Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Guilty of Murder
The imperial guards allowed them to cook their own meals, and they would also still receive the portion the imperial guards distributed.
But... where can they get supplies if they weren’t even allowed to bring money? Eventually, they still ended up eating the unpalatable steamed buns.
At this moment, the Ye family had breakfast before they started packing. Some people had sustained injuries after last night’s assassination attempt.
Zheng Huizhen was so frightened that she didn’t dare to get out of her carriage. Her sons each had light injuries on their arms or legs. Still, they had to walk on foot.
"Lan’er, drink the medicine." Shen Jingyi handed over a bowl of medicine to her second son.
Ye Lanxi’s mouth twitched, a little unwilling. The medicine tasted bitter. Just as he was about to refuse, his eyes accidentally met Ye Lingyue’s.
He didn’t know whether it was merely his imagination. For a fleeting second, he detected a hint of disdain in her eyes. By the time he blinked, Ye Lingyue’s attention was on the twins sitting on each of her sides.
After hesitating for a while, he finally took the bowl of medicine. "Alright."
On the side, Ye Lingrui was tending to Ye Zhiqiu’s wounds, changing his bandages.
"How is it, Rui’er? Last night, it was too dark to see things clearly. Your eldest brother’s wounds weren’t reopened, right?" Shen Jingyi asked, gripping the edge of her garment tightly.
She was most worried about Ye Zhiqiu, especially after his fever just subsided and he barely survived because of that.
"Mother, please don’t worry. Eldest Brother’s condition is stable," Ye Lingrui said.
The pair of mother and son helped Ye Zhiqiu to drink his porridge after that. The road was uneven, causing the carriage to shake occasionally, and in order not to spill the porridge, they had to do it carefully little by little.
Ye Lingyue fell into deep thought.
Last night, the imperial guards detained the assassins, still alive and breathing, and yet this morning, the dozens of assassins had all died.
There were signs of poisoning; dried foam and vomit stains on their lips, then the distorted expressions showing the pain they experienced right before they died.
They were on a death mission destined not to return alive.
Ye Lingyue had seen some of their expressions before she was pulled away from the scene. Most of them were full of unwillingness, shock, and fear.
She guessed that they didn’t even know they had been poisoned.
Still, last night’s assassination attempt didn’t stop the exile party from continuing their journey today.
Ye Lanxi gulped the content in the bowl in one go, trembling slightly at the bitter taste assaulting his tongue. He hurriedly swallowed it and gagged, coughing.
Shen Jingyi and Ye Lingrui exited the carriage not long after—their spots were replaced by Pei Ciuyun and her eldest daughter.
Before the exile party set off again, Ye Chengde checked on his wife and children’s situation before he left to walk beside an ox cart carrying their things.
The atmosphere was truly suffocating. Considering that there was already the grim-faced Ye Lanxi inside, Ye Lingyue decided to join her twin brother outside. They walked beside their carriage.
"Third Brother," Ye Lingyue called in a low voice after making sure the guards weren’t paying too much attention to them. "Did you know that there was sleeping drug in our food last night?"
Although Ye Lingrui appeared as though he had a superficial knowledge about medicine, his actions were a little suspicious for her. The way he deftly bandaged Ye Zhiqiu’s wounds was neat and practiced, as if he had done that countless times.
He also only needed to take a brief look at any plants to know whether they were medicinal herbs or not.
Ye Lingyue had the knowledge about herbs from her modern life, and she could recognize whether certain herbs were lesser-known for their effects or not.
He could actually also recognize these medicinal herbs.
Still, compared to her knowledge about medicinal herbs and their effects, Ye Lingrui was more knowledgeable when it came to the human body.
"I also know you are good at being a physician," she added a little triumphantly. Finally, it wasn’t just him who knew about her secrets.
Ye Lingrui smiled softly and nodded, and didn’t seem to mind that she exposed him. "I know."
She narrowed her eyes upon hearing that. "Then, why didn’t you stop them?"
"It wasn’t dangerous... only enough to make one sleep more peacefully at night. People will just fall deeper into sleep, but they will still wake up if we awaken them," he explained.
Ye Lingyue raised her eyebrows, her words meaningful. "You sure know a lot."
"The hallucinogen powder and the sleeping drugs... did you—" before she could continue, someone interrupted them.
"Rui’er, come here to the carriage!" Ye Lanxi lifted the curtain. "Eldest Brother has woken up!"
The carriage finally became more crowded again, because other than Ye Lingyue who followed like a little tail, Shen Jingyi and Ye Chengde also finally heard about the news.
Pei Cuiyun and her daughter didn’t have a choice but to exit the carriage again, a little disgruntled but still had to put on a forced smiling expression.
"Qiu’er, how are you feeling?" Shen Jingyi asked her eldest son.
Ye Zhiqiu leaned to the carriage’s wall, still a little disoriented. He winced and didn’t answer his mother’s question.
It was at night when Ye Zhiqiu finally came to terms with what was happening—the whole family was punished with exile for the crimes pinned on him.
Of course, some crimes were actually related to the wicked deeds the first branch and third branch have done over the years, but his crimes were definitely among the heaviest on the list.
Especially when it was still such a hot topic in the Capital right now.
They had seen people pointing fingers at their exile party and openly discussing them without the slightest fear.
Ye Lingyue, however, still didn’t catch any words about the person Ye Zhiqiu had killed.
When everyone had fallen asleep, their family finally gathered again. He immediately mentioned the person’s name directly.
"I was found guilty of poisoning Shen Wuqing."
Ye Lingyue froze, dropping her scalding hot cup of water.
