Chapter 55: The System's Divine Assistance

At that moment, Chen Huai'an instantly vanished into the dark night, and the entire estate erupted into commotion: "Catch the assassin! There's an assassin!"

When Chen Huai'an returned, he was trailing the biting chill of the deep night.

His movements scaling the courtyard wall were nimble, but his landing failed to muffle the sound entirely, startling Ye Qingyan in her room.

"How did it go?"

Ye Qingyan stepped out of the room wrapped in an outer robe, asking softly.

Chen Huai'an shook his head, his expression grim.

"The Ye residence is heavily guarded, almost comparable to the imperial palace."

"I was nearly discovered by the patrolling guards the moment I slipped into the outer courtyard."

He let out a sigh, tinged with a measure of frustration.

"A direct investigation is simply impossible."

Half of Ye Qingyan's heart sank.

"I haven't had any luck here either."

"Even with the reward money posted everywhere, that wet nurse has vanished into thin air without the slightest ripple."

The two fell into a heavy silence.

The trail seemed to have hit a dead end.

Gazing at Chen Huai'an's tightly knitted brows and his lusterless eyes, a surge of irritation welled up inside Ye Qingyan.

Without further ado, she summoned that unreliable system within her mind.

"Hey, hey, hey, Your Majesty, are you still there?"

"Care to come out and chat for a bit?"

The system gave no response.

"Are you serious, officer? Playing dead right now?"

"Look at this. A loyal minister's descendant under your watch is about to fret himself into a withered cabbage."

"Do you have nothing to say for yourself? At least toss me a cheat code or a golden finger!"

The system finally stirred, its voice brimming with suppressed fury.

[Insolent wretch! That is the descendant of a traitorous subject!]

Ye Qingyan nearly went deaf from the roar and rolled her eyes so hard they nearly reached the back of her head.

"Big brother, it is already the twenty-first century—oh wait, whatever era this is, are we still clinging to bloodline theories?"

"The letter left behind by my mother states it crystal clear: the Chen family was framed!"

"They were framed by that old fox Ye Chengzong! Do you understand?"

She hurled the contents of her mother's letter, along with her own deductions, straight at the system in one go.

The system fell silent.

It seemed to be digesting this sudden, earth-shattering piece of gossip.

After a long while, its voice sounded once again, even angrier than before, crackling with thunderous wrath.

[Nonsense! Utterly preposterous!]

[How dare mere mortals pry into and meddle with My imperial realm and My secrets!]

[You must have grown tired of living!]

Ye Qingyan shrank her neck, sensing real danger.

[Today I shall punish you for your unrestrained tongue and let you taste the bitterness of speaking nothing but the absolute truth!]

[Bestowing upon you the skill: "Truth Exposure"!]

As the words faded, Ye Qingyan felt a strange force pour in through the crown of her head and rush straight down her throat.

Her mouth felt... somewhat beyond her control.

...

The next day, to help Chen Huai'an snap out of his gloom and to treat herself as well, Ye Qingyan decided to head to the city's finest silk shop to have two new outfits made for him.

The shopkeeper had sharp eyes; the moment he spotted the young lady of the Ye residence, he rushed forward with a face full of smiles.

"Miss Ye, you certainly have an eye for quality!"

"This piece of cloud brocade is a freshly arrived tribute material, there are barely a few bolts of it in the entire capital!"

"With your cousin's striking posture, wearing this will make him look utterly dashing and graceful like a jade tree in the wind!"

Ye Qingyan intended to offer a few polite remarks, standard social pleasantries like "the shopkeeper flatters me."

Yet the moment she opened her mouth, the words that came out were entirely altered.

"It's all right, I suppose."

She heard her own voice sound completely flat and devoid of emotion.

"Mainly because he's naturally handsome; even wearing a burlap sack would look good on him."

The shopkeeper's smile froze on his face.

Ye Qingyan's mouth continued regardless.

"Buying something this expensive is mainly to cover up those old scars on my cousin's body."

"My father gave him those back in the day."

"Tsk tsk, a domestic abuser, utterly toxic."

"Ah..."

"Well, this..."

Inside the silk shop, the air seemed to congeal.

The shopkeeper's face turned from red to white, then from white to cyan, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He wished he could go deaf on the spot. What kind of high-society scandalous secrets was he hearing?!

Would he be silenced to eliminate witnesses?!

Ye Qingyan screamed frantically in her mind.

Damn it!

System, you old fox! You played dirty!

She dropped a silver ingot, grabbed the bolt of cloud brocade, and bolted without looking back.

...

She practically fled all the way home.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw Chen Huai'an staring blankly at an old tree, exuding a profound aura of "Who am I and where am I?"

Hearing footsteps, he turned around.

"Qingyan, I've been thinking, could it be that we've been looking in the wrong direction from the very beginning..."

His voice was very low, laden with heavy confusion and anxiety.

Ye Qingyan's heart softened, and she wanted to step forward and offer a few words of comfort.

Something like, "Don't worry, we'll figure it out slowly; there's always a way out."

However, the moment she opened her mouth—

"What's there to rush?"

Two words, cold and hard, choked back whatever else Chen Huai'an was about to say.

Chen Huai'an stared at her in a daze.

Ye Qingyan's mouth continued its uncontrolled output.

"That old fogey Ye Chengzong has a guilty conscience."

Chen Huai'an's gaze shifted; he straightened his posture and stared intently at her.

"Back then, when he wanted to eradicate the whole family, my mother secretly smuggled you out from the hands of the wet nurse."

"You also have an older brother, whom my mother's subordinates spirited out of the city by night and handed over to a farming family to raise."

Every single word struck heavily against Chen Huai'an's eardrums.

He stood frozen, as if struck by lightning.

Ye Qingyan's brain had completely crashed, leaving her to watch powerlessly as her mouth acted like a traitor, spilling every single secret.

"At the time, Ye Chengzong gave that midwife a hefty hush money payment, hoping to ensure the two of you were stillborn on paper, declaring to the outside world that you were dead at birth."

"Later, to eliminate any future trouble, he sent that wet nurse to hide near the 'Ghost's Dread' mass grave south of the city."

The moment the words "Ghost's Dread" were uttered, the courtyard fell utterly silent.

The wind rustled through the tree leaves, making a soft swishing sound.

Ye Qingyan finally wrestled back control of her body, and she felt like she wanted to die of embarrassment.

What on earth had she just said!

Well, that was brilliant—her entire foundation had been exposed!

Yet Chen Huai'an stared at her fixedly, the confusion and frustration in his eyes completely swept away, replaced by a flame bordering on combustion.

He saw the terror and remorse written all over her face.

Chen Huai'an knew full well that Ye Qingyan never lied to him.

Therefore, every single word she had just spoken was true.

He had a brother.

The whereabouts of the wet nurse.

All the deadlocks were completely unlocked at this very moment.

Chen Huai'an asked nothing, not even uttering a single syllable.

He simply gave Ye Qingyan one profound look, then abruptly spun around.

His back was straight, his footsteps resolute, without a shred of hesitation as he strode out of the courtyard.

Ye Qingyan instinctively raised a hand to cover her disastrous mouth.

She watched Chen Huai'an's resolute figure vanish through the doorway.

The turbulent waves within her heart transformed, in the next second, into wild elation.

Holy crap!

Holy, holy, holy crap!

She let out a series of frantic marmot screeches in her mind.

Daddy System! Do you call this a punishment?

This is a VIP customer service one-on-one online precise clue delivery service!

Daddy! From today onward, you are my only real father!