The Virgin Mary in the Book: I Decide My Life with Two Swords

Cang Yue Kingdom - Capital - Imperial Palace

Nangong Hanyi was very satisfied with Ye Ling's performance. He immediately got to the point: "Ye Ling, I summoned you here today for one reason. I heard that you have a crush on one of my sons. Which one is it? After your father died in battle, I once said that I would fulfill a wish for his orphaned daughter. So, today I am fulfilling my promise."

"Father, I don't agree," Nangong Xuan said immediately. He didn't want to marry this country bumpkin.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, do you want His Majesty to take back his promise and betray his loyalty?" Leng Ruxue asked.

"Grand Master, you're being too polite!" Ye Tingxun, standing by, could no longer stand. He didn't want Ye Ling to ruin his daughter Ye Yun's happiness. "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is the heir to the throne of my Cang Yue Kingdom. His family must be worthy of virtue and integrity. This niece of mine is so immoral and incompetent that she absolutely cannot be accepted!"

"Your Majesty," Ye Ling couldn't bear to listen any longer. "May I ask the Crown Prince and Ye Taibao a few words?"

"Ask, I'll make the decision for you today, just ask whatever you want." Nangong Hanyi also wanted to suppress Ye Tingxun's arrogance.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Ye Ling said, looking at Ye Tingxun first. "Uncle, you said I am immoral and incompetent. I admit that, but there is one thing I don't understand. My father had his own courtyard and property bestowed upon him by Your Majesty. Why did I receive nothing after his death? My aunt even drove me away to a farm in the countryside?"

"Taibao Ye, in front of His Majesty, please tell us where General Ye's pension went?" Leng Ruxue said with a sneer.

For a moment, the atmosphere returned to silence. Ye Ting glared at Ye Ling, then bowed, "Your Majesty, please do not listen to her nonsense. My third brother was killed in battle, and this child was very young, so I was entrusted with his belongings for safekeeping. As for going to the manor, she volunteered to do so, not because my wife forced her to go."

"I see! My father's belongings and my mother's dowry are all kept by my great uncle. That's good. They weren't stolen by some despicable thief. I was really young and ignorant back then." Ye Ling knew she had no evidence to prove her trip to the manor, so she didn't waste her words. She turned to look at Nangong Xuan and said, "Your Highness, what did you just say you disagreed with?"

"You know it well, why are you pretending? You even committed suicide by cutting your wrists." Nangong Xuan said with disgust.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince actually knows the reason why I committed suicide by cutting my wrists?" Ye Ling pretended to be surprised.

"Ye Ling, I also want to hear the reason," said Nangong Hanyi.

Ye Ling looked towards the throne again and knelt down with a plop: "Your Majesty, I really... really can't bring myself to say this! Family disgrace should not be aired in public."

"You said that no one would dare to spread what you said today." Nangong Hanyi was also a little puzzled.

"Thank you very much for your grace, Your Majesty. The reason I committed suicide was to ask my uncle to give me some of my father's money. I was penniless and really... too hungry. I didn't want to make my grandfather worry, so I had no other choice but to resort to this last resort." Ye Ling squeezed out two tears as she spoke.

Nangong Hanyi was slightly surprised and then spoke: "My dear minister, what do you want to say? I remember that I ordered all the pensions to be given to Ye Ling. What's wrong? My dear minister, you don't want to give it to me anymore?"

"Your Majesty, this old minister has absolutely no such intention..."

"Uncle, please don't use my young age as an excuse. Your niece is already eighteen years old and an adult. Is it because you have spent all my father's pension, property and mother's dowry, so you find all kinds of excuses and refuse to give it to me?" Ye Ling asked with his head tilted.

"Don't talk nonsense. Your father's pension, the property rewarded by His Majesty, and your mother's dowry are all in the warehouse." Ye Ting replied angrily. He never expected that Ye Ling would ask for money in front of the emperor today. He was really unprepared.

"Since you're here, that's good." Ye Ling turned around and said, "Your Majesty, you just said you could fulfill one of your wishes, and I'll make it right away."

"Okay, tell me, I'll take care of it for you." How could Nangong Hanyi not see that Ye Tingxun wanted to take all the things left by Ye Tingzhan for himself, and he didn't want to let this old thief succeed.

Ye Ling spoke immediately, "Your Majesty, please have my uncle return my father's pension, property, and mother's dowry to me before sunset tomorrow. Also, please issue an order severing all ties with the Ye family. From now on, I will be alone, unaffected by their misfortunes and blessings. Also, I will choose my own marriage, and no one else may interfere. Please grant this order. Here is the bill for all my belongings."

"What? You are so unreasonable!" Ye Ting was furious.

"What do you mean, uncle? Don't you want to pay back the money or don't want to sever ties? Or do you want His Majesty to retract his previous order?" Ye Ling immediately asked back.

"You... Your Majesty, I never meant that." Ye Tingxun quickly admitted his mistake.

Nangong Hanyi ignored Ye Tingxun and looked carefully at the two lists that Ye Ling had just taken out: "It's written in great detail. They are indeed the things I rewarded to General Ye. I want Lord Leng to check if there are any mistakes in the dowry."

Leng Ruxue looked at it and nodded: "It is indeed my daughter's dowry back then."

Ye Ling didn't give anyone a chance to breathe and continued, "Your Majesty, you just said that you would fulfill one of your wishes. I have said it now, and I hope Your Majesty will grant it."

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely not possible. If this happens, how will people outside view me?" Ye Tingxun cared a lot about his reputation.

"Uncle, aren't you ashamed to say this? You drove me to the farm, and now you say I did it voluntarily. I have no way to defend myself. Today I voluntarily leave the Ye family and don't bother you anymore. Even this is not acceptable? Aren't father's things all in the warehouse? If uncle doesn't want to give them to me, just say so," said Ye Ling.

"What are you talking about? Has our family treated you badly?"

"Uncle, just before my father-in-law arrived, your daughter brought people to beat me up, saying that I stole the father of her unborn child. I don't even know which wild man he was talking about. I really couldn't stand being bullied any more." Ye Ling said, turning around and saying, "I beg Your Majesty to grant me a favor."

"Ye Ling, what nonsense are you talking about? What baby in the womb? How can you slander Yun'er's innocence so casually?" Ye Ting was almost angry to death.

"Uncle, if it's true, go back and ask your aunt, grandmother, and your daughter, and you'll know. Oh, and if that doesn't work, why not ask His Majesty to send an imperial physician?"

"You... Your Majesty, this girl is crazy."

"I don't think so." Nangong Hanyi's face darkened: "Come here, let the imperial physician go to the night..."

"Father," Nangong Xuan quickly knelt down: "The child in Yun'er's belly is... is mine."

"How outrageous!" Nangong Hanyi was furious. "How disgraceful, Ye Tingxun, is this how you educate your daughter?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down." Ye Tingxun and everyone else knelt down.

Nangong Hanyi looked at everyone and said, "Ye Tingxun, I order you to return all of Ye Tingzhan and his wife's belongings to Ye Ling before sunset tomorrow. Furthermore, from today on, Ye Ling will have no further connection with your Ye family, regardless of our fortune or misfortune. Eunuch Li, give the two bills to Ye Taibao. Furthermore, Ye Ling has no parents and has severed ties with the Ye family. She is free to decide her own marriage, and no outsiders may interfere."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace." Ye Ling quickly kowtowed to express his gratitude, feeling very happy.

"Your Majesty... obeys your order." Ye Tingxun was so angry that his teeth were itching, but he didn't dare to refute the imperial edict.

Unexpectedly, Nangong Hanyi didn't finish his words and continued, "There's one more thing. The eldest daughter of the Ye family has corrupted female virtues and is not qualified to be the Crown Princess. For the sake of the prince in her womb, she will be admitted to the palace as a concubine. Let the Ministry of Rites prepare and bring her in on any day. There's no need for a grand ceremony. Wait until the prince marries his principal wife."

"Your son/old minister obeys your order," Nangong Xuan and Ye Tingxun said in unison.

"Okay, we're all tired today, let's go!" Nangong Hanyi said, then stood up and left through the back door.

Ye Ling stood up and went to help Leng Ruxue up, then looked at Ye Tingxun and said, "Master Ye, before sunset tomorrow, move all of my father and mother's things out of your house. In addition, if you want my father's yard, you have to convert it into money, otherwise I will sell it."

"Ye Ling, why do you want to harm Yun'er?" Nangong Xuan asked sternly.

"Your Highness, when did I harm her? Is telling the truth considered harming someone? Why weren't you afraid of harming her when you went to bed with her? Why are you pretending to be so noble in front of me at this time? Also, I am a person who will never let go of my grudges. Ye Tingxun, go back and ask your daughter what she has done to me in the past few years. Sooner or later, I will make her pay me back. Don't forget before sunset tomorrow!" After saying this, Ye Ling turned around and supported Leng Ruxue to slowly walk out of the hall.

Leng Ruxue was very happy today: "Girl, why are you so cheerful all of a sudden?"

"I listened to grandpa's words. If I don't commit suicide once, how can I ask His Majesty to order the return of my father's things? How can I cut off contact with the Ye family, right?" Ye Ling said as he walked, holding Leng Ruxue's arm.

"Haha...Grandpa knew you were not a silly child."

"That's right. By the way, Grandpa, there's one thing I don't understand. Why did His Majesty agree so quickly? And why is he so angry about Ye Yun's pregnancy?"

"Girl, you don't understand the dynamics of the court. The Crown Prince and the Ye family have joined forces. Ye Tingxun's connections in the court are almost as strong as your grandfather's. His son, Ye Jingyun, is the commander of the border troops. This gives the Crown Prince even more power. Your Majesty is not yet in his twilight years, so how could he allow the Crown Prince to dominate alone?"

"Your Majesty, would you like to take this opportunity to give the Ye family and the Crown Prince a warning?"

"You're smart. If you want to accomplish something, you have to judge the situation. The right time, right place, and right people are all essential. Today, the atmosphere is right and the timing is perfect, so you succeeded easily. Girl, serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. No one knows His Majesty's thoughts. The emperor's authority cannot be challenged by anyone, not even his own son. You are lucky, girl, and you chose the right time. That's why everything goes as you wish! From now on, you will live in Grandpa's house. Grandpa won't let anyone bully my girl."

"Grandpa, I want to make my own way. I don't want to be a caged bird. When I get tired, I will go home. You are my biggest support."

"It's dangerous for girls to be outside"

"Grandpa, don't worry! I will protect myself well. Just wait and see. I will definitely become the world's first heroine. By the way, is father's fortune very large? How many carriages are needed to pull it all?"

"Your mother's dowry alone is incalculable. His Majesty's reward and the court's pension, oh my! At least a dozen carriages are needed. Grandpa will give you fifteen and send people to escort you to retrieve your belongings."

"Okay, thank you grandpa, you are so kind." Ye Ling knew very well that Leng Ruxue was the only person in the world who was sincere to her.