Gongsun Yanran said anxiously, "No! I will not agree to this. Sending them to the Forbidden Area is no different from a suicide mission! Qingyue, you have plenty of children, but these two are all I have!"
Gongsun Qingyue replied coldly, "Just because I have more children, I should send two of mine to die? What kind of logic is that? Besides, it’s not like you can’t have more. You still have plenty of time. When you marry, you can just give birth to a few more."
"Xin, please help me! Father, you absolutely cannot send them to the Forbidden Area. I’ll agree to marry Jin Buhuan—I really will!" Gongsun Yanran was so desperate she was on the verge of tears.
Right then, Ye Xuan stepped up to her side and gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Mom, don’t cry. Although I don’t know what kind of place the Gongsun Family’s Forbidden Area is, I have to ask: is it really that dangerous?"
Gongsun Yanran nodded. "Xuan’Er, no one has walked out of the Forbidden Area in three hundred years."
Ye Xuan frowned, then smiled. "Mom, does that mean someone did walk out three hundred years ago?"
"Yes."
"Then that means there’s a way to survive in there. Mom, I’ll go."
"Xuan’Er, have you lost your mind! How could I let you go in? You have no idea..."
"Mom, I have to go." Ye Xuan cut Gongsun Yanran off, his gaze incredibly resolute. He lifted his chin and swept a glance over the surrounding Gongsun Family members. "I can go to the Forbidden Area, but let me make one thing clear. If I make it out alive, none of you are ever to cause trouble for me or my father again."
As soon as Ye Xuan finished speaking, Gongsun Qingyue was the first to answer. "We won’t! If you make it out, you’ll officially be a member of the Gongsun Family. I’ll be the first to acknowledge your status. You can even change your surname to Gongsun and live here in the Gongsun Family estate."
Ye Xuan, however, scoffed dismissively. "Is the status of a Gongsun Family member supposed to be that noble? I don’t think so. As long as you drop your arrogant superiority and stop finding excuses to mess with the Ye Family, that’ll be enough."
"We won’t. We absolutely won’t cause any trouble for you, as long as you agree to enter the Forbidden Area."
"I already said I agree."
Gongsun Yanran’s eyes grew red with panic. "Xuan’Er..."
"Mom, I know what I’m doing. I want to fight for my own fate. Otherwise, they’ll just keep finding new ways to torture me and the Ye Family."
"But Xuan’Er, you’ll die in there!"
Ye Xuan smiled. "If I don’t go to the Forbidden Area, it’s not like they’ll let me off the hook anyway. Mom, believe in me. If someone else could make it out alive, then so can I."
"Xuan’Er, you don’t understand..."
Gongsun Yanran wanted to say more, but Ye Ling’Er spoke up. "Mom, I believe in my brother. If there’s something others can’t do, he can definitely pull it off."
"Ling’Er, that’s because you don’t know how terrifying the Forbidden Area is."
"I might not know, but I just believe in him. Please trust him too, okay?"
Ye Ling’Er possessed a blind, almost numb trust in her brother. One had to wonder if Ye Xuan had completely brainwashed her.
Just as Gongsun Yanran was about to speak again, Gongsun Wenjin’s voice suddenly echoed through the room. "Enough. Since he volunteered to go to the Forbidden Area himself, Qingyue, your children won’t need to go. Let these two go instead."
"Not the two of us. Just me. I will go in alone; my sister isn’t going," Ye Xuan interjected once more.
Gongsun Wenjin said coolly, "Both of you will go together."
Shocked, Gongsun Yanran hurriedly pleaded, "Father, please don’t! If something happens to both of them, I won’t be able to live with myself."
After she spoke, Gongsun Xin also chimed in. "Father, while sending them both into the Forbidden Area is ideal, it isn’t strictly necessary. Leave Yanran with a shred of hope. Otherwise, I truly fear she won’t be able to bear it. Besides, as long as she still has something to care about, we can use that attachment to persuade her to marry Jin Buhuan."
"You’ve thought this through quite thoroughly. Very well, he shall go alone. However, there is still some time before the Forbidden Area opens. During this period, keep a close eye on them to prevent any escape attempts. Yanran, take your children and leave us."
"Xuan’Er, Ling’Er, come on. We’re going back." Gongsun Yanran immediately stood up, taking Ye Xuan and Ye Ling’Er by the hand as they left the assembly hall.
"Yanran, I’ll walk you out," Gongsun Xin said, following after them.
Once they departed, the rest of the family members also stood up, preparing to leave the hall.
At that moment, Gongsun Wenjin spoke again. "Hold on a moment. We must still keep the matter of Yanran having illegitimate children a secret. If word gets out, not only will we become a laughingstock, but it will also invite a great deal of trouble. Don’t forget that back when I was drinking with City Lord Zhiyue in Chasing Moon City, I agreed to a marriage arrangement."
His words left everyone present stunned.
"That’s right, how could we forget about that?"
"Yanran having illegitimate children is indeed a very thorny issue. The implications are far-reaching."
"But Father, even if we try to hide it, how long can we really keep this under wraps? If both children had entered the Forbidden Area and died, it would have been fine, but now you’ve kept one alive..."
Gongsun Wenjin replied coolly, "We’ll keep it hidden for as long as we can."
Outside the main courtyard.
Seeing Gongsun Xin catching up to them, Gongsun Yanran spoke with a hint of anger. "Xin, I know you were trying to help me, but why did you have to bring up Jin Buhuan? You know I don’t want to marry him."
"I know."
"If you knew, why bring him up?"
"I had to mention him to ensure both of them stayed alive. Unfortunately, I was only able to save one in the end. Besides, even if I brought Jin Buhuan up, and even if you agreed, this marriage might not necessarily happen."
"Might not happen? Impossible. If I agreed, Jin Buhuan would be absolutely thrilled."
"That’s because he doesn’t know you’re already married and have had children with another man. If he knew, do you really think he’d still be thrilled? Would he still want to marry you? I’m guessing it’s highly unlikely. I know how men think."
Xin’s words made realization dawn on Gongsun Yanran.
He was right. Jin Buhuan’s feelings for her were indeed deep, but that was because he had assumed she had remained single and unmarried all these years. Would a man of Jin Buhuan’s status ever accept a wife who had already married and given birth to another man’s children?
Even if Jin Buhuan didn’t mind, the Jin Family definitely would. It would be an immense loss of face.
"Xin, so that’s what you were thinking. But if Jin Buhuan finds out I have a husband and children, will he let his love twist into hate and go after my man? Or even target Xuan’Er and Ling’Er?"
"With me here, even if he’s furious, he wouldn’t dare. He knows that when I get angry, I don’t mess around." Gongsun Xin’s expression remained stern and uncompromising.
"Xin, you really thought of everything. Thank you."
"Thank me? In the end, I still couldn’t protect all of you. Anyway, go on back. I’m sure you three have a lot to talk about."
Twenty minutes later, at Lingxuan Courtyard.
As soon as they returned, Gongsun Yanran could no longer hold back her emotions. She looked at Ye Xuan, her heart aching. "Xuan’Er, you’re so foolish. Do you have any idea what the Forbidden Area is? Do you know why I’ve been trying so hard to stop you, and why they were so eager to agree to let you go?"