When Ye Huan flipped the sign and the three big characters "Zhang Huimin" were revealed, Qin Ya and Su Qingqing deflated like a pair of punctured balloons, instantly wilting!

The two ladies drooped their heads in disappointment and headed upstairs, faces full of dismay!

Liu Tianyun was also somewhat disappointed and sighed, but with an injury on her leg, she couldn't go upstairs just yet.

Zhang Huimin maintained a calm appearance, but the joy in her eyes was undeniable as she hooked her arm around Ye Huan's shoulder, a slight blush on her cheek.

Ye Huan, seeing this, looked even more sullen than the legendary judge Bao Qingtian!

Are you kidding me!

Didn't you say you wouldn't be disappointed!

What a group of fickle little enchantresses!

With no other choice, Ye Huan sighed and said, "Sister Zhang, go on ahead. Liu Tianyun has an injury on her foot, so I have to carry her up first."

"Alright."

Zhang Huimin nodded obediently, stood up, and went upstairs.

Ye Huan hooked Liu Tianyun's legs with one hand and supported her back with the other.

Just as he was about to lift her and carry her upstairs.

"You're really playing quite the game here."

A cold laugh came from outside the villa!

The front door opened with a response.

The Empress walked into the villa, expressionless.

First, she glanced at the tray in Tang Yao's hands, then at Liu Tianyun in Ye Huan's arms.

In that moment, she inexplicably felt a hint of hostility towards Liu Tianyun.

Of course, it was only in her heart.

She didn't show it.

This deep-seated hostility puzzled her greatly.

Fiddling with the wooden signs on Tang Yao's tray, the Empress sneered again, "Really living like an emperor with a harem? Even flipping signs?"

Ye Huan's face darkened, speechless for a moment, not explaining anything as he looked at Tang Yao and said, "You go ahead up."

Tang Yao made an "OK" gesture and went upstairs.

"I'll 'first' carry her upstairs." Ye Huan emphasized the word "first," implying to the Empress that they would talk after he returned!

At these words, Liu Tianyun furrowed her brows in dissatisfaction, "I'm not an outsider, why can't I know what you're talking about?"

"Miss Liu, the matter I need to discuss with your husband is quite complex, deep waters you can't grasp, better to know less or ideally, not at all."

The Empress tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and said lightly, then sat on the adjacent sofa, poured herself a cup of tea, elegantly crossed her shapely white legs, and drank tea with a detached air.

Her words made Liu Tianyun's face turn livid, and she retorted with a much lower, displeased voice, "Miss Empress, aren't your words a bit overboard? Can't I even listen to what you discuss with my husband?"

"No one said you can't listen, just suggesting you shouldn't."

The Empress shrugged.

"You..."

Liu Tianyun was fuming.

Seeing this, Ye Huan thought it best to defuse the situation by placing Liu Tianyun back on the sofa and mediating, "No harm done, let's talk about what you've found out."

The Empress took a sip of tea and said:

"I don't know the details of the cooperation between the Chen and Yu families, but I found out that the Chen family in Ninghai City mainly deals with maritime trade, controlling many small ports and secret waterways unknown to the public."

"However, there's something very strange. Two months ago, the Chen family received ten billion funds transferred by the Yu family, and they suddenly started using this money to buy over fifty nursing homes and welfare institutes, which have no direct relation to their main business."

"Moreover, since these nursing homes and welfare institutes were acquired, mysterious disappearances of the elderly and children have occurred nearly every day, and so far, the number missing has reached over a thousand people."

The Empress skillfully held back from explaining what deep implications lay behind these incidents.

Liu Tianyun listened in complete confusion, her face stupefied.

Ye Huan, however, was pinching his chin, his brows furrowing like the character for "river" (川), deeply contemplating, easily reading into the deeper connotations.

Kameda Yuusuke had already confessed that under the Yu family's instructions, the Chen family used the secret waterways they controlled to help smuggle the Orochi ninjas and samurai into Huaxia.

As for the Yu family funding Chen Family to acquire nursing homes and welfare institutes, with mass disappearances following the acquisition, it was clear without needing a second thought; Orochi couldn't openly commit mass killings, so they colluded with the Chen and Yu families!

They secretly slaughtered the elderly and children from the nursing homes as bodies to be transported back to support the human experiments carried out by the Sequence!

Ye Huan's eyes turned icy.

The Chen family truly lived up to being a typical tyrannical clan, joining forces with the Yu family and Orochi to commit such atrocities!

Truly like Hell is empty, and the devils roam the earth!

Just as Ye Huan could barely contain the rage surging within, he remembered Liu Tianyun was present, took a deep breath, and suppressed it back, saying, "I understand the situation now, thank you for making the trip."

"No worries, it's what I should do." The Empress nonchalantly waved her hand.

She paused for a moment, then continued, "There's something I'd like to ask you, is now a good time?"

"Go ahead and ask."

"Last time, you asked if I lived in a welfare institute as a child. I feel this wasn't an unfounded question; surely, you knew something that prompted you to ask, is that so?"

This question from the Empress left Ye Huan momentarily stunned.

Liu Tianyun's expression, on the other hand, changed subtly.

"Though my childhood memories are vague, and I can't even recall the name of the welfare institute, I'm certain I did live in one as a child." The Empress spoke with utmost seriousness, her voice firm, "If you know something, please tell me, thank you!"

Ye Huan pondered for a moment, his expression turning graver, and said, "Do you remember the Spring Welfare Institute?"

Spring Welfare Institute?

The Empress paused, frowning, starting to recall!

Suddenly, some memory fragments in her mind became clear!

But at the same time, a piercing pain, like an assault on her soul, hit her mind!

"Ahhhhh!!!!"

The Empress let out a sharp scream, holding her head as she collapsed to the floor, her face full of agony, cold sweat pouring from her forehead!

Ye Huan quickly moved to support her, tapping twice on her forehead, "Are you okay!?"

The Empress didn't respond!

She was in too much pain to respond, but those slightly clearer memory fragments told her that the welfare institute where she once lived was indeed called the Spring Welfare Institute!

And... a little boy!

In her memories, the Empress saw the outline of a little boy, blurred but somehow familiar!

She raised her head, instinctively looking at Ye Huan!