Chapter 91 The Reason He Helped Her

  Ye Zhuo had been the wife of an official in her past life. Yuan Chaolin's displeasure and refusal were expected by her. Her intention in deliberately provoking Wen Shi was not to force the Ye family to apologize, but to say these words in front of everyone, reminding them that the Ye family was not a kind person, but rather a venomous existence like a snake or scorpion. With so many onlookers today, everyone would surely spread the news as gossip after dinner. Her words would then be known throughout Nanshan Town, and the Ye family's sinister image would be deeply ingrained in people's minds. As a result, the Ye family would be finished. Every move they made would become the focus of attention for the entire town, making it impossible for them to take revenge on the Ye family, even in business, without being discovered and ostracized by the people of Nanshan Town. In this way, the Ye family would be safe.

  Because she knew that Yuan Chaolin would not agree to her request, she would put forward this request. Otherwise, if the Xie family was really forced by the government to make a poisonous oath, at least some people would turn back to sympathize with the Xie family, which would be unfavorable to the Ye family. Now, Yuan Chaolin's refusal will only make everyone more sympathetic to the Ye family and hateful of the Xie family.

  It's not that she's heartless, but it would implicate the innocent members of the Xie family. In reality, if you don't kill the snake, you'll suffer from its venom. If things were to end with only Xie Jizong being imprisoned, given the nature of Guo Shi and Wen Shi, as well as Xie Yunteng, it would be difficult for them not to seek revenge against the Ye family.

  Seeing Yuan Chaolin's displeasure, she didn't say a word either, only kneeling on the ground, quietly waiting for Yuan Chaolin's refusal.

  Yuan Chaolin was hesitating, wondering how to refuse Ye Zhuo's request. A voice sounded behind him: "Lord Yuan is an official of the imperial court, it's not good to force people to make vows. But this young master has no official position, doing something like presiding over justice is quite suitable."

  Everyone's eyes turned to the speaker.

  What shocked them was that the person speaking was none other than Nie Bo Wen, the eldest son of the Nie family.

  Xie Yun Ting and Xie Yun Yi's faces turned pale as they heard Nie Bo Wen's words. Since the trial began, both of them had been harboring a thought: Xie Yun Ting felt that he also had some connection with Nie Bo Wen, although there was Ye Zhuo in between, but he still held onto a glimmer of hope, wishing that in the end Nie Bo Wen would take pity on him and speak up for the Xie family; while Xie Yun Yi thought she was as beautiful as an immortal being, even surpassing Ye Zhuo. Although Nie Bo Wen and Du Hao Ran had ignored her at the time, she was too confident and thought they might still have some lingering feelings for her and help her out.

  Now Nie Bowen is speaking. But why does it sound like he's biased towards the Ye family, forcing the Xie family to make a poisonous oath?

  Nie Bao walked to the middle, coldly sweeping his eyes over them. Then he turned around, cupped his hands to the crowd and said: "It's not that this young master is heartless, but the old master of the Xie family has been exiled and fined 10,000 taels of silver, while the Ye family hasn't suffered any losses, yet they still want to force the Xie family to take a poisonous oath. Perhaps someone will think it's too excessive. But you must know that if the Xie family is as kind and generous as they appear, with good intentions in their hearts, they wouldn't harm others and end up in such a predicament. Unfortunately, there's an evil demon in their hearts, and when things don't go their way, they want to take people's lives. People like this must be given a tight seal, so they won't dare do bad things. This poisonous oath, as long as they don't harbor malicious thoughts again, it won't bring retribution upon them, and for them, there's no harm; but if we let them off without making them take the oath, once evil intentions arise and they harm people again, in the end, they'll suffer retribution, which would be a pity. Everyone says, isn't this reasonable?"

  Nie Gongzi is a god-like existence for the people of Nanshan Town. Now, this noble young master has come out to uphold justice for a family with a similar background, and he's being so polite to everyone. Everyone was deeply honored and loudly responded: "Right, Nie Gongzi is right, they should be made to take an oath."

  Nie Bowen bowed to the crowd, then turned around and looked at Xie Yunfeng. Xie Yunfeng's face was now as pale as death, he didn't even have the courage to struggle, and stammered: "I, Xie Yunfeng, will not do evil again, persecute the Ye family, or I will suffer retribution, die a terrible death, and bring disaster to my descendants."

  The Guo, Wen and Xie Yunyi were once the objects of flattery and admiration in Nanshan Town, but now they were being looked at with disgust by so many men. They could hardly bear to make such a vow in front of them, and wished they could find a gap to hide in. But as soon as they saw Nie Bowen's gaze fall on them, they knew they couldn't escape. They just wanted to finish the vow quickly and hurry back home to hide. Without needing to be urged, they finished the vow quickly and then supported each other as they left the public hall in a rush.

  "Everyone has dispersed." Yuan Chaolin waved his hand at the crowd. Everyone scattered in a hurry.

  The Ye family didn't rush to leave, but instead tidied up their clothes under Ye Yuxi's suggestion and bowed respectfully to Nie Bowen and Du Haoran, as well as Yuan Chaolin. Ye Yuxi also expressed a few words of gratitude before slowly walking out of the hall.

  Nie Bowen naturally did not want to stay for long and soon bid farewell to Yuan Chaolin and left.

  As they got on the car, Nie Bowen looked at the dim yellow lights carried by people outside the window and fell silent for a while. Suddenly, he spoke up: "You don't have any other thoughts about Miss Ye?"

  After today's events, he increasingly hopes that Du Haoran can marry his sister and become a great help to him in the Nie family. People's hearts are separated by skin, and some people are like Xie Yunfeng, who is dignified and elegant on the surface but has unknown qualities inside. As for Du Haoran, he has ability, has strategy, and is open-minded and generous. With his help, the Nie family will surely continue to flourish in their own hands.

  Du Haoran's slightly closed eyelids lifted, and he said, "You also lent a hand to the Ye family today. Don't tell me you have feelings for Miss Ye too?"

  Nie Bowen was extremely dissatisfied with his evasive answer, turned around and stared at him, saying: "I'm helping the Ye family, but I detest Xie Yunfeng's character, narrow-minded, vengeful, selfish and self-serving, without any sense of responsibility. This kind of person must be stepped on to prevent him from coming out again to disgust people, and has nothing to do with Miss Ye."

  "Do you think that by giving him a good face for half a day, you didn't know the person well and lost face, so you got angry?" Du Haoran's voice was lazy, but with a hint of amusement.

  Nie Bowen was annoyed and kicked him with his foot: "You will die if you don't say this!"

  Du Haoran's body didn't dodge or evade, and he avoided Nie Bowen's kick. He sat up straight and said, "Last time I came to Nanshan Town alone to play chess with Abbot Ren, I met Miss Ye."

  Nie Bowen saw that he had gotten to the point and stopped fooling around, sitting up straight to listen.

  Du Haoran didn't continue speaking, but instead turned around and asked a question: "Do you still remember the scene when we first met Ye Gongzhu at Guangneng Temple?"

  "It comes naturally."

  "She was playing chess with Master Ren at the time, I remember, her hands were as delicate and white as those of other young ladies from wealthy families, without a single trace of doing rough work. But when I saw her last time, her hands had cracked open in many places, some parts still oozing blood stains, coarse like that old farmer's hand, looking terrifying. At the time, I asked her if she was learning jade carving, and she said yes." Du Haoran said. After a pause, he added: "At that time, she hadn't yet been transferred from the second house of the Ye family to the main house."

  Nie Bowen's eyebrows furrowed: "You're saying she just learned jade carving recently?"

  "It's true." Du Haoran said, "You've been learning jade carving since you were young, so you should know how hard it is to learn and the perseverance required. And this Ye girl, as the eldest daughter of the second branch of the Ye family, even if she wasn't favored, she would still be living a life of luxury; even if she was adopted into the main branch, although she might live in poverty, with Old Master Ye's temperament, he should have doted on her and wouldn't let her learn jade carving to make a living. But she actually learned it, and learned it so diligently. In just a few short months, she could learn to this extent. No matter how talented she is, the effort required is not something others can imagine. Moreover, although I'm not talented, I do have some ability to judge people. Ye girl's thinking is meticulous, her chess moves are well-planned, and her offense and defense are proper. A person like this would absolutely not be bullied to the point of having nowhere to go in the inner courtyard. So, as the only legitimate daughter of the second branch, why was she adopted into the main branch? And why did she have to study jade carving so desperately? If she wasn't comfortable staying in the second branch, all she needed to do was endure for a year or two and then get married, and that would be it."

  Nie Bowen's eyebrows furrowed even tighter. He thought for a moment, then looked up at Du Haoran.

  "Bo Wen, in Nie's family, because of the relationship with learning jade carving, I think you have also seen all kinds of people. Some people are greedy for pleasure and comfort, not thinking about making progress; some people always want to take shortcuts and don't want to work hard but want to achieve their goals; while others are self-reliant, strong-willed, and independent, wanting to rely on their own efforts to gain happiness. I have always admired the latter. And Ye Gu Niang, I feel that she is exactly this kind of person."

  "You said..." He raised his head, looking at Nie Bowen, "Seeing someone like her encounter difficulties, and I just happen to have a bit of ability to lend a hand. It's just a small effort, but it can make such an admirable person have less difficulty, so why wouldn't I do it? When I help her, I absolutely don't have any ulterior motives."

  "I understand." Nie Bowen let out a long sigh.

  "You don't understand, Bo Wen. You're the kind of person who has had everything handed to you since birth. You have no idea how hard it is for someone who starts from scratch, having to fight and struggle just to get a little bit of dignity in life." Du Haoran said.

  (If nothing unexpected happens, there will be an update tonight.) RQ