Hearing the cry from the residence, Fifth Concubine was like a whirlwind as she rushed back.
Ye Jiuge quickly followed her. Just as she reached the entrance, she saw Gan Mama run out shaking and shouting, “Oh no, oh no! The culprit is dead.”
“Dead?” Shocked, Ye Jiuge saw Chen Fuhan lying on his stomach on the floor. On his back was a large gray footprint.
Fifth Concubine was crazily straddling Chen Fuhan’s corpse, strangling his neck and shouting, “You harmed my daughter! I will kill you, kill you!”
“Hurry up and pull Fifth Concubine away!” Ye Jiuge shouted at Qing Mama and Gan Mama.
Qing Mama and Gan Mama rushed forward hurriedly. They exerted all their strength to drag Fifth Concubine off Chen Fuhan’s corpse.
Fifth Concubine was still struggling wildly and screaming furiously, “Dare to harm my daughter, and I will kill all of you, kill all of you!”
Ye Jiuge ignored her and looked closer. The large footprint on Chen Fuhan’s back did not seem to be Fifth Concubine’s. She raised her head, surveyed the residence, and asked, “Who kicked him?”
Xing Hua panicked and shouted, “Eldest Miss, I did not do it on purpose. I saw that he wanted to flee, and as it was an emergency, I gave him a kick.”
Although Xing Hua appeared to have exceptional physical strength, she was unable to kill a man with only a kick.Ye Jiuge stepped forward and flipped Chen Fuhan onto his back. Black blood oozed from his eyes and nose with a hint of astringency, similar to the poison of Red-crowned Crane.
The poison of Red-crowned Crane was aggressive and killed through asphyxiation immediately after entering the bloodstream, but it did not cause the seven apertures in the human head to bleed. It appeared that another drug had also been administered.
Secretly, Ye Jiuge dipped a piece of cloth into Chen Fuhan’s infected blood and kept it so that she could analyze it later.
Just then, Su Yufeng arrived. She saw Chen Fuhan’s corpse, covered her mouth using her handkerchief, and said, “Fifth Concubine is so ruthless that she would kill to silence someone.”
“Madame’s words are absurd, Fifth Concubine was not here just now, so how could she poison this thief?” Ye Jiuge’s gaze swept across the maidservants in the room. She squinted and said, “From what I see, the culprit who poisoned the thief is right here.”
All the servants present had been brought in by Su Yufeng—nobody else would lay a hand on Chen Fuhan.
“Father, look at Elder Sister: she would drag everyone through the mud to clear Fifth Concubine’s name.” Standing next to Ye Yuxuan, Ye Shanshan said indignantly, “Who doesn’t know what kind of person Xing Hua is? It is impossible that she would poison the adulterer.”
Xing Hua was Ye Yuxuan’s servant, and Ye Shanshan spoke in such a manner as to ignite Ye Yuxuan’s anger.
“Second Sister, I did not mention Xing Hua; why did you declare conclusively that it was her?” She could also throw mud back at Ye Shanshan!
Ye Jiuge smirked and turned towards Ye Yuxuan without waiting for Ye Shanshan to reply and said, “Father, don’t you find this matter odd? Our Ye Residence’s guards may not be the best, but a normal person should not be able to freely come and go. This Chen Fuhan was only an ordinary man. How could he know someone powerful enough to break into our Ye Residence and kidnap Fourth Sister without anyone noticing?”
“Jiuge, aren’t you forgetting something?” Su Yufeng raised her thin eyebrows, smiled, and said, “Fifth Concubine has been managing the household recently, so it would have been easy for her to bring someone in.”
“Is it so easy?” Ye Jiuge’s lips curled into a smile, her eyes flashing like lightning as she faced Su Yufeng and challenged, “Why, then, do I recall that the person managing the household is unable to control the guards’ patrol? If Fifth Concubine is indeed capable of bringing someone in, then I think that the first thing she would do is deal with a certain someone with a black heart and rotten liver instead of selling her daughter.”
“Jiuge, there is no point in your unreasonable pestering. It is a fact that Fifth Concubine had an affair with Chen Fuhan. It is also a fact that she brought someone in to take Fourth Miss away. You cannot clear Fifth Concubine’s name with a few sentences.”
Ye Shanshan harrumphed coldly then said to Ye Yuxuan, “Father, although Chen Fuhan is dead, Fifth Concubine is still here. As long as we torture and interrogate her, I believe that we will discover Fourth Sister’s whereabouts.”
“Father, this is clearly a set-up to frame Fifth Concubine. I feel that the urgent task now is to determine how Chen Fuhan entered the residence. If a thief can intrude so easily, I fear that you will no longer be able to sleep soundly at night.”
Ye Jiuge understood Ye Yuxuan’s personality well and knew that he was terrified of death. Fifth Concubine was only a toy in his heart. Compared to his life, she and Ye Ruyi were worthless.
Although Ye Yuxuan did not like Ye Jiuge, he had to admit that she was right. Fifth Concubine could be dealt with at any time, and Fourth Miss could be found later, but the breach in the Ye Residence’s defenses must be rectified immediately.
At once, Ye Yuxuan gave the order to Gan Mama: “Place Fifth Concubine in the dungeon and ensure that she is guarded closely.”
“Old Master, Fourth Miss has yet to be found, if you do not take the opportunity to interrogate Fifth Concubine, you might miss the opportunity to save Fourth Miss.” Su Yufeng did not want to allow Fifth Concubine to live through the night.
“I did not harm Ruyi.” Fifth Concubine glared at Su Yufeng and shouted hysterically, “It’s you! You harmed my daughter, and I will fight it out with you!”
As she spoke, she prepared to rush at Su Yufeng.
However, Su Yufeng had learned her lesson and would not allow Fifth Concubine to get her way. She lifted her hand, and Zhi Hua led a group of burly maids in blocking Fifth Concubine’s path.
Qing Mama had wanted to allow Fifth Concubine to rush forward to deal with Su Yufeng; but, having seen this, she did not dare to let go of Fifth Concubine, who would have suffered if she had attacked.
“Su Yufeng, you say that you did not harm my daughter and me, but do you dare to swear an oath?” Fifth Concubine’s bloodshot eyes widened.
“Bah, who do you think you are? Why should my mother swear an oath for you?” Ye Shanshan said scornfully.
She has only given birth to a talented daughter. Foolishly, she thinks that she belongs to the upper class. Now that her daughter is missing, she has no one to rely on and is no different from the dirt on the ground.
“You won’t dare to swear because you have a guilty conscience!” Fifth Concubine glared at Su Yufeng and her daughter with hatred. She turned and cried out to Ye Yuxuan, “Old Master, Ruyi is flesh from my body, and I would sell myself before I would ever sell her. Old Master, please judge wisely.”
Ye Yuxuan said nothing, but his expression clearly betrayed his doubts.
Fifth Concubine knew that it was pointless for her to plead any further.
Her expression turned vicious, and she screamed desperately, “Fine, if none of you believe me, I, Gu Jingyi, will offer my blood as a curse to those who have harmed my daughter, Ye Ruyi. May they be struck by lightning and meet a terrible end, and may their sons be slaves and their daughters wh*res for generations.”
After she spoke, she lowered her head and charged the wall with a will to die.