Yan Zhen said gently, "Mother, Xin'er is not my friend."
Ye Qingcheng suddenly sneered: "So we're not even friends. I was being too kind to her!"
Yan Zhen sighed, "Mother, Xin'er is me..."
"What happened? What happened?!" Ye Qi rushed in. He was enjoying himself among the ladies when Minghe dragged him out of his boudoir, leaving him covered in filth without even having time to wash himself. He thought something terrible had happened!
Ye Qingcheng coughed a few times and smiled slightly: "Ye Qi, it's really kind of you to make this trip again. My health is getting worse and worse."
Ye Qi naturally saw An Xin standing by the door with a cold expression. He felt strange, but he still put on a smile and said, "What are you saying, Madam? In terms of medical skills, those old guys in the Imperial Hospital are no match for me. If I say you are fine, then you are fine."
Zhou Xiruo said softly, "Brother Ye, Mother coughed non-stop last night, and her health has deteriorated again today. Please take a look at her quickly."
Ye Qi wondered if she had suffered a setback today? Even though Madam Ye lived a simple life in the Right Prime Minister's residence, it was still a place of luxury. How could she have suffered a setback? Could it be An Xin?
Ye Qi stopped thinking about it, stepped forward to check Ye Qingcheng's pulse, and said with a smile, "Madam probably caught a chill last night. I'll prescribe some medicine for you, and I guarantee you'll be fully recovered after one course of treatment!"
Yan Zhen smiled and said, "Thank you for your help, Doctor Ye. I'm entrusting my mother to you now. If anything goes wrong with her, Doctor Ye will understand."
Ye Qi shuddered at Yan Zhen's address of "Doctor Ye" and hurriedly said, "Leave it to me!"
Yan Zhen turned to leave, but Ye Qingcheng's face darkened as she asked, "Where are you going?"
Yan Zhen turned around and said gently, "There have been headless corpse cases in the capital these past few days, so I naturally have to investigate."
Ye Qingcheng rose slightly, and Zhou Xiruo hurriedly went to help her. Ye Qingcheng coughed a few times and said, "You are not allowed to go anywhere today. Ye Qi happens to be here as well, so you two can discuss it together. Today, we must finalize the marriage between Xiruo and you!"
Chapter Eighty-Nine Fallacies
Upon hearing Ye Qingcheng's words, Yan Zhen's brows furrowed imperceptibly, then she turned around and said with a smile, "Mother, why are you in such a hurry? I will definitely marry your daughter-in-law into the family sooner or later."
Ye Qingcheng coughed twice and said coldly, "Don't try to fool me. Don't you know whose son you are? My daughter-in-law can only be Xiruo. You must marry her immediately!"
Yan Zhen glanced at Ye Qi casually.
Ye Qi laughed and said, "Madam, the capital has been so empty lately that not even a ghost can be seen. Yan Zhen is, after all, the Prime Minister, who is second only to the Emperor. It would be too embarrassing for him to get married like this!"
Yan Zhen smiled, a faint line appearing at the corner of her lips, and said, "Ye Qi, you can't bear to see me get married, can you?"
Ye Qi hurriedly said, "How dare I! It's just that the matter of Fengxian Village has only recently passed, and neither the Emperor nor the Empress Dowager has returned to the capital. If you get married, the Emperor will surely come. But the situation is urgent right now. Aren't you just playing with the Emperor's life?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Qingcheng's expression immediately changed.
Yan Zhen said seriously, "Don't say such things that could get you killed in the future. If someone with ulterior motives hears this and reports it to the Emperor, it's a crime that could implicate nine generations of your family! You, Ye Qi, won't be able to escape it either!"
Ye Qingcheng trembled slightly and exclaimed in surprise, "Neither the Empress Dowager nor the Emperor are in the capital?" She had only recently returned and was naturally unaware of what was happening outside. Even though she knew about the dangers of Fengxian Village, she only had a general idea of what was going on.
Yan Zhen sighed and said, "Mother, you don't know this, but in the past, the poison gas from Duanfeng Mountain leaked out, causing countless deaths in the capital. The Emperor cannot return to the city until the corpses are properly disposed of. Moreover, now there is the case of a headless corpse."
Ye Qi cupped his hands and said, "Yes, Madam Ye, you haven't seen that headless corpse. It has no head, yet it runs around in the dead of night. What if the Emperor were to encounter it one day? Wouldn't that be a terrible disaster!"
Ye Qingcheng's body trembled violently: "It can run away, it can run away, a headless corpse?" Even though she had been through countless storms, she was still a woman after all. Women have a vulnerable side, and Ye Qingcheng, like all women, was afraid of ghosts!
Zhou Xiruo, her face also pale, patted her chest and said, "Brother Ye, please don't say any more, it's really frightening!"
Ye Qi and Yan Zhen exchanged a glance. Yan Zhen raised an eyebrow, while Ye Qi smiled smugly. For brothers, one should go to great lengths for each other!
Ye Qingcheng calmed herself down and said coldly, "Since that's the case, then we'll hold the wedding after the Emperor enters the city. Yan Zhen, don't try to play tricks on me!"
Yan Zhen smiled and said, "Mother, your son wouldn't dare."
Ye Qingcheng glanced coldly at An Xin and said in a deep voice, "From today onwards, you are not allowed to associate with this An Xin anymore. Be mindful of your status!"
Yan Zhen then raised her eyelashes, her gaze slowly falling on An Xin's expressionless face. After a long while, she said, "The Emperor has decreed that Xin'er assist me in solving the case. Mother, do you want me to disobey the Emperor's will?"
Ye Qingcheng frowned: "What!?"
Yan Zhen smiled slowly and said, "If Mother doesn't believe me, she can ask Ye Qi."
Ye Qi had a headache, thinking to himself, "Brother, you've put me in a terrible situation where I'm falsely claiming to be acting against my conscience!" "Yes, Madam Ye, it was Miss An who solved the case in Fengxian Village. The Emperor was overjoyed. Furthermore, the Empress Dowager personally approved the marriage between Yan Zhen and An Xin!"
Ye Qingcheng suddenly sat up and exclaimed in surprise, "What!?"
Zhou Xiruo's expression changed drastically.
"All the officials in the court can testify to this. If you don't believe me, Madam, you can go and ask them."
Ye Qingcheng staggered, glaring sternly at An Xin, and said furiously, "Is the Empress Dowager trying to slap the face of my Yan family? What are her intentions in giving a woman that the Ling family doesn't want to my Yan family?!"
Yan Zhen frowned slightly and said softly, "Mother, it wasn't that the Ling family didn't want Xin'er back then, but that Xin'er divorced the Ling family? Why are you so shocked and angry, Mother?"
Zhou Xiruo's eyes were already red, but she kept holding back her tears, which made her look truly pitiful.
An Xin watched expressionlessly, wondering why she felt so detached.
"You're still favoring her!?" Ye Qingcheng never expected the Empress Dowager to interfere. Besides, she hated An Xin from the bottom of her heart. Born into poverty and abandoned as a wife, yet arrogant and haughty, how could such a woman be worthy of Yan Zhen!? Moreover, she had already decided on Xi Ruo in her heart, how could she allow An Xin to enter the house!? Yan Zhen's favoritism made her even more furious.
Yan Zhen said gently, "Mother knows very little about Xin'er. We will need to spend more time together in the future."
"Shut up! If you want her, you can forget about me!" Ye Qingcheng pulled out her trump card. No matter how much her son struggled, he would still have to listen to his mother in the end. What was so good about this woman? Her appearance wasn't the best, and her personality was obviously cold and hard. She was ignorant of the ways of the world and didn't know any manners. How could she compare to the gentle and kind Xiruo?
An Xin's eyes flickered slightly. If she stood there silently, she'd be invisible. Now that things had come to this point, it wouldn't be good if she didn't say something. Besides, Ye Qingcheng had only recently returned home after being separated for many years, and Yan Zhen was naturally closer to his mother. Even if he spoke up for her, he couldn't ultimately fight city hall. He couldn't just kill Ye Qingcheng on a whim! Moreover… before Yan Zhen spoke up, she could choose to believe he was wholeheartedly protecting her and that there was a possibility he'd fall out with his mother. Once he spoke, if her belief was genuine, she would be moved to tears; if it was false, she would be the one saddened and heartbroken. Besides, the most difficult relationship to reconcile was that of a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Although she, the daughter-in-law, was a fake, Yan Zhen was still the one most caught in the middle…
"After being separated for so many years, we should cherish the moment when we meet again. Why force things like this?" An Xin said expressionlessly.
Ye Qingcheng was taken aback for a moment, then sneered, "How dare you, an outsider, interfere in the affairs of the Yan family!"
An Xin remained calm and said indifferently, "It's best not to say anything more about what Madam Ye just said. If he wants you, that's fine, but if he doesn't, wouldn't you be the one who gets hurt? I have no right to interfere in the Yan family's affairs. As for you, you two can continue your conversation. Farewell." After An Xin finished speaking, she turned and left. She wasn't angry, so she couldn't say anything hurtful, like saying she was withdrawing on a whim. Yan Zhen had never hurt her from beginning to end, so why should she do such a foolish thing? Or why argue back against Ye Qingcheng? If she had argued back, it wouldn't just be Ye Qingcheng who would have looked bad, but also Yan Zhen. If she wanted to make him look bad, why would she bother with him? Matters of the heart are always troublesome. If she really had feelings for Yan Zhen, she wouldn't let go. Once she set her mind on something or someone, she was always very serious.