AZI Volume 3 Chapter 9

Cleaned, and with her wounds patched up, Yao Ying heaves a sigh.

Although her body is still aching in a few places, she's still grateful to have a proper roof over her head now.

Instead of traditional robes, she is currently wearing a one-piece white dress without sleeves. For footwear, she is wearing a pair of short boots.

Finished with brushing Yao Ying's pink hair that has a few strands of silver in it, Zhen Rong says—

"I think they should be done with their discussion now. Shall we head back?"

"Un…"

As they are currently in the canteen of the blue pavilion, the scent of food is rather heavy in the air—making it difficult for Yao Ying to keep her mouth closed.

(I haven't eaten for over a day… Dammit, if I had known that this would happen, I should have stuffed my stomach a bit more back in the Ling Yuan family's estate.)

"…"

Knowing what it is that Yao Ying is thinking of, Zhen Rong smiles faintly, but she doesn't intend to ask the former if they wanted something to eat. Her older brother may have said to give Yao Ying some necessities, but that doesn't mean they are free.

"Let us return then."

"Yes…"

Despite being hungry, Yao Ying couldn't find it in herself to ask for food.

...…

Second layer of the reception area, inside of the red pavilion—

"Long-xiong."

As Long Hua gets up from the stone stool in preparation to leave, Zhen Huai calls him out, and asks—

"Leaving for the night already?"

"My workplace during the daytime has plans for tomorrow."

"Well, no harm in a couple more minutes, is there?"

"…?"

Seeing the light in Zhen Huai's eyes, Long Hua frowns. The former seems to be up to something.

Just then, the northern side door opens—allowing Zhen Rong and Yao Ying to come in.

"We're back."

Nodding to Zhen Rong, Zhen Huai looks towards Yao Ying, and says—

"Welcome back, Lady Yao Ying, might I ask that you look through the paper that is on the table?"

"Hm?"

Sitting down on the stone stool in front of her, Yao Ying picks up the parchment, while Long Hua sits back down with a sigh.

"This…"

Reading through the first portion of the paper, Yao Ying raises her head, but before she can say anything—

"Keep reading. This is just what we ended up theorizing about to pass the time. Whether you believe it or not, well, that's up to you. Still, since one of us actually put in the effort to write this up, it's only proper of you to give it a thorough read, and think about the contents."

Bai Wen speaks up, and silences Yao Ying with an uncaring look.

"…"

Looking over Yao Ying's shoulder, Zhen Rong sees that the information written onto the parchment is quite organized.

The contents thoroughly summarized a series of possible reasons for Yao Ying's siblings to have hired Qing Ming Yang and Xia Ri'er to assassinate her, along with the reason behind the lack of more capable guards—from the Chen Shi family's side, to accompany her to the Ling Yuan family's celebration.

(This handwriting doesn't belong to either brother, or Bai-shao. Then…)

Directing a glance at Long Hua, Zhen Rong is impressed by the former's ability to summarize everything so clearly.

"…"

As Yao Ying reads through more of the contents, the shakier her hands become.

"…!"

Getting to the part, which suggests to her—that her father may have been involved in this as well, a light of anger can be seen in Yao Ying's eyes.

"Continue."

Before Yao Ying can raise her head, Bai Wen pushes her to continue reading.

Eventually—

*Pah!* finished reading through the contents—with her head in a chaotic state of mind, Yao Ying smashes the paper onto the stone table.

"…"

"Lady Yao Ying, matters of this nature—requires you to think about them in a calmer state of mind."

In a gentle tone, Zhen Huai suggests this to Yao Ying.

"…"

From the side, Nuo'er walks over with a cup of tea, and places it near Yao Ying's hand—prior to moving back to Bai Wen's side.

"...…I have no aspiration for the clan chief position."

Towards Yao Ying's words, Zhen Huai replies—

"Whether or not Lady Yao Ying aspires for it—is not for yourself to decide. Your siblings believe that you do. That, is all the reason they need to hire a hit on you."

Chiming in from the side, Long Hua, in a blunt manner, explains—

"Such an excuse aside, they could just have seen you as an eyesore. In a perfect garden, where every bit of vegetation is grown to a specific size, and length, weeds…- Plants that do not align with the garden's image are not allowed to exist; hence, gardeners pluck them by their roots. Take a look around this lotus garden, do you see anything besides lotuses? If a single hibiscus were to appear suddenly, it would stick out like a sore thumb."

"In this situation, the garden represents the Chen Shi family, and the gardeners are the power holders of the family; they are the ones who decide what plants get to stay in their garden. In these gardeners' eyes, the plants are their clansmen and servants of lesser strength. And if a specific plant grows to be an eyesore… Well, I suppose, Lao Long had already said what happens to them, so I need not repeat myself."

Speaking up to here, Bai Wen covers his mouth to yawn.