Chapter 3: Don't be fooled, young master

  Although the voice was soft and pleasant to hear, Ye Zhaos scalp felt slightly numb. His intuition told him that this beautiful and elegant beauty was a rose with thorns, and now was not the time for jokes, or he would lose his life in an instant.

  Ye Zhao seemed ordinary and unremarkable in the Wang Manor, but in reality, he was proud and had worked hard to earn a scholarship at Cambridge University. As an orphan, he knew that everything depended on himself and that success required extraordinary effort.

  But after rebirth, Ye Zhaolai became lazy and felt that there was nothing to pursue in this world. What's the point of helping the Manchu people survive for a few more years? After all, the gap between Chinese civilization and Western civilization lies not in technology, but in social systems. The West has gradually moved towards modern civilized society, while China is still closed off and views technology as ghostly magic, let alone its extremely backward institutions. As for the powerful warships and cannons that bully China, they are just small byproducts of the Western civilized system.

  However, laziness is laziness. The pride in Ye Zhao's bones from his previous life still exists. When threatened with death, Ye Zhao became angry and coldly said: "If you want to kill me, then kill me! There's no need for more words." Death, it seems like Ye Zhao really isn't afraid of it, having already died once before, and indeed there's nothing to be feared.

  Su Hongniang was slightly stunned, she didn't expect this little scoundrel would still dare to be so presumptuous.

  "You're dead, I'll kill you!" The short and stout man seemed to have a grudge against Ye Zhao, and whenever he had the chance, he would jump out and wouldn't rest until he had hacked Ye Zhao to pieces.

  Ye Zhao also saw the situation in the hall clearly at this time. Apart from Su Hongniang and the short, small man, there were three or four people sitting on the chairs on both sides, not a single one with a kind face. At this time, they all jumped down to make noise, and someone shouted loudly: "Big sister, dig out the heart of this little Qing Yao and sacrifice it to our ancestors to ensure Su's safety!"

  The short man picked up Ye Zhaos neck and looked him up and down, seemingly calculating where to make the first cut. The sinister gaze made Ye Zhao feel uneasy all over his body. Death was not scary, but being dissected alive was too terrifying.

  "A'jiu, never mind, lock him up first." Su Hongniang finally spoke up, and Ye Zhaixin felt a little relieved, only to realize that his cold body had broken out in another cold sweat.

  ……

  Ye Zhaowas locked in the east wing when the sound of the third watch drumming came from afar, and that night he suffered a different kind of torment. His clothes were soaked, his hands tied behind him were burning with pain, probably scratched and bleeding, and the back of his head was throbbing as if cracked open, unsure whether it was swollen or had been hit into a hole.

  When the fish belly turned white, Ye Zhao was taken to the main hall again. This helpless Ye Zhao really didn't know if these people were made of iron or something, why couldn't they sleep?

  The man called Ajiu untied the ropes binding Ye Zhaoyi under Su Hongniang's orders. Ye Zhaoyi's arms were numb and it took a while for her to move them, rubbing her swollen wrists and touching the back of her head, which had clearly swelled into a lump, and was throbbing with pain.

  "Ouch!" Just as Bao Ye Zhao touched the back of his head, he sucked in a breath of cool air, but caught sight of Su Hongniang smiling with pursed lips. He thought that she had never seen such a pampered master before.

  Only Su Hongniang and Ye Zhaoyi were left in the hall, but Ye Zhaoyi was even more vigilant. This Miss Su is really not easy to get along with, I don't know what she's plotting again, I must be careful not to fall into her trap. However, seeing the beautiful woman's red lips lightly touching the white jade tea bowl, his heart skipped a beat again.

  Ye Zhaixin felt helpless and didn't know why he had become a color wolf.

  "Hey, what's your name?" Su Hongniang gently put down her teacup with her small white jade-like hand.

  "Ye Zhao." A straightforward answer, Ye Zhao's heart was even more at ease. For twenty years, it was the first time he had proudly spoken out his previous life's name. Although he had used it before, it was just an alias when he and Da Chun went to forbidden places with the children of the imperial family, but in this life, he was actually Aixinjueluo Jingxiang.

  "Are you Han Chinese? Have you joined the Banner?"

  Ye Zhao nodded honestly, "Yes, Han army's blue banner." He was indeed a blue banner, but it was the Manchu blue banner.

  Su Hongniang asked again: "Da Chun's follower?"

  This is a bit hard to answer, Ye Zhaohardened his scalp and nodded: "It's barely okay." It's not entirely a lie either, going out with birds and hawks, entering the wind and moon venues, weren't they all taken by Da Chun? He even went to a big smoke house once.

  "Alright, I believe you're telling the truth. I won't hide anything from you either. This time I came to Beijing City is for my brother, he's currently being held in the Ministry of Justice Prison."

  Ye Zhao bitterly smiled and said: "This, this Da Chun can't even help you, a major offender locked up in the Ministry of Justice's prison, he can't intervene, nor does he dare to intervene."

  Su Hongniang shook her head: "No one knows his identity, he was caught by the city guard for fighting with someone, and the leader who took him away is Da Chun."

  Ye Zhao was slightly stunned, and it turned out that Da Chun had managed to snag a fourth-rank official position as the leader of the city gate in the infantry commander's yamen. But who would have thought this kid could actually do something decent? It was truly astonishing.

  But now that you mention it, Da Chun is the mastermind behind this matter. He took the person and threw them into the Ministry of Justice's prison, and as long as he finds a reason to bring them out, it will be done.

  Su Hongniang continued: "You've heard the whole story, and since you're not willing to write a letter to betray your friend Da Chun, that's up to you. But how can I save my brother from his predicament? It all depends on you now. My brother is in Beijing under the alias Su Peilin, a merchant from Guangxi. Helping him out should be an easy task for someone like you."

  Ye Zhaoyu was stunned again, thinking to herself how she still had such a naughty streak. Just as she was about to speak, she saw Su Hongniang slowly place several silver tickets and a green jade hairpin on the table, her sparkling eyes fixed intently on Ye Zhaoyu. Ye Zhaoyu knew then that she was done for, her true nature had been exposed.

  The silver ticket is nothing to mention, it's probably just over a hundred taels, although ordinary people can't afford it, but at most it proves that one comes from a high-ranking family. As for being the follower of Huang Baozhu, how could he not wear silver on his body? This jade ring is a rare treasure, said to have been worn by Wu Sangui, and was confiscated after the suppression of the Three Feudatories, then passed into the Zheng Wangfu. When Ye Zhao first wore it, she still had misgivings in her heart, wondering if she herself would become a traitor to the Han people?

  Su Hongniang gently picked up the teacup, with a confident expression. Ye Zhao had no choice but to nod and say, "It's my honor to be able to help you, miss."