She must have discovered something, which was why she was silenced during the war. She must have discovered something, which was why the letter has been missing ever since.
Xie Huaiyue sighed and gently patted Yi Yuan on the shoulder.
"This matter is probably deeply involved. We can't rush it."
"When will Lin An be back?" Xie Huaiyue abruptly changed the subject.
"Tomorrow."
The surging grief and anger gradually subsided, and Yi Yuan returned to his usual aloof self.
"Lin An said he brought something back. I wonder if it's..."
"My lord," a young servant rushed over and interrupted Yi Yuan before he could finish his sentence.
"What is it?"
This was the servant he had assigned to Yi Yaofeng. If there wasn't something important going on with Yi Yaofeng, the servant wouldn't be so reckless as to come over without permission.
Sure enough—
"Reporting to my lord, the young heir and Miss Ye have gone out to fly kites! And the words on the kite were written by the young heir himself!"
The servant was extremely excited.
"Really?" Xie Huaiyue was quite surprised. "This Miss Ye is really amazing! A Yuan, let's go and take a look."
Even on Yi Yuan's cold face, there was a rare look of surprise.
"Let's go and have a look."
By the time they arrived, Yi Yaofeng's kite was already flying high in the sky, while Ye Xi's kite kept stumbling, flying for a while and then falling.
"Hey, it's not that my kite - flying skills are bad. It's just that I didn't choose a good kite!"
Ye Xi pouted and was being playful with Yi Yaofeng.
Although Yi Yaofeng still had a straight face, there was a hint of a smile on it. His big, bright eyes were rolling around, looking straight at Ye Xi, clearly saying: It's your poor skills.
Steward Chen was smiling contentedly on the side.
Yi Yuan twitched the corner of his mouth. What was this harmonious and happy family atmosphere?
Xie Huaiyue clapped his hands and laughed. "A Yuan, you've finally found the right tutor this time. Unlike those previous ones, who all wished they could stick to you."
"Are you done?" Yi Yuan gave him a cold sidelong glance, clearly meaning: Now that you've said everything, you can leave.
Xie Huaiyue shivered under his cold gaze and mumbled,
"Fine, fine. I'll leave."
After saying that, he waved and walked away without looking back.
Ye Xi handed the kite to Saixing beside her and reported Yi Yaofeng's situation to Yi Yuan.
"My lord, you should smile more. After all, the young heir is still young. He just lost his parents. In this huge prince's mansion, you are the only blood - relative he has. If you are gentler, the young heir will surely be closer to you."
Smile?
Yi Yuan looked at Yi Yaofeng's small figure not far away and didn't comment.
The two didn't say much more. They had lunch in the prince's mansion. After Yi Yaofeng took his afternoon nap, Ye Xi bid farewell and left.
Given what happened this morning, Ye Jueyao, who had lost so much face, definitely wouldn't let it go easily.
Sure enough, as soon as she returned to the Ye Mansion and Steward Chen left, Qian Fangxue's people took Ye Xi to her.
"You've really become capable!" Qian Fangxue sat on the main seat with a furious look on her face.
"You're engaged, yet you still try to seduce the prince! You've shamed the Ye family!"
Ye Jueyao beside her also looked heart - broken and disappointed.
"Sister, you've always been so well - behaved. How could you do such a thing secretly? Young Master Cao is so deeply in love with you. What if he finds out about this today?"
Ye Jueyao had asked Qingyuan. She only knew that because of the incident of falling off the cliff last time, Ye Xi had promoted a rough maid to silence others, and nothing else had changed. Qingyuan didn't know much about what happened in the prince's mansion either. Ye Jueyao wanted to see how this stupid sister had managed to climb up to such a high position.
Ye Xi sneered inwardly. It had been a whole morning, and she didn't believe that these two didn't know that she had gone to the prince's mansion just as a tutor for the young heir.
However, she still had to put on a show.
Tears welled up in her eyes. Ye Xi knelt on the ground pitifully, holding Ye Jueyao's hand with one hand and Qian Fangxue's with the other.
"Mother and elder sister have misunderstood. I went to the prince's mansion today to console the young heir. Steward Chen said that the prince saw me accidentally at the palace banquet and thought I was plain - looking and womanish. Later, he learned that I was already engaged and wouldn't have any improper thoughts, so he invited me to console the young heir."
[That makes sense.]
The unanimous agreement from the two fell into Ye Xi's ears.
Ye Xi lowered her head to hide the flash of disdain in her eyes and continued,
"When I arrived at the prince's mansion, the prince only told me to console the young heir well and then I never saw him again. When I was leaving, I accidentally heard the prince chatting with Steward Chen. He said, 'The eldest daughter of the Ye family is as beautiful as a celestial being. How come the younger sister looks like this?' Mother and elder sister, if you don't believe me, you can ask Steward Chen."
[I knew it. The prince couldn't be that blind.]
[Since she dares to let us ask Steward Chen, it probably won't be a lie. It seems that it's a good thing for this girl to go to the prince's mansion to teach the young heir. Then we can visit the prince's mansion in the name of visiting the younger sister. How convenient.]
Qian Fangxue and Ye Jueyao exchanged a look and both broke into smiles.
They didn't know that Ye Xi had already colluded with Steward Chen.
"Silly girl, why didn't you say so earlier?" Qian Fangxue patted Ye Xi's delicate hand affectionately and gently helped her up.
"Right," Ye Jueyao quickly reached out her hand too. "We almost misunderstood you, sister."
"It's my fault," Ye Xi looked obedient. "I was mainly afraid that I wouldn't be able to console the young heir well and would shame the Ye family. So I thought I'd go and try first. If I succeeded, I'd tell father and mother."
[So, did you succeed?]
[Steward Chen sent her back. Does that mean she succeeded?]
Both of them stared at Ye Xi, still being reserved with their words.
"Well..."
"Yes. Steward Chen said he'd come to pick me up at the same time tomorrow."
Ye Xi pretended to be happy but couldn't hide her pride.
"Very good, very good." Qian Fangxue held Ye Xi's hand and couldn't stop smiling.
"Then you go and rest first and prepare well. Stay there longer tomorrow. Console the young heir properly before coming back."
Actually, what Ye Xi heard was—
[Tomorrow I'll send Yaoyao to visit. The longer you stay, the more time Yaoyao will have to get along with the prince. Haha.]
Ye Xi pretended not to know and still looked worried on the surface.
"But what about Young Master Cao..."
"It doesn't matter," Qian Fangxue quickly glanced at Ye Jueyao. "The news has already spread from the prince's mansion. There definitely won't be any misunderstandings."
[The out - of - favor national uncle's mansion is no match for the highly - regarded prince's mansion. Yaoyao is both talented and beautiful. She's a perfect match for the prince.]
"If mother says so, I'm relieved."
Ye Xi pretended to heave a sigh of relief.
"Then I'll take my leave first."
"Okay, go."
Ye Xi walked out slowly.
Looking up, she saw many flowers blooming in the yard. The pink and white flowers were intertwined. She could hear the buzzing of bees in the gaps, along with the faint fragrance of the flowers.
It was still the yard where she had lived for more than ten years. Every plant and tree was engraved deeply in her memory. But it also felt so strange, like an iron cage that imprisoned her, making her feel so oppressed that she could hardly breathe.
"Saixing."
Ye Xi called softly.
"Go to the street and buy some things. Tell as many people as you can that your young lady has won the prince's favor by consoling the young heir, and your eldest young lady is extremely happy for her and might even come to choose things herself."
"By the way, choose the street where Young Master Cao often goes."
Ye Xi smiled gently.
"Let him share my happiness too."