The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Chapter 97: Chapter 97: I Have My Own Way

Dingbei Marquis Mansion.

Shen Yanchuan reopened the case file.

The battle at Tongtian Pass three years ago was fraught with suspicion. His recent conversation with Feng Zhang had only strengthened his conviction that something was amiss.

He could already recite the contents of the file from memory, but uncovering the truth of what happened back then required painstakingly unraveling every thread, a task fraught with difficulty.

Suddenly, his brow twitched. He spoke toward the window, ”What, is the main gate of the Dingbei Marquis Mansion not wide enough for you? Must you climb in through the rear courtyard?”

The next moment, the window was pushed open, and a dashing figure leaped inside.

It was none other than Xie Anbai, who had just returned to the Capital City.

With a SNAP, he unfurled his fan, shaking his head with a soft click of his tongue. ”Your hearing is just too sharp. Can’t you let me win just once?”

Shen Yanchuan closed the case file, set it aside, and sized him up with a glance.

”Run out of money?”

Xie Anbai: ”...”

He cleared his throat loudly. ”Of course not! Am I that kind of person? And what about our relationship? We’re brothers who have been through life and death together! Would I really come bother you over a few pieces of broken silver?”

Shen Yanchuan said, ”You haven’t returned to the Xie Family since you got back to the Capital City?”

Though it was a question, his tone was certain.

Xie Anbai’s head instantly started to ache. ”Are you kidding me? If I go back now, my father will make me kneel under the hot sun for four hours! Isn’t that just asking for death?”

When his father punished him, he didn’t hold back!

”I’ll wait a few days for it to cool down and for his temper to mellow. It won’t be too late to go back then.”

Shen Yanchuan nodded. ”The woodshed at the Dingbei Marquis Mansion is empty. I can lend it to you.”

Xie Anbai’s eyes widened in disbelief. ”And here I was, rushing over without a moment’s rest to bring you news, and this is how you treat me?”

”News?” Shen Yanchuan’s eyebrow lifted slightly. ”Didn’t you just return to the Capital City? What news could you have for me?”

”News about Doctor Ye, of course!”

Xie Anbai snapped his fan shut and leaned forward with a curious expression.

”I just happened to see her go to the Xu Residence. And it was Xu Rongqing himself who came out to welcome her!”

Shen Yanchuan froze.

Seeing his reaction, Xie Anbai couldn’t help but grin with a hint of schadenfreude. ”So? Was my news timely enough?”

Shen Yanchuan said nothing, his gaze lowered, his expression unreadable.

But Xie Anbai couldn’t stand it. ”Hey, why aren’t you reacting at all?”

He leaned back. ”I’ve already made some inquiries, you know. That Doctor Ye’s background is anything but ordinary. She’s Ye Zheng’s daughter!”

Speaking of which, Xie Anbai couldn’t help but marvel, ”I knew it! The first time I saw her, I had this strange feeling she looked familiar. It turns out I really did see her three years ago!”

Shen Yanchuan looked up at him. ”After she came to the Capital City three years ago, she only stayed for a few short months. And because of her frail health, she almost never left the Ye Mansion. You—saw her?”

”Of course! How could I be wrong about something like this?” Xie Anbai immediately sat up straight. ”It’s true she didn’t go out much back then, but I saw her on her very first day in the Capital City!”

Xie Anbai stroked his chin.

”It was quite a coincidence. That day happened to be the day you left the capital for Huizhou. I was on my way to see you off when I bumped into Ye Xiting on the road. He was in a hurry to meet someone outside the city gates and only mentioned that his family was arriving in the capital, so I didn’t ask for details. I only found out later that it was his mother and younger sister who had arrived that day.”

A dark look flickered in Shen Yanchuan’s eyes as countless images flashed through his mind.

”...So it was that day.”

”Now that I think about it, you two must have been outside the city at the same time. You just didn’t see each other.”

It was an utterly ordinary day; no one would have paid any mind to a stranger they brushed past.

”I saw her from a distance back then,” Xie Anbai said with a sigh. ”At the time, she just looked so thin and frail, like a gust of wind could blow her away. I never expected that seeing her again three years later, she would seem like a completely different person. If I hadn’t run into her in the Capital City again this time, I probably never would have remembered who she was.”

Three years. Not too long, not too short, but enough time to change so many things.

”Anyway, let’s not talk about that. How’s your recovery coming along?” Xie Anbai gestured with his chin. ”I heard that since you returned to the Capital City, you’ve been holed up at home on account of illness and have turned down quite a few invitations.”

Shen Yanchuan pressed a hand to his chest.

”Mm, it seems I haven’t fully recovered yet.”

Xie Anbai was genuinely surprised. ”Really? In that case, your injuries are more serious than I first thought! But isn’t Doctor Ye’s medical skill excellent? I heard she even saved the Eldest Princess. How come you haven’t healed after all this time?”

Xie Anbai studied him. ”Why don’t we ask her to come over and take another look at you?”

...

「Xu Residence, the study.」

Xu Fengchi took out a wooden box and handed it to Ye Chutang.

”Inside are some old belongings of your parents and your older brother. Back then... the accident happened so suddenly. By the time I received the news and rushed over, it was already too late. I was only able to find these.”

Ye Chutang accepted it with both hands and opened the box.

Inside lay a seal, a pair of pearl earrings, and a jade tablet.

They were all personal items that her father, mother, and older brother had kept with them.

Ye Chutang stared at them for a long while, seemingly lost in a daze.

Back then, to get Yan, A Feng, and Xiao Wu away safely, she had made everyone believe that they too had died, leaving behind everything in the carriage.

She never thought she would see these items again.

Holding her breath, she focused her gaze, closed the box, and knelt in a solemn bow of gratitude. ”Uncle Xu, Yan, A Feng, Xiao Wu, and I will engrave this kindness in our hearts.”

Xu Fengchi sighed and shook his head helplessly.

”I wasn’t actually able to help you much. I failed to secure most of their belongings. Ye Heng took full charge of the aftermath. I am an outsider, after all. Unlike him, I’m not a blood relative of your father, so naturally, I had no right to interfere in many matters. I could retrieve very little. Even later, when they brazenly moved into your family’s residence, I...”

Xu Fengchi was still filled with guilt whenever he spoke of this matter.

But Ye Chutang didn’t seem to mind. ”You’ve already done so much for us. Besides, at the time, you didn’t know we were still alive, did you?”

Her hand gently caressed the box. It clearly didn’t hold much, yet it felt as heavy as a mountain.

She said lightly, ”Even among blood relatives, it’s common for them to turn on each other and become enemies. Sometimes, the ones who hurt you the most are the ones closest to you.”

Xu Fengchi’s heart stirred. ”Chutang, your words... have you discovered something?”

A small smile touched Ye Chutang’s lips. ”I’m not certain yet. I’ll tell you once I have something definite. By the way, you mentioned before that in the Tongzhou river embankment embezzlement case, there was a man who used to be one of my father’s subordinates?”

Xu Fengchi’s expression grew grim. ”That’s right. I once suspected he was connected to the ’accident’ that befell your parents.”

Ye Chutang nodded. ”I need to see him.”

Xu Fengchi frowned. ”I’m afraid that won’t be easy. He’s currently locked in the Heavenly Prison and is due to be exiled in a few days.”

”Since I want his testimony—”

Ye Chutang smiled faintly.

”—then I will find a way to make him talk.”