Hearing Ye Shaohua’s voice, the people from the Assassin Pavilion initially wanted to sneer.
But then something seemed to occur to them, and their gazes suddenly fixed on Ye Shaohua’s direction, as if trying to identify her.
Especially the leader.
His position in the Assassin Pavilion wasn’t very high—otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so close to the leader of a second-rate sect, nor would he have risked offending the imperial family to help that sect leader deal with someone.
The matter of the Assassin Pavilion changing masters hadn’t caused even a ripple in the martial world. Only the four highest-ranking hall masters knew about it, and as for why the master had suddenly been replaced, they kept their mouths shut.
So the people below them had no idea who the new master of the Assassin Pavilion actually was.
These things should have been a secret, yet Ye Shaohua—an utterly ordinary woman—had spoken of them.
The leader of the Assassin Pavilion stared at Ye Shaohua in shock, uncertain whether she was bluffing him or…
“Which hall master do you serve under?” Ye Shaohua asked in a low voice, seeing that Song Jingshu still hadn’t come back to her senses, continuing to question the man who had threatened to capture her.
The man looked at Ye Shaohua. “Hall Master Rong…”
“So you’re under Rong Yan,” Ye Shaohua said, waving her hand directly and putting away the silver needles in her hand. “Go back and report yourself to Rong Yan for punishment.”
Seeing that Ye Shaohua was actually holding six golden needles, their tips still glinting with traces of silver light—
Even though Ye Shaohua had already put the golden needles away, the man couldn’t help but shudder inside.
He’d been an assassin for so many years—what kind of poisoned weapons hadn’t he seen?
Not to mention this was a new type of hidden weapon that had only appeared in the Assassin Pavilion a few days ago.
He naturally knew that the six silver needles in her hand were each lethally poisoned. If she had struck just now, he might not have had any way to dodge.
Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out layer after layer on his forehead.
After all this, the man no longer believed Ye Shaohua was just an ordinary woman. Even though her beautiful face made her seem completely harmless, he didn’t let down his guard.
He only felt that she was incredibly mysterious.
Especially when he thought about what Ye Shaohua had just said.
He remembered that he and others had once asked Rong Yan what their new master was really like.
Rong Yan’s answer was something the man remembered clearly.
“Mysterious.”
Looking at Ye Shaohua again—she’d named Rong Yan directly, the poison-coated golden needles…
The names of the Assassin Pavilion’s four hall masters were just as mysterious as the master’s. If the man hadn’t followed Rong Yan for many years, he wouldn’t have known Hall Master Rong’s real name either.
And this woman before him had named it directly, and knew the Assassin Pavilion’s secrets.
Could it be…
Thinking of this, the man’s face filled with alarm. He gave Ye Shaohua a deep look, then waved his hand at his subordinates. “Senior, we apologize for the disturbance.”
Although he had some vague suspicions about Ye Shaohua’s identity, he didn’t probe further. Instead, he bowed to Ye Shaohua.
He wanted to contact Hall Master Rong immediately.
Ye Shaohua slid the silver needles back into her sleeve one by one before giving him two words: “Get lost.”
Those two words didn’t provoke any displeasure from the man. Unlike their arrogance when they arrived, they left very quietly.
Sikong Mingchen hadn’t even called over the imperial guards he’d brought yet, and he hadn’t clearly heard what Ye Shaohua said to the man afterward—their voices had been too low. Sikong Mingchen was still in the middle of being poisoned, so his internal energy was somewhat diminished.
His five senses were far from what they used to be.
He’d been thinking about what moves to use against these people, but never expected the Assassin Pavilion to just leave.
“Little Divine Doctor Ye, what did you say to that man?” Sikong Mingchen found it very strange—why would the Assassin Pavilion people suddenly leave?
The way he looked at Ye Shaohua now held a trace of confusion.
Ye Shaohua turned around calmly. “Nothing much. I just told them a piece of news.”
Sikong Mingchen felt something was off.
But Ye Shaohua paid him no more attention and instructed Dongxue, “Dongxue, take my cousin and the child inside first. Clean out the room next to mine, and tomorrow take them out to buy some things they’re missing.”
Dongxue snapped out of the fear from the earlier group of people.
Then she pulled Song Jingshu and her son inside.
Song Jingshu was completely dazed. She hadn’t expected her cousin to not only not despise her, but actually take her in.
“No need, Shaohua.” Although Ye Shaohua was kind-hearted, Song Jingshu still refused. Her cousin’s family was already in trouble, and it would be even harder for her to find a good match in the future. Being dragged down by a divorced woman like herself would only make her reputation worse.
Song Jingshu understood Ye Shaohua’s goodwill but didn’t accept it.
However, Ye Shaohua paid no attention to her refusal, having Dongxue take Song Jingshu inside and closing the Ye family’s door.
“Cousin, I didn’t expect you to come back, so I haven’t changed residences yet,” Ye Shaohua said, taking the bundle from Song Jingshu. “In a few days I’ll buy a new house to settle you and my nephew in. I guarantee you’ll live even more splendidly than before.”
Ye Shaohua knew about this cousin. In her memories, she and the original owner had been very close.
In the original storyline, this cousin was also divorced. At that time, the original owner’s reputation was even worse than her cousin’s. Song Jingshu not only didn’t despise her, but took her in and cared for her.
She’d been divorced by Li Mingde and hadn’t brought much silver with her, yet she was never stingy with the original owner, still raising her like a precious younger sister.
Not to mention, after Ye Shaohua transmigrated here, this was the only cousin who’d sent Dongxue silver in her time of need.
Ye Shaohua had already planned to settle Song Jingshu properly before leaving.
“I…” Song Jingshu hadn’t expected to hear Ye Shaohua say these things at a time like this. Thinking of the grievances she’d suffered at the Li family, she couldn’t help but silently weep.
Although she didn’t take Ye Shaohua’s words about “living even more splendidly than before” seriously—
Song Jingshu felt that having such a cousin made her life worthwhile.
“That’s right, Mother,” Song Jingshu’s son said, led by Dongxue. Young as he was, his eyes already showed sharpness. “That Concubine Shen’s brother only passed as second-place scholar. One day I’ll definitely pass as the top scholar and make you proud!”
Hearing Li Yuan’an’s words, Song Jingshu was comforted, but she shook her head. “So young, yet such ambition. Do you think just anyone can become the top scholar?”
“Who says you can’t?” Ye Shaohua hadn’t expected her nephew to have such spirit.
Not yet ten years old, yet willing to follow his mother out of the Li family to endure hardship. “Nephew, from now on you’ll study with me, your aunt. I guarantee you’ll pass as the top scholar within five years.”
Li Yuan’an grinned. “Deal.”
Hearing this, not to mention Song Jingshu, even Sikong Mingchen—who was still sitting on the wall and had just come back to his senses—couldn’t help shaking his head and laughing.
“Miss Ye, Divine Doctor, don’t think becoming the top scholar is so easy to achieve. If I’m not mistaken, the person you just mentioned should be the second-place scholar Shen. He’s only twenty this year and already passed as second-place scholar—that’s already a prodigy rarely seen in history, all because he has a great Confucian scholar as his teacher. In the future, don’t say things like this outside—it’ll just make people laugh.”
Neither of them took Ye Shaohua’s words seriously. They both thought Ye Shaohua probably didn’t know how hard it was to pass as the top scholar.
That’s why she’d said such a thing.
Concubine Shen’s brother was indeed greatly talented—even more outstanding than Li Mingde had been. Not yet twenty and already a second-place scholar, while Li Mingde had only passed as third-place scholar at twenty-four.
Just in terms of age, there was a gap of several years.
But Sikong Mingchen wasn’t looking down on Ye Shaohua. In his heart, Ye Shaohua was the peerless divine doctor of this world—whether or not one passed as the top scholar didn’t matter to the Ye family anymore.
If she was truly so extraordinary that she could actually teach Li Yuan’an to become top-scholar material, that would be what truly shocked Sikong Mingchen.
Ye Shaohua glanced at Sikong Mingchen. The plot she’d received didn’t include court affairs, so she’d only just learned that a twenty-year-old second-place scholar could astonish people this much.
“Little Divine Doctor Ye, we set out for the capital the day after tomorrow. What do you think?” Sikong Mingchen, seeing that the Assassin Pavilion people had left, brought up business, no longer mentioning the top scholar matter for fear of embarrassing Ye Shaohua.
He still found the Assassin Pavilion’s earlier behavior very strange. When Chu Yunmo returned, he planned to report it to him.
Ye Shaohua nodded. “Alright. Let me settle my cousin first.”
But she glanced at Li Yuan’an, thinking to herself that she should bring him along to the capital this time—but first she needed to see what his foundation was like.
She didn’t pay any mind to Sikong Mingchen’s and Song Jingshu’s attitudes.
If there was still much she needed to improve in the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles and the Yin-Yang Nine Needles, when it came to passing the imperial exams, Ye Shaohua was very confident.
A twenty-year-old second-place scholar was shocking?
She had once passed as the top scholar in a certain dynasty at not yet sixteen. So when it came to teaching someone to become the top scholar, Ye Shaohua felt—she might be about to upset the balance of this world again.
