NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11: Even the Emperor Can't Hold You Back Anymore
Chapter 11: Even the Emperor Can’t Hold You Back Anymore
Qiao Nian’s words struck Lin Ye like a bolt of lightning, leaving him stunned for a long while.
In his mind, he could only see the image of Qiao Nian struggling in the water, while a group of palace maids laughed by the laundry pool.
The dull pain in his chest grew stronger. He clearly wanted to say something, but his throat felt locked. It wasn’t until Qiao Nian’s silhouette disappeared behind the wooden door that he finally seemed to regain his senses.
“Young Miss, wuwuwu…” Xiao Cui’s crying voice rang in his ears, particularly irritating.
Lin Yuan glared at Xiao Cui, “All you do is cry. Hurry up and call for the manor’s doctor!”
Xiao Cui finally reacted and hurriedly left.
Lin Ye escorted Lin Yuan back to Luomei Courtyard. The manor’s doctor arrived with Madam Lin.
While the doctor was inside taking Lin Yuan’s pulse and examining her, Madam Lin pulled Lin Ye to the outer room. “What happened? How did your sister end up in the water when she was fine? Was it, was it Nian Nian who…”
“Mother!” Lin Ye furrowed his brow and interrupted Madam Lin’s words sternly, “It was Nian Nian who saved Yuan’er.”
As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and turned to Xiao Cui, “Come here.”
Xiao Cui’s left cheek was visibly swollen, showing that Ning Shuang had hit her hard.
She lowered her head as she approached and knelt down. Whether intentional or not, her swollen face was turned towards Madam Lin.
Seeing this, Madam Lin was startled, “Oh my! What happened to this maid’s face?”
Xiao Cui didn’t speak, only timidly glancing at Lin Ye.
Lin Ye carefully examined Xiao Cui before speaking, “Do you have a grudge against Nian Nian?”
Xiao Cui’s heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly shook her head, “No, no, how could I have a grudge against the First Young Miss!”
“If there’s no grudge, why do you repeatedly frame her?” Lin Ye’s voice was ice-cold.
Earlier in Luomei Courtyard, he had been blinded by anger, but the matter didn’t require much thought to understand.
Nian Nian wasn’t stupid. How could she possibly harm someone in her own courtyard, in front of everyone?
This maid had entered Fanghe Courtyard right after him, when Nian Nian and Yuan’er were already out of the water. Yet she was so certain in saying that Nian Nian had pushed her!
Thinking back to three years ago, this maid had spoken with the same certainty and conviction. A chill ran through Lin Ye’s heart.
Xiao Cui naturally sensed Lin Ye’s current low mood.
She knew that if she said even one wrong word today, she might be dragged out and beaten to death.
Her eyes darted around quickly, and she finally came up with something, “I, I was just too worried about Young Miss. I feared she had been bullied. I did it all for my Young Miss!”
“For your Young Miss?” Lin Ye let out a cold laugh, “Don’t tell me your Young Miss instructed you to do this?”
“No, no!” Xiao Cui hurriedly shook her head in denial but didn’t dare to say anything more.
She had thought her words would evoke Lin Ye’s sympathy, but instead, she had nearly implicated her Young Miss.
Just then, Lin Yuan’s weak call came from the inner room, “Xiao Cui… Xiao Cui…”
Her voice, feeble and seemingly heartbroken, sounded particularly pitiful.
Lin Ye’s brow furrowed tightly. The raging anger in his heart was finally suppressed by Lin Yuan’s weak calls.
He fixed Xiao Cui with a cold stare and warned in a low voice, “If there’s a next time, I won’t need Ning Shuang to act. I’ll cut out your tongue myself and feed it to the dogs! Now go attend to your Young Miss!”
“Yes, yes!” Xiao Cui hurriedly got up and ran into the inner room.
Madam Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Lin Ye with some dissatisfaction, “How could you speak about your sister like that? Don’t you know Yuan’er’s nature?”
Lin Ye glanced at Madam Lin, his eyes seeming to show a hint of disappointment, “Mother, did you know that Nian Nian can swim?”
How could Madam Lin possibly know?
She hesitated before speaking, “She can swim? Didn’t she… didn’t she not know how before?”
Yes, the person who couldn’t swim before was pushed into the water by a group of people.
They used those long laundry poles to keep her from getting out.
How desperate must she have felt at that time?
And where was he, her brother, at that time?
Lin Ye didn’t say anything more. He turned and walked towards the exit.
Madam Lin called after him, “Where are you going?”
“To the palace.” The two short words were filled with endless coldness.
Madam Lin felt a chill in her heart. Seeming to think of something, she quickly called over a matron, “Quick, send a message to Noble Consort De!”
“Yes!”
Not long after.
When Lin Ye angrily kicked open the doors of the laundry bureau, he saw a group of palace maids dragging a small, thin maid towards the laundry pool.
Clearly, they intended to throw the small maid into the pool.
This scene pierced Lin Ye’s eyes painfully. At this moment, in his eyes, that small maid became Qiao Nian as she was three years ago.
Is this how they bullied his sister back then?
A matron recognized Lin Ye and immediately led everyone in a bow, “Slaves greet the Young Marquis! Does the Young Marquis have some business here?”
Lin Ye didn’t even look at her. He strode towards the group of kneeling palace maids, and without a word, grabbed one in each hand and threw them into the pool.
It all happened so suddenly. Until the screams of the two maids rang out, the matron jumped up, “Oh my! Young Marquis, what are you doing?”
Before she finished speaking, the matron was also airborne, and in the next moment, icy pool water rushed into her nose and mouth.
Lin Ye said nothing, just continuing to throw people into the pool one after another.
The first few maids thrown in tried to climb out, but Lin Ye grabbed a laundry pole and swung it at them.
He had practiced martial arts since childhood, and his strength was immense. With just one hit, the maid felt as if her leg had broken. She let out a scream and fainted.
Seeing this, no one dared to move. They all stood in the laundry pool like drowned rats.
They cried softly, afraid that if they made too much noise, Lin Ye would strike them with the pole.
They looked particularly pitiful.
But wasn’t his sister pitiful too?
When his sister stood crying in the pool back then, did this group of people spare her?
The more Lin Ye thought about it, the angrier he became. The rage in his eyes seemed as if it could reduce these palace maids to ashes.
Seeing this, the maids didn’t even dare to beg for mercy. Only the highest-ranking old matron still dared to advise earnestly, “Young Marquis, I know you must be here to avenge Young Miss Lin, but even when beating a dog, one must consider its owner! We slaves work for the Emperor. If the Emperor learns of this…”
Lin Ye swung the pole, nearly hitting the old matron’s face.
He let out a cold laugh, his eyes full of frost, “What? Using the Emperor to pressure me?”
“My, what a grand air the Young Marquis has,” a gentle yet noble voice came from behind Lin Ye. “Could it be that even the Emperor can’t hold you back anymore?”