"Yun'er, why have you come?"
The Empress Dowager and Consort Li, having not expected Ye Tingyun to appear in their stead, looked at him with concern.
Ye Tingyun stepped forward and helped Consort Li up, his expression exceptionally solemn.
"Mother Consort, Empress Dowager, you have both worked hard."
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager's face moved, and a flicker of light appeared in her once-cloudy eyes.
"You foolish child! How could you have involved yourself..."
Ye Tingyun shook his head, "Empress Dowager, there's no need to worry about me. You two should go back and rest quickly. I am enough to handle things here."
His demeanor was resolute. The Empress Dowager saw this and wanted to speak, but hesitated several times. Her gaze fell upon the frail Consort Li beside her, and she ultimately remained silent.
The Empress had already issued her orders, and the Imperial Guards naturally offered no further obstruction. After everyone had departed, the eunuch guarding the door exchanged a look with Qin Rulian. The latter nodded slightly and stepped inside, the palace doors closing softly behind her.
Silence pervaded the hall. Ye Tingyun, hearing the movement, turned his head and saw her. His gaze faltered for a moment.
Perhaps it was because he hadn't seen her in a long time, but the Qin Rulian before him seemed exceptionally strange, almost like a different person from his memories.
This feeling persisted until Qin Rulian spoke. The moment he heard her voice, it intensified tenfold.
"Tingyun."
Just two words, yet they were hoarse to an unrecognizable degree.
Ye Tingyun's pupils contracted sharply at the sound. He exclaimed in astonishment, "Rulian, your voice..."
Qin Rulian seemed unfazed. She walked closer and retorted, "What's wrong with my voice?"
This sentence made it even clearer to him. A look of shock crossed Ye Tingyun's face, and he furrowed his brow.
"You... how did you become like this?"
"Did the Empress do something to you?"
She had been by the Empress's side since entering the palace. Such a transformation surely had something to do with the Empress.
Upon hearing this, Qin Rulian let out a cold laugh, her tone filled with extreme sarcasm.
"Aunt? What could Aunt do to me? This is all thanks to you people that I've become like this!"
Her voice suddenly rose, the original hoarseness now laced with a sharp, piercing quality that grated on the eardrums.
Ye Tingyun recoiled slightly from the intense hatred in her eyes. Before he could speak, he saw her raise her hand to her face, as if pulling at something, and with a tearing sound, rip it away.
She advanced relentlessly, the distance between them narrowing.
From this proximity, Ye Tingyun could clearly see that what had been concealed was a pair of thin, winding scars on either side of her face!
"Your face..."
He was too stunned to speak. Qin Rulian, however, seemed to relish his reaction and laughed with a contorted expression.
"See clearly now?"
"My face, my voice, all ruined!"
The venomous and fierce roar was almost pressed against his face.
A chill ran down Ye Tingyun's spine, and the hairs on his body stood on end.
Qin Rulian gave him no respite, pressing closer and laughing maniacally, "Tingyun, you find this frightening, don't you?"
The hall was spacious, yet Ye Tingyun felt suffocated and cornered.
The person before him no longer seemed like Qin Rulian, but a terrifying monster.
His heart trembled. He forced himself to calm down and asked, "What exactly happened to make you like this?"
Qin Rulian no longer answered. Instead, she grabbed his collar and demanded sternly, "Where is that woman?"
She did not explicitly name who "that woman" was, but Ye Tingyun's heart tightened. He immediately thought of Feng Yinwan.
Qin Rulian's eyes narrowed at his reaction. "You do know her!"
"Tell me quickly, where is she!"
Ye Tingyun instinctively pushed her away. "No... I don't understand what you're saying!"
He used considerable force, and Qin Rulian, caught off guard, was flung backward, landing heavily on the ground with a thud.
Regaining his composure, Ye Tingyun felt a pang of regret and leaned forward to check on her. However, Qin Rulian had already risen from the ground.
She glared at him, her face twisted, and declared, "It doesn't matter if you don't tell me. My aunt is in charge of this palace now. I will find her sooner or later and tear her into a thousand pieces!"
"Bang—"
The palace doors were slammed shut forcefully. Ye Tingyun, relieved, collapsed onto the cushion.
Qin Rulian's words and actions that night had deeply shaken him. He could not comprehend what had happened to her.
As he pondered, a movement from the roof drew his attention. Feng Yinwan then appeared, passing through the window lattice and landing in the hall.
Seeing her, Ye Tingyun's eyes moved, and he immediately got up and approached.
"Why did you come here too?"
Feng Yinwan listened to the situation outside the hall. After confirming there were no anomalies, she looked at him and said in a low voice,
"Don't worry, someone is watching the sleeping quarters."
Ye Tingyun frowned and hesitated, "I wasn't going to say that, but just now... I saw Rulian."
The image of Qin Rulian, neither human nor ghost, reappeared in his mind. He frowned, a look of gravity crossing his face.
"I don't know what happened to her, she just became like this, and kept babbling, demanding to know your whereabouts..."
Feng Yinwan raised her eyebrows and met his hesitant gaze, speaking calmly.
"She brought it upon herself."
Ye Tingyun paused, appearing incredulous, "Is this really related to you?"
Feng Yinwan looked at him, her gaze calm yet sharp.
"Hasn't she done enough wicked deeds? I am merely returning the favor, letting her taste some of it herself."
"But..."
Having grown accustomed to her usual composure, Ye Tingyun found it difficult to reconcile her with someone who would cruelly harm Qin Rulian.
Feng Yinwan's expression turned colder. "You think I shouldn't have done this?"
"No."
Ye Tingyun shook his head. "What she did before was indeed excessive. But if you wanted revenge, banishing her from the capital, or imprisoning her, would have been sufficient. Why did you..."
Qin Rulian's face and voice, though terrifying, were not the most severe of injuries.
But to torment her and then send her back, allowing her own resentment to fester and drive her mad, such methods seemed too cruel to him.
Feng Yinwan looked up, her eyes holding a coldness different from his.
"She committed so many evils, even death would be too easy a fate. Moreover, our grievances extend far beyond this."
After recovering her memories, she had compared the details of the events from that year with Song Qing'an.
And this confirmed that it was indeed Qin Rulian who had pushed her into the fire and locked the palace doors at Yuming Hall!
Ye Tingyun had not anticipated this layer to the story and was greatly shocked.
"You mean... the one who rescued Third Brother from the fire was you, not Rulian?!"
If that were the case, what was all his years of gratitude and protection towards Qin Rulian worth? It all felt like a mockery!
Feng Yinwan lowered her gaze, her eyes showing deep coldness.
"It no longer matters who the rescuer was, but since she dared to act as she did, she should have been prepared to face the consequences."