The Assassin Empress; WBYP

Ah Yue Fan's heart

Ah Yue Meili glanced at her master. Seeing her nod, she continued.  "What is so important that you would do illegal trades under the master's nose?"

Yulan stayed silent for a while before he answered, "it's for my little brother. The money I had was not enough, so I…" he bit his tongue to not continue on that line.

The people gasped in astonishment, "You mean to say that the money master gives to you on the appearance of the moon to the disappearance of the moon is not enough for you?" Ah Yue Fan asked in disbelief.

[Appearance and disappearance of the moon marks a month]

"M– my little brother is very ill. The herbs that are needed for his treatment are very costly, so I… "  Yulan Mo kowtowed to Su Yue, please forgive me, please forgive me, master.

Su Yue shifted her gaze to the fuming Ah Yue Fan and patted his shoulder lightly.  Yue Fan turned to look at her and saw her shake her head slightly, then she turned around and walked away with the parrot protesting on her shoulder.

"Forgive… costly… master… costly… costly…"  Su Yue grew annoyed and slapped the parrot off her shoulder, but it still came to perch on her again.

Ah Yue Fan glared at Yulan Mo one last time before he handed the whip to Ah Yue Meili and followed behind Su Yue.

Yulan Mo was confused, he didn't know if his master's silent treatment was good or not. He turned to look at Ah Yue Meili, hoping for an explanation or something.

"Because the master didn't kill you immediately means that your life has been spared, however, you will not be spared from getting punished, so await your punishment."

She glanced at all the students in the courtyard and said, "he is lucky today doesn't mean you will."  With that, Ah Yue Meili walked away, leaving some students wondering what she meant.

"I didn't get the message," a girl said.

"She meant that because Yulan Mo wasn't punished doesn't mean we won't be. That is if we emulate brother Yulan Mo."

"Oh, ok."

Although Yulan Mo wasn't punished, he didn't feel relieved knowing that the eccentric master had not pronounced his judgment. What if she throws him out? their enemies would come for him and his brother.
'No, I cannot leave the guild, I must look for the culprit and present him to master.' He concluded in his mind.

…

"Master, why did you let him go?" Ah Yue Fan pouted with visible sadness on his face.

Master was not known to be soft-hearted towards people like Yulan Mo. The last person who was caught selling the things of the guild illegally was beheaded by the master, so why was Yulan Mo different? His life was on the line because of Yulan Mo's poison!

The more Ah Yue Fan thought of his poor life that was almost snatched from him, the angrier he became.

"Master, I feel wronged, you didn't seek justice for me!" He stopped walking and stamped his foot on the ground with a sad pout and watery eyes.

"Ah… Fan… Ah… wronged…Ah…Justice…"  the parrot started to hover around Ah Yue Fan's head while nitpicking his words and repeating them like a broken record.

Among all the members of the guild, just like its master, the parrot cherished Ah Yue Fan and only knew Ah Yue Fan's name. Anywhere it saw him, it would call his name.

"Stop talking Xiao Xi" Ah Yue Fan tried to slap the parrot but Xiao Xi was quick to fly away and returned to perch on his head while repeating words and annoying the already upset Ah Yue Fan.

Su Yue stopped walking at Ah Yue Fan's words and turned around to look at him. Seeing how sorrowful he looked, like a child that was deprived of what he wanted the most, Su Yue's lips stretched into a small smile. She brushed his neatly tied hair and shook her head, then she gestured for him to follow her.

Watching the different way their master treats Ah Yue Fan, Ah Yue Meili sighed. No wonder someone wants his life.

Getting to Su Yue's study, she sat on her desk and spread a paper on the neat and clean desk.

Detecting that she wants to start writing, Ah Yue Fan pulled the ink slab closer and started to grind the ink for his master.

Su Yue picked up a brush and started to write on the paper.

'Are you upset that I didn't let you kill him?'

Ah Yue Fan nodded. He was still angry, so he didn't want to speak.

'He did what he thought was right at his most desperate time.'  she wrote.

"But my life was almost lost!" He pouted again, looking pitiful.

Su Yue looked at him and sighed.  'But you are fine.'

"What if something had happened to me?"

'I would have done everything to save you because you mean a lot to me.'  She wrote.

Reading the words, Ah Yue Fan pretended to not know the meaning, or maybe he truly didn't know the meaning, so he asked:  "Master, w– what do you mean?"

Su Yue looked at him and smiled. 'You are my little brother and I will not sit back and allow you to get bullied. I'll find you that person and you can do whatever you want with them, but I'm sure a spy slipped through the tight security again. Let Ah Cheng get back and he will sort things out, '  she wrote.

Ah Yue Fan suddenly felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Everything she said after her first words didn't get past his cheek, because he didn't hear anything.

'She considers me her little brother, and me, what is my heart feeling? I should be happy, but why does it hurt so much after hearing that?'  That was his thought the minute he heard her call him, brother.

Ah Yue Fan felt hurt and then instinctively hugged her around her neck like he used to do when he was little.

Su Yue was taken aback for a moment before she returned the hug. She didn't know why he was getting so emotional because it has been years since he last hugged her like this and she had thought it was because of maturity, but today… Did he think of his family again? Probably.

While Su Yue was thinking of different reasons why Ah Yue Fan was so emotional, the YUE courtyard was on fire.