Why?
These two words pierced through his ears and struck directly at his heart.
Ye Xi brought the question back again.
Yi Yuan's phoenix eyes were cold as he concealed all his emotions. When he opened his mouth, his voice was deliberately distant.
"Miss Ye is so intelligent. I'm sure you must have guessed."
"I've already made it clear that the garden won't be given for free. I need Miss Ye's 'fortunetelling' technique for my use."
"Is that the only thing?"
"That's the only thing."
Ye Xi fell silent.
Seeds that shouldn't grow will sprout into thorns instead of flowers.
It was already hard enough just to stay alive. Ye Xi wouldn't let another thorn grow on her path. It would be so painful if she got hurt again.
"Fine then," Ye Xi smiled brightly.
"As Your Highness wishes."
It was Ye Xi who had agreed to his request, but somehow a sense of annoyance welled up in his heart.
Yi Yuan couldn't help but gently flick his sleeve, trying to sweep away this annoyance.
Now that Ye Xi had her answer, she continued to ask:
"Your Highness promised me before you left that you would find Master Hunyuan to resolve my fate when you returned. May I ask where Master Hunyuan is now?"
"He just came back. Naturally, he's in the palace," Yi Yuan averted his eyes and said indifferently.
"Miss Ye, rest assured. Since I've promised, I won't go back on my word. Master Hunyuan will come tonight. Whether you can persuade him or not will depend on you, Miss Ye."
"But tonight..." Ye Xi was in a dilemma. It wasn't suitable for her to go out at night. It would be hard to find an excuse, and sneaking out would be too dangerous.
"It's really not convenient to go out. Anyway, I'll come to the prince's mansion during the day to comfort the young master. How about we find a more convenient time?"
Yi Yuan gave Ye Xi a cool, sidelong glance and said softly:
"Master Hunyuan is not my servant. I can't just summon him whenever I want."
"Since he's back, he has to stay in the palace. He's only free at night. If you find it inconvenient, you'll have to go to the palace to find him."
Ye Xi was extremely embarrassed.
Yi Yuan usually used as few words as possible. Who would have thought that when he talked more, he would be so sharp-tongued.
Blushing slightly, Ye Xi stammered for a while before saying:
"I didn't think it through. May I ask what time the master will come tonight? I can arrange my time accordingly."
"Three quarters past the Xu hour."
"Okay."
Both of them fell silent and stopped talking.
Finally, the carriage arrived at the prince's mansion. After Ye Xi got off the carriage, she noticed that there was another carriage following. Several guards carried an unconscious man off the carriage. It should be Lin An whom Yi Yuan was looking for.
The guards were careful and efficient. They quickly carried the man to the side courtyard wing of the mansion's doctor. Since Ye Xi was still injured, she also followed.
The mansion's doctor was checking Lin An's injuries, while Saixing was applying medicine to Ye Xi behind the screen.
Seeing that Lin An's condition had stabilized, Yi Yuan finally noticed Ye Xi's soft cries of pain.
Thinking about Ye Xi's repeated encounters with danger, Yi Yuan finally couldn't help but ask:
"How did Miss Ye encounter assassins?"
"Oh, I learned some secrets while 'telling fortunes' for someone. I refused to do things according to their wishes, so this happened," Ye Xi said casually.
Yi Yuan was momentarily speechless.
So she knew it was dangerous to act like that, but she still insisted on doing it.
Why? And who was that person?
He had sent someone to investigate Ye Xi before. The information he got was that her family was harmonious and there was nothing unusual.
On the surface, the Ye family treated Ye Xi normally, but they seemed reluctant to let Ye Xi socialize with others. At the Strange Play Hall before, the whole Ye family was there, but only Ye Xi dressed up secretly and sneaked out.
And Ye Xi seemed to be on guard against the Ye family. She secretly bought a house and hid her abilities. All these indicated that the relationship between Ye Xi and the Ye family was definitely not as peaceful as it seemed on the surface.
Yi Yuan's eyes were as deep as the sea:
"The life-exchanging curse on your body was done by the Ye family. Am I right?"
Ye Xi's heart skipped a beat.
Although Yi Yuan's "Am I right?" seemed to be asking her, his tone was very certain.
Nervously looking outside, Ye Xi found that everyone in the wing had left. Only Lin An was still lying on the couch, unconscious.
Saixing's eyes widened in surprise.
She always thought that because the Ye family was two-faced, her young lady had been deeply hurt and was secretly planning to leave the Ye family. She never thought that her young lady had been tied with such a strange thing by the Ye family.
Poor young lady of hers~
She was so kind and treated her, a vulgar servant, with sincere heart. She even taught her to read and write and secretly helped her avoid many of Qingyuan's targeting and framing.
How could the Ye family be so cruel to her? It was as if her young lady wasn't a child of the Ye family.
!! Saixing was suddenly shocked.
Could it be... that the young lady was really not of the Ye family's blood?
While Saixing was thinking hard, Ye Xi didn't plan to hide it anymore.
Since Yi Yuan already knew her identity, from their interactions in the past few days, being more honest would make Yi Yuan more willing to help her.
"Since Your Highness has already guessed, I won't hide it from you..."
Ye Xi carefully chose her words:
"The life-exchanging curse on my body was indeed done by the Ye family."
"And the person I need to exchange my life for to ward off the disaster is none other than my elder sister, Ye Jueyao."
After roughly explaining the situation of the Ye family, Ye Xi thought for a while and still temporarily concealed her ability to read minds just by touching. She wasn't sure how much Yi Yuan would believe her, and this ability might come in handy against Yi Yuan one day.
As long as everyone thought that she could only know what others were thinking through 'fortunetelling' or 'feeling the pulse', then others wouldn't be on guard when she accidentally touched them. Even in front of people who didn't want her to 'tell their fortunes', Ye Xi could quietly know what she wanted to know without being noticed.
After Ye Xi finished speaking, Saixing was already in tears with anger.
Yi Yuan showed no emotion on his face, but his heart was in turmoil.
"So," Yi Yuan's voice was calm, hiding a trace of barely noticeable joy:
"You want to break off the engagement with Cao Sheng."
Ye Xi and Saixing: ??
So you've been listening for so long, and the only thing you care about is this?
Looking at Yi Yuan with a strange expression, Ye Xi still replied:
"Yes. Since ancient times, engagements have been decided by the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words. But actually, I'm not a daughter of the Ye family. Logically, this engagement doesn't count."
"Although the Ye family only raised me to take the life disaster for Ye Jueyao, they did a very good job on the surface. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so stupidly deceived for more than ten years. So even if I expose that I'm not a daughter of the Ye family, based on the food, clothing, and daily necessities the Ye family provided for me, and the care and love that Ye Pengcheng and his wife often talked about, in the eyes of outsiders, they really treated me well."
"Just based on this, if I can't produce real evidence to show the true face of the Ye family; once the Ye family's kindness of raising and teaching me for many years is brought up; even if I find my biological parents, leave the Ye family, or even die outside, I'll still be known as 'the daughter the Ye family raised for more than ten years'."
"Regarding the marriage with the Cao family, Ye Pengcheng and his wife have the right to make the decision. I can't break off the engagement just because I'm not a daughter of the Ye family."
"If I want to break off this marriage, the Ye family must fall and their true face must be exposed, or it must be known that Cao Sheng has an affair and changed his heart."
"And I want both reasons."