Spring Courtyard Forbidden Pet

Ye Zhen understood that A-di was using this as an excuse to keep her away from Li Chengge and Ye Xue.

Ye Zhen thought for a moment and called Yu Lu in. "After my brother and I go out, you go back and tell Madam that it's still early and we can probably be back before the general."

Thinking that Yu Lu was timid, she asked Liu Xia to go with Yu Lu to meet Cui.

Liuxia was worried, "I will follow you."

"It's enough to have Yuanbao following me. Besides, when Madam sees you all in the mansion, she won't doubt me."

Ye Zhen comforted the two little girls, changed into a light dress, and left the house through the back door with Ye Jinglan.

The streets were lined with the shouts of vendors. Ye Jinglan was leaning on a crutch with one hand and holding Ye Zhen with the other. The passers-by passing by made him feel a little restrained and afraid. Whenever someone waved their sleeves, he would shiver violently.

Ye Zhen saw this and felt upset. She knew that he was inferior because of his disability and often stayed alone in the house, so he was not used to the hustle and bustle. But she also knew that her brother was sensitive and had a strong self-esteem, so she pretended not to notice and found a teahouse with few people to rest on the pretext of being tired.

Ye Jinglan drank a sip of tea and wiped the sweat from his forehead before he came to his senses.

Ye Zhen encouraged him, "The candy house is just around the corner. You can see a long line from this far away. I guess they have come up with something new today."

"My brother is very good at predicting things. We are at the right place today."

Ye Jinglan forced a smile, and the fingers holding the teacup curled up and retracted, feeling a little overwhelmed. His skin was as white as Ye Zhen's, and their eyebrows and eyes were similar, but he was young and immature, not as lively as hers, but he was also very handsome.

Ye Jinglan spoke in a low voice, afraid of attracting other people's attention, "Sister, I, I don't want to leave, can you buy some for me?"

He felt that it was inappropriate for him to invite his elder sister out but not want to walk any longer at this moment. However, when he looked up and saw the densely packed crowd, he felt nervous and even scared.

It was fine when he was sitting, but on the way here just now, he didn't know if he was being too sensitive, but he always felt that many people were staring at his crutch and left foot.

When he was a child, his mother often cried when she looked at her lame left foot. When he arrived at the Ye family, his father looked at his foot with a complicated look. When the father and son met for the first time, Ye Yunsheng sighed regretfully, "This foot...can't be healed."

Because he had seen it so much, he gradually didn't want to, and didn't dare to, look at the disappointment and regret in other people's eyes. It would make him feel that he shouldn't live in this world. If he had died in the mountains, maybe they would still feel sympathy when they thought of him.

Ye Zhen chuckled and patted his hand to comfort him, "Okay, then wait for me."

When she left, she gave the boss some extra silver, asking him to book the tea stall for the next half hour and take good care of the young man inside. She would give him double the silver when she came back.

Ye Jinglan watched his sister's back quickly disappear in the crowd, his eyes slightly tightened, "Yuanbao, go over and take a look, don't let anyone squeeze my sister."

Yuan Bao was worried about him being here alone, "Second Miss asked me to take good care of you."

Ye Jinglan felt more and more useless, but he also knew that he had no right to get angry with anyone. He lowered his eyes and said, "Sister has booked the tea stall, no one will come in, you should follow her quickly."

"But sir..."

Ye Jinglan put down the teacup heavily, and the tea splashed on the back of his hand, "I can't control you anymore, right?"

Seeing that he was angry, Yuanbao dared not disobey. He walked out of the tea shed, looking back every few steps, wishing he could leave his eyes behind to feel at ease.

As soon as Yuanbao left, Ye Jinglan could no longer bear it, and he clenched his fists, his face twisted in pain. He didn't tell Ye Zhen that he couldn't walk much a year ago, and he had been in severe pain every night recently, so he had to endure the discomfort before going out in the morning.

The teahouse owner became nervous when he saw him like this, "Young Master, what's wrong with you?"

"Do you want me to find a doctor from East Street to come and see you?"

Ye Jinglan bit his lip and lowered his head, "No, no, I'm fine."

"Oh, it's like this, how can it be alright! Don't move, I'll go find someone. Your sister gave me so much money, I can't afford to compensate you if something happens to you."

"From the way you are dressed, you seem to be from a wealthy family. Don't try to blackmail me."

The boss thought that he had met a distinguished guest today and could get paid without having to work, but he had no idea that the young man was sick... He was anxious and spoke bluntly, but he had no ill intentions.

But Ye Jinglan was sensitive and didn't want to cause trouble to others, so he gritted his teeth, stood up, and staggered out, "I didn't blackmail you."

When the boss saw that he was still angry, he slapped his thigh and chased after him, "I said, don't run around, there are so many people and cars outside..."

Before he could finish his words, there was the sound of horse hooves passing by. Ye Jinglan was startled and fell to the side of the road. The crutch in his hand rolled out and hit the horse's hoof. The carriage jolted a few times and stopped in front of the tea stall.

The driver whipped Ye Jinglan in front of him and said, "Who dares to disturb the general's carriage?"

Ye Jinglan was frightened by a series of shocks, his head was buzzing, his whole body was shaking, and he couldn't hear what the other party was saying at all. When the owner of the teahouse saw that it was the carriage from the Marquis's Mansion, he hurriedly stopped, pulled off the cloth on his shoulders and pretended to wipe the table, saying that what was happening outside had nothing to do with him.

Li Chengge's guard said through the curtain, "It looks like he is a cripple."

The word "cripple" irritated Ye Jinglan. The boy's handsome eyes were filled with anger and grievance. "I'm not! I, I just..."

He became disabled only because he had no money for timely medical treatment; he was not disabled originally.

"Cripple?"

Ye Xue straightened up from Li Chengge's arms. She recognized the voice... as Ye Jinglan.

Jiaodi said to Li Chengge, "General, he is lame, but he is not stupid. There are so many vehicles coming and going, how come he scared ours?"

Li Chengge had been a little absent-minded the whole way and had no intention of pursuing the matter, but after hearing what Ye Xue said, he felt that someone was deliberately looking for trouble with him.

After all, the rumors outside these past two days were not favorable to him, and even the brothers in the North Camp avoided him.

As the saying goes, you can't afford to offend others, so how can he tolerate a mere cripple?

Li Chengge ordered the guards without thinking, "Drag him to a deserted corner and give him a few whips."

Ye Xue frowned, "How can we do this without anyone seeing us? We have to shock people in front of us."

Ye Xue leaned against Li Chengge like a boneless person. He felt bored and pushed her away. "This is a busy city. Your Majesty asked me to behave myself. Isn't it enough that I brought you to parade through the city today? Why are you showing off?"

Ye Xue didn't expect to be scolded by him, but she didn't dare to get angry. Forget it, Ye Jinglan would be whipped anyway. He was the person Ye Zhen cared about the most. In the past, Ye Xue just pulled the doctor aside to ask a few more questions, and Ye Zhen said that he had delayed Ye Jinglan's consultation time, so Cui punished him by making him kneel in the ancestral hall for a night.

"General, please forgive me. I am ignorant, but I am also trying to do good for you."

Li Chengge did not comfort her, and said bluntly, "If you know you are immature, just speak less. No one will ask you."

Ye Xue was deeply shocked. She blinked her almond-shaped eyes and asked, "General, do you not love me anymore?"

Li Chengge: “…”

Outside, two guards came forward to drag Ye Jinglan away. He screamed and dodged, his eyes bloodshot from excitement, looking very scary.

Ye Zhen came out with a hot candy in her pocket. She felt uneasy when she saw a lot of people gathered around the tea stall. She hadn't taken two steps when she heard Ye Jinglan's scream, and her heart was in her throat.

She pushed aside many people, rushed back, pushed the guards away, and hugged Ye Jinglan in her arms, "Don't be afraid, sister is here."

Ye Jinglan glanced at her in panic, then hid in her arms and trembled continuously.

The bloodshot eyes were like a blunt knife tugging at Ye Zhen's heart, and she choked up and couldn't speak. She shouldn't have left him. If she had known, she would have spent more money to jump the queue and buy the candy earlier, so that her brother wouldn't have been frightened.

"Ye Zhen?"

Li Chengge heard her voice and lifted the curtain. He saw her holding the young man tightly in her arms. Her expression was soft and sad. It was a look he had never seen before, and his heart trembled.