Volume One, Chapter 20: You Play the Loyal Minister, I’ll Play the Treacherous One

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Ye Fusang did not respond, only saying lightly, “Until we meet again, Seer.” After revealing her face, Ye Fusang vanished without a trace, leaving all who tried to follow her feeling as if they had encountered a ghost. It was clear that the people of the Celestial Secrets Pavilion were not to be underestimated.

Following this incident, her reputation as the gentlemanly thief Yan Li spread far and wide.

“Your Highness, she obtained that thirty gold far too easily.” The woman’s eyes flickered with waves of unease as she watched the other leave so casually. She couldn’t understand why that woman stirred an inexplicable aversion in people.

“Not easy.” The man’s sleeve suddenly released a bone fan as the woman pushed him past the room marked with the Celestial character. The fan swirled open, parting the beaded curtain to reveal a few drops of blood still lingering under the corner of the table. “She coughed up blood.”

His gaze fixed on the fresh blood drops. “This omen is unfavorable.”

Casting the divination was to seek fate; avoiding calamity was to defy the heavens. The Pavilion Master of Celestial Secrets was fated for a short life precisely because she bore the weight of heavenly knowledge.

The man’s gentle yet solemn brows lowered, shadows falling across his eyelids as he murmured, “Only a few months remain until New Year’s Eve. Some matters must be confronted. A dragon may lie in the abyss, but can one alone command respect?”

“Your Highness, I will help you leave Blue Moon safely.” The woman’s expression softened gradually upon hearing this.

...

“Young Master, that hairpin is elaborate and precious. Only the Luoyang Flower Emporium in the entire capital carries that style. It was bought by a young man surnamed Du, who is disabled and sent someone in his stead. The shopkeeper said he spent his entire fortune on it.”

“To spend everything on a single jeweled hairpin—truly a love deep and sincere.” Ye Fusang arched a brow slightly, glancing sideways at Ning Zhen, who was busy stuffing his cheeks with lotus pastries.

“Lotus pastries are delicious, Young Master, want one?” Ning Zhen offered a lotus-shaped pastry.

Ye Fusang’s eyes briefly shimmered as she looked at the lotus pastry in Ning Zhen’s hand. She accepted it, then asked, “Ning Zhen, do you think this lotus looks like a peony?”

Ning Zhen nodded. “Actually, it does quite resemble one.”

Suddenly a thought struck Ye Fusang, and she smiled wryly. They had all stumbled in the gutter. Du had pulled off a ruse that deceived everyone.

“Ning Zhen, take Shen Jin for a walk.”

The two, along with a dog, were just arriving at the Luoyang Flower Emporium when they bumped into Ye Mingzhu.

Ye Fusang whispered a few words into Ning Zhen’s ear, and Ning Zhen took Shen Jin and left.

After the incident with Ye Fusang that day, the matter with Ye Mingzhu had faded away. Now she wore a yellow and white long dress, hair adorned with pins and hairpins, still stunningly radiant.

Upon seeing Ye Fusang, she lowered her gaze slightly, trying to avoid confrontation. “Baozhu, let’s go.”

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Just as they were about to pass each other, Ye Fusang raised her hand and grabbed Ye Mingzhu’s wrist. Her eyes, cool and lazy yet mischievous, fixed on her. “Miss, didn’t you say you wanted to be with me?”

“You called me a faithless man before, and I accepted that. Now I have come to understand: one must take responsibility for one’s own actions. A true man’s greatest quality is accountability.” As Ye Fusang spoke, she reached out to caress Ye Mingzhu’s cheek and casually toyed with the bouncing hairpin.

It was empty.

“You...” Ye Mingzhu’s face turned cold, unable to break free. “How dare you insult me?”

“Let go of our Miss! How dare a lowly illegitimate son try to sully her!” Baozhu stepped forward, pushing Ye Fusang back, shielding Ye Mingzhu behind her.

Seeing this, Ye Fusang did not advance further, only smiling faintly. “Miss Ye, are you familiar with acupuncture?”

Ye Mingzhu’s face paled slightly, her voice cold. “What exactly do you want?”

Ye Fusang remained calm as ever. “I almost forgot—someone skilled in painting is naturally familiar with anatomy.”

“Yet the Ye family has taken so many lives just to hand over a lotus leaf to others?”

“How...”

Just then, Ning Zhen emerged from the Luoyang Flower Emporium. Ye Fusang said, “There are too many ears here. Miss Ye, perhaps you should come with me to the inner courtyard.”

“Wuuu—wuuu—”

On the ground lay a man beaten to bruises and bloodied, his head pressed under the foot of Jing Zhi, while Shen Jin’s claws firmly gripped his clothing.

Seeing Ye Fusang, Shen Jin happily trotted over. Ye Fusang smiled and patted the dog’s head. “Good boy, well done.”

“Du Lang!” Ye Mingzhu suddenly rushed forward, pushing Jing Zhi aside. Seeing the man’s battered state, tears streamed down her face as she pointed at Jing Zhi. “How could this happen? What right do you have to beat him! Does the Regent Prince rule without law? Why do you torture commoners?”

Ye Fusang watched the scene with a cold glint in her eyes, a smile playing on her lips. “Miss Ye, what about your Ye family? By what right did you take six or seven lives on a whim? How many families have suffered so your family could fatten their private coffers?”

Nearby, a pair of slender, pale fingers lifted a side curtain, revealing an ethereal and godlike face. Chu Ye emerged from the side door, leaning against the high wall. He threw a stack of rice paper into the air; the black ink characters fluttered down beside him. “I am simply a strict enforcer of the law, which is why you are still alive today.”

Ye Mingzhu’s pupils contracted sharply as she read the names on the papers, suddenly collapsing to her knees, powerless.

The imperial estates funded from the treasury had been exposed, and Du Yan’s name was signed on them. She... her own father had set them up!

“Take them away.”

Several squads of soldiers surrounded the Luoyang Flower Emporium, hauling out dozens of boxes filled with official seals and gold from the basement. The onlooking crowd outside cursed, claiming another corrupt official had been caught, though none knew who exactly.

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Ye Fusang glanced at the pure white-clad figure beside her, who was idly stroking a bouncing hairpin. The hairpin tinkled softly. As Du Yan passed, the man suddenly lifted it and pinned it to Du Yan’s hair bun, his voice cold and detached. “Your token of betrothal, I shall keep it no longer.”

Du Yan stiffened as he felt the chill around him, then was dragged away.

Ye Fusang’s phoenix-like eyes flickered with amusement. That hairpin must indeed contain the lotus leaf.

Chu Ye was truly a seasoned power player. The thing he longed for in another’s hands could still make others set a trap on his behalf.

Now that Du Yan had been captured and the lotus leaf lay so close, he still planned to set another snare.

“Miss Ye, since this person is involved with you, you must also visit the prison.”

Zang Qing ordered Ye Mingzhu to be taken away.

Seeing that things had settled, Ye Fusang was about to leave when Chu Ye’s indifferent voice whispered in her ear, “Running away? You’ve schemed so hard to gain favor with the Ye family. I suppose you’ve figured it out.”

If Ye Fusang hadn’t known Chu Ye was unaware of her true identity, she would have suspected that Xiao Mingyue and Bing Yan were also pawns in Chu Ye’s game to force her hand.

The young emperor Chu Yin was effectively squeezed between the Grand Princess and the Regent Prince. Why would he hire someone from the Celestial Secrets Pavilion as his national advisor?

Hearing Chu Ye’s words, Ye Fusang decided not to hide anymore. Her phoenix eyes met his directly. “Your Grace, from now on, you shall be the loyal minister, and I shall be the treacherous one.”

Chu Ye’s cold, alluring eyes lifted slightly, musing over the words. “Treachery. Are you challenging me?”

“Of course, I’ll be your treacherous minister, cutting down the real traitors in court. For matters you can’t handle, I’ll step in.” Ye Fusang smiled, stood upright, and performed an official’s salute. “Your Grace, please take good care of this humble servant from now on.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Ye raised his fine brows but remained expressionless. He tossed out a single sentence before turning away. “Behave yourself.”

“Behave...” Ye Fusang raised her brow slightly. So Chu Ye did have moments when he wasn’t putting on a facade.

Ning Zhen whispered beside her, “Young Master, the handprint is Du Yan’s, not Ye Zhangyuan’s.”

Ye Zhangyuan was indeed cunning and sly, while Du Yan was an illegitimate son of a royal merchant, deeply in love with Ye Mingzhu. This scheme not only threw the pile of bad debts onto Du Yan but also eliminated this unsuitable match.

The only miscalculation was that the two bouncing hairpins—one of which truly contained the lotus leaf—remained in Du Yan’s possession. Now that he was imprisoned, they were effectively in Chu Ye’s hands.

Ye Fusang smiled faintly. “With the lotus leaf still in play, Ye Mingzhu and he will drift apart. The trap is set; he won’t escape.”