When Ye Chutang came out, dusk was just falling. The last of the herbs in the courtyard had already been neatly put away by Ye Jingyan. A fragrant aroma wafted from the kitchen, where she could vaguely see Ye Yunfeng frantically wielding a spatula.
Ye Chutang tsked softly.
Ye Jingyan had been sensible since he was little and never gave her any trouble. It was just Ye Yunfeng, that little rascal, who was always stirring up mischief. But every time, before she could get angry, he would start working diligently, making her feel like she was punching cotton.
To top it all off, he was an excellent cook, which made it even harder for Ye Chutang to stay angry with him.
The four siblings sat down for dinner together. Ye Yunfeng watched Ye Chutang cautiously. "Big Sis, you're not mad at me anymore, are you?"
Ye Chutang glanced at the particularly lavish dinner and thought, 'Guess I didn't raise this kid for nothing.'
In the early days, she hadn't known how to cook, so she and the three kids had endured a period of hardship too bitter to recall.
She truly had no talent for cooking and hadn't improved one bit over the years. Eventually, Ye Yunfeng took over the duty, allowing the family to finally eat proper meals.
"I wasn't angry in the first place," she said, putting some food onto the plate of the Little Milk Group next to her so the girl's short arms wouldn't have to reach. "I just found it to be a hassle."
The Cao Family was difficult to deal with; otherwise, she wouldn't have planned on going to their home to apologize.
'Speaking of trouble… how could I have forgotten there's an even bigger problem right here at home?'
Ye Chutang's eyes narrowed slightly as she recalled the sword strike from the attendant named Lian Zhou earlier that day.
The unsheathed sword was incredibly sharp, able to cut through iron as if it were mud. It was no ordinary weapon.
More importantly, his strike was swift and ruthless. The ferocious killing intent that erupted in that instant… 'He's definitely killed people before!'
'He's either a soldier who has seen battle or a specially trained Hidden Guard. In any case… anyone who travels with an attendant like that is clearly no simple character.'
Ye Chutang felt a headache coming on.
'How did I end up provoking such a troublesome person?'
...
That evening, just as Ye Chutang returned to her room, she saw a small, round lump under the quilt.
"Xiao Wu? Where are you?"
Ye Chutang deliberately avoided looking toward the bed and walked a circle around the room.
After a moment, the Little Milk Group couldn't take it anymore. She flung back the quilt and beamed at Chutang.
"Aha, so you were hiding here!"
Ye Chutang went over, lifted the Little Milk Group up, and deliberately pinched her soft cheeks. "Let's see who went to bed without washing their little feet!"
The Little Milk Group quickly stuck out her two small, fair-skinned feet.
'They're not stinky!'
Ye Chutang carried her over to carefully wash her little face and feet. Glancing at the small bed she had specially commissioned from a carpenter to be next to her own, she hesitated for a moment before tucking the girl back under her own quilt.
Having gotten her way, the Little Milk Group blinked, giggling while biting her hand, looking utterly adorable.
She was actually four and a half this year, and Ye Chutang had tried to get her to sleep in her own bed, but she'd never succeeded.
When Ye Chutang had first been reborn, Xiao Wu was just a baby, a little over a year old. After the family suffered a calamity, Chutang had to be both a sister and a mother, keeping the little girl by her side every day. Three years later, their mutual dependence had become a deeply ingrained habit.
Xiao Wu was especially clingy with her.
Ye Chutang quickly fell asleep, but it was not a peaceful slumber.
She had a terrible nightmare.
In the dream, a carriage traveled along a public road. A bitter wind howled and snow fell in thick flurries. The fields on all sides were vast and desolate. The sky was grim, with dark clouds stacked so heavily they looked as if they might collapse at any moment.
She was nestled against a woman in her thirties. The woman refastened the collar of her cloak, took her hand, and murmured gently, "Awang, why are your hands still so cold? It will be better once we reach Wuzhou in a few days."
The woman was also holding a swaddled infant in her arms.
Seated across from them was a very slender man in cyan brocade, his back and shoulders held perfectly straight.
He smiled apologetically. "Li Niang, I'm sorry for making you all suffer with me."
A teenage boy sitting nearby raised his eyebrows in a grin. "Awang, look! Yan and A Feng aren't as afraid of the cold as you are! Once we get to Wuzhou, you'd better start training properly!"
The two young boys huddled together, smugly making faces.
Ye Chutang opened her mouth to say something, but found that not a single word would come out.
The next moment, a black arrow shot into the carriage!
THWACK!
Ye Chutang's heart leaped into her throat.
'Run! Hurry—'
Amid the glint of blades, her vision blurred. Her mother was cradled in her father's arms, while her eldest brother stood before her, shielding her. There were eleven arrows lodged in his back.
"Awang..." Blood streamed from the corner of his mouth. "Take... take them... and live... live a good... life..."
She couldn't scream as warm, coppery blood splattered across her face.
The next instant, however, the scene shifted. The wind and snow were gone, replaced by a crowded street where paper lanterns swayed. By the riverbank, willow branches danced in the breeze.
Xiao Wu was running ahead with a flower lantern. Chutang was about to chase after her when she sensed something and whipped her head around, just in time to see the cold glint of a blade flash at the dark end of an alley!
Ye Chutang's eyes flew open!
She sat up, realizing her forehead was slick with cold sweat.
She glanced beside her; thankfully, the Little Milk Group hadn't been woken by her sudden movement.
Ye Chutang sighed in relief, but the near-death experience from the dream remained so vivid that she couldn't calm her racing heart.
It had actually been a long time since she'd dreamed about her past. She had assumed the memories would fade over time, but they clearly hadn't. In fact, they had only grown sharper with each passing year.
She touched her face, which still felt as if it had been seared by hot blood, a phantom ache lingering.
After sitting in the darkness for a long while, she finally let out a long breath and muttered to herself.
'...That man is such bad luck!'
'I've had so many peaceful days, and now, on the very first day I run into him, I have this nightmare!'
'If his attendant hadn't been so vicious, I wouldn't have been reminded of the past, and I would have been able to sleep properly.'
'He might be handsome, but as a person, he's just awful—a bad omen!'
'I'd better get rid of him as soon as possible...'
Ye Chutang pushed the second half of the dream from her mind, lay down, and went back to sleep.
But unexpectedly, a commotion erupted outside early the next morning. Someone was pounding violently on the door, their blows accompanied by loud wailing.
"The Ye Family are murderers! It's murder!"
Ye Chutang's drowsiness vanished in an instant.
She glanced out the window before quickly dressing and getting out of bed.
The Little Milk Group was also startled awake. She instinctively clutched at Chutang's sleeve, her eyes wide with alarm.
Ye Chutang stroked her little face.
"Big Sis will be right back. You be a good girl and wait here for me, okay, Xiao Wu?"
The Little Milk Group nodded obediently and reluctantly let go.
When Ye Chutang entered the courtyard, she saw that Ye Jingyan and Ye Yunfeng were already awake from the commotion.
The three exchanged a look, none of them knowing what was happening outside.
Ye Chutang looked at Ye Jingyan. "Yan, watch over Xiao Wu. A Feng, you wait here. I'll go see what's going on."
Though worried, Ye Jingyan nodded and turned to hurry back to the room where Xiao Wu was.
Ye Yunfeng started to follow her out, but a single glance from Ye Chutang stopped him in his tracks.
Then, she walked over, unbolted the door, and pushed it open.
In front of the Ye Family's main gate sat a black coffin. Mrs. Cao from Cao's Restaurant, a white mourning cloth on her head and her eyes red and swollen, was draped over it, wailing at the top of her lungs.
A dense crowd of onlookers, several layers deep, had gathered around.
Ye Chutang's heart sank. "What's going on?"
Seeing her only intensified the woman's grief. She pointed a trembling finger at Chutang and shrieked:
"You have the nerve to ask?! The Ye Family's fourth son murdered my son!"