Chapter 41: The Culprit (Part 3)
Upon hearing the child’s yell, she was startled.
There was already Commander Leng standing on the riverside, staring at them. At this moment, the servant girl realized that she couldn’t escape from this unless....
Qiuju’s grasp around the little boy tightened as the imperial guards under Commander Leng’s command advanced.
"Stay back or I will throw this kid to the river!" She threatened tremblingly, not expecting them to see through her plan so quickly.
Now, she deeply regretted it.
She should have run far away when there was a chance. Her eyes flitted around nervously, trying to find a loophole. Unfortunately, she was just a weak woman and couldn’t outrun so many imperial guards.
This child in her grasp was her only lifeline.
Ye Chengde frowned when he saw that, looking over to Ye Shaoqin worriedly.
"Stop, stop!" Qiuju was extremely frightened when she saw that the imperial guards didn’t pay any mind to her threats at all. They kept on advancing.
She shifted her attention to Ye Chengde. "Master, are you going to let me throw him into the river? You don’t care about your nephew at all?"
Her heart tightened when she saw that Ye Chengde kept his silence, almost desperate. She gritted her teeth and was about to jump in the river, but before she could, she felt a sudden dizziness.
Her body swayed, and something escaped from her grasp. Before she fell into the river, a look of dazedness appeared on her face.
Ye Shaoqin was all wet from the water. He shivered slightly and picked up his upper clothes, running toward Ye Chengde.
Seeing the little boy shivering, Ye Chengde wrapped him in a towel he had prepared and consoled him. "It’s fine, you are safe now."
The little boy nodded, pursing his lips.
He had just woken up at noon. Realizing that he was back at the familiar carriage, he subconsciously heaved a sigh of relief.
After that, the second branch asked him a lot of things in order to figure out the culprit. They couldn’t let such a treacherous servant stay there.
If they could catch her, the punishment was definitely worse than an exile.
However, there were two servants that time, and based on the worried voice when he was taken away, he deduced only one of them was involved. Hence, although it was dangerous and his uncle’s family opposed, he still volunteered to catch the culprit.
He didn’t expect it to be Qiuju, someone who had served him longer than Xiumei.
"Let’s go back." Ye Chengde said as he picked him up.
Ye Shaoqin blushed, and he nodded. Then, a look of hesitation crossed his face. "Second Uncle, how about my sister?"
He didn’t know whether Xiumei was also involved or not.
"Your sister has already returned." Ye Chengde said. "Xiumei detected something wrong and brought her to the camping site."
As they walked back, he saw Xiumei’s anxious face. "She detected something wrong with Qiuju and reported it to us."
Xiumei had seen her fellow servant contacting a strange man before. Then, not long after, Ye Shaoqin was taken away. She couldn’t help but was suspicious.
Alas, she didn’t have any proof, so she couldn’t bring up the matter to anyone.
She was for a long time after Ye Shaoqin was gone. Yet, Qiuju didn’t seem to feel burdened at all. Instead, her face turned deathly pale as soon as she heard that Ye Shaoqin had been found.
All these things added up deepened her suspicion.
Until came the chance to bring the twins to take a bath in the river. Xiumei tried to choose Ye Shaoqin, and the little boy had even agreed, but Qiuju threw a scene, wanting to go with Ye Shaoqin.
It made her incredibly worried, so she went to find the family’s head. Unexpectedly, they already guessed that.
"Sister Xiumei is a good person," Ye Shaoqin muttered, afraid that this case might drag her down.
He was disappointed in Qiuju, but Xiumei was innocent, so he naturally didn’t want anything to happen to her.
"Alright, alright. Yes, your sister Xiumei is a good person. We should thank her later." Ye Chengde consoled him.
They went back to the camping site, which wasn’t actually too far away.
The imperial guards already caught Qiuju and threw the woman to the ground. She was disheveled, her entire body wet after falling into the river.
A look of humiliation crossed her face.
"Master, you can’t accuse me like this!" Qiuju said in grievance at Ye Chengde who was carrying Ye Shaoqin, and then turned to Commander Leng. "Commander Leng, please, I-I didn’t do anything wrong."
A cracking of whips echoed, and Qiuju’s face turned deathly pale.
Commander Leng ordered his men. "Interrogate her."
He didn’t want such troublesome people in the exile party. If possible, he would find ways to get rid of them.
"Young Master Ye Shaoqin, please save me!" Qiuju finally felt fear and turned to Ye Shaoqin, the only one who might feel pity for her in such a situation.
"Aren’t you shameless?" Ye Lanxi sneered at Qiuju. "You wanted to harm Shaoqin and now you are begging for his help? When you harm him by handing him over to these scoundrels, would you change your mind just because he asked you to save him?"
Qiuju fell silent.
She already knew the answer: she wouldn’t.
Ye Lanxi snorted, turned around and left. He came just to vent.
When he returned to their small fireplace, others were already busy cooking some roasted quails.
The twins, Ye Lingyue and Ye Lingrui were busy whispering to each other. Ye Lanxi was a little curious and wanted to know, but he merely pursed his lips.
Since when did he become as childish as them?
At this moment, Ye Lingyue suddenly stood up, and she went to Commander Leng and the two captains. She gave them each one roasted quail and a few eggs, except for Yan Luo.
Then, she whispered in Captain Lin Su’s ears. "Captain Lin, I wouldn’t eat that steamed bun if I were you."