Chapter 318: Xiao Hu's Father Contracts an Incurable Disease

The next day, a burst of wailing and shouting rang up to the heavens in front of the Ye Residence's main gate.

"A Ran, I'm sorry to you! It was all my fault back then; I shouldn't have abandoned you and your child!"

"I know I was wrong; please forgive me and let me see you and your child once!"

"I beg you! I swear I'll treat you well from now on!"

While this man shouted and wailed at the Ye Residence's gate, nose running and tears streaming, the gate remained tightly shut, unmoved. Yet it attracted a crowd of passing Xiliang City townsfolk.

"What's going on? Who is this beggar? Why is he making a scene in front of the Prime Minister's Residence?"

"Who knows? Something about asking Ye Qingran to forgive him, to let him see his mother and child…"

"Ah, could this be that Wild Man of Ye Qingran?"

In front of the Ye Residence's gate, a man knelt and sat.

To be precise, he looked like a beggar. His hair was matted, his clothes ragged, his whole body filthy, and several flies buzzed around him. Up close, a strong sour stench could be smelled.

Someone curiously stepped forward and asked, "Friend, what's wrong with you? Did someone at the Prime Minister's Residence bully you?"

The beggar, upon seeing the person, seemed to glimpse hope, rubbing his eyes as he complained, "No! I'm here to see my woman and my son!"

"Your woman and son? Is your woman a maid at the Prime Minister's Residence?" the person laughed.

The beggar shook his head, "No, my woman is the Prime Minister's Residence's young lady, Ye Qingran!"

One stone raised a thousand ripples.

If one could infer anything from his earlier wailing, then now it can be basically confirmed.

"My heavens, is this man really the Wild Man who took Ye Qingran years ago?"

"Is it true? This is the man who stole Ye Qingran's purity back then?"

"My god, Ye Qingran's man is actually a beggar?!"

The crowd showed intrigued expressions. Who could have imagined that the dignified Dingyuan General's Daughter, the Prime Minister's Residence's young lady Ye Qingran, had her first encounter taken by a beggar?

At this very moment, inside the Ye Residence.

"What's happening outside?" Zhao Shi asked leisurely while sipping tea.

The maid replied, "Beggar Li Si has been shouting outside for over half an hour; hundreds to thousands of onlookers have gathered, blocking the Ye Residence's gate completely.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shi smiled coldly, "In that case, we can step in as well!"

Ye Qingran, this time, I won't let you be disgraced!

Squeak~

With a sound, the tightly sealed Prime Minister's Residence gate slowly opened, and a dignified, elegant figure stepped out.

"Who is shouting in front of my Ye Residence's gate?!" Zhao Shi barked sternly.

When Li Si saw Zhao Shi appear, his eyes flickered, and he knelt and approached, "Madam, you must be siding with me!"

Zhao Shi cast a disgusted glance at Beggar Li Si and stepped back two paces without a trace.

"What do you want me to help you with?"

Li Si lifted his head; his face was covered in tangled beard and ugly features.

"Madam, to be frank, I'm Li Si, and it was I who stole the purity of the Ye Family's young lady, Ye Qingran, back then!"

Zhao Shi's eyes bulged, "What? The Wild Man who took our Qingran and made her bear a child was you, this beggar?"

Beggar Li Si nodded in admission, "It was me! Back then I and A Ran had a secret bond before birth; fearing the Prime Minister's Residence would punish me, I abandoned her and left..."

"Then how dare you come back now?"

"The doctor said I have an incurable disease, with little time left. As a dying man, what is there to fear? I just want to see A Ran and our child before I die..."

Everyone was stunned.

Zhao Shi lowered her eyes slightly, masking the smugness in her gaze.

At that moment, Ye Qingran, who had just returned from Wuhen's residence with her child, was spotted by a keen-eyed onlooker.

"Look, Ye Qingran is back, over there!"

Everyone's gaze fell on a carriage slowly rolling toward the Ye Residence.

"Miss, something seems to be happening in front of the Ye Residence's gate; a crowd has gathered," Leng Yue noticed the anomaly ahead and frowned.

Especially the way those people looked toward this side gave her a foreboding feeling.

Ye Qingran lifted the hanging curtain and, upon looking, her complexion darkened.

"Ignore it, keep moving."

The carriage stopped at the Ye Residence's gate, and all eyes fixed on it.

Ye Qingran stepped down from the carriage, a peerless beauty, radiant beyond compare. No matter what, the crowd could not associate the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady‑like woman before them with that beggar. One was a celestial moon, the other a filthy gutter.

Did Ye Qingran hand over her purity to this beggar?

What on earth is she thinking?

When Zhao Shi saw Ye Qingran, a cold smile rose within her.

She knew Ye Qingran would leave the house today, timing it so Li Si could appear, thereby blowing the matter wide open and drawing many Xiliang City townsfolk to watch. After today, everyone will spread the word: the Prime Minister's Residence's Ye Qingran handed her purity to a good‑for‑nothing beggar! Her child is the beggar's offspring!

Ye Qingran will ultimately become the laughingstock of the entire Xiliang City!

"Qingran, you're back?!" She deliberately acted as if she were warmly pleased to see Ye Qingran.

"What's happening?" Ye Qingran's gaze swept over the crowd, asking with a smile.

"Qingran, it's this way: Xiao Hu's Father has arrived! Over there, go greet him!" Zhao Shi pointed at Beggar Li Si.

"Xiao Hu's Father?" Ye Qingran's eyebrows lifted slightly, "How could I not know that Xiao Hu's Father has risen from the dead?" Implicitly, Xiao Hu's Father is already dead. (Fu Hanxiu: offended!)

"You child, how can you speak!" Zhao Shi glared at Ye Qingran, then earnestly advised, "I know you're still angry at the child's father. As the saying goes, quarrels at the head of the bed, peace at the foot—there's no lingering grudge between spouses. Moreover, Xiao Hu's Father has an incurable disease and will soon… can't you, for the sake of the child, choose to forgive him?"