If, in Helian Yi's understanding, Ye Tiancheng would be in that room without question, then who would be the other person to appear in the room according to Helian Yi's original plan?
It wouldn't be Hou Mingzhu, right? Hou Mingzhu was Ye Tiancheng's legitimate wife, they were legally married, a proper husband and wife. For them to be in the same room would be perfectly normal, requiring no one to break in.
Besides, as the saying goes, to catch a thief, you must catch them with the stolen goods; to catch an adulterer, you must catch them in the act.
Therefore, Helian Yi must have intended to frame more than just Ye Tiancheng alone. In Helian Yi's original plan, there must have been more than one person appearing in the room.
This, combined with Mo Huaifeng mistaking the room, made Ye Tiancheng hesitate. Could it be that in Helian Yi's original arrangement, the person who was supposed to be in the room at that time was him and Helian Yue?
He found it somewhat unbelievable and wondered if he was thinking too much.
If this was indeed Helian Yi's original intention, Ye Tiancheng was very confused. He couldn't understand what Helian Yi was trying to achieve.
Based on their interactions during this period, Helian Yi seemed to dote on his daughter, Helian Yue. So, in such a situation, why would Helian Yi try to set him and Helian Yue up?
After all, Ye Tiancheng was not only a married man, but his wife was Hou Mingzhu. Anyone with eyes could see that Ye Tiancheng and Hou Mingzhu had a good relationship, they raised a daughter together, and moreover, Helian Yue and Hou Mingzhu were close sisters for many years.
In this context, what benefit could Helian Yi gain by having Helian Yue interfere in Ye Tiancheng and Hou Mingzhu's relationship?
Ye Tiancheng also believed that Helian Yi should have no trouble finding a better son-in-law than himself. At the very least, finding an unmarried bachelor with a good family background who was worthy of Helian Yue should not be difficult.
This was truly strange. From any angle, the matter seemed abnormal.
This was also why Ye Tiancheng had begun to doubt his own judgment.
But if this matter wasn't orchestrated by Helian Yi, and Helian Yi happened to arrive at the scene at this time, it was likely because he knew that Ye Tiancheng and Helian Yue would be in the same room, leading to a misunderstanding.
In that case, wouldn't it be more likely for Helian Yi to want to keep things quiet? Why would he bring so many unrelated people to catch them in the act?
There must be something that didn't add up.
With this thought, Ye Tiancheng considered another issue: where had the other, unseen female protagonist of the incident, Helian Yue, gone?
Mo Huaifeng believed Helian Yue would be in his room, and Helian Yi likely thought the same. So, where had the Helian Yue, who was supposed to be in his room according to their understanding, gone?
Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but frown, feeling a headache coming on.
Speaking of Helian Yue, Ye Tiancheng realized he hadn't seen her for a few days.
Since they were on Helian family territory and staying there temporarily, given the relationship between Hou Mingzhu and Helian Yue, Helian Yue and Wen Yao would often visit to chat with Hou Mingzhu and see Ye Qingcheng.
However, everyone had their own affairs, so Wen Yao and Helian Yue didn't appear every day.
Therefore, Ye Tiancheng and the others hadn't thought much of Helian Yue's absence in recent days.
The Helian family had been busy preparing for today's banquet. Given Helian Yue's status, if she was also busy with this matter, her absence would be understandable, and no one on Ye Tiancheng's side would suspect anything.
However, later, Helian Yue appeared at the banquet along with Helian Yi.
Ye Tiancheng and Helian Yue had no personal relationship. Their only connection was through Helian Yue's relationship with Hou Mingzhu. Therefore, at the banquet, apart from necessary pleasantries, Ye Tiancheng hadn't paid much attention to Helian Yue's situation.
So now, Ye Tiancheng couldn't determine how much Helian Yue knew about the previous events, what role she played, or whether she was innocent.
However, Helian Yue's current whereabouts were clearly also very important.
The information Ye Tiancheng had gathered so far was basically all there was. To understand more, he would need to investigate to uncover the truth.
Ye Tiancheng pondered. If this matter were left solely to Helian Yi, its nature would be different from the incident involving Helian Su, the seventh elder of the Helian family. Based on Ye Tiancheng's understanding of these prominent families, it was highly likely that Helian Yi would downplay the matter, turning a big issue into a small one, and possibly just gloss over it.
But Ye Tiancheng would not accept such an outcome. He had to investigate himself and figure out what these people were up to.
He was no saint who would accept being plotted against and then pretend nothing happened, allowing others to deceive the world while he remained blind and deaf.
After thinking for a while, Ye Tiancheng felt he had to act personally and quickly. After all, this was Helian Yi's home turf, the Helian family's territory. If Ye Tiancheng wanted to investigate the truth, he would be at a disadvantage.
If Helian Yi truly intended to conceal the truth, Ye Tiancheng's overt investigations would surely be thwarted. He would have to proceed covertly. And there was another troublesome point.
Ye Tiancheng thought that investigating through the Helian family's servants would be a better approach. However, these people worked for the Helian family and were likely loyal to them. Once Helian Yi issued an order, the difficulty of extracting the truth from these servants would increase.
The number of people who could be bribed or dared to say a few extra words would probably be very small.
Therefore, Ye Tiancheng had to act quickly, before Helian Yi's orders could be implemented. Unfortunately, in this regard, Ye Tiancheng was destined to be at a disadvantage. After Helian Yi left the room, if he truly intended to obstruct Ye Tiancheng from uncovering the truth, he would have reacted immediately.
And for Helian Yi, doing so would be very simple, just a matter of a word.
In that case, how could he get the answers he wanted from the Helian family's servants?
Ye Tiancheng first thought of the servant Mo Huaifeng had bribed, the one who had directed Mo Huaifeng. This servant might not have been an accomplice, as he likely didn't know that Ye Tiancheng would be in the room.
Otherwise, wouldn't directing Mo Huaifeng to that room be a way of setting Mo Huaifeng up?
With this thought, Ye Tiancheng maintained a degree of suspicion. He didn't rule out the possibility that this servant had other allegiances. If Helian Yue might know about this matter, Ye Tiancheng felt that Helian Yue would likely not want to cooperate, making it possible that she deliberately ran off and made other arrangements.
Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but shake his head. If this servant might have been arranged by Helian Yue herself, then he wouldn't be able to bribe him. But if the inside story wasn't that complicated, it meant this servant should be easy to bribe, but...
He quickly realized that Mo Huaifeng had been taken away by Helian Yi. If Mo Huaifeng wasn't strong-willed, Helian Yi might soon learn about the existence of this servant from Mo Huaifeng's confession. Ye Tiancheng's attempt to get there first would be difficult and couldn't be relied upon entirely.
But if not this way, then what?
Just as Ye Tiancheng was in a difficult predicament, he suddenly thought of someone, "Right, I can find Little Fox!"
Ye Tiancheng recalled that when he first found Little Fox, Little Fox naturally possessed an ability to weaken others' psychological defenses and gain their trust. This ability would surely be very useful for eliciting information.
Although Little Fox had lost his memory, this was an innate ability, and Little Fox should still be able to use it.
With this thought, Ye Tiancheng got out of bed, dressed, tidied himself up, and immediately left the room. After all, with what had happened, Ye Tiancheng couldn't continue lying down to rest. Moreover, he had already rested earlier and didn't need to lie down any longer.
After leaving the room, Ye Tiancheng realized he didn't know where Little Fox was supposed to be. So, he thought he might as well stop a servant and ask.
Helian Yi might not want him to know the inside story of what had happened earlier, but he certainly wouldn't stop him from finding his companions. Asking about this should be fine.
With this in mind, Ye Tiancheng tried to find someone to ask for directions. However, when he finally encountered a few servants, Ye Tiancheng found that they were all in a hurry, and he didn't know why.
Ye Tiancheng casually stopped one of them and asked, "Excuse me, do you know where my wife Hou Mingzhu and my friends have been arranged?"
The person stopped looked anxious. After hearing Ye Tiancheng's question and seeing Ye Tiancheng's appearance, he knew this person was an honored guest and dared not neglect him. Coincidentally, he happened to know what Ye Tiancheng was asking about, so he directed Ye Tiancheng.
He told Ye Tiancheng that Hou Mingzhu and Ye Qingcheng had been arranged in room 1201 on the eleventh floor, and Little Fox was also nearby, housed in room 1101, opposite 1201.
However, because after the arrangements were made, it was discovered that the rooms on the eleventh floor were full, Fatty was not arranged on the same floor but was placed on the ninth floor.
This servant told Ye Tiancheng that the ninth floor was not within his responsibility, so he was unclear about Fatty's specific room.
After receiving the answer, Ye Tiancheng first thanked the servant. Before the servant took his leave, he casually mentioned, "I see you are all in a hurry, as if busy with something. I apologize for stopping you and delaying your time."
"But what are you all busy with?"
To his surprise, after he asked, the servant's expression stiffened, and he quickly replied, "Mr. Ye is an honored guest of the Helian family. The family head has instructed that you be well entertained. This is just my duty, and I don't deserve your thanks."
"As for what we are busy with, I am very sorry, but I cannot disclose it to you."
Hearing the servant say this, Ye Tiancheng pondered and did not press him. He thanked him again and let him go.
If the other party could not speak, Ye Tiancheng saw no need to force the issue. Asking casually once was normal, but asking too much could easily arouse suspicion, which would be counterproductive.
In fact, even if this servant refused to answer, Ye Tiancheng could make an educated guess.
The Helian family's servants were all in a hurry, with anxious expressions, and all of them were like this. There was little doubt that they were carrying out some order, and it was not a minor matter.
Looking at their actions, they were rushing back and forth within this building, searching everywhere. It looked more like they were looking for something.
This made Ye Tiancheng wonder, what were they looking for?
Could it be... they were also looking for Helian Yue? Had Helian Yue gone missing? At this very moment, did even Helian Yi not know where his daughter Helian Yue was?