Chapter 373

Chapter 373: Turmoil 2

You Bing Yue strode toward the wood-shed doorway. The Marquis Wu’an’s heir apparent moved to stop her, and she snapped: “Even your master doesn’t dare block me. What are you, to interfere with my investigation?”

She didn’t recognize the Marquis Wu’an’s heir apparent; honestly, even if she did, she probably wouldn’t care. She didn’t care, but Du Zi Heng did, and he rushed to explain: “Bing Yue, he’s not Yi’er’s servant, he’s…”

He could tell the Martial World people didn’t know the true identities of Yu Zhi Yi and the Marquis Wu’an’s heir apparent, so clearly they hadn’t advertised any ties to the Imperial Court. When he started to say Tang Ming Xuan’s identity, he hesitated for a moment. Then he found a hint only a few would understand: “He’s Young Master Tang’s older brother.”

At first, You Bing Yue didn’t react to who “Young Master Tang” was. A moment later she realized: wasn’t that the young master of Marquis Wu’an Manor she had almost beaten to death earlier? Hitting that Young Master Tang was the start of the tangled mess between Du Zi Heng and Yu Zhi Yi. If Yu Zhi Yi hadn’t stepped in, Du Zi Heng wouldn’t have had to escort her back to her family, and all that followed wouldn’t have happened.

She held no good feelings toward the Marquis Wu’an Manor family and glared at the heir apparent. Before Yu Zhi Yi could say anything, she reached out to shove him aside. The Marquis Wu’an’s heir apparent reacted fast and dodged at once, then looked at Yu Zhi Yi, baffled. [How could there be someone so unreasonable? She almost killed his brother over a small misunderstanding. He hadn’t even shown his dislike, and yet she was all nose-in-the-air at him.] [And doesn’t she understand the rule that men and women shouldn’t touch casually? Even if she doesn’t care about what Du Zi Heng or Li Chang Huai-two men with close ties to her-might think, he still cares about the opinion of a certain someone who just wants to keep his head down like a quail!]

Yu Zhi Yi’s eyes held a trace of apology. Today’s events were a trap within a trap. She could steer the overall direction, but she couldn’t control every person’s behavior.

Da Li pushed the wood-shed door wide, revealing everything inside. The shed wasn’t big, and the wall in the back was piled high with firewood. You Bing Yue walked a slow circle inside, then returned to the body. She checked around the corpse, then stood and said coldly: “Second Miss Jiang, do you have anything to say?”

Beside Nuan’er’s body, a single character had been written in blood: ?-“Jin.”

In the entire Martial Alliance, only Yu Zhi Yi had “Jin” in her official name. She herself still preferred the name she had used for more than ten years, “Yu Zhi Yi,” but to everyone in the Martial Alliance and the Martial World, her name was Jiang Si Jin. The blood character was still fresh. Because it had been covered by the hem of a skirt, when the skirt was lifted the blood-stroked word turned crooked, looking eerie and chilling.

Chen Xin Yue swayed, her face white and her eyes brimming with tears as she said: “Sister, it really was you who killed Nuan’er! I know what Nuan’er did back then felt like betrayal to you, but she didn’t do anything too much-she only came to me.”

“Is it that you can’t accept her, or that you can’t accept me?”

She covered her face and sobbed.

Suddenly, the crowd split down the middle. Chen Ruo Lan walked in with grief all over her face and said: “Second Miss, I know the one you truly blame is me. If you hold a grudge, take it out on me. Whatever revenge it is, I will accept it gladly.”

“Xin Yue is innocent. Can you spare her? I beg you!”

With that, she dropped to her knees. Everyone was stunned. Someone muttered, just loud enough for all Martial World ears to hear: “What’s going on? Does Hall Master Chen have a grudge with Second Miss Jiang?”

Chen Ruo Lan heard it and let out a bitter smile behind her hand: “Second Miss was stolen by criminals and lost outside all those years ago because of me.”

Her sudden self-exposure caught everyone off guard. Jiang Liu Yi felt things were going the wrong way and instinctively wanted to stop her, but Yu Zhi Yi tugged his sleeve and held him back. Seeing how naturally the two moved together, Du Zi Heng felt sour inside. How long had they even known each other? Barely a month, and they were already this in sync?

Unaware of any of this, Chen Ruo Lan continued: “Back then I wasn’t feeling well and sent for Second Brother to come over. While we were talking, my legs weakened and I fell. Second Brother helped me up, and Second Sister-in-law saw that moment.”

She wiped her eyes: “Many of you know that when I was young, I swore I would marry no one but Second Brother. Later I did marry someone else, but people with motives remembered that oath.”

“Second Sister-in-law misunderstood my intentions, got angry, and left home on the spot. That very night, she had a shock and went into early labor outside the mountain. Afterward, the baby was stolen by criminals. Only a short time ago did Second Brother finally find her.”

Covering her face, she choked up: “These years, Jin’er has suffered a lot. It’s only right she resents me.”

“But Xin Yue had nothing to do with any of it. If you must hate, hate me. If you want revenge, take it on me. I will not say a single word of refusal.”

“But I beg you, don’t vent it on Xin Yue. This child has had a hard enough life. I can’t bear to see her suffer disaster again because of me.”

The Martial World crowd erupted.

“Wait, hold on-I’m confused.”

“What do those old events have to do with Hall Master Chen?”

“Right? She only fell down. It was Second Madam who was petty, who didn’t even ask before she misunderstood Second Master and Hall Master Chen. She ran off while pregnant.”

“The early birth was her own fault, and the baby was stolen by criminals. However you look at it, none of that seems like Hall Master Chen’s fault, right?”

Jiang Liu Yi’s handsome face turned dark. He knew the moment Chen Ruo Lan started talking that nothing good would come of it. What she did was the same tactic Yu Zhi Yi had just used-strike first to set the frame in people’s minds. The difference was, Yu Zhi Yi had told the truth, while Chen Ruo Lan mixed truth and lies. Whether she had acted on purpose back then, only she knew.

As for the one who stole Yu Zhi Yi, Yu Zhi Yi was certain it was Ji Guang Dai. Sadly, before she could drag him out and question him, he’d been struck dead by a Heavenly Thunder Talisman.

Breaking a trap of words like this is simple in theory: throw the evidence in the liar’s face. Because the other side lied and tried to mislead everyone, once the truth came out the backlash would be huge. The problem was-there was no evidence. If they had proof from back then, they would have already slapped it down in front of Chen Ruo Lan and driven that trouble-making mother and daughter off the mountain.