The First Jasmine - Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Clashing with the Legitimate Elder Sister—You Deserve a Beating!
The affair of the impeachment appeared to culminate with the Emperor’s rather lukewarm punishment, yet the subsequent ripples were fundamentally far from over. Before Minister Ye could even return home after court adjourned, the occurrences within the morning session had already circulated through the capital's noble clans with the velocity of the wind. Furthermore, a rumor emerged from some unknown source, claiming that Minister Ye had traded his daughter for personal glory; seeing that Prince Li disliked his unremarkable third daughter, he had allegedly instigated his fourth daughter, Ye Ying—who held the title of the capital's number one beauty—to seduce His Royal Highness Prince Li. When a single person speaks it, it is a rumor; when a hundred people speak it, it effectively becomes the truth. No matter where he walked, Minister Ye felt that the gazes others directed toward him were entirely different from ordinary days. In the end, he could only suppress his immense vexation, hastily wrap up his official duties, and return to his manor.
When Qingshuang narrated the external rumors to Ye Li with a face full of schadenfreude, Ye Li merely offered a faint smile and paid the matter no further heed. She merely harbored a trace of worry in her heart regarding whether this course of action would draw any trouble upon her uncle. However, her Second Uncle was by no means an undisciplined, reckless man; since he had acted in this manner, he naturally possessed his own reasons and lines of thought. Nevertheless, Ye Li was somewhat surprised that her father had not redirected his fury upon her because of this incident. After all, when Minister Ye had returned to the manor in a furious rush the previous day, even Madam Wang and Ye Ying had suffered a severe tongue-lashing. Perhaps it was not that he had no intention of redirecting his fury upon her—after all, he had already stormed into the Courtyard of Clear Serenity the previous day. It was only that, for some unknown reason, the moment he stepped into her room, he had turned around and departed without uttering a single word.
Could it be a rare, sudden onset of absolute guilt? Sweeping a careless glance across the simple, plain furnishings within her room, Ye Li mused with complete indifference.
Sitting leisurely before the window with her head lowered in concentrated embroidery, a purple iris flower gradually assumed shape beneath her hands. Embroidery was a craft that demanded absolute patience, and as a sniper in her past life, patience was precisely what Ye Li lacked least. Furthermore, in this lifetime, her mother had personally instructed her in embroidery starting from the age of six, and over these past years, she had gradually fallen in love with this art. Owing to the memories of her past, Ye Li naturally possessed a far greater depth of experience and insight compared to the people of this era; consequently, the pieces produced beneath her hands consistently bore a few fractions of a unique, distinct charm and spiritual aura compared to others.
A faint wave of clamor suddenly drifted in from the courtyard outside. Ye Li knitted her delicate brows and lifted her head, calling out, "Qingxia, what is occurring outside?"
"Replying to Miss, it is Master Rong who has returned. He is creating a ruckus outside the courtyard, demanding to see Miss," Qingxia replied in a thoroughly respectful manner.
Ye Li offered a flat smile, casually securing her embroidery needle upon the silk cloth as she rose to her feet. "Let us go take a look, then." The sole male offspring of the entire Ye Estate, Ye Rong, was currently thirteen years of age and studying within a renowned academy in the capital. Influenced by Madam Wang, he had disliked Ye Li—his legitimate elder sister—since his childhood years. Following the passing of the late Madam Xu, as the sole young master and legitimate son of the manor, he had taken to looking down his nose directly at Ye Li. It was already a fine thing if they caught sight of one another a few times a year, so there had fundamentally never been a situation where he personally sprinted over demanding to see Ye Li. Needless to say, this was naturally due to the matter of Madam Wang and Ye Ying being reprimanded by their father the previous day. Having only just returned from the academy yesterday, he could not wait a single moment today to rush over and fight for justice on behalf of his mother and elder sister.
Before she could even step outside, the sound of Qingshuang and Ye Rong locked in a heated dispute drifted in: "Presumptuous! You are merely a lowly, despicable maidservant, yet you dare bar this young master! Be careful lest this young master sells you off into the brothels!" Ye Rong glared viciously at the green-robed maiden before him.
While others might harbor dread toward this sole eldest young master of the estate, Qingshuang was by no means that courteous. Her beautiful eyes dilated wide as she lifted her chin, offering a cold snort to Ye Rong as she mocked, "Even if I am lowly and despicable, I am still Miss's maidservant. Whether I am beaten or sold off is entirely outside of Master Rong's jurisdiction to decide. Trespassing into your legitimate elder sister's courtyard—is this truly the propriety Master Rong has acquired within the academy? It is indeed beautifully taught, and beautifully acquired!"
"Despicable maidservant! Beat her for me!" Thoroughly exasperated, Ye Rong directed the young servants behind him to discipline Qingshuang.
"Rong'er, what on earth are you doing?" Ye Li walked out of the inner courtyard, looking flatly upon the youth before her whose aura was balanced on the brink of conflict. Her gaze fell upon the young servant's hand grasping Qingshuang's arm. "Not releasing your hand yet?" The two young servants grasping Qingshuang felt as if they had been scorched by fire, hastily retracting their hands and shrinking behind Ye Rong. Beholding the sheer uselessness of his subordinates, Ye Rong felt an immense loss of face, giving an absolute snort of discontentment as he spoke to Ye Li, "Third Sister, this maidservant of yours is exceedingly insolent. I am merely assisting you to discipline her a fraction."
Ye Li looked upon him with an iron-cold gaze. "I shall govern the people by my side myself. If you possess free time, you would be better off studying the rules and propriety thoroughly a few times." Beholding Ye Rong's current state, Ye Li understood perfectly well why her father harbored a mixture of love and hatred toward this son. He was the sole remaining seedling of the lineage, yet he was fundamentally a brainless creature. Madam Wang actually harbored the whimsical fantasy that this son of hers could compete against that second young master of the Liu family. At the tender age of sixteen, the second young master of the Liu family was already a youthful scholar whose renown shook the capital; this year, he had even journeyed alone to the Lishan Academy to pursue his studies, and both the Liu clan and his mentors held immense expectations for him, viewing him as a future top-ranking thesis scholar. Meanwhile, this half-brother of hers was transparently nothing more than a profligate dandy who could not even rank among the mediocre within the capital. Ye Rong had been cradled in the palms of the Old Matriarch and Madam Wang since childhood; within this household, even the late Second Miss and the current Fourth Miss never dared speak to him in such a manner. Instantly, Ye Rong leaped up like a cat whose fur had been scorched, pointing a trembling finger at Ye Li as he bellowed, "You possess immense audacity to actually dare speak to me in this manner! I shall certainly inform Grandmother and make things thoroughly difficult for you!"
To lower oneself to argue with such a child was truly a loss of personal decorum. Ye Li had consistently been incapable of comprehending how the Ye family—though not a century-old grand clan—could still be considered a household of substantial weight within the capital, yet they had somehow reared an individual possessing such an idiotic disposition as Ye Rong. Lacking the inclination to acknowledge the furious boy any further, Ye Li turned around to return to her room, instructing, "Please escort Master Rong out."
"Ye Li, halt right there!" Ye Rong flew into an absolute rage. "You are utterly shameless! It is transparently Brother-in-law Prince Li who no longer desires you, yet you actually had your maternal uncle speak ill of Father before the Emperor, causing Mother and Third Sister to be scolded by Father. You absolutely deserve to be abandoned by Prince Li, you insidious woman! You deserve..."
"You wretched beast! Shut your mouth this instant!" Enraptured in his tirade, Ye Rong failed entirely to perceive the cold aura within Ye Li's eyes and the trace of a faint smile slicing across her lips. It was only when a furious roar erupted from behind his frame that he turned his head around in a stiff, frozen manner, beholding his subordinates all collapsed flat upon the ground, trembling with terror. Meanwhile, his ordinarily genial and approachable father was currently glaring at him with an absolute iron-green countenance. "Father..."
"This Minister's Manor truly possesses a magnificent upbringing. A mere son of a successor wife who was elevated from a concubine actually dares to insult the legitimate daughter of the primary wife in broad daylight. This junior is indeed enlightened." Among the crowd accompanying Minister Ye, a handsome young man spoke with a cold sneer.
Hearing this, Minister Ye's countenance turned even more unsightly, shouting, "What are you still freezing there for? Why have you not pinned this beast down for me?! Deliver twenty heavy strokes of the board to him!"
Upon hearing Minister Ye's command, Ye Rong instantly shrieked in absolute terror. He launched a barrage of punches and kicks against the two servants closing in upon him, screaming, "Father... Father... your child recognizes his mistake..." It was a pity that he was young and weak; how could he ever contend against these servants who were in the prime of their physical strength? Before long, he was dragged to a nearby spot to face the execution of the staff penalty.
Ye Li's expression was serene, yet it carried a rare trace of delight as she stepped forward swiftly. "This daughter pays respects to Father. Auntie, Cousin, how is it that you have arrived?"
Gazing upon his daughter who offered him a respectful salutation yet displayed a rare, intimate warmth toward these outsiders, Minister Ye felt a wave of faint discomfort in his heart. However, the moment his thoughts drifted to the sparse, simple furnishings within Ye Li's courtyard, he found himself fundamentally incapable of unleashing any fury. He could only force a smile upon his face as he replied, "Qingfeng and your Aunt came to visit you, so your father simply accompanied them over along the way."
Xu Qingfeng offered an iron-cold smile and remarked, "Is that not so? If we had not arrived today, we would fundamentally still be in the dark regarding the fact that Little Sister lives through this sort of existence within the Ye Estate." The smile upon Minister Ye's face froze instantly. Facing the cold expression of Madam Xu and the thoroughly hostile countenance of Xu Qingfeng, he found himself somewhat incapable of extricating himself from the awkward predicament. Ye Li offered a flat smile, stepping forward to grasp Madam Xu's hand as she said merrily, "Auntie, let us not stand by the entrance any longer. Let us go inside to partake of a cup of tea.”