Chapter 29: Is She a Devil?

Chapter 29: Is She a Devil?

The young man on the bed tried to rise upon hearing the noise outside, but his injuries were too severe; he had barely made it halfway up when he was pressed back down.

"With wounds this heavy, can't you just lie still?"

Ye Shaoyang was only two years older than Ye Wanwan. Given her beauty, it was no surprise that he was also quite handsome. Apart from his devil-may-care attitude—lacking the refined aura of Leng Yunfang—his features were arguably even more striking. Unfortunately, at this moment, he was drenched in sweat from pain, grimacing and devoid of any charm.

"Ye Wanwan, go easy! Are you trying to murder me?"

His voice was full of vigor, suggesting his injuries weren't life-threatening after all.

"The Empress Dowager sent me to check on you. Where are you hurt?" She reached for his clothes as she spoke, startling him into clutching them shut.

"Ye Wanwan, what are you doing? Stop it! Tearing at a man’s robes—what kind of decorum is that?"

Ye Shaoyang barked twice, fuming with indignation. He slumped back onto the bed, weak and helpless. Looking at Ye Wanwan sitting by his bedside, he suddenly felt a sense of disorientation; he couldn't recall ever speaking to her so loudly before.

The siblings had long since grown distant. With her suddenly so close, he felt a lingering sense of awkwardness.

Silence fell in the room, cold and stifling, following their brief exchange.

Ye Shaoyang coughed a few times. "So... how are you faring in the palace?"

Aloof, polite, and mutually speechless—this was the true state of their sibling bond.

"What do you think?"

Ye Wanwan reached out, but the moment her fingers touched his lapel, he grabbed her wrist. She wasn't surprised and took the opportunity to press down hard.

"Ah!" Caught off guard by the strike, Ye Shaoyang let out a pained cry.

Ye Wanwan remained expressionless. "Brother, does it hurt?"

Ye Shaoyang glared at her. "What are you doing?"

Ye Wanwan looked at him coldly, her gaze piercing straight into his eyes. She leaned in closer, her voice soft as a breeze, yet it sent shivers down his spine: "I intercepted that letter and deliberately had it delivered to you. I also arranged for the men who attacked you; I never intended for you to survive."

Ye Shaoyang’s eyes widened in shock, unable to believe what he was hearing.

Amidst his stunned gaze, Ye Wanwan smiled brightly. "Brother, would you do a favor for your sister?"

Ye Shaoyang’s face turned a shade of bruised purple, whether from pain or fury, it was hard to tell. Asking him for a favor? After she had nearly taken his life? How could she even say such a thing? Was she a devil?

Ye Wanwan knew exactly what he was thinking. She toyed with her fingernails nonchalantly. "They all think my brother is a good-for-nothing, a piece of trash that can't be molded. But I know better—I know that my brother understands everything, sees everything. And yet, you watched as I jumped into the abyss. Ha, Ye Shaoyang, you deserve the suffering you’ve endured."

"Wanwan, what on earth has happened to you?" Ye Shaoyang felt a sense of panic. Though he hadn't yet recovered from the realization that she wanted him dead, she was, after all, his sister; how could he not be concerned?

Ye Wanwan tilted her head listlessly. "Nothing happened. I just suddenly saw things clearly."

She looked at Ye Shaoyang, her beautiful peach-blossom eyes shimmering, yet the depths of her gaze were clouded with heavy mist, devoid of any vitality.

"I’ll give you two choices. If you want to continue living in a daze as you have been, then stay away from me, or else I can't guarantee you won't truly die by my hand one day. But if you choose not to leave... brother, can you protect me?"

Her voice held no emotion, only an infinite, hollow sorrow. It didn't sound like a plea; it sounded like a statement of something utterly mundane.

Ye Shaoyang stared at her, dazed, suddenly feeling as though he didn't recognize this sister of his, and as though he had done something terribly wrong.

"Wan'er..."

Ye Wanwan stood up and offered him a faint smile. Her expression was so dainty and lovely that it felt as if everything he had just seen was a hallucination.

"I must return now. Don't worry, I will copy Buddhist scriptures in the palace to pray for your recovery."

Ye Shaoyang thought: *I’m truly overflowing with gratitude.*

Long after she left, Ye Shaoyang’s mind remained in total chaos. Was that really his sister? When did she become so ruthless? Her ability to shift her expression so rapidly—from sorrowful to playful—left him breathless and unable to process the transition. It was as if she were two different people.

Surely, it wasn't real?