You Yi looked at her. “You silly girl. That man isn’t too bad, I know, but who can predict the human heart? Who can guarantee that he’ll take care of you forever?” he said. “It’s always good to have a backup plan.”
“Thank you… but you… don’t have any reason to help me. I’m just the daughter of an old flame.”
“That’s enough of a reason for me,” You Yi replied.
Those few words were enough to halt any objections from Yan Qingsi.
“I owe your mother her life. But I can’t return that debt now,” You Yi said. “Luckily you’re still around. Let me help somehow; I’ll feel better about it.”
Yan Qingsi looked at him, did not know what to say to comfort him.
She considered the thought for a while. “You… You’re all right… right?” Yan Qingsi asked.
“I’m more than all right. I’m finally awake.”
He was finally awake from his dream of reuniting with her after 17 years.
Yan Qingsi silently released a breath. His dream of a reunion was shattered at what was supposed to be the sweetest moment. Only he knew how painful it was.
“You told me that you would tell me more about the circumstances surrounding your mother’s death.”
Yan Qingsi turned the thought over in her head. “I had always assumed that Yan Songnan and Ye Lingzhi had worked together to kill my mother,” she told You Yi, in the end, “but I’m not too sure now.”
“What happened?” You Yi asked quickly.
“You know that Yan Songnan is dead.”
“I do.”
“Did you think that I killed him?” Yan Qingsi spread her arms open and said, “I did not kill Yan Songnan. I had kept him around because he was useful. I’d told Yan Songnan that if he revealed the truth of my mother’s death and outed Ye Lingzhi, thus erasing all accusations my mother had received, I would spare him. He had said that he would think it over, but… he suddenly died right before he was to arrange a meeting with me.
“I thought Ye Shaoguang had done it at first. But Ye Shaoguang told me that it wasn’t him afterward. He did have the intention to murder Yan Songnan, but he didn’t even move a finger when Yan Songnan died. The circumstances of his death are unclear even till now.”
You Yi’s expression hardened the moment Yan Qingsi finished speaking. It was as though a thick layer of ice and snow blanketed his face; a frightening hostility burned in his eyes.
Yan Qingsi sighed. “I always thought that I knew the truth, but now… I don’t know what secrets remain hidden the year my mother died. I didn’t raise a hand against Ye Lingzhi because of this. I don’t just want to avenge my mother—I want to dig out the entire truth. I can’t let her death remain shrouded in mystery.”
You Yi was smart. He had a firm grasp on all sorts of schemes and strategies; he practically understood everything when Yan Qingsi finished speaking.
Aside from Yan Songnan and the Ye family, there was a third party pulling strings in the background. They did not want the truth to come out. He feared that if Yan Qingsi did find “them” if she continued investigating, they would silence her too.
You Yi remembered the assassination attempt on Yan Qingsi in Hai City; he wondered if it had any connection to everything else.
“I understand. I’ll investigate everything. That time when you were almost assassinated? It’s not resolved yet. You’re not safe. I’m going back to Hai City for a while. Why don’t you come with me, since you don’t have a place to stay here?”
Yan Qingsi shook her head. “I can’t. I won’t go with you.”
“Because of Yue Tingfeng?”
Yan Qingsi flashed a bitter smile. “No. It’s because of your nephew.”
You Yi was surprised. “You Xi?”