Duke Ye went 9 generation's worth of knee lengths deep into a panic attack upon hearing what his grandson had said. Assuming these accusations are true, perhaps he could remind the emperor of his part in removing the previous corrupt emperor from the throne to minimize the punishment his foolish daughter and the rest of his family will have thrown upon them for most of the charges….. the last one about assisting in the assassination of an imperial prince however…. that is a guarantee for his Ye family's destruction.
"Boy!!!! This is a serious matter you are claiming, so if I later find out you're lying to me, nor your father or your mother will save you from being beaten to death!!!"
"Grandfather, I swear upon everything possible that I'm telling the truth. If the emperor's servants see our family's traditionally lavish way of celebrating a new life with the charge of embezzlement hanging over our heads... it would not bode well for the Ye family." Ye Wei explained, "But if I truly am lying grandfather, then end this lowly grandchild's life in any way you see fit."
"Arghhhh… you stay there while I go to your father and 3rd uncle!"
Duke Ye leaves his study at that moment, however, upon walking through the door he sees the maidservant that he originally ordered to take Ye Wei back to his room. The maidservant immediately bows to the duke upon seeing him.
"Your lordship, have you seen the youngest master? He had regained consciousness and slipped out of my hold."
"You incompetent maid!!!" the duke yelled, "He returned to my study."
Feeling fear for her life, the young maidservant kowtows before the duke.
"Eeeep…. yes…. Since this lowly maid knows she has done wrong… please punish me."
"Never mind….. I don't have the time to deal with the likes of you. Just make sure you take him back to his room and get some bandages for his injuries this time." Duke Ye ordered, "Fail again and I will see that we punish you under military law rather than family rules."
"This servant will not screw up, lord duke!"
The panicking Duke Ye quickly hurries back to the family dining room where 2 of his 3 sons continue to catch up as requested. Conveniently the aforementioned 2 sons happened to not be standing far from the door their father came in.
"Ah father, were you able to find your wine?" Ye Yong asked.
"Shut the f*** you unfilial brat! How dare you talk about drinking wine right now?!"
As if frustrated by his son's question, Duke Ye immediately slaps him across the face, much to the shock of Ye Yong and his younger brother Ye Bingwen.
"Father….. you hit me… again?"
"Yes, father…. despite considering the circumstances, don't you think you're overreacting?"
"Shut up the both of you!!! I'll decide how to punish those that deserve it."
The Duke then moves over to the table where he glances over the fancy (and ironically named) China adorned on top of it.
"Damn…. I must have forgotten them in my study." Duke Ye mumbled to himself as he quickly looked at both of his hands, "Boys, answer me yes or no right now... and the answer better be yes, but do you have your interspatial rings on you?"
Ye Yong and Ye Bingwen, are both still confused by what was going on, awkwardly raise their left and right hand respectively, of which each had a hexagonal-shaped ring.
"Good, now stuff all the tableware into the rings. Do it now!"
"Why?"
"F***, you dare defy me, boy?! I'm ordering you to do it or face the wrath of punishment under military law!!"
The two younger Ye siblings immediately got to work on their father's orders as they recall dreadful memories whenever the words "military punishment" come up. Each sibling stood on one side of the dinner table grabbing a random object on it, waving them over the hands holding their interspatial rings and subsequently disappearing in a dull flash of light as they sprinted to the other end.
"I think….. we're done, father." Ye Bingwen said as he gave the table a second look.
"Yes father…. my wife is about to give birth to your second grandchild... just what the heck is going on?"
"Well, I-"
"Well, I too would like to know where all the yelling was coming from."
Duke Ye and his two sons turned to face the person who spoke up only to discover that it was an imperial eunuch with closed yet slanted eyes and a wide s*** eating grin on his face that makes him look like the very epitome of "shady" standing in one doorway.
"Father, what is…. what is he doing here?" Ye Yong asked.
"I also want to father…. as all of us who live in the capital are familiar with that eunuch's reputation."
"Ah, s***…. that stupid grandson of mine was right…. my Ye family may very well meet its end tonight." Duke Ye thought.
Amongst the various eunuch's in the Qin empire's royal palace, the most famous to the powerful and wealthy families in the capital are Eunuch Bai and Eunuch Yunfei because of being the emperor's personal eunuchs in charge of handling official and unofficial matters, respectively.
"Hmm…. is there something amusing on my face I don't know about?" Eunuch Yunfei asked in a confused tone.
A few seconds later a guard dressed in full armor runs in after Eunuch Yunfei and immediately kowtows before Duke Ye upon seeing him.
"Forgive this lowly guard for not doing his duty my lord, but this eunuch refused to wait for me to tell you."
In fact, there is a saying about these two that goes around the powerful families of Qin. There is some slight variation in word choice, but it is said that "If the emperor sends Eunuch Bai then you get a chance to climb to the heavens, but if he sends Eunuch Yunfei, you are all but guaranteed a trip to hell."
"Greetings Eunuch Yunfei, it's just that my wi-"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! GET THIS THING OUT ALREADY!!!"
"Well perfect timing…. anyway, it's just that my wife is giving birth to our second child."
"Ah… that's disappointing. From the pain I heard in that voice, I thought prisoners of war were being tortured for information." Eunuch Yunfei said in a disturbingly straight face.
"At any rate, it honors us to have one of his majesty's most trusted eunuchs visit us for what is about to be a cheerful occasion." Duke Ye said in a purposely subservient tone, "I'll have a servant bring you a cup of tea."
"I appreciate the gesture your grace, but it is unnecessary. Truthfully, Eunuch Bai was originally to be the one that came instead, however, his majesty asked him to take care of something else last minute so the task fell to me instead."
"Then could it be my grandson was wrong about what he heard?" Duke Ye thought.
But the duke dismisses that thought as quickly as it had appeared as from what he knows about Eunuch Bai, if his Ye family was truly receiving news of an award that he couldn't be present for... he would send a junior eunuch that had his jewels freshly removed before sending this infamous closed-eyed sadist.
"His majesty requested that this lowly eunuch invite the adult men of the Ye family for a "friendly discussion" in the palace."
"Forgive me Eunuch Yunfei, but I do not wish to be away from my wife while she's suffering to bring our 2nd child into the world." Ye Yong explained as he respectfully bows to the eunuch.
"You stupid bo-"
"It is fine your grace… as his majesty already understood that there was the possibility that one or more of the men of the Ye family would decline his invitation and would not hold it against you."
"He…. did?" Ye Yong asked.
"He did…. his majesty also told this lowly servant that if any man of the Ye family declined his invitation, I was to invite them again with the promise that they'd never have to worry about any of their three legs again."
At that moment Ye Yong felt a cold breeze pass under his crotch as he instinctively crossed his legs a bit.
"Heh heh…. Then naturally we would never dare to say no if the emperor wishes to invite the Ye family for a friendly chat, however, given the fact that my second daughter-in-law is in labor…" Duke Ye sighed as he realized there was no way out of this mess.
"Human life is naturally valuable, so I'm sure the emperor will understand if Duke Ye wishes to make the arrangements for this sudden trip. I'll just wait outside with the carriage I came in." Eunuch Yunfei said as he turned around to leave without giving the duke even the slightest bit of face, "Oh…. and before I forget… you may wish to send someone to check in on your door guards…. since they refused to let me in despite the chilly weather, so naturally, I taught them a lesson."
"Thank you for being so understanding, Eunuch Yunfei."
It annoyed the duke that a measly eunuch would slap his face by beating up his guards in front of his own home, but he wouldn't dare to show it on his face right now.
"Naturally…. Just don't take too long with your preparations as childbirth is often dangerous to the mother's life in more ways than one."
Ye Yong took a step forward towards the eunuch as it naturally angered him that someone would dare to blatantly threaten his wife in his face. He was just seconds away from unleashing the might of his cultivation and force of presence.
"Don't bother." Ye Bingwen said as he grabbed his older brother's arm, "If you act it will only make whatever trouble our Ye family is in far worse than it needs to be."
"You are right, little 3rd." Ye Yong said as he took a deep breath to calm down, "I thank you for preventing me from making a foolish mistake."
A few minutes later, word is already being sent back to the various powers operating in the capital that people witnessed an imperial carriage escorted by members of the Royal Guard departing from the Ye family residence. This convoy went down a road that ran alongside the Ye family manor to save time, of which was conveniently in the view of a certain someone's bedroom.
"I remember….. with that Eunuch having the charge of embezzlement on the mind... he gave a scathing report to the emperor about the Ye family's tradition of a lavish celebration regarding my sister's birth." Ye Wei thought as he looked out the window, "I couldn't stop this from happening... but can only hope my warning reduces the punishment his majesty will give by even a little."