He knelt down on one knee as he thanked her reverently. Ye Mu, on the other hand, found herself relieved that he finally admitted to her his true identity. This only meant that he had trusted her just enough to reveal such a piece of important information.
His gratitude also meant she was one step closer to the city boundary map.
“I don’t need a mountain of gold and silver.” Ye Mu smiled, but then said, “But I see you are sincere,” she mischievously told him, “Tell you what, in the future, if you manage to own something that is of no use for you, you can give me that instead.”
Smiling at her, Mo Linyuan nodded in earnest. “But what thing do you specifically have in mind? Perhaps I can offer some of my services for you to find it more quickly.” He told her.
He may have fled the country of Mo, but he still had some people who he could trust. Originally, he had planned to flee and return as soon as he got out of the Ye family, but now…
He wasn’t in such a hurry to leave.
Relaxing, Ye Mu leaned back and waved her hand in a casual manner, “It’s not important now.” She told him, “Only when you stumble upon it, if you do, I shall ask for it, until then… Promise me you won’t give it away to anyone else, ah!”
Nodding in agreement, Mo Linyuan bowed, “Whatever it is you shall ask, I’ll give it to you.” he promised. After all, he already owed her two lives.
“Then it’s settled!” she beamed at him, before squinting her eyes as she looked outside. “The dawn is beginning, hurry, you must get home. But,” she grabbed his hand urgently, “Remember your role. You are dumb now, a mute. You do understand?”
Mo Linyuan hesitated for a bit. He didn’t want to leave her like this, but he knew he had to leave. Her servant girl would arrive any minute now, and the implications of them both in one room could be disastrous whether or not it was true.
Seeing her feeling refreshed and well-rested after last night’s sleep, he felt a little better. Not so worried as he had been before.
“Of course.” He answered her, “Have a good rest then…”
“Yes, of course!” she said, urging him to make haste in leaving, “Don’t worry about me at all.”
After Mo Linyuan had gone out, the sun had already risen up as well, its light spilling from the horizon and towards the earth. Mo Linyuan found himself untired despite having not slept a wink at all.
Looking back at the closed door, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small square object, whose color was of marble jade. Inscribed on it were four huge characters which stated…
The Eternal Ye Dynasty
It was the Emperor’s jade seal.
**T/N: For those who are curious, the emperor’s jade seal looks like the image below:
Mo Linyuan had noticed it the moment Ye Mu lit up the wooden lighter. Amidst the mountains of gold and silver, he saw something which oddly resembled a dragon robe. And when he saw the seal, he took it without another word.
Giving this to the Emperor of Yue would mean the Ye family’s certain death. And though he didn’t like most of the Ye family…
Ye Mu was also a member of the household.
He needed more time to think this through. Ultimately, he hid the seal once again inside the robes of his arms.
When Mo Linyuan had left her room, Ye Mu had immediately pulled out a book from beneath her clothes. It was entitled, ‘Supreme Heart Sutra’.
This was it!
Touching it in awe, Ye Mu winced a little as she moved her wounded arm and mumbled under her breath, “I had been careful not to lose you.” she murmured, “For you, I lost a piece of my own flesh. Surely you will bless me now to be a master of the martial arts! The kind that is undisputable, and unbeatable before anyone else.”
A few days have passed, yet it all went by in a flash.
And in those few days, Ye Xiaolang had been quite silent. Originally, he chalked it up to his life having improved now. With good hosts, he would definitely have something to look forward to in the future.
But in the course of one night, his companion has had his tongue cut out!
And it was only because he couldn’t sleep that night, so he went out for a walk. And with his late-night walk, he had bumped into someone he shouldn’t have…
This made him understand, that each one of them, subordinate after subordinate… no one is safe. Every one of them will be killed like pigs for slaughter.
It wouldn’t matter what skills now Ye Mu would teach them. He wasn’t so excited anymore. But even so, he throws away his previous laziness and begins to be earnest and assiduous in training and learning.
Mo Linyuan, he noted, was well-trained than any one of them. If he had good help, from perhaps a well-known instructor, then perhaps it would open up new possibilities for him. His progress had been in leaps and bounds before anyone else.
But the intensity of his training has made Ye Mu worried. She fears he was overexerting himself. Pushing himself to his very limits…
The others weren’t to be overlooked at as well. They were all so diligent. So instead, she used her own influence and took them to the foreign academy together with her. In any case, they are both her own followers. No one else will doubt her after witnessing her given lessons towards them.
But the teachers the Ye family had hired were also experts of their fields. The courses were well-taught and often hard to learn. A far cry from the teachers she had hired in private.
Ye Li was absolutely making sure his sons received only the finest in order to ready and mold them to be the princes of the country.
Did he have to be so obvious with broadcasting his ambitions? She thought to herself.
After the classes for the day had ended, Ye Mu found herself standing up with great difficulty. Her body had grown soft, too pampered. It made her recovery slow. Several days had already passed, and still, the pain from her injury burned with stinging pain. Forcing her way out of the class, she was determined to show no weakness.
Surrounding her were three boys, all of whom was her elder brothers. Ever since her first day, they have done nothing but cause her trouble. Today was beginning to look a bit too much for her liking.
“Oh, if it isn’t my hardworking seventh younger sister, you push yourself too hard to amount to anything!” he teased, “Quickly now, how did you convince father to let you into the academy? What’s the secret?” he persisted, “If you don’t tell me, there’s no knowing what my fists won’t do.” He lightly threatened.
Ye Tian, Ye Mu’s fifth brother, was the only son the first wife of the Ye family had borne. He only really wanted to know in hopes of getting his own younger sister to also attend their same school.
Not all children of the Ye family could ever hope to have access to the education that came with the academy. With Ye Mu in the academy, only four of them are able to attend. The others were sent to schools of faraway places or private tutors. And that only meant their father, Ye Li, had given up on them.
But Ye Mu didn’t like feeling cornered. She was fed up with being confronted, teased or picked on a daily basis three or five times a day!
“I said I don’t know!” she exclaimed, “This was father’s order, and only he knows! If you have any questions about my admittance then ask him!” she wanted to leave already, but they wouldn’t let her off easily.
“Peasant girl!” spat Ye Tian, “You should respect me as is my authority! You’re only a daughter borne from a concubine, yet you dare speak to me in such a manner?!” signaling the other two brothers, they grabbed both Ye Mu’s arms. It looked as if they were about to let him hit her, yet both Mo Linyuan and Ye Xiaolang managed to prevent them from grabbing her…
It seems like the training was paying off after all. It didn’t matter how hard the brothers’ tried to break free from their grasps, the grip was so tight, it was as if it was made of iron. They couldn’t break free.
“What do you think you are doing?” asked Ye Xiaolang in a cool, yet threatening manner. The young lady was considerably smaller than them and yet they still felt the need to overpower her with their numbers.
The other two growled in protest, still unable to yank their arms off, “How bold of you to touch me, slave!” spat one of them.
“We are the young masters of this family! Unhand us at once!” demanded the other.
Ye Tian was finding himself furious with the resistance he met with Ye Mu.
He didn’t like it when he didn’t get his way. When someone refused, he’d make them do his bidding through force of threats. She was only from a concubine, and yet she dares challenge him? Undermine his authority over her?
“You slander us!” Ye Tian exclaimed, “How dare you slaves lay even a finger unto your masters!? Seize them! Ye Mu and her two slaves!” he ordered to the people around them. “Should she resist, I give you permission to use force!”
Hurriedly, everyone did as he ordered. Everyone knew Ye Mu was only born of a concubine. For them, Ye Tian’s authority lay precedence. He was born of the first wife after all.
Ye Mu knew it was only a matter of time until it came to this. When she saw all the people around them rush to execute Ye Tian’s orders and arrest her, she only laughed mirthlessly before glaring at Ye Tian.
“Xiaolang, Aji, step away.” She ordered. Both servants exchanged glances with one another. Although they didn’t like the order, they did nothing else but obey as she asked of them. They released both princes at the same time, while Ye Mu stood up straight and proudly in front of the people.
And she turned to Ye Tian and raised her arms in akimbo.
“Elder brother, you want to arrest me? I’ll let you do it.” she told him, “I know you’ve hated me always, so here I stand before you. Go on! Arrest me!” she goaded him, “But I warn you, whatever you do to me, so will father do unto you.”
Ye Tian was visibly fuming at Ye Mu’s words…
“You don’t believe me? Then try to see if a little concubine girl can match a son born of the first wife!”
“Why you little-!” Ye Tian spat, “Preposterous! Ridiculous to suggest, even for you! You’ll never be above me! Beat her! All of you! Beat her to death!”