Glory

"Third... Third Young Miss." The page stood panting before Ye Yaming and bowed. "Our master requests your presence for a word."

Ye Yaming raised an eyebrow and walked toward Ye Hongrong.

"Fourth Uncle." She curtsied in greeting.

"I heard you got your engagement broken off?" Ye Hongrong's tone was abrupt from the start.

Since her transmigration, Ye Yaming had only met Ye Hongrong once - when Ye Hongsheng returned from Tongxiang. Because Ye Hongrong was injured and couldn't join the family for the Mid-Autumn Festival in the main courtyard, Ye Hongsheng went to visit him and brought Ye Yaming along.

However, Ye Yaming had only spoken with Zhang Shi outside and didn't enter the bedroom. Unexpectedly, Ye Hongrong had dragged himself out to greet her.

This behavior surprised Ye Yaming. Later, she realized it was probably because she had helped the family during the illicit tea incident, and he was grateful, which was why he made the special effort to come out and greet her.

This suggested Ye Hongrong wasn't completely hopeless - at least he knew the illicit tea matter had caused trouble for the family and was grateful to her for resolving it.

As long as someone had a conscience and knew how to be grateful, Ye Yaming felt they could get along.

Therefore, when Ye Hongrong spoke so bluntly now, she didn't think much of it and replied: "Yes, the engagement was broken off."

"That bastard." Ye Hongrong cursed, then glared at Ye Yaming. "Why didn't you tell your Fourth Uncle earlier? If I'd known, I would have had someone teach that scoundrel a lesson."

He continued cursing: "Without our family, he'd probably still be begging somewhere. Now that he's used our family's money to become a recommended man, he forgets his benefactors. What trash!"

He then said to Ye Yaming: "Don't be sad. It's good you're not marrying such a bastard - marrying him would only bring you suffering. Tomorrow, I'll have someone teach him a lesson - put a sack over his head and beat him up."

Ye Yaming never expected that Ye Hongrong, leaning on his crutches and waiting here, was actually trying to comfort her and seek justice for her.

She smiled and said: "Fourth Uncle, that won't be necessary. Song Yifeng has already gotten his comeuppance."

"What happened?" Ye Hongrong became excited upon hearing this.

Ye Yaming told him the story.

Of course, she naturally didn't mention a word about her and the Ye family's behind-the-scenes manipulations.

Besides Cui Zijin and her nephew, only she, Ye Chongming, Old Madam Ye, Zhou Xiang, and Lai Yun knew about this matter. The other pages Ye Chongming had assigned to her, even if they helped spread some rumors, didn't know about Cui Zijin's existence.

Such matters were best known by as few people as possible. Otherwise, even though those poems were indeed written by Song Yifeng, the charge of framing a scholar could destroy the Ye family.

"Ah, it truly is retribution." Ye Hongrong laughed. "Then I can rest easy."

He then said seriously to Ye Yaming: "Ming'er, you're not stuck in denial, are you? Let me tell you, it's fortunate you broke off the engagement with such a person. Otherwise, our family would have been implicated by him, and your reputation would have been ruined too."

Ye Yaming nodded and smiled: "Fourth Uncle, don't worry. I understand everything."

Ye Hongrong was finally reassured: "Alright then, I'll head back." Saying this, he leaned on his page's shoulder and slowly made his way back toward the fourth branch's quarters.

When Ye Chongming had beaten him before, he had been merciless. Although the number of strikes wasn't high, each one was delivered with Ye Chongming's full strength. By the end, Ye Chongming was exhausted and Ye Hongrong had fainted. If not for the servants desperately intervening, fearing for his life, with maids and matrons kneeling everywhere, Ye Hongrong might well have been beaten to death.During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the herbalist had examined him and advised against moving him, fearing that the freshly formed scabs on his wounds might reopen. Thus, the fourth branch of the family did not attend the Mid-Autumn banquet.

Even now, Ye Hongrong remained in this state, though he could at least get out of bed and walk.

Ye Yaming watched his retreating figure and silently made up her mind.

Once Ye Hongrong recovered, she would definitely find something for him to do and suggest to Ye Chongming that someone be assigned to keep an eye on him. With responsibilities to occupy his time and energy, and supervision to prevent him from straying onto the wrong path, it seemed unlikely he would cause any major trouble.

Ye Chongming was upright and principled, and although Old Mrs. Ye doted on her youngest son, she was not one to ignore right and wrong. Even though Ye Hongrong had been spoiled, he had not been led too far astray.

In truth, Fourth Aunt Zhang Shi was merely overly competitive and sharp-tongued. When it came down to it, she didn’t seem like a bad person.

On the other hand, Eldest Aunt Tao Shi had always been highly regarded by Ye Chongming and Old Mrs. Ye and enjoyed a good reputation within the family.

But in Ye Yaming’s view, Tao Shi had her own hidden agendas. If one were to entertain conspiracy theories, it was possible that the incompetence of the second branch and the recklessness of the fourth branch might have been subtly encouraged by Tao Shi behind the scenes.

However, this was merely Ye Yaming’s speculation—she had no proof.

Now that she was here, determined to build her tea empire with the Ye family, these internal conflicts needed to be resolved.

A solid and reliable foundation was essential for success. Otherwise, what use was it to exhaust oneself fighting on the front lines, only to be betrayed from within, with one’s own family dismantling the defenses? No matter how capable or well-armed one was, it would all be in vain.

Although Meng Chengwei was ruthless and cunning, Ye Yaming had to admit that he had chosen his targets wisely—using Ye Hongrong as the entry point and Ye Jiaxing as the one to break through.

What Ye Yaming needed to do was to unite and fortify every member of the Ye family through Ye Chongming and Old Mrs. Ye, creating an impenetrable wall to face external threats together.

Lost in these thoughts, she unknowingly arrived outside the second branch’s courtyard wall.

The gatekeeper woman, upon seeing her, hurriedly bowed and was about to greet her when Yin Shi rushed out from inside. Spotting Ye Yaming, Yin Shi stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and seemed about to speak before realizing this was not the place. She pulled Ye Yaming inside, saying, “Come, there’s something I need to ask you.”

Ye Yaming followed her into the main hall.

Yin Shi sat down, shooed away the maid who had come to serve tea, and asked Ye Yaming, “Did you know that Song Yifeng has been thrown into prison?”

Ye Yaming nodded. “I just found out. I came from Grandfather and Grandmother’s place. They had just heard the news and called me over to tell me.”

Yin Shi patted her chest. “Your grandfather heard the news and immediately sent someone to inform me. I was truly startled just now.”

The scandal of Song Yifeng writing forbidden poetry had caused the biggest uproar among scholarly circles. As Song Yifeng was both Yin De’an’s student and his granddaughter’s former fiancé, those unaware that he had broken off the engagement with the Ye family quickly rushed to inform Yin De’an.

Uneasy, Yin De’an promptly sent messengers to notify Ye Chongming and Yin Shi.

Thus, Yin Shi, as the mother of the one who had initiated the breakup, ended up hearing the news from her father outside the family.

She asked again, “Are you alright?”

Ye Yaming shook her head. “I’m fine.” Then she added, “Fortunately, we broke off the engagement with him. Otherwise, we would surely have been implicated.”