People around were all standing on tiptoe, craning their necks through the crowds to watch the commotion.
Wei Ziqi somehow summoned up the strength and shoved Ye Yingfeng, making him stagger.
"Could it be that Brother Ye has a habit of eavesdropping? Otherwise, how could you be so certain?"
The woman's face flushed with shame. She covered her clothes, her eyes evasive.
Ye Zhinan took in her reaction and turned to help Ye Yingfeng up.
"There's something fishy between them. Let's just stay out of it."
Ye Yingfeng looked at the two across with anger in his eyes. He patted the dirt off his body and turned away.
Many people were pointing at Ye Yingfeng and sneering.
"I've heard that the eldest son of the Ye family is a military leader. At this point, he still doesn't know his own worth."
"Exactly. Neither of the Ye family's children is worry - free."
"I think we'd better stay away from their family, so as not to be haunted by bad luck."
Ye Zhinan was already used to the sarcasm. She pulled Han Xiangmei and squeezed out of the crowd.
Before leaving, she looked back at the woman on the ground, a flicker of pity crossing her heart.
"The current glimmer of hope may not guarantee survival. Only relying on oneself is the long - term solution."
She could more or less guess the reason.
Ye Yingfeng was an upright man and had inherited Ye Shenyan's cautious way of doing things.
He wouldn't lie without solid evidence.
She trusted her elder brother's character.
So the liars could only be the other two.
Ye Zhinan leaned back in the chair and gulped down the cool tea in the cup.
"If a woman is willing to sacrifice her innocence, it's either for money or for fame."
The Wei family was also exiled due to a feud and was extremely poor.
Even if they had hidden a few taels of silver, it wasn't enough to make her so devoted.
So it must be for fame, hoping to be married into the family as the main wife.
"I didn't expect Brother Ye still hasn't changed his habit of being a reckless hero. I wonder when he'll finally have a big fall."
Wei Shishi walked past the Ye family's gate with a basket on her arm.
Seeing Ye Yingfeng looking remorseful, she felt even happier.
She didn't care what had really happened. As long as she could make Ye Zhinan look bad, she was happy.
"Watch your mouth, or it'll rot. Hide your dirty secrets well, or you'll end up hurting yourself."
Ye Zhinan accidentally caught a glimpse of the eggs in her basket. They were well - hidden, but there were still traces.
Wei Shishi looked nervous. She covered the basket more tightly and walked away quickly.
Ye Zhinan watched her hasty back and curled the corner of her mouth.
...
Ye Zhinan didn't sleep well at night. She faintly heard the sound of an argument outside, which seemed to come from next door.
She put on her clothes and walked out of the yard, only to find that the whole family was standing outside watching the commotion.
"Dad..."
"Shh, something's wrong with their family."
Ye Shenyan motioned her to be quiet. The four - member family was all eavesdropping.
"You're just a singer in a brothel. Where do you get the face to think you're worthy of our Wei family?"
A shrill voice sounded. Ye Zhinan recognized it as the voice of the eldest mistress of the Wei family.
The Wei family was in a complete uproar. The neighboring families also didn't care about anything else and got up one after another to light their lamps and watch the show.
"Wei Ziqi is the apple of the eldest mistress's eye. It's a pity that he was spoiled. He's always lingering in brothels. Even after being exiled, he can't change his bad nature."
Han Xiangmei sighed. Suddenly, she met Ye Shenyan's reproachful look and retorted defiantly.
"It's the truth. People outside are all talking about it. That's why he hasn't been able to get engaged for several years."
Ye Zhinan nudged her and shook her head slightly.
Ye Shenyan cared most about integrity. It was already quite rare for him to come out and watch the commotion, let alone talk about others behind their backs.
If they stepped on the minefield repeatedly, it might really explode.
The Ye family gradually fell silent and focused on watching the show.
But the other side showed no sign of calming down.
The woman replied loudly with a sob.
"Your son promised to be responsible for me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have said... "
She hesitated again. Maybe it was for her innocence or for her future.
Perhaps at this moment, innocence and future were equal, which was why she cared so much.
She thought Ye Yingfeng would be indignant, but when she glanced at him, she found that he was so calm as if he had forgotten what had happened during the day.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Dad said we shouldn't discuss other people's affairs behind their backs."
He kept a straight face and spoke firmly, looking quite serious.
But they were twins. Even if he didn't say anything, she could guess what he was thinking.
"You've probably seen through it long ago and don't want to waste your energy arguing."
The siblings looked at each other and smiled, then turned their heads to continue paying attention to the situation in the Wei family.
"You shameless slut. You guys, beat her to death and throw her out."
As soon as the eldest mistress of the Wei family finished speaking, they heard the sound of sticks hitting the body.
It was a continuous sound without a moment's rest.
At first, Ye Zhinan didn't want to get involved in this business. The Wei family had tried to harm them several times.
It was time for them to taste the chaos.
But if someone really died, she couldn't bear it.
"Where are you going!"
Ye Yingfeng exclaimed. In the blink of an eye, Ye Zhinan had rushed to the door.
"Stop."
Ye Zhinan frowned slightly but didn't dare to take another step forward.
She turned around stiffly and saw that Qin Yihuai was alone. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Where are you going?"
In the moonlight, his eyes were even brighter, as if he would see through her in the next second.
She rubbed her hands awkwardly. Before she could say anything, there came the woman's shrill scream from behind.
"I can't just watch her being beaten to death, can I?"
"Leave it to me. Go back first."
Ye Zhinan suddenly remembered that he was in charge of guarding the exiled criminals.
It was most appropriate for him to stop the fight and save the person.
She silently took a few steps back to make way for him and watched him walk into the Wei family's yard.
The crying gradually subsided, and they could faintly hear Qin Yihuai scolding.
It wasn't until the sobbing sound passed by the door that Ye Zhinan dared to peek out half of her head.
The smell of blood hit her, making her shiver all over. She couldn't come back to her senses for a long time.
"She's barely alive. If I had been a bit later, she would have died."
The black boots stopped in front of Ye Zhinan. She slowly looked up and met his eyes, feeling more at ease.
Thinking that there were still three pairs of eyes watching her in the house, she nodded hurriedly and rushed into the house as if fleeing for her life.
"It's okay. Thank you for your hard work."
As soon as Ye Zhinan got back, Han Xiangmei scolded her severely.
She impatiently picked at her ears and nodded sleepily.
"Did you listen to what I said? Men and women should keep a proper distance. If he keeps lingering in front of our door, people will find fault with us!"