Glory

"Oh, your grandmother said it was absurd for her to stay cooped up at home all day, so she insisted on dragging her along," Tao Shi said. "You know how it is—your sister-in-law is pregnant and can't attend to your grandmother. I have my own affairs to manage. With Ming'er going along to stay by your grandmother's side, at least I can rest easier."

Ye Yaqing felt a pang of guilt at these words and quickly offered, "Should I also accompany Grandmother?"

"There's no need," Tao Shi replied. "Until your marriage is settled, neither your grandmother nor I can feel at ease. You should focus on your own matters."

She glanced at Ye Yaqing. "When Miss Su summons you, send a maid to discreetly inform me of the location. I'll have someone go verify that Young Master Yang's identity."

"Alright," Ye Yaqing agreed without objection.

When the group arrived at the Chen residence, Ye Yaqing paid her respects to the elderly ladies before heading out to find her young friends. Sure enough, she spotted Su Rou waiting for her outside.

Seeing her arrive, Su Rou gave her a knowing look and waved off the young girl she had been chatting with. "You all carry on—Yaqing and I are just going to freshen up."

With that, she took Ye Yaqing's hand and led her away.

No sooner had the two departed than Ye Yaming appeared. She followed them at a leisurely pace with her maid in tow.

Shortly after, two pages who had accompanied Ye Hongchang to the banquet emerged at the crossroads and joined them.

Ye Yaming had strongly disapproved of Tao Shi's approach ever since Old Madam Ye mentioned it to her.

Ye Yaming never shied from assuming the worst of people's intentions.

The fact that Yang Chuzhi shared the Yang surname made her suspect the Yang family's involvement. The Yangs had risen to prominence so rapidly—their ways were fundamentally different from established families like the Ye family. If they were colluding with someone like Meng Chengwei, they were likely birds of a feather.

If the Ye family remained unaware of Yang Chuzhi's designs on Ye Yaqing, he could slowly boil the frog—gradually manipulating Ye Yaqing until she would weep and plead with her family to approve the match.

But if he learned through Ye Yaqing's chatter that the Ye family was investigating him before he had fully captured her heart, he might grow desperate and attempt something drastic—perhaps even ruin Ye Yaqing's reputation as a last resort. What use would it be to later discover he was from the Yang family?

This was why she couldn't rest easy and had insisted on coming along.

Besides Bai Rui and the two pages, she had specifically invited Guan Ting from the Guan family.

Guan Ting was Guan Canghai's youngest daughter, sixteen years old this year and trained in martial arts since childhood.

When Ye Chongming learned Meng Chengwei meant harm to Ye Yaming, he had personally visited Guan Canghai to request a female guard to protect Ye Yaming when she went out. Guan Canghai recommended his own daughter.

Though Guan Ting shared the same birth month as Ye Yaqing and had just turned sixteen at the end of last year, she moved in Security Company circles and had even accompanied her father on two escort missions. Her judgment far surpassed Ye Yaqing's immaturity, and Ye Yaming held her in high regard.

This time, she had asked Guan Ting for assistance.

The Chen residence was bustling with guests coming and going for the banquet; both Guan Ting and Ye Yaming knew a thing or two about counter-surveillance techniques; and Ye Yaqing was too excited about meeting Young Master Yang to notice anything amiss. Thus, the three followers trailed them all the way to the lakeside without Ye Yaqing or Su Rou ever realizing.

"Cousin, you're here!"

On the other side, Su Rou spotted two figures seated by the lake and happily rushed toward one of them. The other stood up, his gaze softening as it settled on Ye Yaqing.The two groups quickly separated, with Su Rou and her cousin heading left along the lakeside, leaving Ye Yaqing and Yang Chuzhi standing in place.

Ye Yaqing’s maid had been sent farther away to keep watch.

The moment Ye Yaming saw the lake, she sensed trouble.

In all those palace and household intrigue dramas, wasn’t there always a plot like this? Push a girl into the lake, then jump in to rescue her. Once she was saved, drenched and clinging to the man—whether he was a beggar or a ruffian—she’d have to marry him to preserve her reputation.

It was also the perfect scheme for women to frame their rivals or for men to forcibly marry the women they desired through underhanded means.

Now, of all places, Yang Chuzhi and Su Rou’s cousin had chosen the lakeside for their meeting. Ye Yaming couldn’t help but prepare for the worst.

She turned to Guan Ting and asked, “Can you swim? If someone falls into the lake, can you rescue them smoothly?”

Guan Ting immediately grasped Ye Yaming’s meaning.

After a moment of serious thought, she nodded. “No problem. But I’m worried that if the person in the water struggles too much, my stamina might give out. So, after I jump in, I hope you can send someone to help me as soon as possible.”

Ye Yaming turned to Bai Rui and instructed, “Go to Old Madam Ye’s side and quietly summon Mama Lin and Granny Liu.”

When attending banquets at others’ homes, they usually brought only two maids to avoid overcrowding the host’s residence.

Today, Ye Yaming had specifically replaced Lve E with Mama Lin and swapped one of Old Madam Ye’s maids with Granny Liu.

Mama Lin and Granny Liu were both sturdy servants—reliable, skilled swimmers, and physically robust. Whether facing a push into the water or a physical confrontation, they were more capable than delicate maids.

Since they weren’t close confidantes and Ye Yaqing’s situation required discretion, bringing them along would have drawn too much attention. Instead, Ye Yaming had them wait near the main hall.

Now that their help was needed, Ye Yaming sent Bai Rui to fetch them.

In truth, Ye Yaming herself could swim, and quite well at that.

In her previous life, as the sole heir of a wealthy family, she had to be prepared for dangers like kidnapping or sabotage. Besides having bodyguards, she had trained in various skills—martial arts, swimming, skydiving—all for self-preservation and survival.

But the original host of this body had no such abilities, so unless absolutely necessary, she wouldn’t reveal them in public.

To justify using these skills, she had previously requested a Guard from the Security Company to teach her martial arts, citing the need to guard against Meng Chengwei’s schemes.

Thus, Guan Ting stayed at the Ye residence each night and trained with Ye Yaming for two hours every morning before returning to the Security Company during the day. After over two months of practice, it wouldn’t seem strange if Ye Yaming now knew a few moves.

If Ye Yaqing were pushed into the lake today, Ye Yaming’s subsequent request to learn swimming would also appear natural.

But that was for later. For now, she still needed external help.

Confirming that Guan Ting could rescue Ye Yaqing and calculating that Mama Lin and Granny Liu could quickly arrive via the shortcut—since the lake wasn’t far from the hall where Old Madam Ye was—Ye Yaming turned to the two Pages.

“Follow Miss Su and her cousin,” she directed. “When Miss Su approaches, let her be, but detain her cousin.”Su Rou and her cousin Qin Sheng, Tao Shi had also investigated them thoroughly during this period. Both of their backgrounds were ordinary, not particularly wealthy or noble, far inferior to the Ye and Yang families.