Glory

When he asked this, Qi Ji felt his earlier thoughts were rather absurd.

He scratched his head and said, "It shouldn't be. How could there be such a monstrous person in this world?"

Qi Zhibei stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and then set the matter aside.

He had more important matters to attend to.

"Alright, you may leave. Regardless, make sure to get along well with the Ye family for now."

Knowing his father needed to discuss official matters with his advisors, Qi Ji bowed and left.

No sooner had he left than Master Wu and others arrived at the study.

Qi Zhibei explained the situation to them and said, "The Ye family has shown us great goodwill. Let's not dwell on who made the arrangements for now. Instead, let's discuss how to maximize the benefits from this matter."

Meanwhile, Qi Ji, being someone who couldn't keep things to himself, was deeply shaken after his conversation with his father. As soon as he left the study, he headed straight to Lu Guanyi's house and recounted the entire discussion with his father.

"Do you think this was really the doing of Third Miss Ye? How old is she? It can't be, right?"

Lu Guanyi frowned in thought for a moment and said, "It must have been her. However, she might not have thought that deeply about it. It's probably because we're in partnership with her family, and your father is considered one of their own. Besides, she still needs your father to suppress the Yang family, which is why she kept him out of it."

This explanation was much easier to accept. Qi Ji said, "That must be it." Then he nodded emphatically, "Exactly!"

The matter of the account books not only surprised Qi Zhibei and the two young masters, Lu and Qi, but also shocked Ye Chongming and Ye Hongchang of the Ye family.

However, the two of them never suspected that Ye Yaming had tampered with anything. They simply assumed that Ma Dafu had endured years of hardship to obtain the account books from the Yang family—a belief shared by everyone in Lin'an City, from officials to commoners.

That night, Ye Chongming and his son were so overjoyed they drank a toast, exclaiming, "Heaven has eyes!" Ye Hongchang, now thirty-nine, had faced numerous challenges in business without ever panicking, but this time, his heart had been in his throat.

It wasn't that the Yang family was particularly fearsome. He was worried that if he failed, he would lose face in front of his niece.

Now that Ma Dafu had filed a lawsuit and produced the account books as a decisive weapon, Ye Hongchang felt the situation was under control. He relaxed completely and even found the energy to discuss Ye Yaming's plan to lure the enemy out.

"Father, are we really not going to help Ming'er?"

"Don't worry. Hasn't she handled everything perfectly so far? Besides, she doesn't need to act as bait herself. We just need to help put on a show. Are you still afraid something might go wrong?" Ye Chongming said.

If Ye Yaming had to act as bait herself, he would never have agreed. Setting aside emotions, from a purely practical standpoint, the Ye family simply couldn't afford to lose Ye Yaming.

Hearing this, Ye Hongchang fell silent.

After all they had been through, he had developed a deep respect for his niece, and somewhere in his heart, he was even a little afraid of her.

Ma Dafu's lawsuit against Yang Hong required interrogation and investigation, and with so many officials implicated, a verdict was unlikely to come quickly.

Time flew by, and the sixteenth day of the first month arrived quietly.

That day, Ye Chongming, Ye Hongchang, and Ye Yaming had breakfast with Old Mrs. Ye in the main courtyard. Then, bundled up in heavy cloaks and capes, they left the Ye family home.At that moment, a candied hawthorn vendor carrying his load passed by the entrance of Ye Jia. With his head lowered, he was about to head straight toward the carriage parked in front when a servant from Ye Jia stopped him: "What's wrong with you? There's such a wide road over there—why do you insist on heading toward the main gate?"

"My apologies, my apologies," the vendor repeatedly apologized. "I was lost in thought just now and didn't watch where I was going."

As he spoke, he glanced at the faces of the few people who had just stepped out, confirming that they were Old Master Ye Chongming, the eldest master Ye Hongchang, and the third young lady of Ye Jia, Ye Yaming.

"Get going, get going! What are you staring at?" The servant, seeing this, grew angry and blocked the vendor's line of sight with his body.

The vendor had no choice but to move further away.

"Ming'er, Ming'er!" At that moment, a woman's voice called out from inside the Ye family gate.

Immediately after, a maidservant rushed out and anxiously said to Ye Yaming, "Miss, the madam has found out you're going up the mountain and has come out to stop you. Would you like to explain a few words to her?"

Ye Yaming exclaimed, "Oh dear!" and said to Ye Chongming, "Grandfather, let me go speak with my mother for a moment. I'll be right back."

Ye Chongming frowned. "Hurry up. The weather isn't good, and it looks like the snow might get heavier soon. We need to leave quickly."

"Alright, I'll be right there." With that, Ye Yaming ran back inside.

The candied hawthorn vendor had been sent to confirm the identities of the Ye family's masters. If the masters had directly boarded the carriage and he had been driven away by the servants, his mission would have been accomplished.

But now, with Ye Chongming and the others not boarding the carriage, if the vendor left and something went wrong, he would be beaten to death.

Thinking quickly in his desperation, the vendor let out a pained cry, set down the load on his shoulder, clutched his ankle, and crouched down, pretending to have sprained his foot.

The servant from Ye Jia was none other than Fang Xing. Following Ye Yaming's instructions, he was putting on an act.

Seeing the vendor's pretense, Fang Xing understood exactly what he was trying to do.

Instead of forcibly dragging him away, Fang Xing crouched down with concern and asked, "Are you alright?" "I-I'm fine," the vendor replied, looking up gratefully at Fang Xing. "I just need a moment to rest, just a moment."

"Alright, then rest for a bit. But let me warn you—don't let your eyes wander where they shouldn't," Fang Xing said sternly. "If you dare to be disrespectful again, I'll have no choice but to drag you to the authorities and charge you with misconduct."

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare," the vendor said, bowing and scraping, putting on the appearance of a timid, small-time merchant.

By then, Ye Chongming and Ye Hongchang had been standing at the gate for a while. Seeing his father's displeased expression, Ye Hongchang said, "I'll go hurry them along," and entered the gate.

He did not come back out immediately.

The vendor grew increasingly anxious, especially since Fang Xing was urging him again.

"Go take a look," Ye Chongming said to the page beside him.

The page acknowledged the order and ran inside.

After a moment's thought, Ye Chongming also walked through the gate.

"Why are you still here? What exactly are you trying to do? Are you a thief, casing our house?" Fang Xing stared at the vendor's face, his expression growing suspicious.

"My foot hurts—I can't walk," the vendor said with a pained expression.

"Let me help you over there. Don't stand here blocking our path," Fang Xing said, reaching out to support the vendor. He then called out, "Liu Zi, come help carry his load over there."The vendor, growing anxious at the sight, then saw Ye Hongchang supporting Ye Chongming as they emerged from the doorway.