readytorunbook Chapter 91 091 A Plan to Turn the Tide
Chapter 91 091 A Plan to Turn the Tide
Chapter 91 091 A Plan to Turn the Tide
It was past midnight, and the entire manor was shrouded in silent darkness. Only a lantern with a flickering candlelight shone behind the Lanxin Courtyard, its light mingling with the sound of shoveling dirt, creating an eerie atmosphere.
The pit that had just been buried was dug up again, and the man in black, by the firelight, dragged a dark object out of the pit and placed it in front of Chunyu Yang and Ye Pianran, saying, "This is what that person told me to bury."
A strong smell of blood emanated from the dead cat, causing Ye Pianran to frown. Chunyu Yang took the lantern from her and went to examine the dead cat's body. He discovered that the cat's fur had been completely stripped off, its abdomen was swollen as if it were pregnant, and there was even a crooked black thread sewn on it.
The cat's death was too bizarre and cruel. Chunyu Yang felt something was amiss. He raised his soft sword and slashed open its swollen belly. A pool of black blood flowed out. By the firelight, Chunyu Yang saw that the dead cat's internal organs had been emptied and replaced with many small wooden puppets bearing human names. Combined with the broken pieces of wood he had found on the man in black, he immediately realized that this was no ordinary dead cat; it was clearly the result of an extremely terrifying form of witchcraft!
Chunyu Yang's gaze instantly turned even colder, and he released a strong killing intent as he looked at the man in black and angrily asked, "Did you kill the cat?"
"No, no, no, it wasn't me! I was just responsible for bringing the cat over to bury it! The cat was prepared by that person!" The man in black was certain that if he showed any sign of agreeing, his head would be chopped off by that soft sword!
"Who told you to do this?" Ye Pianran clenched her fists tightly, her voice trembling with anger. Although she had guessed that someone wanted to frame their Lanxin Academy, she hadn't expected it to be through such means!
Chunyu Yang thrust his sword forward, piercing half an inch into the black-clad man's shoulder: "Don't try anything funny."
With his life in their hands, the man in black naturally dared not lie and said, "I heard them all call her 'Aunt Song'."
Ye Pianran's expression changed drastically, and a raging fire ignited within her. Aunt Song, it was Aunt Song again! Just because Ye Yanxun cut out the coachman's tongue and fabricated evidence didn't mean she couldn't guess who had bribed the coachman to prevent her from attending the banquet at Qionglin Garden! She just hadn't expected that after Marquis Anshi severely punished the coachman, Aunt Song would still be so restless, devising such a vicious method as witchcraft to harm them! If it weren't for the fact that she and her mother were immune to all poisons after drinking the spiritual spring water, they would probably have fallen into her trap again tonight!
Chunyu Yang noticed her turbulent emotions and frowned, asking, "Who is this person? What grudge do you have against him?"
"Does the Third Prince still remember that day during the Mid-Autumn Festival when I almost fell off a cliff and died?" Ye Pianran looked at him intently. "The coachman who drove for me that day was bribed by her. He deliberately drove the carriage out of the city and then abandoned me, which led me to wander in the desolate mountains and encounter those lecherous men..."
Her gaze was cold and deep, as devoid of warmth as a vast, frozen wasteland. Yet, he could also detect a hint of stubbornness and grievance hidden beneath the frost in that desolation, which stirred his heart.
"Since you know it was her who did it, why not send her to the authorities and let them punish her severely?" Chunyu Yang suppressed the urge to pull her into his arms to comfort her and asked in a deep voice.
"How could I not want to?" Ye Pianran chuckled lightly, "But in this vast mansion, my mother and I have long since lost any say in the matter."
So her situation in the Marquis's mansion was really this difficult? "What are your plans now? To let her go, or to make this public?" Chunyu Yang asked.
"No!" Ye Pianran said coldly, "How can I let her go like this? All the tricks she has used against me and my mother over the years, I will get my revenge one day! She should know that our Lanxin Courtyard is not someone to be trifled with."
These words reminded Chunyu Yang of the questions she had answered when she became Liu Lulu's disciple. He raised his eyebrows almost imperceptibly and asked, "What are your thoughts?"
Ye Pianran turned her gaze to the dead cat on the ground and said, word by word, with extreme clarity, "Using a trick against a trick, an eye for an eye."
She knew perfectly well that this dead cat was a crucial element in Aunt Song's conspiracy, so she didn't intend to destroy it. Instead, she planned to make good use of it, letting Aunt Song taste the bitter fruit of her own actions and be unable to defend herself. She wanted to see if anyone would still go to such lengths to protect Aunt Song this time!
Ye Pianran suppressed her nausea and pulled out the blood-red wooden figures bearing the names of Aunt Song and Ye Wenjin from the dead cat's belly, burning them to ashes. Then, she carved her own, Gongsun Yuan's, and Ye Yankang's names onto the nameless wooden figures she had found on the man in black, intending to put them back into the dead cat's stomach.
Chunyu Yang grabbed her wrist, his brows furrowed deeply: "Is this your plan to turn the tables on me? Aren't you afraid of suffering the consequences yourself?"
His palms were burning hot, the heat penetrating her skin and reaching straight into Ye Pianran's heart. She smiled and said softly, "Third Prince, you don't need to worry about me. I've been through the most desperate and humiliating situations. It's just a dead cat, what's there to be afraid of?"
The woman standing before him was just a beautiful young woman in her prime, past the age of fifteen, yet the world-weariness in her words, as if she had seen it all, instantly tightened his heart.
Taking the small wooden figures from her hands, Chunyu Yang said, "Leave them to me."
His voice was deep and resonant, carrying a hint of helplessness and concern, like the gentle spring rain that suddenly brought forth tender green shoots in her already desolate and lonely heart.
She watched as he re-sewed the small wooden figures back into the dead cat's belly, then caught some dead rats and buried them in place of the cat; she watched as he knocked the man in black unconscious, tied him to a tree, and searched him for the token that symbolized the completion of the mission; finally, she watched as he wrapped the dead cat in a burlap sack, carrying it in his hand despite the bloodstains...
"Where is Aunt Song's courtyard?" he asked, turning around.
Ye Pianran suddenly choked up: "Third Prince, this is my own personal grievance. You don't need to get involved in this mess."
“Since this happened right under my nose, I have no choice but to intervene,” Chunyu Yang said. “You just need to tell me what you want to do and wait here patiently.”
Taking a deep breath, Ye Pianran suppressed the pounding in her heart and pointed Chunyu Yang in a direction. Without a word, Chunyu Yang plunged into the darkness. Ye Pianran stood in the courtyard, gazing in the direction he had left for a long time, before seemingly snapping out of her daze. She picked up the lantern in her hand and turned back to Gongsun Yuan's room.
Inside the house, Gongsun Yuan was gently coaxing the startled Ye Yankang in her arms. Ye Pianran put down the lantern in her hand, went forward to check on Ye Yankang, and breathed a sigh of relief after finding that he was alright.
Gongsun Yuan looked outside and asked, "Has everything outside been taken care of?"
"Don't worry, Mother, everything's taken care of," Ye Pianran replied.
Gongsun Yuan looked up at her hesitantly, but finally couldn't help asking, "Ran'er, what's the deal with that black-clad assassin outside?"
"That man in black was sent by Aunt Song. He hid many small wooden puppets with names written on them inside the dead cat he buried behind the house. Perhaps he wanted to use witchcraft as a pretext to frame you."
Upon hearing of such a vicious act, Gongsun Yuan immediately exclaimed in anger, "So it was her! For her own selfish desires, she actually came up with such a wicked scheme! What does she take the Marquis's mansion for? Does she have any humanity left?"
“I don’t care what she considers the Marquis’s mansion to be. I only know that I can’t let her continue like this. Mother, I have arranged everything and plan to turn the tables on her. After dawn tomorrow, Lanxin Courtyard may cause a commotion. I hope that Mother will not panic at that time and will cooperate with me to put on a good show.”
Looking at Ye Pianran, whose gaze was firm and who seemed confident, Gongsun Yuan was filled with mixed emotions: "Ran'er, you've really grown up."
"When you grow up, you'll be able to protect your mother and Kang'er properly, won't you?" Ye Pianran said, holding Gongsun Yuan's hand tightly.
"Alright, I'll do my best to cooperate with you tomorrow," Gongsun Yuan said with a sigh. "What about the Third Prince? How could he be here in the middle of the night? Don't tell me it's a coincidence, I won't believe it."
"The story of the Third Prince begins ten days ago when I went to the clinic to learn from my master..." Ye Pianran's eyes flashed slightly as she recounted to Gongsun Yuan how she encountered the seriously injured Chunyu Yang and how she brought him back to the manor for treatment, completely unaware that her voice carried an indescribable softness.
After listening, Gongsun Yuan looked at her daughter, who had changed so much over time, and remained speechless for a long time. This girl was incredibly bold, daring to hide a grown man in her room for so long! Didn't she consider that she was still an unmarried virgin? If outsiders found out, not only would her reputation be damaged, but they would also have solid leverage against her.
However, it was indeed thanks to Chunyu Yang that they were not put in a passive situation just now, so it's not appropriate to dwell on it anymore.
Neither scolding nor praising was an option, so Gongsun Yuan finally made a gesture of slapping Ye Pianran's palm and said:
"You're really being ridiculous!"