After forming her plan, Ye Chutang intended to verify it before leaving the capital.
But not tonight.
She had crippled Steward Chen's hands.
"Get out!"
After Steward Chen left Ningchu Courtyard, Ye Chutang called Dan'er and Jinzhi to her boudoir to explain the arrangements for the next day.
She took out ten hundred-tael silver notes and gave five to each of them.
"The journey north is long. Buy whatever you need; don't be hard on yourselves."
To avoid worrying them, she didn't mention the exile, only saying they would leave for the northwest in separate groups.
Dan'er and Jinzhi had many questions but asked none.
"As you command, Mistress."
Both of them immediately tried to return the silver notes to Ye Chutang.
"Young Mistress, we don't need these."
They had each saved some gold, silver, and valuables, enough for travel expenses even without luggage.
Ye Chutang stuffed the notes back into their hands. "Take them. That's an order."
Unable to refuse, Dan'er and Jinzhi had no choice but to accept the silver.
"Young Mistress, you must rise early for the wedding tomorrow, and it will be very tiring. You should rest soon."
"Yes. First, prepare bath water for me. I'm going to have a word with Jun'er."
As Ye Chutang left her boudoir, Ye Jingchuan, in unbearable agony, rushed into the courtyard.
"You wicked girl! Give me the antidote!"
No sooner had he spoken than he spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the freshly cleaned bluestone slabs.
Ye Chutang walked up to the swaying Ye Jingchuan and looked at him expressionlessly.
"I told you. Bring the severance document, and you'll get the antidote."
Ye Jingchuan had no desire at all to sever ties.
He believed that with Ye Chutang's talent and beauty, she was sure to captivate the imperial harem and elevate the Ye family to new heights.
"Chu'er, do you know the consequences of severing ties? Not only will the Minister's Mansion be disgraced, but you will also be the subject of gossip."
As he spoke, he spat out another mouthful of blood, his face taking on the greenish hue of poisoning.
Ye Chutang looked utterly indifferent.
"You favored the concubine over the wife, causing my mother and brother's deaths. You sent me to the countryside and ignored me. I have no father like you. I'll accept the gossip!"
Ye Jingchuan, in too much pain to stand steady, collapsed to the ground.
The fear of death forced him to compromise.
"Fine! I'll sever ties!"
Ye Chutang crouched down and pressed several acupoints on Ye Jingchuan's body.
"The acupressure will temporarily ease your pain. It's enough time for you to write the severance document."
Then, she said to Jinzhi, "Aunt Jin, prepare ink, brush, paper, and inkstone."
Jinzhi acknowledged the order and placed the writing materials on the stone table in the courtyard.
Clenching his back teeth, Ye Jingchuan glared at Ye Chutang.
"No regrets?"
Ye Chutang rolled her eyes. "Enough nonsense. Write it."
"Fine. I'll wait for the day you come begging me to tear up this document and return to the Ye family."
Once he became a marquis, this wretched girl would surely regret it!
Ye Chutang didn't even spare Ye Jingchuan a glance.
Once he finished writing the severance document, she immediately signed it and pressed her fingerprint.
Seeing Ye Chutang so resolute, Ye Jingchuan, also furious, promptly signed and pressed his own fingerprint.
Looking at the severance document with ink still wet, Ye Chutang took out the antidote and handed it to Ye Jingchuan.
"After I marry tomorrow, I will have no further connection with the Ye family."
Ye Jingchuan swallowed the antidote at once and stormed out of Ningchu Courtyard.
Ye Chutang had Jinzhi close the courtyard gate and went to the side room.
Jun'er was practicing his calligraphy.
Seeing Ye Chutang enter, he immediately put down his brush and stood up.
"Congratulations, Eldest Sister, on gaining your freedom."
Ye Chutang smiled and patted Jun'er's head. "You'll have yours soon too. Tomorrow, when I bid farewell to the elders, seize the chance to reveal your true identity."
"Eldest Sister, won't that delay your auspicious time for the wedding ceremony?"
"Prince Chen will come to fetch the bride a little earlier. It won't delay the auspicious time."
Hearing this, Jun'er felt relieved.
"Alright. Jun'er will listen to Eldest Sister. After revealing my origins, I will go to study at Huating Academy."
"Good boy. Rest early."
Ye Chutang left the side room, returned to the courtyard, stored the now-dry severance document, and went back to her boudoir to bathe.
After her bath, Jinzhi helped her wring out her hair.
"Miss, when will we see each other again?"
"Soonest in half a year, latest within a year."
"This servant will wait for you, Miss."
Then, Jinzhi lowered her voice and asked, "Miss, is it possible... the young master might still be alive?"
Without confirming the truth, Ye Chutang didn't plan to reveal her suspicions, lest she disappoint Jinzhi.
"Aunt Jin, I hope my brother is alive, but..."
Jinzhi knew what the unspoken words were.
Yes, she had personally confirmed it back then. The young master had no pulse, no breath. He couldn't be alive!
The miss said that deliberately to get back at the master!
Thinking this, she said regretfully, "The madam made many clothes for you and the young master before. It's a pity they were all lost after we moved mansions."
Otherwise, the young master's cenotaph could have had some burial items, not just be an empty tomb.
Ye Chutang took Jinzhi's hand. "Aunt Jin, what matters is the sentiment, not material possessions."
She planned to confirm with Song Jingning first before deciding whether to erect a cenotaph.
"Your hair is dry now, Miss. Rest early."
After Jinzhi left, Ye Chutang used her earth-traveling technique to go to Prince Chen's Mansion.
She wasn't looking for Qi Yanzhou, nor was she there to empty Prince Chen's Mansion. Instead, she placed the Cold Cicada in the icehouse.
Let it recover first. She would find another chance to nurture it further on the exile journey, and that should be enough to cure the fire poison.
Then, she went to the royal hot spring villa to nurture the ice leeches with the spring water.
After finishing her tasks, Ye Chutang returned to the Minister's Mansion.
But she didn't go back to Ningchu Courtyard; she went to Old Madam Ye's bedroom.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
The knocking woke Old Madam Ye.
"Who is it? Knocking in the middle of the night! Guixiang, go see."
Guixiang was the old madam's personal maid, who usually slept in the outer chamber to attend to her.
But Ye Chutang had already drugged all the maids in the courtyard. No one would answer no matter who Old Madam Ye called.
"Bang!"
The bedroom door suddenly burst open. A gust of wind swept in, lifting the bed curtains.
Old Madam Ye shivered from the chill, fear rising in her heart.
"Who... who's there? Guixiang! Yun'er! Zhu'er!"
She clutched the quilt tightly, shrinking against the wall, her turbid eyes filled with terror.
Ye Chutang, dressed in white with her hair disheveled, suddenly appeared before Old Madam Ye.
Faint light from outside shone in, the wild wind whipping her hair like dancing demons.
"Mother, it's me."
The voice was ethereal and mournful, as if from the depths of hell.
"Why did you throw Lin'er into the river? The weather was bitterly cold. He was so cold, so pitiful."
Hearing this, Old Madam Ye mistook the "ghost" before her for Tang Wanning and turned deathly pale.
"It wasn't me! Don't come looking for me! Go away!"
Ye Chutang held out a fake doll soaked in ice water to Old Madam Ye.
"Mother, hold Lin'er quickly. He was your long-awaited legitimate eldest grandson!"
The light was dim. Old Madam Ye couldn't see the child's features clearly, but she could vaguely make out a face.
She was being scared out of her wits.
"Your Lin'er was killed by Kong Ru! Go find her!"
Before she finished speaking, ice water from the fake doll dripped onto her.
A bone-chilling cold struck, and her taut nerves finally snapped. She fainted from fright.
Ye Chutang: "..."
"How many wicked deeds has she done to have such a cowardly heart?"
With that, she directly placed the icy fake doll into Old Madam Ye's hands.
Old Madam Ye woke from the cold, opened her eyes to see "the infant that had been thrown into the river," and fainted once more.
Ye Chutang knew that from this day forward, Old Madam Ye would find no peace, unable to eat or sleep soundly!
Her objective achieved, she retrieved the fake doll and the high-powered fan by the door, returning to Ningchu Court to catch up on her sleep.
She would conserve her energy for tomorrow's wedding!
