"Miss,"
Saixing didn't think too much about it at all. She beamed like a blooming flower.
"I thought that Miss Liu from the Liu family was quite nice during the Qingyun Tournament last time. I'm sure all the members of the Liu family are decent people too. Once you recognize your ancestors and return to the Liu family, you'll surely live a better life than in the Ye family."
"Oops!"
Suddenly, as if recalling something, Saixing paused and slapped her hands together.
"Miss, if you're truly a Miss of the Liu family, wouldn't you be a close relative of the second young miss of the Yun family?"
Immediately, her face fell. Pouting, Saixing said,
"That second young miss of the Yun family always puts on an innocent and naive act. She always acts like she's speaking straightforwardly without a care, but actually, she's deliberately trying to hurt people. If you're really cousins with her, just thinking about it makes me feel annoyed."
Ye Xi looked at Saixing with an amused expression and said,
"We haven't even confirmed anything yet, but you're already worrying about all these things."
"Listen, the Liu family doesn't have any fortune - telling requests recently. Go and send an invitation to Miss Liu Mengxian on my behalf. Tell her that I was really impressed by her talents during the first half of the Qingyun Tournament, and I'd like to have a discussion with her."
"Yes, Miss."
Just as Saixing left after receiving the order, Yi Yuan came over.
"A Yuan."
Ye Xi gave a bright smile and stepped forward.
"How did it go? Was the punishment severe?"
Seeing Ye Xi, all the exhaustion on Yi Yuan's body seemed to fade away. He stretched out his long arms and pulled her into his embrace. He sniffed the sweet fragrance on Ye Xi's body, rubbed his nose against her soft and smooth cheek contentedly, and let out a long sigh.
"The punishment hasn't been decided yet. The Emperor has ordered the Three Judicial Departments to handle the case. It'll probably take some time."
Feeling the heaviness in Yi Yuan's mood, Ye Xi didn't care about being shy anymore. She wrapped her arms around Yi Yuan's slender waist, gently stroked his back, and said in a soft voice,
"This is the normal procedure. We have solid evidence. How can they distort the truth? Don't worry too much."
"Um..."
Yi Yuan responded faintly. Suddenly, he pecked her on the face, which made Ye Xi widen her eyes in surprise.
Just as she was about to punch him with her blushing face, Yi Yuan let out a hearty laugh and took Ye Xi's fair hand.
"Come on, I'll take you to eat something delicious. You've lost weight during the Qingyun Tournament these days. I must fatten you up."
"Hey, wait..."
Ye Xi gave him a reproachful look and said,
"Saixing has gone to send an invitation to the fourth young miss of the Liu family on my behalf. Yan Xuan just came to report the results of the investigation these days. I... I might be a child of the Liu family."
"The Liu family?"
Yi Yuan quickly thought through all the people from the Liu family he had met. His brows relaxed slightly, and he said with a faint smile,
"I haven't had much contact with the Liu family, but those I've dealt with, both old and young, are quite decent. When the Liu family was at its peak, even the Cao and Shen families had to avoid their edge. It's a pity that due to the epidemic in the palace fourteen years ago, six or seven out of ten of the outstanding younger generation of the Liu family died. The family was greatly weakened. Otherwise, it wouldn't be in such a marginal position today."
"However, it's not a bad thing. Although they've kept a low - profile, they're also less involved in the court disputes. If you're a young miss of their family, I'll be at ease."
"However,"
Yi Yuan frowned slightly.
"I was already five or six years old thirteen or fourteen years ago, but I've never heard that they lost a child..."
"I had the same doubt just now."
Ye Xi also frowned and said.
The two discussed the possibilities for a while, but they couldn't come up with a reliable reason. So they sat down patiently and waited for news from Liu Mengxian.
Thankfully, Saixing came back soon, with a hint of anger on her face.
"What's going on? Did the people from the Liu family make things difficult for you?"
Ye Xi handed her a glass of water and asked.
Even if everyone in the Liu family is good, there are always some snobbish servants who look down on others.
"No, Miss,"
Saixing took the water angrily and drank it all in one gulp. Clutching the cup tightly, she said,
"The people from the Liu family are all nice. They even accepted the invitation I sent. But when I was there, I happened to meet the second young miss of the Yun family. It seems that she heard about the matter of the Shen family. She wanted to help, but the people from the Yun family haven't returned to the capital yet, so she went to the Liu family."
"As soon as she saw me, she started mocking and sarcasm. She even snatched the invitation from me and threw it out. She was so domineering, as if she was in her own home. I'm so angry!"
Then she knelt down to plead for punishment.
"I'm so useless. I couldn't even handle such a small thing well for you, Miss. Please punish me."
Ye Xi didn't expect to run into Yun Qianying at this time. Seeing Saixing looking so self - reproachful, she quickly pulled her up and comforted her.
"Get up quickly. How can this be your fault? You've done a great job."
"It doesn't matter that the invitation wasn't delivered. Your Miss still has plenty of ways."
Saixing trusted her Miss the most. Her anger subsided a lot. Just as she was about to ask what the ways were, she heard Yi Yuan ask,
"Did you see Yun Qi when you saw her?"
Saixing was stunned. Although she didn't understand why Yi Yuan was asking this, she still answered honestly.
"No. It was just her and a maid who always follows her."
Ye Xi glanced at Yi Yuan and said,
"You want to know the attitude of the Yun family?"
"Yeah."
Yi Yuan looked at Ye Xi appreciatively and said,
"I always feel that my elder brother's death in battle wasn't just because of the embezzlement of military pay. I still can't find any trace of the letter he wrote to me at that time. And after my elder brother sacrificed for the country, it was the Yun family who took over."
"If Yun Qi had gone to the Liu family with Yun Qianying, it would mean that the Yun family must be involved with the Shen family. They must have participated in the matter behind the scenes. But Yun Qi didn't go..."
Yi Yuan's well - defined fingers tapped lightly on the smooth, dark - red tabletop as he pondered.
"Either the Yun family really doesn't know about this, and this is just Yun Qianying's act out of love; or... Yun Qi wants to find out the situation first and then make a move. If it's the latter, the military... I'm afraid it's not clean."
Ye Xi gently held Yi Yuan's big hand and said,
"I don't think General Yun seems like that kind of person. I haven't told you this before. When I first saw General Yun, I felt an unusual sense of familiarity."
[Familiarity?]
Yi Yuan suddenly turned his head. His dark eyes stared intently at Ye Xi. It seemed that if Ye Xi said something out of line the next moment, he would devour her. Ye Xi found it extremely funny.
"The news Yan Xuan brought back today just happens to explain this."
Ye Xi forced herself to suppress the smile in her heart and said,
"If I'm really a child of the Liu family, I'm also a cousin of Yun Qi. Coincidentally, didn't the Yun family move to the border to guard the Great Yin not long after I was lost?"
"It's said that the wife of the third branch of the Liu family was very close to Yun Qi's mother, Liu Jingyue. Maybe when I was a child, as my elder brother, General Yun doted on me a lot. That's why I have this feeling."
[What elder brother? That's still uncertain! You seem to feel it so real.]
Yi Yuan was unhappy. He still stared at Ye Xi silently.
Ye Xi was originally quite calm, but being stared at like this by him made her feel a little flustered. She quickly dragged someone else into this.
"Although it hasn't been confirmed yet, I can ask Qiao Yan to send the invitation on my behalf for the Liu family."
"General Yun's feelings for Qiao Yan were quite obvious during the Qingyun Tournament. We can ask through Qiao Yan then."
Then she turned to Saixing.
"Hurry up and invite Miss Qiao to our mansion."