The Imperial Capital Rhapsody 38: Ye Li is Abducted

  Yeli was kidnapped.

  Ye Li and Ye Zhen arrived at Ye Ying's courtyard, where Ye Ying was selecting decorations on the table with Wang Shi. Seeing the two approaching together, Ye Ying was slightly surprised but quickly covered it up, smiling as she stood up to greet them, "Big sister, third sister, why have you come together?" Ye Zhen smiled and said, "I heard fourth sister was busy so I went to sit at third sister's place first. Coincidentally, third sister also wanted to come over so we came together." Ye Ying smiled lightly and said, "What are you talking about, big sister? What could I be busy with? Please sit down, big sister and third sister."

  Ye Li followed behind the two, raising an eyebrow in amusement. This was the first time she had seen Ye Ying speak to her sisters without any arrogance or pride, especially when it came to her half-sisters born of concubines, whom she had always looked down upon. It seemed that Old Madam's methods were indeed not to be underestimated, able to change Ye Ying so much in such a short period of time. Facing Ye Ying's warm and affectionate greeting, Ye Zhen also felt somewhat out of place. She glanced at Ye Ying several times before allowing herself to be led inside by her, paying respects to Wang Shi, "Greetings, Mother."

  "Madam." Ye Li gave a slight bow.

  Madam Wang looked at Ye Li's calm and composed appearance, secretly gritting her teeth in her heart. Although she had been established as the legitimate wife for many years, Ye Li had never called her mother. Although she didn't want Xu Shi's daughter to call her mother either, the fact was that there was only one true daughter of the Ye family, and that was Ye Li. This feeling always made Madam Wang feel like she was not properly fulfilling her role as the mistress of the house. She had also whispered into Old Master Ye's ear in the past, but for some reason, no matter how hard she tried to persuade him, he never insisted on it, nor did he ever show any intention of forcing Ye Li to change her way of addressing her.

  "Mother, I'll talk to my sisters for a bit. You can go ahead and take care of your business." Ye Ying pulled on Wang Shi's hand, being playful. Wang Shi looked at her beautiful daughter with pride and satisfaction, her mood immediately lifting up. No matter what, in the end she was still the winner, wasn't she? Her daughters were either a princess in the palace or the main wife of the King of Lei, and her son would become the master of the Ye family in the future. But Xu Shi had died early on, and her biological daughter could only marry a disabled prince, while her adopted daughter could only be someone's concubine.

  "Alright, you sisters chat for a bit. I have some things to take care of up ahead. Mother will go out first." The three sisters stood up to see Wang Shi off, and Ye Ying immediately pulled Ye Zhen and Ye Li down to sit with her, looking at them apologetically and saying: "Big sister, third sister, in the past I didn't understand things and was neglectful of you two sisters. I hope you can forgive me for my mistakes."

  Upon hearing this, Ye Zhen looked at Ye Li with a puzzled expression, smiling on her face as she said: "Fourth sister is joking, what's there to forgive or not forgive between our own sisters? In the future, big sister will still have to rely on fourth sister."

  Yeying smiled and said: "Grandma is right, we are all our own sisters, of course, we should help each other. Eldest sister, don't say anything about relying on others."

  Ye Li sat on one side, listening to the two of them chatting idly, and roughly understood what Ye Lao Furen had said to Ye Ying. However, she was still somewhat surprised that Ye Ying would actually listen to Ye Lao Furen's teachings. Of course, she believed another saying even more: "It's easy to change the world, but hard to change one's nature." Even if Ye Ying really did listen to Ye Lao Furen's teachings, it was absolutely impossible for her personality to undergo a drastic transformation in such a short period of time. It seemed... that something had happened in these days that she didn't know about.

  In the dead of night, the Shangshu Mansion, which should have been quiet by now, was still brightly lit in preparation for tomorrow's wedding. Even the young maids in Ye Li's Qingyi Pavilion seemed excited, after all, the fourth miss's marriage to the Lei Wang Mansion was a grand joyous occasion, and everyone in the mansion would receive a generous reward. Ye Li dismissed her attendants and sat under the lamp with an unfinished book, occasionally picking up her brush to write a few words before stopping again. After a while, the distant noise that had been carrying over seemed to fade away, and Ye Li's eyelids grew heavy as she rubbed her brow, her straight back slowly slumping to one side. Her calm eyes took on a hint of fatigue, and after blinking a few times, she finally succumbed to sleep, closing her eyes. The cold room was silent, the only sound being the occasional crackle of the lamp flame.

  After a long time, a black shadow flashed out of the Qingyixuan. It seemed to be very familiar with the layout of the mansion, easily avoiding the guards in the mansion and jumping over the wall of the backyard to disappear into the dark night. In the Qingyixuan, the elegant and simple boudoir was no longer seen by the owner's trace, leaving only a book that had been opened on the desk falling to the ground.

  Suburbs of Beijing

  In the dark forest, a tall black figure carrying a long strip of object was shuttling through the woods. It didn't stop until it saw a towering figure standing still not far away.

  "You're too late." The man in the shadows said in a low voice.

  "No, you're too early." The man in black said with a lazy tone, his voice somewhat languid. He gazed teasingly at the man opposite him whose face was unclear, "I heard that Miss Ye, the fourth daughter of the Ye family, is the number one beauty in the capital. I didn't expect that you wouldn't be interested in this number one beauty, but instead would spend money to steal a talentless and ugly third miss. Or... actually, this third miss is truly a stunning beauty? Earlier, I was in a rush and didn't get a good look, now looking again, she's not bad." As he spoke, he put down the person on his shoulder and gently brushed away the hair covering the face of the person who was still sleeping.

  "That's enough! You can leave now." The man's voice was tinged with a few more parts of anger, coldly said.

  The man in black shrugged and smiled, "Well, good luck to you then." He didn't linger, swiftly and neatly placing the woman on the ground, before shrugging his shoulders a few times and disappearing into the woods.

  The person under the shadow gazed at the woman on the ground for a while before walking out from under the tree. In the dim night, a cold and stern face faintly appeared, staring fiercely at the girl's originally beautiful face, which now had a hint of ferocity in the darkness. "Yelü, don't blame me for being heartless. If you want to blame someone, blame your bad luck. Even if I didn't want it, it wouldn't be something that Moxiuyao could pick up!" He bent down and reached out to grab the girl's collar, but as soon as he touched her, everything went black in front of his eyes, and his neck hurt as he fell backwards. The girl, who had been sleeping soundly, opened her clear and awake eyes, and with a casual push, let the person who was falling towards her fall backwards instead. As for the loud crashing sound that seemed to come from something being hit, she naturally ignored it.

  Ye Li slowly tidied up her clothes before looking at the man who had been thrown to the ground, a hint of disappointment in her expression. When she noticed that something was off about the scent in the room, she thought someone was trying to make a move on her, but it turned out to be Mo Jingli, and for such a foolish reason. Walking around Mo Jingli in a circle, Ye Li genuinely wondered for the first time if this Prince of Lei had been raised with a problematic brain by his emperor brother. After thinking about it to no avail, she didn't bother wasting her energy on it anymore. With a leisurely air, she pulled out a ball of unremarkable silk thread from her sleeve and neatly tied up the man on the ground.

  Looking at the man tied up by herself, Ye Li nodded in satisfaction. Although this bundle of silk thread didn't look impressive, its hardness and toughness were both excellent. Unless Mo Jingli had that legendary high-level internal strength, it would be absolutely impossible for a normal person to break free. As for her own binding technique, Ye Li was even more at ease - unless Mo Jingli had the shrinking bone skill, he could only wait for someone to come and rescue him. She didn't know if Mo Jingli had brought any personal guards with him when doing such sneaky things, but judging from the current situation, it seemed unlikely. Hopefully, he would make it to tomorrow's wedding ceremony, Ye Li thought irresponsibly. Finally, she kicked the unconscious person one more time in anger, before following her memory of the route and heading out of the forest.