Chapter 106: The Roar of the Eastern River Lioness

The stout woman, upon seeing a seductive young beauty emerge from the room, was instantly overcome with jealousy. Her bloated, heavy face twisted into a hideous mask of rage as she shrieked, "Little Leafy! Explain this to me right now—what is going on?"

She was Lady Cui, the wife of Ye Jishan, and "Little Leafy" was none other than Ye Jishan himself. To think that a grown man, a prefectural governor who held sway over the local government offices, was reduced to such a ridiculous, comical nickname in her mouth. Given Ye Jishan’s formidable status, neither the garrison soldiers nor the maids dared to laugh; they merely covered their mouths to stifle their amusement or pretended to cough to mask their reactions.

Ye Jishan’s ear was firmly gripped, forcing him to stand on tiptoe. Grimacing in pain, he pleaded, "Ouch, ouch! Easy, take it easy!"

The woman didn't loosen her grip; instead, she tightened it and roared, "Speak! If you can't give me a proper explanation, I’ll reach in and rip out your gizzards to feed the dogs!"

Ye Jishan wanted to explain, but how could he? Li Dong had clearly been locked inside the room, with a dozen garrison soldiers guarding the door and maids watching day and night. Yet, in the blink of an eye, the man had transformed into a delicate, alluring woman. What was even more maddening was that this woman recognized him and addressed him as her husband.

Ye Jishan was a man of devious nature, two-faced and treacherous. However, his wife was a daughter of the Cui family from Zhangqiu. Relying on her powerful background and vast connections, she had helped him secure his position after their marriage. Through opportunistic scheming and climbing the ranks, Ye Jishan had only managed to become a prefectural governor by the time he reached forty. Despite his power, Lady Cui never truly respected him. Since their marriage, she had known all his dirty tricks and held evidence of his many scandalous secrets.

After giving birth, Lady Cui had gained significant weight and lost her looks, and as her temper grew, she became utterly intolerant of Ye Jishan’s philandering. Ye Jishan, fearing her, usually chose to retreat and appease her. He hadn't expected that after Zhang Xutuo’s visit today, she would erupt in a fit of rage, accusing him of keeping a mistress. After a brief argument, she had dragged him by the ear into their carriage and brought him here, aggressively demanding he produce evidence of his innocence.

Ye Jishan had known perfectly well that the person locked inside was Li Dong. He hadn't been afraid; he had even been secretly relieved that she hadn't discovered his visit to Yan Ruyu at the Yan Chun Pavilion yesterday. But upon arriving at the courtyard, the person who emerged was not Li Dong, but Yan Ruyu herself. He panicked completely. Like a cat caught stealing fish or a thief caught red-handed, he felt his chest tighten, his limbs go weak, and he stood tongue-tied, unable to utter a single word.

Ye Jishan, all bluster and no backbone, demanded the garrison soldiers explain what had happened. A soldier stammered, "I deserve to die, sir, but I truly don't know the details." He had intended to say he didn't know how Li Dong had transformed from a man into a woman.

Lady Cui, however, interpreted this as the soldier being afraid of Ye Jishan’s retribution and refusing to tell the truth. She became even more convinced of his infidelity and cursed in a towering rage, "You ungrateful little leaf! When I was a young maiden, you were climbing into my bed every few days. Now that I’m old and withered, you haven't touched me in three months! Now that you’re a governor, you’ve become cocky, using public soldiers to act as henchmen for your little vixen! You’ve all colluded to deceive me! I won't live like this! I'll fight you to the death!"

She sat down on the ground with a heavy thud, wailing and kicking her legs, her fat shaking and rustling. She looked as unsightly as could be. Not to mention Ye Jishan, even the soldiers found it unbearable to watch; any normal man would have been loath to spare her a second glance.

Because she was so heavy and still gripped his ear, her collapse dragged Ye Jishan down to roll on the ground with her. Unable to bear the pain, Ye Jishan jerked his head away, breaking free from the she-demon's claws. Clasping his pained ear, he roared at the soldiers, "If you don't know how to speak, then shut your mouths!"

"Where is Li Dong?" he barked at the maid.

"This servant... I don't know," a maid replied, shrinking back in fear of being grabbed and beaten by the lady.

Hearing that even the servants weren't on her side, Lady Cui cried even louder, wailing, "Wonderful! Not only do you assign soldiers to guard them, you even send the little sluts from the house to serve this vixen! I won't live! If you can steal a woman today, you'll be stealing the whole world tomorrow!"

Her claims became increasingly absurd. Ignoring the onlookers, she continued to wail and threaten suicide, leaving Ye Jishan distraught and at his wit's end. He couldn't understand how Li Dong, a living man, could have vanished into thin air, only to be replaced by this alluring woman. Fearing what other outrageous things she might say if allowed to continue, Ye Jishan snapped, "Enough! Are you finished yet?"

Lady Cui was stunned. *What? Ye Jishan is shouting at me?* She jumped up, ready to fight him.

Ye Jishan took half a step back, looked at the woman, and said coldly, "Whether you are a man or a woman, don't think you can deceive me so easily. You will reveal your true form soon enough!"

Li Dong, who had been enjoying the show, saw the trouble shifting toward her and put on a coy act: "Oh, husband, everything was fine yesterday, and you said only you and I knew about this place. Now that everyone knows, you really haven't been kind to me!"

Ye Jishan was so angry he could have exploded. What was all this? How had Li Dong vanished, and how had Yan Ruyu entered? *Did Zhang Xutuo secretly rescue Li Dong and deliberately frame me? No, I must have Zhang Xutuo come here and explain this to this ugly hag.*

"Someone! Fetch Prefectural Assistant Zhang immediately!" Ye Jishan ordered a soldier. The soldier, eager to escape the courtyard and the bizarre situation, sprinted off to find Zhang Xutuo.

About the time it takes to eat a meal later, Zhang Xutuo arrived. Seeing the strange atmosphere—a beautiful woman standing by the door and an ugly one sitting on the ground—he asked, "The Prefect has summoned me urgently. What is the matter?"

"You've finally arrived! Explain to this woman who we were holding in this courtyard!" Ye Jishan pleaded, his tone bordering on desperate.

When Ye Jishan had locked Li Dong away, he had agreed with Zhang Xutuo that the prisoner would write an account of the battles. He hadn't expected that he would try to play a double game and end up involving Zhang Xutuo as well. If Li Dong hadn't escaped midway and told Zhang Xutuo the truth, he would still be in the dark. Now that he was in trouble, expecting Zhang Xutuo to clean up his mess wasn't going to be easy.

Zhang Xutuo said coldly, "I did indeed agree with the Prefect to have a young man write here. As for what happened afterward, I have no idea."

Ye Jishan blinked, carefully weighing the implications. Zhang Xutuo had admitted to arranging for a man to write here, but claimed ignorance of subsequent events. He was effectively saying that the transformation of the man into a woman was Ye Jishan’s doing alone, and he had nothing to do with it. Ye Jishan couldn't find a flaw in the logic; Zhang Xutuo had admitted to the initial setup, but he hadn't been present for what followed.

Having served as an official for many years, Ye Jishan was well-versed in such cryptic, veiled language. He immediately realized that Zhang Xutuo was harboring resentment for being kept in the dark and was now not only refusing to help but was actively kicking him while he was down.

"What? Do you have more to say?" Lady Cui struggled to her feet, hands on her hips, looking utterly arrogant. "Even Assistant Zhang was deceived by your tricks and didn't know what you were up to. I was right, wasn't I?"

Ye Jishan quickly put on a pitiful face and begged, "My dear, please calm down! I truly didn't know things would end up like this..."

"Tell me! Are you letting her go or keeping her?" Lady Cui grabbed his ear again and demanded.

"Let her go, let her go... just let go of my ear!" Ye Jishan wailed.

"Let me go?" Li Dong stood at the door, hands on her hips, and feigned a sharp, angry tone: "I'm not just a fart you can dismiss as you please! I'm staying right here!"

"Ouch, I don't care if you're Li Dong or Yan Ruyu, we've reached this point, just spare me this once! Guards, quickly escort this young lady out!" Ye Jishan pleaded, bowing his hands toward Li Dong.

"I won't allow you to speak to that vixen!" Lady Cui yanked her husband by the ear, dragging him out of the courtyard like a chick.

Once inside the carriage, a flurry of thumping and banging erupted, and the carriage rocked violently. It was impossible to tell who was on top, who was hitting whom, or who was being beaten.

"Help!" Ye Jishan pulled back the carriage curtain, reaching out with a miserable expression. A pair of massive, fat hands dragged him back inside, and the thumping continued as the carriage rattled.

The garrison soldiers and their companions stood there, utterly stunned.