Ye Lingyue's action this time implicated more people. With Master Ye Gu furious, he ordered to chase Wang Gui and his father out of the Ye family.
As for Ye Fengcheng and his son, they were both punished to twenty whippings, all because Ye Fengcheng didn't properly teach Ye Qing manners and morals. Ye Qing was also grounded and was made to reflect on his mistakes for a month. As a result, they made no more decisions regarding Ye Qing's injured hands.
Such a punishment was nothing to Ye Fengyu and her daughter. It wasn't enough for them to give up on their hatred.
Ye Fengyu's expression was grim as she left with Ye Lingyue.
"Stop there." Ye Gu's low voice stopped Ye Fengyu.
Ye Gu appeared in front of the mother and daughter. His face remained terribly tensed as hesitation flashed past his eyes.
Ye Lingyue tugged her mother's hand. She could tell that her grandpa was one with a soft heart despite his harsh words.
"Lingyue is already thirteen years old. From tomorrow onwards, she should go to the family's martial arts hall to learn martial arts." Ye Gu glanced at Ye Lingyue.
In the ancestral hall, Ye Qing and his father froze from what they've heard.
Ye Gu's words were for everyone to hear. Telling Ye Lingyue to attend martial arts class also meant that the Ye family master finally recognized her. From that day onwards, she was a member of the Ye family.
With what happened in the ancestral hall, the entire Ye family knew that Ye Lingyue wasn't a fool anymore.
The northern estate's allowance returned to normal as well. Ye Lingyue, her mother, and Aunt Liu finally had a better life.
However, it was difficult to thaw a block of ice. Ye Fengyu's relationship with the family master barely improved.
The next morning, Ye Lingyue's older cousin, Ye Yinshuang, appeared outside of the northern estate.
"Sister Lingyue, Grandpa told me to bring you to the martial arts hall." Ye Yinshuang was Ye Lingyue's second uncle's daughter. She was one year older than Ye Lingyue. She had tan skin and a round face and eyes, and she looked like she had a really good temper.
Yinshuang led Lingyue out of the Ye family estate.
Ye Yinshuang was fairly curious about Ye Lingyue as well. She had only heard from the adults that her Third Aunt's daughter was a mentally challenged girl who suddenly snapped out of her daze in the last few days.
When she saw Ye Lingyue, the girl looked really pretty and was very friendly as well. Ye Yinshuang immediately liked her the moment she saw her.
Since both were of the same age bracket, they got along really well together.
The Ye family's martial arts hall was on the southern side of the Autumn Maple town. It had a large field and several tiles-roofed houses.
The Ye family had been living in Autumn Maple town for over twenty generations and that was over five hundred years. Adding up the main family branch and the side family branches, there were several thousand family members. They were considered one of the top families in Autumn Maple town.
She had just entered the martial arts hall when she saw over seventy children and teenagers standing on the open field.
They arranged the children according to their age and were standing in four rows. The first row comprised of children aged six to eight years of age, followed by a row comprised of children aged nine to twelve years of age. Next to it are children aged 12 to 15 years of age, and the last row comprised of those over 15 years of age.
Every child was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and long pants made from rough fabric. Sweat covered their foreheads.
Since it was Ye Lingyue's first day at the martial arts hall, she didn't know anyone. Walking in with Ye Yinshuang already attracted the attention of several children from the side family branches.
"Sister Yinshuang, who is this pretty sister?" Ye Yinshuang was part of the main family. Seeing that the teenager she brought in was really pretty, all the children went forward to surround them.
"She's my younger sister from the main family, Ye Lingyue." Ye Yinshuang introduced her cousin.
However, hearing that she was Ye Lingyue, all the teenagers surrounding them moved away as if they'd seen a ghost.
"What's wrong?" It confused Ye Lingyue.
"It's because of Ye Qing. While he was being punished at home these past days, he said he will settle scores with you once he returns. However, you don't need to be afraid. We're not allowed to carry on personal fights in the martial arts hall. I will protect you on our way back and forth here." Ye Yinshuang waved her fist around, looking completely like an older sister. After all, she was on the third level of body tempering. Hence, she wasn't afraid of Ye Qing.
"Is Ye Qing very strong?" Ye Lingyue knew that after she had offended Ye Qing, he and his father would never back down on her.
"How strong can he be? He's just arrogant. The real powerful one is Ye Qing's older sister, Ye Liuyun." Ye Qingshuang wanted to say more when the head instructor of the martial arts hall arrived.
The two had no choice but to stop their conversation and start practicing.
Compared to Ye Fengyu's training routine, the training at the Ye family martial arts hall was nothing to Ye Lingyue.
It had only been one morning, but Ye Lingyue was already used to the hall's training.
When the hall dismissed them, Ye Lingyue thought of an excuse to part with Ye Yinshuang and went to the town's market alone.
Autumn Maple town's market was at the most crowded street in town.
The market sold all sorts of items, from medicinal herbs, weapons, and everyday items.
Even though the northern estate had regained their allowance and seemed like their lives had already improved, their allowance was only enough to settle the three's daily expenses. Ye Lingyue's allowance was only a pitiful twenty coins.
In the past, it might have been enough for the foolish Ye Lingyue. However, for Ye Lingyue, who wanted to break through to the third level of body tempering as soon as possible, it was far from being enough.
Ye Lingyue was already at the second level of body tempering. If she wanted to break through to the third level as soon as possible, she would need some medicinal support apart from training hard.
However, she only had the Gathering Elemental herbs, so she went to the market to see if there were any suitable herbs.
Besides, Ye Lingyue had another wish in mind—to find a spiritual herb that could heal her mother.
She must let her mother retake the genius title she once had.
That was why she needed money! A lot of money!