Ye Chutang did not answer Ye Jingchuan's question, instead thrusting her blood-stained hands in front of him.
"Father, shouldn’t you first find me a physician?"
With that, she cast a sidelong glance toward the inner chamber.
"And if those two inside aren’t stopped soon, they might die, no?"
Ye Jingchuan was startled by her words and hurried to the front courtyard to summon the physician. After the previous court physician fled, the Minister's Mansion had yet to hire a replacement. He had only managed to temporarily hire one from an apothecary for today’s homecoming banquet.
Once Ye Jingchuan left, Kong Ru wiped the tears from her face with a frantic motion, her expression venomous as she glared at Ye Chutang.
"You did this, didn’t you?"
Ye Chutang rose to her feet and stepped closer, pinching Kong Ru’s cheeks between her thumb and forefinger, forcing her mouth open.
"Ye Anling only drank one cup of floral tea. The other one—I saved it for you."
As she spoke, she retrieved a bone-china cup from her spatial storage and poured the drugged tea down Kong Ru’s throat.
Kong Ru’s eyes widened in horror as she struggled, but her face was held in an iron grip, leaving her no escape.
"Gulp!"
The tea slid down her throat, and despair flooded her gaze.
Ye Chutang released her, her eyes glinting with a chilling frost.
"Madam Ye, I warned you—cross me, and I’ll return it tenfold. This is only the beginning."
Still reeling from shock, Kong Ru’s mind was sluggish.
"Wasn’t it supposed to be double? Why tenfold?"
Only after speaking did she realize her own foolishness and immediately clawed at her throat, trying to vomit. But the tea had already been swallowed. Nothing came up but dry heaves.
"You wretched girl, I won’t let you get away with this!"
Ye Chutang kicked the back of Kong Ru’s knees.
Thud!
Kong Ru collapsed onto the stone pavement, her kneecaps screaming in agony, leaving her unable to stand.
Ye Chutang stepped forward, pressing her foot down on Kong Ru’s delicate, pale fingers.
"Good. I wasn’t planning to let you off either."
With that, she hurled Kong Ru through the window into the inner chamber.
Kong Ru landed in a dazed heap, fury burning through her. The rage only hastened the drug’s effects—her throat parched, her limbs weak.
The sounds of debauchery from within reached her ears, and her gaze greedily flickered toward the canopy bed. Her body moved on its own, urging her forward. But her injured knees buckled, the pain keeping her unsteady.
The pain briefly cleared her mind.
Realizing what she had almost done, the flush on her face drained into pallor.
No—she had to leave!
Otherwise, she would crawl onto that bed and become Eunuch De’s plaything.
She tried desperately to rise, but her knees refused to cooperate.
Ye Chutang watched her futile struggle with cold indifference.
"Tell me, Ye Jingchuan—what do you think he’d do if he saw you entangled with Eunuch De?"
Kong Ru couldn’t bear to imagine. She immediately broke into sobs, begging for mercy.
"Chu’er, I was wrong! I’ll kowtow, I’ll apologize—just spare me! Please!"
If she willingly offered herself to Eunuch De, a white silk noose would be her only fate.
"Did you spare me when you drugged me and led Eunuch De to Ningchu Courtyard?"
Ye Chutang shut the window without another word.
Kong Ru was on the verge of collapse.
She crawled on all fours, scrambling toward the door. But the drug she had intended for Ye Chutang was too potent. Even biting her tongue couldn’t keep her lucid.
By the time Ye Jingchuan returned with the physician, Kong Ru had already succumbed to instinct, climbing onto the canopy bed.
Seeing only Ye Chutang in the courtyard, he assumed Kong Ru had gone back to the rear garden to placate the gossiping noblewomen.
So when he pulled back the bed curtains and saw Kong Ru half-undressed, he nearly fainted.
The physician had expected only Eunuch De and Ye Anling on the bed—not a trio!
Realizing he might not leave the Minister's Mansion alive, he immediately dropped to his knees.
"Lord Ye, this humble one saw nothing."
His meaning was clear—he’d take this secret to the grave.
But to Ye Jingchuan, only the dead could truly keep silent.
"Get up. Tend to them first."
He stormed out of the revolting chamber and confronted Ye Chutang, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.
"Have you lost your mind? You dared lay hands on Eunuch De?"
Ye Chutang sat leisurely at the stone table in the courtyard, her smile mocking.
"Hypocrite. ‘Officials may set fires, but commoners can’t light lamps’—is that it?"
"You tried to force me to my death. Isn’t it only fair I drag you all down with me?"
Ye Jingchuan’s temples throbbed with rage.
"Eunuch De took a liking to you—what could I do? Offending him could mean execution for the entire Ye family!"
"Has Lord Ye forgotten? Wasn’t Ye Anling his first choice?"
The retort left Ye Jingchuan speechless.
But he didn’t regret bringing Ye Chutang back as a substitute.
One was a talented, refined legitimate daughter—the other, a disgraced peasant girl with a tarnished reputation.
Anyone would choose the former!
"Chu’er, had I known earlier of your brilliance in both arts and martial skills, I would never have favored Anling."
Ye Chutang rolled her eyes at his shifting blame.
"Instead of wasting breath, Lord Ye should focus on how to salvage this mess."
Ye Jingchuan had no solution—which was why he was playing the sentimental card, hoping to dump the consequences on Ye Chutang.
"Chu’er, you’ve offended Eunuch De—"
"Stop. It wasn’t me who offended him—it was Ye Anling. I’m the victim here."
Ye Chutang laid out her pre-prepared story.
She claimed Kong Ru had drugged her and ruined her dress to trap her in Ningchu Courtyard with Eunuch De, branding her a shameless wanton.
But before she could return, Ye Anling had already taken the initiative, bedding Eunuch De first.
Upon returning, she had peeked through the window, only to be knocked unconscious.
Ye Jingchuan didn’t believe a word.
"Anling would never seduce Eunuch De willingly!"
Ye Chutang smirked.
"Father, Ye Anling is already ruined."
Her meaning was clear—the best way out was to sacrifice Ye Anling, letting her bear Eunuch De’s wrath.
She wanted Ye Anling to taste the bitterness of betrayal.
After a long silence, Ye Jingchuan decided to abandon Ye Anling.
He had doted on her for years—now it was time for her to repay the Ye family.
"How will you convince Eunuch De that Anling drugged him?"
"I have my ways. What you must do now is ensure Madam Ye and Ye Anling corroborate my story without flaws."
With that, Ye Chutang strode into the inner chamber.
The physician, overwhelmed by the frenzied trio, had nearly been dragged into the debauchery himself, his robes torn.
Spotting Ye Chutang, he cried out, "Lady Ye, flee! It’s dangerous!"
Ye Chutang retrieved silver needles from her spatial storage and swiftly rendered the drugged trio unconscious.
She tossed the naked Ye Anling and barely clothed Kong Ru to the physician.
"Take them away for treatment."
The physician hastily bundled them in quilts and carried them out.
Ye Chutang observed Eunuch De’s claw-marked body, then picked up Ye Anling’s gauzy robe and draped it over him.
From her spatial storage, she retrieved a hallucinogenic pill and forced it down his throat.
Then, she began inserting silver needles into his body to counteract the aphrodisiac.
Once the needles were in place, the feverish heat within Eunuch De gradually subsided, and he slowly regained consciousness.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a circular object swaying before him, its motion lulling his mind into a daze.
After confirming that Eunuch De was hypnotized, Ye Chutang said, "The one who drugged you by the bamboo grove was Ye Anling."
