Chapter 40: The Culprit (Part 2)
"Young Master!" Two servants went to their side the moment, crying incessantly.
The servants generally didn’t visit them unless there was an important matter. Yan Luo treated them the same between the Ye family members and the servants, like the dirt beneath his shoes.
He often forbade the servants from helping the Ye family members with gathering firewood or fetching water, letting them do it themselves.
Still, most of the time they work hard to push the carts containing all of their luggage, which were mostly from the Ye family’s members.
They kneeled down and sobbed. "This servant deserved to be punished for not watching over my young master carefully!"
Ye Chengde’s eyes swept over them with a hint of scrutiny.
Despite their current situation, these servants were still acting as their subordinates, completely subservient in front of them. However, it was hard to guess the real thought coursing through their minds.
"Get up," Ye Chengde said. "It’s not your fault. Unless... it’s you who led Shaoqin away."
The two servant girls trembled and shook their heads fiercely, refusing to admit to such an accusation.
One of them might be responsible, but after being servants for so long, their acting was quite impeccable.
In the carriage, Pei Cuiyun was shaking Ye Shaoqin’s little figure, trying to make him wake up. "Qin’er, Qin’er! What happened to him?"
"Third Sister-in-law, don’t shake him like that." Shen Jingyi frowned and took Ye Shaoqin from her grasp.
"What are you doing?" Pei Cuiyun widened her eyes.
"Although he is unconscious, he might get hurt if you shake him like that." She shook her head in disapproval.
"I won’t shake him, I won’t shake him." Pei Cuiyun hurriedly said. "Second Sister-in-law, let me see Qin’er!"
Shen Jingyi slowly put Ye Shaoqin in Pei Cuiyun’s arms again, watching the latter attentively. She thought that as a mother, Pei Cuiyun had been a little emotional that her son was finally found yet remained unconscious.
"He had been drugged and is expected to wake up during noon. You can come again at lunchtime," Shen Jingyi said.
Pei Cuiyun had a shocked look on her face. "Second sister-in-law, are you saying that Qin’er will ride in the same carriage as you?"
Upon hearing the question, Shen Jingyi raised her eyebrows. "Of course, he will stay here."
"But..." Pei Cuiyun hesitated, and she bit her lip, stuttering as her eyes became watery. "I know I didn’t take good care of Qin’er, Second sister-in-law..."
She sniffled. "I know you are worried about him, but I can assure you that I will definitely take good care of him this time."
Ye Lingyue shot her a look of annoyance. She just wished that this pretentious Pei Cuiyun would go back to her carriage soon.
For someone who was worried about her son, her sleep was quite peaceful last night. Only Ye Yaoting was tossing and turning as he slept outside, occasionally sitting up and cradling his head in frustration.
They would surely soon depart as soon as everyone was ready. As long as the Ninth Prince’s convoy was still there, she couldn’t rest assured.
She was worried the person from last night would suddenly jump out of nowhere with Commander Feng and expose her identity.
Beside her, Ye Lanxi was also curled up, his eyes full of the alertness of a provoked cat. He would scan the surroundings through the opened curtain and frown.
Shen Jingyi’s answer was stern. "We will take care of him, Third sister-in-law. There are a lot of us who can watch over him here."
The main culprit of the incident hadn’t been found.
They were worried that with the third branch’s lack of attentiveness, Ye Shaoqin would be taken away again.
Pei Cuiyun didn’t look happy, her lips pursed up tightly, suppressing her emotions. In the end, she could only sigh. "Then, I will entrust Qin’er to you, Second sister-in-law."
They chatted for a bit. Ye Yaoting also finally got into the carriage to check on his son’s condition. Not long after, they got down.
"Third Master, Third Madam, please forgive us!" The servants kneeled down again.
The couple turned to Ciuju and Xiumei’s direction. The girls kneeling on the ground had pale countenance.
Seeing countless pairs of eyes on them, they frowned. These servants were indeed the twins’ personal servants and had been attending to them since they were little.
In order to watch over the twins, Ye Yaoting and Pei Cuiyun had silently called upon them to sleep near their carriage.
"Get up!" Pei Cuiyun seethed, ordering through gritted teeth.
The two servants slowly got up, their eyes reflected anxiety in their feelings.
"Because of your negligence, Qin’er has been taken away. You should atone for your mistakes by taking care of him after he wakes up later!" Pei Cuiyun ordered.
Only in front of the servants did she finally gain a faint sense of satisfaction that she was still above others.
"This servant understands." Both girls said at the same time.
To Ye Lanxi and Ye Lingyue’s relief, their exile convoy immediately departed after they had breakfast. During breakfast time, they stayed in the carriage and refused to come out, pulling up the curtains tightly.
"What’s wrong with these children?" Ye Chengde asked, shaking his head.
Shen Jingyi smiled. "They are just shy."
Although Ye Chengde used to have a high-ranking position, he was still a weak scholar. His martial art skills were subpar and weren’t as good as Shen Jingyi who had come from a general family.
Still, the couple complemented each other. Ye Chengde was sometimes more cunning in dealing with things. Hence, he could climb up to his previous position as the leader of one of the Six Ministries.
Ye Chengde’s mouth twitched. If it were Ye Lingyue he could somewhat believe his wife’s words, but Ye Lanxi? The sun hasn’t risen from the west yet!
He knew they might be hiding something from him, but he didn’t expose them.
Time passed quickly, and as the exile convoy crossed tens of kilometers, they finally took a rest near the river area in the afternoon.
The two servants brought the twins to the river, and one of them specifically picked Ye Shaoqin.
"Young Master, this servant was so worried about you... I didn’t expect that you would be taken away... this servant deserved to be punished." The girl wept quietly as she attended to him, helping him get some water with the wooden buckets.
A few imperial guards were watching nearby, making sure no one would escape.
The exile party could only take a bath once in a few days since they rarely encountered water sources along the way. As a result, they also needed to fill in a lot of water pouches.
"Please allow this servant to atone her sins..."
The servant girl had expected Ye Shaoqin’s heart to soften and forgive her like before every time she made a mistake. She knew that her young master was young and soft-hearted.
It was easy to take advantage of him by gaining from his pity.
However, she suddenly heard a sentence that made her tremble in shock.
"Second Uncle, it’s her!" Ye Shaoqin’s firm yet childish voice rang out.