TMBIABHL: Chapter 9

 Character & Term Glossary

· Ye Chutang (叶初棠): The female protagonist, a reborn heir to an ancient medical family. The "Black-Hearted Lotus." Calm and perceptive.

· Ye Yunfeng (叶云风): The fourth brother (四郎). Energetic and easily excited.

· Ye Jingyan (叶璟言): The third brother (三郎). More composed and methodical than his younger brother.

· Shen Yanchuan (沈延川): The male lead. A nobleman recuperating at the clinic. Highly observant.

· Lian Zhou (连舟): Shen Yanchuan's attendant/guard.

· Liu Si (刘四): The Cao family servant who has been arrested for the murder.

· Oil-paper Umbrella (油纸伞): A traditional umbrella made of paper and treated with oil.

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Chapter 9: How Truly Pitiful

A light rain began to fall, drip-drop in the night.

The spring rain in Jiangling was fine and silent, yet continuous and dense. As Ye Chutang went to close the window, a few raindrops splashed onto her sleeve.

She inadvertently looked up and saw, from the corner of her eye, the candlelight in the room opposite still burning quietly, outlining a tall and handsome silhouette.

"The young masters from wealthy families really are expensive to keep…"

They even burned more candles than others, brighter too.

Ye Chutang murmured and closed the window.

Thus, she didn't see that, only a short while later, the candle opposite was also extinguished.

Lian Zhou asked, puzzled, "Master, you're resting so early today?"

Shen Yanchuan gave a soft laugh.

"When one lives under another's roof, one must naturally abide by their rules."

…

The rain lasted all night.

The next day, while Ye Chutang was still sleeping, she heard Ye Yunfeng's voice from outside: "Elder Sister! Elder Sister!"

Ye Chutang turned over and said lazily:

"Don't be so loud.Xiao Wu is still sleeping."

Xiao Wu, who had been sitting up and playing by herself for a good while, blinked her eyes and then obediently lay back down on her stomach, snuggling close to Ye Chutang.

Ye Yunfeng hesitated for a second but continued, "It's important! Elder Sister, come out quickly!"

Lian Zhou watched the scene in the courtyard, feeling somewhat strange.

"So early in the morning, what's going on?"

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Looking at the boy's excited and thrilled expression, could it be there was good news?

Shen Yanchuan was changing his bandages. The two wounds on his chest and abdomen had actually already begun to heal.

His sword-like brow rose slightly, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

These injuries had persisted for half a month. Because they were poisoned, they festered repeatedly and refused to heal, which had even stumped doctors from the capital.

Who would have thought that after just two days in this small clinic, there was obvious improvement.

This Physician Ye… truly had some hidden skills.

Hearing Lian Zhou's words, he didn't look up and said casually, "It seems they found the murderer."

Lian Zhou was stunned. "So fast!?"

When the Cao family came to make trouble yesterday, although he hadn't gone out to look, he had heard everything clearly thanks to his profound internal energy.

Dying from an allergic reaction to food—that kind of thing was very difficult to investigate, especially if someone had done it intentionally. Finding evidence and the truth was even harder.

How could the real culprit be found overnight?

Yet the next moment, Ye Yunfeng's voice, barely containing his excitement, came through.

"Elder Sister! They said they've found the person who secretly fed Cao Chengwu the river shrimp!"

Lian Zhou was shocked. He turned back to see his master's expression remained composed and calm, without a hint of surprise, clearly having anticipated this.

This—

Creak—

The door was pushed open, and the awakened young woman walked out.

Shen Yanchuan lifted his gaze slightly and glanced over there, his eyes focusing.

Her features were inherently very gentle and beautiful, but now, between her delicate, distant-hills-like brows, there was a trace of lazy drowsiness from being unawakened. Her dark hair was simply tied up with a wooden hairpin. In the dripping spring rain, she resembled a cherry blossom tree not yet fully awakened.

Hazy and inexplicably alluring.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

"So they found him. Why are you so excited?" She raised a hand to cover a light yawn. "A-Feng, you're too noisy."

Shen Yanchuan imperceptibly withdrew his gaze. The voice that drifted to his ears still carried a lazy tone, like a feather lightly brushing past, a little itchy.

Ye Yunfeng scratched his head sheepishly. "Elder Sister, I know I shouldn't have disturbed your sleep, but I was just too happy!"

He pulled Ye Jingyan, who was beside him, over. "Third Brother! You tell her!"

Ye Jingyan had originally intended to wait until Ye Chutang woke up, but Fourth Brother was impatient and he hadn't managed to hold him back.

Meeting Ye Chutang's gaze, he organized his thoughts and reported truthfully, "I intended to go out to buy things this morning. As soon as I reached the street, I heard people saying the person who killed Cao Chengwu had been caught. It was none other than that Liu Si from the Cao family. He was Cao Chengwu's personal servant. Last night, when Cao Chengwu asked for a midnight snack, he secretly put river shrimp meat in it. Later, he specifically found an excuse to send the other servants away. That's why, when Cao Chengwu had the attack, there wasn't a single person by his side, and he died just like that, silently."

Ye Chutang's elegant eyebrows rose slightly. "They investigated everything so clearly in just one night?"

Ye Yunfeng couldn't contain himself, his expression animated. "Elder Sister, you'd never guess! The reason the magistrate's office investigated so quickly was because someone sent an anonymous tip-off letter last night!"

A curve touched Ye Chutang's lips. "Oh?"

Ye Yunfeng punched his palm, excited. "I heard they went to Liu Si's house overnight and sure enough found the clothes he wore the day he went to the lake, along with some river shrimp shells! He secretly went to the lake to catch shrimp the night before last and accidentally cut a big gash on his leg. He didn't dare to say a word about it! Who'd have thought they'd still find out!"

Ye Chutang glanced at the misty, rainy sky.

"One letter alone isn't enough evidence."

At this, Ye Yunfeng grew even more excited. "Exactly! So the magistrate's men went to the lakeside first thing in the morning and sure enough found a strip of cloth torn from Liu Si's clothes! With conclusive evidence, Liu Si's legs gave way on the spot, and he confessed!"

Ye Chutang nodded. "In this rain, going to the lake to look for evidence must have been hard work. We must properly thank the constables later."

She had thought it would take half a day longer.

But high efficiency was good. With this rain, many traces would be washed away. If they had delayed too long, they might not have found the evidence so smoothly.

Ye Yunfeng asked with some surprise, "Elder Sister, aren't you surprised at all?"

He hadn't slept well all last night. Although his name had been cleared, it was, after all, a human life. How could a twelve-year-old boy act as if nothing had happened?

Ye Chutang flicked his forehead.

"That person wasn't killed by us in the first place. We just had bad luck and got implicated. Now that the truth is out, isn't that just right?"

Why overthink it?

Ye Yunfeng rubbed his forehead, feeling that what his elder sister said was right, yet also somehow not quite right.

In his view, this incident had been a huge trouble, but in his elder sister's eyes, it seemed like nothing much, not even worth losing a bit of extra sleep over.

And this kind of calm composure, taking it for granted that things would be resolved… he had never seen it in anyone else.

As if everything was supposed to be this way.

It made one feel inexplicably reassured.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Ye Jingyan exchanged a look with Ye Chutang and asked, "Elder Sister, what should we do next?"

Ye Chutang said, "Go to the magistrate's office."

Ye Yunfeng's eyes widened. "We still have to go? But doesn't this have nothing to do with us anymore?"

Ye Chutang asked, "Liu Si was Cao Chengwu's servant. Why would he want to kill him?"

Ye Yunfeng hesitated slightly. "It seems… it seems because Cao Chengwu usually beat and scolded them, and Liu Si had long-held resentment, so he decided to kill him!"

"A life must pay for a life." Ye Chutang opened an oil-paper umbrella. Raindrops splashed, creating a thin layer of white mist on the ground. "Liu Si's family… their world has probably collapsed by now, right?"

She said softly.

"Now, a widow and her orphan… how truly pitiful."

(End of Chapter)

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