was joking—that I wouldn’t dare do anything to you?”