Qin Yihuai glanced at her with a complicated look in his eyes. "They were assigned by the government to mine inside the mountain. Coincidentally, a rolling stone fell and they got injured accidentally."
Mother Ye covered her chest, looking pained. Her tears blurred the blood on Ye Yingfeng's hand. "Our Ye family... Why has it suffered so many misfortunes! God is unfair!"
Ye Zhinan closed her eyes and exhaled a puff of turbid air. "Where's my father?"
Qin Yihuai looked backward. She rushed out immediately and barely managed to stand steady by holding on to the doorframe. Ye Shenyan was lying on a flatbed cart. Even in a coma, one could tell how painful he was at the moment.
Ye Zhinan composed herself. She stepped forward to check and frowned tightly. He had a fracture.
Strangely enough, they were the only two who got injured.
Ye Zhinan endured the soreness in her nose and covered her face. She heard the Wei family next door quickly close their door. Mrs. Wei even said in disgust, "There are always so many troubles in their family. Hurry up and close the door. Don't let the bad luck rub off on us."
It was completely the opposite of how they used to fawn on the Ye family in the capital.
Ye Zhinan had no time to savor the warmth and coldness of human relationships. She suppressed the grief in her heart and treated their injuries.
After the examination, Ye Zhinan suspected that Ye Yingfeng might have internal organ damage and a tendency of internal bleeding after being hit by the stones. To further treat him, she could only use the tools in the space.
She looked back at Qin Yihuai behind her. Her pale lips moved slightly. "Please take care of my mother."
Qin Yihuai nodded and helped the overly grief - stricken Mother Ye out. Ye Zhinan closed the door and took out tools and medicine from the supplies to treat Ye Yingfeng.
Then she used good wound medicine to set Ye Shenyan's broken bone. After a busy while, the evening outside had been replaced by night.
Ye Zhinan wiped the sweat off her forehead and suppressed the slight tremor of her hands.
She looked up. Qin Yihuai's tall figure stood alone in the yard, just like a pine tree that would not fall against the wind.
"Madam has fallen asleep."
Ye Zhinan nodded. She must have fainted from crying.
She leaned against the stool and looked up at the vast and unchanging night sky. The mountains in the distance were like a black hole in the abyss.
"Each emperor has his own ministers. Does one really have to suffer so much just for a tiny mistake?"
Ye Zhinan sneered and twitched the corner of her mouth. She felt it was not worth it for the court her father had served.
Qin Yihuai was so big that he alone could block the night wind blowing towards Ye Zhinan. The woman's resentful complaint clearly fell into his ears.
A glint flashed across his eyes and he tightened his hand on the sword scabbard. "From a man's perspective, all under heaven are but chess pieces. If they are useless, discard them; if they are harmful, kill them."
There was a murderous aura hidden in his deep voice, which was a bit scary in the quiet night.
Ye Zhinan looked up and immediately fell into his deep - pool - like eyes. Her suspicion grew stronger.
Their words and thoughts were equally ruthless, but Qin Yihuai was a bit more gentle.
"Don't I know the cold - blooded and profit - oriented nature of the emperor's tactics?" Ye Zhinan glanced at the crack of the door. If it weren't for the Wei family living next door, she would definitely stand in the yard and curse the dog - emperor's ancestors for eighteen generations.
It was precisely because there was no other way that this sense of powerlessness made her feel more and more dissatisfied.
There was a rustling sound in her ear. Qin Yihuai seemed to be leaving. Ye Zhinan also stood up and saw him to the door. "Thank you so much today."
"It's okay." Qin Yihuai paused for a moment and then looked at her. "I've already smoothed things over for you. Uncle Ye and Brother Ye can rest for a few days before going back."
A look of surprise flashed across Ye Zhinan's eyes and she thanked him repeatedly.
Qin Yihuai had little influence among the guards. It was really not easy for him to protect the Ye family, who had been "specially taken care of", for a few days. But she was also secretly shocked. This man was really good at power plays.
During her days in the northern border, she had also heard the neighbors talk about Qin Yihuai.
The reason why he could gain so much power here was not only because the neighbors trusted him, but also because he had some handles on the officials and at the same time helped them. By combining toughness and gentleness, he naturally won people's respect.
After Qin Yihuai left, Ye Zhinan closed the door. But the crack of the Wei family's door slowly opened. Wei Shishi's small palm - sized face poked out from the crack. Her eyes stared straight at the direction where Qin Yihuai had left.
Wei Shishi's slender fingertips fiddled with the door panel. A sly look flashed across her eyes. She didn't expect that he was not only good - looking but also a reliable backer.
If she could win him over, wouldn't her future days be very comfortable?
Wei Shishi's heart skipped a beat. After watching Ye Zhinan lock the door, she tiptoed to another small path. She lifted her skirt and ran all the way to the path that Qin Yihuai must pass.
She endured her fear of the dark. Finally, she saw a familiar figure. She was overjoyed and immediately fell to the ground, twisting her body into the most charming curve and whining in a coquettish voice, "Help! Is there anyone?"
Qin Yihuai stopped in his tracks. When he turned around, he saw the dazzling earrings of Wei Shishi in the night. She didn't look like a village girl at all.
She looked a bit like a female goblin trying to stop Tang Seng from going to the West for Buddhist scriptures.
He hesitated for a moment and still walked towards Wei Shishi. "What's wrong, miss?"
Wei Shishi pretended to look at him helplessly with a pained look on her face. She rubbed her ankle. "I accidentally tripped over a stone just now and sprained my ankle. I'm afraid I can't walk now."
Qin Yihuai squatted down and reached out his hand towards her knee.
A look of excitement flashed across Wei Shishi's eyes and she let out a coquettish cry, "It hurts so much."
"I haven't even touched you yet."
"..."
Wei Shishi awkwardly touched the tip of her nose. Damn the forest! Not even a bit of moonlight could get in. It was a waste of the earrings she had prepared.
"Is your home far from here?" Qin Yihuai clapped the dust off his hands. She immediately looked overjoyed. Was he going to take her home? Wasn't this a good opportunity!
"It's not far. It's just in front..."
"It's inappropriate for a man and a woman to be alone. Since it's not far, miss, you'd better go home early."
Wei Shishi was stunned. Was there something wrong with her ears?
Before she could react, Qin Yihuai had already stood up. Wei Shishi realized something was wrong. She quickly covered her stomach and started to cry out, but the man simply ignored her and walked out of the forest quickly, avoiding her like the plague.
"Good - for - nothing!"
Wei Shishi cursed angrily. After angrily patting the dust off her body, she turned around and left huffily.
In the tile - roofed house, Ye Zhinan took out some more wound medicine from the space and boiled it into a medicinal juice. Just then, Ye Shenyan and Ye Yingfeng woke up.
The worried look on Mother Ye's face finally eased a bit. She repeatedly told the father and son to pay attention to their safety. Ye Yingfeng shrank his head and drank the medicine, nodding repeatedly with a dry smile.
"Our family has survived a great disaster. There must be blessings in store. Our days will get better and better in the future." Ye Zhinan's eyes curved into a smile as she handed the medicine bowl to Ye Shenyan.
Ye Shenyan stirred the medicine a few times and gently blew on it. "We owe that young man a lot this time. We should visit him and thank him properly when we get the chance."
Ye Zhinan nodded in agreement. But Ye Yingfeng put down the bowl and said seriously, "Dad, don't you think Qin Yihuai looks like someone?"
Everyone fell silent, except Mother Ye, who looked blank. "He just has a more outstanding temperament than other villagers."
Outstanding was an understatement. He was simply impossible to ignore in a crowd.
Ye Zhinan and Ye Shenyan glanced at each other and fell into silence at the same time.
With such an extraordinary temperament and an extremely similar appearance, it was hard for Ye Shenyan not to think of the emperor.