Chapter 3: Chapter 3: The Imperial Decree
"What is happening? Why are you breaking into our family’s house?" Ye Lanxi shouted, trying to stop the imperial guards from entering the room. "How dare you! Do you know that this is the Minister of Rites’ house?!"
The Commander of the Imperial Guard ignored Ye Lanxi’s screaming. The young teenager was thus pinned to the ground by several burly imperial guards.
These people obviously already know about Ye Lanxi’s martial art skills so they sent a few imperial guards to deal with him.
"Mr. Leng... what is happening?" Madam Ye stood up and questioned them.
The Commander of Imperial Guards waved his hand, and the crowd parted. A few people wearing eunuch attires entered the room. The leader announced in a shrill voice.
"Kneel down and receive the imperial decree!" He shouted.
Everyone was a little stunned, and the imperial guards immediately kicked their legs and forced them to kneel down. They even dragged Ye Lingyue from her bed. She gasped as she kneeled down.
"Yue’er!"
Before Madam Ye could express her worry, the eunuch continued his words, drowning Madam Ye’s voice.
"By the mandate of the Heaven, the Emperor decrees:
Ye Zhiqiu, the eldest son of the Ye family, committed a grave offense, murdering a member of the imperial family.
The Ye family, involved in receiving bribes..."
The eunuch listed several offenses that sent the Ye family members into stunned silence, especially the first one. Ye Zhiqiu murdering someone... When? Where? Who!
Then, the eunuch ended reciting the Emperor’s decree by telling them the punishment.
"The Ye family is stripped of all titles and shall be exiled to the border. They will never be allowed to take a single step into the Capital City again."
The eunuch had a haughty look on his face after he was done. "We will give you time until the afternoon to pack your things and get out of this mansion. Remember, you can take any luxurious and expensive items with you since they are confiscated!"
"Treasure your time, Ye family!" The eunuch turned around, intending to leave.
"Wait!" Ye Lingrui stood up, his face full of anxiety. "Can you explain who killed our eldest brother?"
They had listed a lot of offenses, and the most grave was actually the first one. It filled them with some fear. Who had their eldest brother killed?
He was never such a reckless person at all. Not the elegant and gentle eldest son of the Ye family! If it was anyone who would commit murder, they would believe it more if it were Ye Lanxi instead of Ye Zhiqiu!
Even Ye Lingyue found it unbelievable. But she was also incredibly curious. Did Ye Zhiqiu kill a prince or what? The Emperor had a lot of sons, after all.
Some of them were haughty and arrogant, with a temperament resembling Shen Wuqing. They often abused their power...
With the matter still unclear, they could only make their own guesses.
Ye Lingyue got up from the floor with the help of Madam Ye, and then stared at the direction of the eunuch, waiting for his answer.
The eunuch sneered. "Go ask the murderer himself!"
With that, he turned around and left without looking back despite Ye Lanxi’s shouts. After the eunuch and his group left, the Commander stayed with his imperial guards to oversee things.
Madam Ye paced back and forth. "Why hasn’t your father returned?"
"Lord Ye will arrive in a bit, Madam Ye. He is with your eldest son." The Commander replied.
Madam Ye could feel her world slowly collapsing, and her beautiful face became deathly pale as the reality set in.
Their family has actually gotten exiled! Their family is ruined!
She had a vague inkling about what had happened. They had clearly fallen into a trap. When the Shen family fell into trouble and were punished by the Emperor, many other families couldn’t wait to extricate themselves of any association with them.
The Ye family was the few who stayed neutral.
They had a marriage agreement with one of the daughters of the Shen family. Actually, they had been waiting to see whether they could save this daughter and fulfill the marriage agreement.
Until now, they were still waiting for the Emperor to decide their final fate. Although they had been proven guilty, the Emperors still ordered their investigation to gauge the level of damage they had caused before deciding a suitable punishment.
Unexpectedly, their Ye family also ran into a problem themselves!
"Madam Ye, it’s better for you to start packing." The Commander warned. "It will be afternoon soon."
Madam Ye took a deep breath, and she told Ye Lingrui to take care of Ye Lingyue while she dragged her second son outside. The Commander was right.
They had to use their time wisely; there was no time to grieve.
The maids were confused, and some of them even cried. The imperial guards couldn’t stand them and scolded them to shut up.
They would be exiled with the Ye family.
Ye Lingyue clutched her head, sighing deeply. She didn’t even have the time to figure out her situation before this Ye family also fell into ruins.
She secretly glanced at Ye Lingrui who was examining her. Instead of using this time to grieve about the situation of the Ye family or thinking about the countermeasure, he was staring at her instead.
The fiery temper inside of her was triggered, and she nearly questioned him while putting her hands on her hips. Fortunately, she hurriedly stopped herself.
No, she is no longer Shen Wuqing!
After acting as her for so many years, she found it hard to extricate herself. Because... some of these traits were actually the real her.
Whenever she saw some stupid and annoying people, she couldn’t help but want to beat them up. As Shen Wuqing, she didn’t need to hold back at all.
It was a little fun while it lasted...
"Are you... really my twin sister? You look different." Ye Lingrui suddenly opened his mouth.
