Ye Chutang watched as Ye Anling lifted the clay pot, immediately guessing her intent to silence the witness.
She swiftly grabbed Doctor Gao’s ankle and dragged him away.
"Bang!"
The clay pot shattered upon hitting the ground.
Scalding broth splashed onto Ye Jingchuan’s trousers, making him yelp in pain.
"Anling, what are you doing?"
Ye Anling shot a venomous glare at Ye Chutang, shifting the blame.
"Father, I only wanted to avenge Jun’er! But Eldest Sister saved this monster, and now you’re hurt!"
Ye Chutang chuckled at Ye Anling’s blatant lies.
"Did you forget? I was the one who caught Doctor Gao."
She crouched down, eyeing the terrified doctor, who looked as if his soul had fled his body.
"The entire Ye family wants you dead. I’m your only hope."
Doctor Gao clung to her words like a lifeline, desperation in his eyes.
"Spare me, Young Miss! I’ll do anything!"
"Tell me about Jun’er’s illness—and why you fled."
Ye Anling quickly seized Ye Jingchuan’s arm.
"Father, this quack would harm even a newborn for money! His words mean nothing!"
Ignoring her, Doctor Gao confessed: Kong Ru had drugged Ye Anjun, using him as a pawn to win favor.
"The evidence is hidden under the second floorboard of her bed. The Second Young Master can testify."
In other words, Ye Anjun knew he was being manipulated.
He added, "Zhang Kui helped me escape. The master need only investigate to learn who he serves."
Even without proof, Ye Jingchuan believed him—Ye Anjun’s "illnesses" always coincided with his absence from the Glazed Courtyard.
His face darkened as he turned to Ye Anling.
"Did you know about this?"
Realizing her mother was doomed, Ye Anling scrambled to distance herself.
She hesitated, fearing Ye Chutang would force Doctor Gao to expose her.
"Father, I... I did know. I tried to stop Mother, but she insisted Jun’er would be safe! I never thought—"
Ye Jingchuan’s fury erupted.
"Ungrateful wretch!"
As he raised his hand to strike, Ye Anling flinched and blurted,
"Father! The imperial decree for my marriage will arrive at the Minister’s Mansion within three days!"
Now backed by Chief Eunuch De, she wouldn’t suffer humiliation.
Ye Jingchuan froze, then lowered his hand.
Old Madam Ye, silent until now, spoke coldly.
"Jingchuan, confine Kong Ru to the Glazed Courtyard. Take a second wife."
Divorce was impossible, but Kong Ru could no longer remain mistress. A second wife was the only solution.
"Yes, Mother."
Before leaving, Old Madam Ye glanced at Doctor Gao.
"He must die."
Terror-stricken, Doctor Gao lunged for Ye Chutang’s legs—but grasped empty air.
"Young Miss, please—!"
Ye Chutang smirked down at him.
"The poison Kong Ru gave me—it came from you, didn’t it?"
"A man like you deserves death."
She turned to Steward Chen.
"Get me a new bed. This one’s filthy."
After a confirming nod from Ye Jingchuan, Steward Chen bowed.
"At once, Young Miss."
Ye Chutang left the kitchen, heading for the Pine Courtyard.
Once alone, she retrieved Jinzhi’s new clothes from her spatial storage.
Four guards stood watch at the courtyard today.
She incapacitated them effortlessly and declared,
"Inform Ye Jingchuan—Jinzhi leaves with me."
Pushing the gate open, she found Jinzhi standing in the yard, her clothes soiled and torn.
"Jin—"
Jinzhi rushed toward Ye Chutang, "Miss, you're back! Hug me!"
"Little Miss, it's better if this servant keeps pretending to be mad for now."
She feared that if she stopped acting insane, Ye Jingchuan might harm the young miss for the sake of her dowry.
Ye Chutang considered that she couldn’t stay by Jinzhi’s side all the time, so feigning madness was the best way to protect her. She nodded in agreement.
"Alright."
She gently pushed Jinzhi away, took her hand, and asked with a smile, "Would you like to come with me?"
Jinzhi nodded eagerly, "Let’s go, let’s go!"
Upon returning to Ningchu Courtyard, Dan'er stood in the yard, anxiously awaiting their arrival.
Seeing Ye Chutang bring back the "madwoman," she wasn’t surprised.
"Eldest Miss, how should we arrange for this…"
Noticing Dan'er’s hesitation over how to address Jinzhi, Ye Chutang said, "Just call her Aunt Jin."
"Later, settle her in the outer chamber of my bedroom."
"Yes, Eldest Miss. This servant will prepare water for Aunt Jin to wash up."
Ye Chutang stopped Dan'er, "Where’s Shuang'er?"
"Shuang'er knelt for three days earlier, and today she was beaten. Now she’s burning with fever, too weak to get up."
"Mm. Let’s eat first. After the meal, heat water for washing."
Dan'er acknowledged and set out the dishes from the food box.
"You’re injured and can’t sit. Stand and eat with us."
Dan'er knew Ye Chutang’s word was final, so she didn’t refuse, though her heart swelled with gratitude.
During the meal, Jinzhi pretended to be mad and refused to eat properly.
Dan'er patiently coaxed her.
Ye Chutang knew Jinzhi was testing Dan'er and didn’t interfere.
After the meal, Dan'er heated water, and once Ye Chutang reapplied her medicine, she was dismissed to rest.
Ye Chutang carried water for Jinzhi, who bathed herself.
Jinzhi scrubbed through three buckets of water before she was finally clean.
Her body was emaciated, covered in scars, her hair dry and tangled, making her appear much older.
Ye Chutang helped wring out her hair. "Aunt Jin, I’ll make sure you grow plump and healthy again."
Jinzhi took the towel. "Little Miss, this servant can manage. You’ve had a long day—go bathe and rest."
Ye Chutang, remembering she still had tasks ahead, nodded. "Alright."
By the time she finished bathing, Jinzhi had already dried her hair and gone to bed.
Over an hour later, everyone in Ningchu Courtyard had fallen into deep slumber.
Ye Chutang changed into men’s clothing, disguised herself, and slipped out to the capital’s main streets.
The curfew was in effect, leaving the roads deserted.
Only the night watchman’s gong echoed, marking the hour of midnight.
"Dry weather, beware of fire!"
Ye Chutang headed to the rice shop she had scouted earlier, scaling the backyard wall to rouse the sleeping shopkeeper.
The man nearly jumped out of his skin in fright.
Suddenly, a gold ingot appeared before his eyes, soothing his panic.
"Aside from three days' worth of sales, I’ll take all your remaining stock."
She refrained from buying everything to avoid disrupting the rice market, which could drive up prices and burden the common folk.
Three days would give the shopkeeper enough time to restock.
Hearing the gruff male voice and seeing the gold so close, the shopkeeper nodded frantically.
"Deal! The coarse rice—"
Before he could quote a price, Ye Chutang cut him off.
"I know the market rates. If you dare overcharge, I’ll take your life!"
As the words left her lips, a cold glint flashed—a sharp blade pressed against the shopkeeper’s throat.
Sweating profusely, he abandoned any thought of deceit.
"Young Master, you have my word! We merchants value integrity. I’d never cheat you."
With that, he honestly quoted the prices and remaining stock of the grains.
"Sir, the total comes to seventy-eight taels, five hundred and sixty-three coins. Since you're buying in bulk, seventy-eight taels will suffice."
Naturally, his shop didn’t have that much grain in stock, but he did have a storage warehouse.
Ye Chutang released the shopkeeper, asked for the warehouse’s location, and handed him eighty taels.
"Consider the extra two taels as hush money. Don’t let anyone know you’ve sold out your entire stock, or it might cause panic among buyers. If anyone asks why you’re restocking, just say you predicted grain prices would rise and wanted to stock up."
The shopkeeper caressed the heavy silver with delight and nodded eagerly.
"Rest assured, young master, this humble one understands."
He had just sold half a year’s worth of grain in one go.
To avoid arousing envy among competitors, he’d have to keep this deal completely under wraps.
"If anyone notices your stock is gone, play dumb and act clueless. Then quietly spread rumors about a ghost thief."
Once the shopkeeper agreed, Ye Chutang knocked him out with a swift chop to the neck.
The rice in the shop would last about ten days. She stored sixty-five percent of it in her spatial inventory before heading to the shopkeeper’s warehouse outside the city, where she took every last grain.
Ye Chutang returned to the city and repeated the process at five more rice shops, spending nearly seven hundred taels in total.
She didn’t finish until the last watch of the night.
"Mission accomplished for today. Time to head back."
The last shop’s warehouse was within the city, not far from the Minister's Mansion.
Ye Chutang decided walking back would be less wasteful than using her earth-traveling technique.
But just as she climbed out of the warehouse, she ran straight into Qi Yanzhou, who was on his way back to Prince Chen's Mansion.
