Thanks to Qin YiHuai's efforts throughout the night, Ye Zhinan finally had a thorough understanding of the North Border. She even had the idea of writing a book titled *The Complete History of the North Border*.
However, the top priority at the moment was to improve the greenhouses. She used local materials. To ensure the stability of the new greenhouses, she often stayed in the fields, making herself look dirty and disheveled.
Wei Shishi happened to pass by the Ye family's fields. Disdain was written all over her face.
"I was wondering what it was. It turns out to be the eldest miss of the Ye family. Why do you look like a big rat, so dirty!"
As she spoke, she covered her nose with a handkerchief and even retched a few times from time to time.
Ye Zhinan directly threw a pile of fertilizer at her feet. "This smells very similar to you. Does that mean you are..."
The Wei family couldn't get rid of the stench of the duck down, so they simply threw it away, incurring quite a loss. Just mentioning this made Wei Shishi furious.
She cursed viciously, "Ye Zhinan, just you wait. Sooner or later, I'll make you pay."
Before her words faded, another pile of something fell from the sky and landed right on her head.
"I think you look quite good right now," Ye Zhinan said while continuously kicking the things at her feet, scaring Wei Shishi into running away in a hurry.
Ye Zhinan watched the retreating figure with a smug look on her face, enjoying the joy of victory. Suddenly, an out - of - tune voice came from behind, ruining her mood.
"Mom, is this the strange woman they were talking about?"
Ye Zhinan looked in the direction of the voice. A child with rosy cheeks was pointing at her with a dirty finger full of snot.
She forced a smile, silently reminding herself that children say innocent things. But the more she did this, the more scared the child became. He turned around and rushed into his mother's arms, crying loudly.
While crying, he shouted, "The monster is going to eat the children!"
Ye Zhinan looked blank. She wanted to explain it to the child's mother, but unexpectedly, the mother ran even faster than the child. In the blink of an eye, they were gone.
What was wrong with these people?
With this question in mind, she returned home. Before she could even enter the door, she bumped into Ye Yingfeng, who was running back out of breath.
"Brother, why are you becoming so impetuous!" Ye Zhinan rubbed her head, which was aching from the impact, and asked angrily.
"Come home with me first and I'll tell you." Ye Yingfeng grabbed her and pulled her into the house, then quickly closed the door.
"What on earth happened?"
"I just came back from the town. I heard some rumors!" He said, looking at his sister worriedly.
"Is it about me? Don't tell me they're saying I'm a monster?!" Ye Zhinan thought of the child and the woman just now and made a joke. But seeing everyone's silence, her heart sank.
"Is it really about me?"
"I've heard about it recently too. I told your father, and he said it was all nonsense, so I didn't tell you." Han Xiangmei glanced at Ye Shenyan reproachfully, blaming him for not only not caring about others' comments but also not caring about the children's affairs.
"The innocent will prove their innocence," Ye Shenyan said. It wasn't that he didn't care, but he believed that rumors would stop with the wise. But he didn't expect that there were no wise people here to distinguish right from wrong.
Ye Zhinan saw that the three people in front of her all knew what had happened, while she was still in the dark. She was extremely anxious and quickly interrupted their guessing game. "Can you please tell me, the person involved, what's going on?"
Ye Yingfeng was the first to speak. "It's the Cold Spring Festival. The town organized a sacrificial ceremony."
"Yes, it's really a pity that I didn't get to see it." Ye Zhinan couldn't help but feel regretful. She had missed the chance to join in the fun because she was focused on the greenhouses.
Perhaps it was precisely this missed opportunity that led to a storm.
Ye Yingfeng pulled her back to reality and continued to tell what had happened.
"The sacrificial ceremony requires four major sacrificial vessels, but three of them broke on the spot. What does it mean when these four things break?"
After hearing this, the three people present all looked solemn. Even Ye Zhinan, who adhered to materialism, had a bad feeling in her heart.
"What did the prefect say?" Ye Shenyan asked with a gloomy face.
"Before the prefect could say anything, someone in the crowd shouted your name, saying that you had angered the gods and the gods were going to punish everyone. Some people also said that strange things had been happening since our family came here, so..." Ye Yingfeng saw Ye Shenyan's face getting darker and darker and hesitated, not daring to continue.
"So they want to sacrifice me to the heavens?" Ye Zhinan sneered. She had been reluctant to admit it before, but now she had to admit that these people blamed everyone but themselves.
"Nan Nan, don't talk nonsense!" Han Xiangmei nervously grabbed Ye Shenyan.
She only had this one precious daughter. If anyone dared to sacrifice her to the heavens, she would fight them to the death!
When it came to fighting, Ye Zhinan thought she would be the first one to rush out, but unexpectedly, it was her usually gentle - spoken mother.
She felt warm in her heart. Just as she was about to show her filial piety, she noticed a glaring red mark on Han Xiangmei's wrist.
"What's this?" She grabbed the wrist covered with red marks and asked with concern.
Han Xiangmei quickly withdrew her wrist, regretting that she hadn't made the fleece - lined clothes a bit longer. Otherwise, she wouldn't have accidentally exposed the mark.
She stammered an explanation. "I accidentally fell."
But the looks of the three people present were surprisingly consistent, full of complete disbelief.
Especially Ye Zhinan. She had treated so many external injuries. How could she not tell?
She raised her finger and gestured back and forth on her mother's wrist. Everyone immediately understood.
Han Xiangmei had no choice but to tell the truth.
"Your mother can't fight. She lost the first fight."
"Who is it? I'll avenge you, Mom," Ye Yingfeng said, picking up a wooden stick and about to rush out, but was grabbed by Han Xiangmei.
"If I lost the fight, that's that. There's nothing to say. If you go out and cause more trouble, it'll be my fault."
The anger in Ye Zhinan's eyes was accumulating. She snatched the wooden stick from her brother and threw it aside. "Mom was injured because of me, so I'll avenge this."
"But the timing is not right..." Ye Zhinan looked at Ye Shenyan in surprise.
Was this still her silent and peace - loving father?
Han Xiangmei looked Ye Shenyan up and down in confusion.
The old man had finally awakened and learned how to show his love.
Ye Yingfeng even clapped his hands in delight. He had always been unable to stand his father's silence. Now it seemed that there was great wisdom hidden in it.
But how would this great wisdom be used to plan for what was to come?
Ye Shenyan said that they should first find out who was behind the trouble.
Ye Zhinan already had an answer in her mind. She wrote the answer on the table with water and then pointed outside the wall.
The Wei family.
Ye Shenyan nodded and then shook his head.
The waters in the North Border were as unpredictable as the weather, unfathomably deep!
Even he, who had once been in the court, couldn't be sure who was really pulling the strings behind it all.
But one thing was for sure. The more blatant a person was, the more likely they were just a pawn.
When you were in the middle of a chess game, you couldn't see the whole picture.
Ye Zhinan was becoming more and more aware of her own insignificance. But even if she was as small as a cockroach, she would be an indestructible one.