Chapter 127: The Kong Family is Doomed

Ye Chutang passed through the back garden, bringing Jun’er with her as they returned to Ningchu Courtyard.

The evening meal had already been prepared, filling a large table.

After finishing the meal, Ye Chutang headed towards Liuli Courtyard.

By this time, the sky had darkened, and lanterns had been lit along the path, swaying gently in the breeze.

She hadn’t gone far when she heard Kong Ru’s agonized screams.

To be honest, it was a bit spine-chilling.

As the screams grew louder, Ye Chutang arrived at Liuli Courtyard.

Upon seeing her, Kong Ru immediately guessed Ye Chutang’s intention.

Her eyes were filled with terror, as though they were about to spill over.

“You… What are you doing here? Did you come to give me the antidote?”

Ye Chutang looked at Kong Ru, who was curled up on the ground, drenched in cold sweat, and lightly laughed.

“Dream on!”

Saying that, she slapped Kong Ru across the face.

“Let me tell you some good news: because of you, the Kong family is doomed.”

With her swollen face, Kong Ru glared at Ye Chutang, angrily saying, “What do you want to do now?”

She ruined her, ruined her son, and now she wanted to destroy the Kong family? Vile woman!

Ye Chutang disliked Kong Ru’s expression, and slapped her a few more times, disfiguring her face.

She grabbed Kong Ru’s dry, yellowing hair and forced her to look into her eyes.

“Today, the assassination plan against me failed, but my plans to implicate you went smoothly. We captured quite a few survivors. Now tell me, how long do you think it will take for Jingzhao Prefecture and the Dali Temple to investigate the masterminds behind the assassins?”

Upon hearing this, Kong Ru’s breath stopped.

There was no such thing as an impenetrable wall in this world, nor was there anyone who could keep their mouth shut.

As long as Jingzhao Prefecture and the Dali Temple wanted to investigate, they would definitely find the Kong family and the Prince of An’s residence involved.

When she thought of Zhao Qingshu’s involvement in the assassination, she finally relaxed and breathed freely.

“I don’t understand what you vile woman is talking about.”

Ye Chutang could see what Kong Ru was thinking, and with a single sentence, she shattered her illusion.

“You think the Prince of An can protect the Kong family? Don’t dream. Tomorrow, the Prince of An’s residence will no longer exist, and the Kong family will follow shortly after.”

“Impossible!”

The Prince of An was the Emperor’s younger brother, the only member of the royal family who could remain in the capital. How could he possibly be wiped out?

“Don’t believe me? Then you’ll just have to wait and see.”

After finishing her words, Ye Chutang released Kong Ru’s hair, stood up, and left.

Kong Ru watched her leave and collapsed in despair, screaming, “Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!”

“Someone, come! Quickly, someone! I want to see my father!”

She didn’t want to believe Ye Chutang’s words, but the certainty with which Ye Chutang spoke made her anxious.

If the Kong family really fell because of her, she would never be able to atone for her sins, even in death!

Ye Chutang came to find Kong Ru just to deliver the message and force her to pass it on to someone in the Kong family.

That way, even if the Kong family and Zhao Qingshu didn’t silence her, they would have to clean up the mess, and any moves they made would be easy to track.

Back at Ningchu Courtyard, Ye Chutang gave Jun’er, who had finished his medicine, an acupuncture treatment.

Because he was injured, the needles had to be placed lightly today to avoid causing too much pain and tearing his wounds.

After finishing, she said to Dan’er, “I have something to take care of outside. You all rest early, don’t wait up for me.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Ye Chutang changed into dark clothes, wrapped a black silk scarf around her face, climbed over the wall, and left the Minister’s residence, heading towards the Kong family.

She knew someone was following her, but she paid it no mind.

Her main goal tonight was to empty out the Kong family right under Qi Yanzhou’s nose.

This way, he would believe that she and the “ghost thief” were not the same person.

Additionally, Ye Chutang had another objective—eavesdropping.

At present, the Kong family only knew that someone sent by Yun Yin Lake had been captured. They were unaware that Ye Chutang already knew the Kong family was behind everything.

Now that the plan had failed, the Kong family would review the entire plot to see if there were any leaks.

If she was lucky, she might overhear something useful.

Kong Qingyuan was the Minister of Justice, and while his residence wasn’t as large as the Minister’s residence, it was still quite grand.

The Kong family’s influence in the capital was deep, and their residence’s guards were even more formidable.

But this didn’t pose a challenge for Ye Chutang.

Although it wasn’t an unmanned realm, she could still easily avoid the numerous guards.

It didn’t take long before she found the study.

The study had the most guards in the entire residence, making it difficult to approach.

Ye Chutang spent an incense’s time hiding in the bushes outside the study.

Her hearing was excellent, and she could barely make out the conversation inside.

“Where did you find these idiots? How could they be outwitted by a little girl!”

“Father, Ye Chutang is no ordinary girl. Even the Prince of An fell for her trick.”

“The Prince of An has the Emperor’s protection. Our Kong family can only rely on ourselves!”

“Don’t worry, father. Even if there are survivors, they will never implicate us.”

“Although the jianghu has its own rules, we cannot be careless. Night Slayer…”

Before Kong Qingyuan could finish, he was interrupted.

“Master, the third young lady sent a maid with a message. She urgently wants to meet you. She says it’s important and that you must go to the Minister’s residence.”

The third young lady was Kong Ru, the Kong family’s illegitimate daughter.

Kong Qingyuan immediately suspected that it was related to the matter of trying to eliminate Ye Chutang earlier that day.

“Ke’er, you go.”

Ye Chutang knew that one person had left the study, which made it more difficult to overhear any news. She too left.

She slipped into the Kong family’s back garden and hid in the artificial mountain.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a dark figure on a tall pine tree.

It was someone from Qi Yanzhou’s side.

Ye Chutang’s position was hard to detect by the guards, but the person in the tree could see the top of her head.

She immediately used her earth abilities to sense the Kong residence’s layout and found two secret rooms—one in the cellar and one in the wine cellar.

The secret room was sealed by a huge stone, while the cellar and wine cellar were dug out of the earth.

Using her earth abilities, she moved the grain from the cellar and the wine from the wine cellar to her feet, storing them in her space.

As for the secret rooms, there was one in the study and one in the warehouse.

Ye Chutang focused on the study.

Only by making some noise could the people from Qi Yanzhou’s side confirm that the secret room in the study had been robbed while she was right under their nose!

She used her abilities to compress the stone with the earth.

The huge stone was quickly shattered into pieces, and the dirt surged into the secret room.

At the moment the secret room was broken, the bell connected to the secret room in the study rang.

Kong Qingyuan, who had been handling matters, changed color immediately, stood up, and opened the secret room door.

Dust flew into his face, blurring his vision and causing him to cough incessantly.

“Cough, cough… Someone, cough, cough… Someone…”

As he shouted, the guards who were watching the study rushed into the study and went to the secret room.

Fortunately, while the dust was heavy, it didn’t block the stairs leading to the secret room.

By the time the ten or so guards reached the secret room, all that was left was rubble.

The items inside had already been moved to Ye Chutang’s feet and stored in her space.