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nWhen the young man with the last name Ye was mentioned, Su Yufeng immediately thought of Ye Jiuge. She could not believe that Ye Jiuge would investigate Lady Yun: did she know all about how she had framed Fifth Concubine?

nThe more Su Yufeng thought about it, the more anxious she became. Her nephew, Su Junqing, had insisted that she gift him Ye Ruyi after Fifth Concubine was dispatched. Now that she was thinking about it carefully, she realized that their plan was full of loopholes.

nAlthough Ye Yuxuan had been unable to sniff out any details so far, that could change as time passed. If Ye Jiuge managed to rescue Ye Ruyi, she would find herself in a dire situation. Ye Yuxuan would not let her off the hook easily.

nPresently, the most urgent task was to kill Ye Ruyi quickly. However, Su Junqing was refusing to disclose Ye Ruyi’s whereabouts. Come to think of it, her nephew had been handling things strangely recently. As time passed, she was unable to guess what was on his mind.

n“Mother, what are you thinking about?” Ye Shanshan felt strange seeing uncertainty in her mother’s expression.

n“Nothing. Didn’t you say that the Crown Prince has invited you on a trip to the lake? Why don’t you go and prepare yourself?” Su Yufeng did not wish for her daughter to know about these vexing matters. She would be of no help and might as well make herself look pretty to cheer up the Crown Prince.

n“Alright, I shall take my leave,” Ye Shanshan excused herself. It was almost time to go, and she needed to get dressed.

nSu Yufeng could no longer sit still and called for a horse-drawn carriage to take her to the Su residence and find Su Junqing. Unexpectedly, she was unable to find him there.

nAlthough Sun Junqing was not in the house, he had left her a letter. After Su Yufeng finished reading it, she smiled with satisfaction and said to herself, “It seems that this brat has already arranged everything. I have been worrying about nothing.”

nSu Yufeng hurriedly returned to the residence and immediately instructed Zhi Hua to look for Qiu Mama and summon her.

n“Madame, Qiu Mama has requested leave and has still not returned,” Zhi Hua reported.

n“Then, wait for her to return and immediately summon her to me.” Su Yufeng knew that Qiu Mama must have gone to visit her useless son yet again. However, this was beneficial to her. The more Qiu Mama cared about her son, the stronger Su Yufeng’s hold over her.

nQiu Mama returned before noon with a ghastly look on her dark face. When she heard that Madame was looking for her, an unbearable hatred flitted past her eyes.

nShe paced up and down in her own house before she calmed down and made her way to the Shuimo Garden.

n“Qiu Mama is here. Madame is waiting for you inside,” Zhi Hua greeted her warmly and pulled back the curtains to allow Qiu Mama to enter.

n“Lady Zhi Hua, thank you.” Qiu Mama smiled. After she entered the house and greeted Su Yufeng with a bow, she slouched and lowered her eyes in fear that Su Yufeng would find something wrong with her.

n“Zhi Hua, give Qiu Mama a seat.” Su Yufeng exchanged glances with Zhi Hua.

nZhi Hua carried over an embroidered stool then escorted out the other servants.

n“I am fine.” Qiu Mama said while standing with her hands hanging at her sides.

n“Qiu Mama, you are so polite.” Su Yufeng did not mind. She changed the subject and asked, “How is your son’s injury now?”

n“Thank you, Madame, for your concern. He has been recovering well ever since taking the elixir you gave me. The physician said that he will be fine after some rest.” said Qiu Mama softly.

n“That’s great. However, it takes one hundred days for the bone to knit and tendons to heal, so this injury must be treated well without any delay. I have a bottle of superior grade medicine for incised wounds: bring it home for your son.” Su Yufeng took a jade bottle out of her sleeve and placed it on the table.

n“Thank you, but I wouldn’t dare trouble you further,” Qiu Mama said, shaking her head.

n“Qiu Mama, you regard me as an outsider. Are you turning your nose up at this elixir?” Su Yufeng smiled, but her eyes showed her displeasure.

n“I do not dare.” Qiu Mama paused before she bowed and accepted the jade bottle. Then, she said softly, “Madame, thank you for your reward.”

n“That’s right.” Su Yufeng nodded her head in satisfaction.

n“What instructions does Madame have for me?” Qiu Mama said in a more respectful tone.

n“Actually, it’s only a small matter. I just want you to help me place something in Fifth Concubine’s courtyard…” Su Yufeng began to instruct her softly.

n“Madame, rest assured, I will certainly complete this task for you.” Qiu Mama lowered her eyelids to hide the radiance that flitted past her eyes.

n“Since you are the one handling this, I feel reassured.” Su Yufeng did not suspect a thing throughout the conversation and was at ease when she handed the item to Qiu Mama.

nMeanwhile, at that very moment, Ye Jiuge was drinking tea and suntanning on a soft couch in the courtyard.

nQing Mama hurriedly entered, approached Ye Jiuge, and whispered into her ear, “Eldest Miss, I heard that Qiu Mama was summoned to Shuimo Garden immediately after she returned. They could be coming up with some crafty plots and schemes.”

n“I would be worried if they weren’t,” Ye Jiuge placed her teacup down and gloated.

nQiu Mama would have known the truth from her son by now. If she was still willing to help Su Yufeng, she must have been under Mental Manipulation, or a donkey had kicked her in the head.

n“Eldest Miss, what do you mean?” Qing Mama looked confused.

n“Don’t worry about this. Just wait for the show.” Ye Jiuge rose and prepared to go and find Qiu Desheng to discuss the terms.

nHowever, when she arrived at the Qiu family’s residence, she could not see anyone inside. She looked everywhere, but she could not even find a ghost’s shadow.

n“Do you need my help?” Zi Shang’s voice rang with gusto in Ye Jiuge’s ears.

n“You are not sleeping?” When she had wanted to ask him for help the last time, he’d been napping. Strangely, this time, he was very excited.

n“Nope.” That time, he had taken a nap because he had used up too much of his spiritual power to transmit the cultivation techniques to Ye Jiuge. However, there was no need to explain this to her.

n“Help me find out where Qiu Desheng has gone,” said Ye Jiuge.

nIf he had been captured by the Su Clan, it would be exactly what she wanted.

n“What benefit will I get?” He would never do her a favor for nothing.

n“A drop of blood.” Ye Jiuge had nothing else that he might want.

n“Add a kiss.” Zi Shang was still reminiscing about the kiss that they had shared.

n“No way.” Ye Jiuge rejected him immediately. She refused to associate herself with a beast.

n“Then you will have to find him yourself.” Zi Shang was quite a character himself.

n“Fine, I will find him by myself,” Ye Jiuge replied firmly.

nAgain, she searched both inside and outside the house and saw no signs of a struggle. The house was in order, although some seasonable clothes were missing from the wardrobe.

nFinally, Ye Jiuge came to a conclusion. Qiu Desheng had not been captured: he had been taken away by Qiu Mama, which meant that Qiu Mama did not want to offend Su Yufeng openly—yet.

nTsk, I did not expect Qiu Mama to be so tolerant; her son will never be able to father children after being beaten, and yet she wants to continue helping the culprit. It seems that she has been kicked in the head by a donkey.

n“What did I say?”

nYe Jiuge could have found Qiu Mama and threatened her. Instead, she had decided to target her son; now, she must be humiliated. Zi Shang was gloating considerably.

n“Hmph, the monk can run away, but the temple won’t run with him. Even if Qiu Mama has decided to send her son away, I still have a plan for dealing with her!” Ye Jiuge would never admit that she had miscalculated.

n“If you need my help, you just have to give me a kiss!” Zi Shang’s voice was full of temptation.

nYe Jiuge retorted, “Go and kiss yourself!”

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