Glory

She hesitated, saying, "As you know, in situations like this, the worry is that Third Madam might lose hope and harm herself by crashing into a pillar. Not only would Fifth Young Lady be even more frightened, but the Cai family would also cause trouble."

Ye Yaming nodded. "In that case, have everyone wait outside and let Fifth Young Lady stay with her wet nurse. If you can find her cat, bring it to her. Perhaps seeing the cat will help calm her."

For children with autism or social anxiety, strangers can cause significant psychological stress. The comfort from Mei'er and the others not only failed to soothe Ye Yayu but instead made her more panicked.

As for herself, Ye Yaming figured she was likely no different from a stranger in Ye Yayu's eyes. She decided not to enter and risk unsettling her further.

"Alright, alright," Mei'er replied. She went inside to give instructions, called out the other maid, and told her to stand guard outside the door. Then she hurried off to find the cat.

The door to the side room was already open, allowing Ye Yaming to see inside clearly from where she stood.

Seeing that Mei'er and the others had left, and with her wet nurse gently comforting her, Ye Yayu, likely exhausted from crying, leaned into her wet nurse's embrace and closed her eyes.

The maid who had been called out by Mei'er also breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to speak to Ye Yaming, but Ye Yaming raised a finger to her lips in a "shush" gesture, nodded at her, and left with Lve E.

When she returned to her original spot, she found Ye Chongming sitting alone. Old Madam Ye, Tao Shi, and Yin Shi had all gone to observe Mama Lu interrogating the suspects.

However, as soon as she sat down, Old Madam Ye and the others returned.

Old Madam Ye snorted coldly. "At first, Granny Zhang refused to confess, but after we applied some pressure to the man, she broke. She said the man’s name is Xu Fu, originally her son. The two of them had saved up for a long time and pleaded with their masters to secure enough money for him to buy his freedom from the Cai family and become a commoner."

"But unexpectedly, life outside was tough. He got into a fight over a dispute, and someone severed the tendons in both his hands. Since he’s decent-looking, Granny Zhang devised a plan for him to live off Cai Shi."

There were some details she couldn’t share with Ye Chongming, a grown man, or Ye Yaming, an unmarried granddaughter.

Three years after Cai Shi’s husband passed away, she had considered remarrying. She knew that, given the Ye family’s nature, if she asked, they would surely let her go.

But her former wet nurse, Mama Zeng, felt that life in the Ye household was comfortable. Remarrying would likely bring hardship unless she had extraordinary luck.

Of course, there was another option—leaving the Ye family and living independently on her dowry.

But it went without saying that the Cai family would never agree.

If Cai Shi left the Ye family, it would be considered a separation, cutting ties with the Ye family entirely. Yet, no matter what, she would always be a daughter of the Cai family.

A widow unwilling to stay with her husband’s family, unwilling to return to her natal home, and even abandoning her daughter—what would people think she intended to do, living alone with her maids and servants?

Anyone would assume she was planning to secretly keep a lover.Even if she wished to remain chaste and virtuous, would those loafers and ruffians leave her alone? What if someone climbed into her room in the middle of the night? People often say that trouble follows a widow's doorstep. It's not that widows don't want to live peacefully—it's that women are vulnerable, and those loafers and troublemakers won't allow them any peace.

Once a scandal broke out, the Cai family's daughters wouldn't be able to marry.

Mama Zeng had also been married before. Her daughter was about the same age as Cai Shi but died shortly after birth. Not long after, her husband went out for work and died in an accident.

She knew well the hardships of a woman living alone. Thinking that Cai Shi only lacked a man in the Ye household, and coincidentally, Mama Zhang wanted to get her son into the Ye family as a servant, Mama Zeng came up with a foolish idea: she arranged for Xu Fu to meet Cai Shi.

Xu Fu had originally been a page for Cai Shi's elder brother. He was smooth-tongued and highly skilled at reading people's expressions in both speech and action.

He also knew that, as a cripple, even if his mother begged the Ye family to take him in as a servant, his life wouldn't be easy, let alone marrying a wife. For the poor, survival is hard enough—there's no use thinking about the future. To eat his fill, stay warm, and live happily with Miss Cai in tender comfort was enough. He lived each day as it came.

So he used all his charm to delight Cai Shi.

Thus, at Mama Zeng's suggestion, Cai Shi released her maids of marriageable age to be wed and took the opportunity to have Xu Fu fill the vacancy of a rough maid who was about his size. To make up for the shortage, a new batch of servants was bought.

Through this substitution, aside from her and three old maids, no one knew Xu Fu's true background.

However, Cai Shi's nerves weren't strong enough to act as if nothing had happened. Every time Old Mrs. Ye, Tao Shi, and others visited her or Ye Yayu, she grew tense and fearful. Left with no choice, Mama Zeng suggested she move and used the pretext of preferring quiet to cut off contact with the Ye family.

"Since only the four of them knew the truth, Mama Lu threatened Xu Fu to force Mama Zhang to tell the truth, and in turn pressured Xu Fu to confess; the same was done with Cai Shi and Mama Zeng. Combined with what other maids and old women saw and guessed, I can roughly confirm that Yayu is indeed Third Master's child, and Cai Shi only took a lover after his death," said Old Mrs. Ye.

Ye Chongming secretly breathed a sigh of relief and asked his two daughters-in-law, "Eldest Daughter-in-law, Second Daughter-in-law, do you agree?"

Tao Shi and Yin Shi both nodded.

Ye Chongming called Meng Ji in: "Go to the Cai family yourself and invite Elder Master Cai and his wife over. Tell them I have important matters to discuss."

Cai Shi's parents had passed away, and the current head of the family was her half-brother.

Cai Shi's mother was a stepmother who bore only Cai Shi after marrying Old Master Cai. The current Elder Master Cai is the son of Old Master Cai's first wife. The siblings, born of different mothers with an age gap of over ten years and separated by gender, shared a very distant relationship.

This was also why Cai Shi was unwilling to remarry.

She knew that her brother would only arrange a marriage that benefited the Cai family most, not one that was best for her. After all, her brother had little talent for business, and since he took over the Cai family's enterprises, their fortunes had declined day by day. For this reason, her sister-in-law constantly tried to squeeze money out of her to subsidize the Cai family.Upon hearing Ye Chongming's words, not only the soft-hearted Yin Shi, but even Old Madam Ye and Tao Shi grew somewhat uneasy.

Old Madam Ye explained the Cai family's situation to Ye Chongming, saying: "When Cai Shi's elder brother comes, I'm afraid he'll beat her to death."

If she were beaten to death, the Ye family would be appeased and unwilling to air their dirty laundry, so the matter would be over. The Cai family wouldn't be affected.

But if she weren't beaten to death and taken back home, if others asked or if someone from the Ye family let it slip, wouldn't the Cai family become a laughingstock?

Old Madam Ye remembered that there were still two unmarried young ladies in the Cai family.

"Brother Shen!"

"Hmm!"

As Shen Changqing walked along the road, whenever he encountered acquaintances, they would greet each other or nod in acknowledgment.

But no matter who it was.

Everyone's face bore no extra expression, as if they were indifferent to everything.

Regarding this.

Shen Changqing had already grown accustomed.

Because this was the Demon Suppression Division, an institution responsible for maintaining the stability of Great Qin. Its main duty was to slay demons, monsters, and supernatural beings, though it also handled some other side tasks.

It could be said.

That every person in the Demon Suppression Division had much blood on their hands.

When one becomes accustomed to life and death, they grow indifferent to many things.

When Shen Changqing first arrived in this world, he found it somewhat uncomfortable, but over time he grew used to it.

The Demon Suppression Division was vast.

Those who could remain in the Demon Suppression Division were either powerful experts or individuals with the potential to become experts.

Shen Changqing belonged to the latter category.

Within the Demon Suppression Division, there were two main roles: the Garrison Envoy and the Demon Subduing Envoy.

Anyone joining the Demon Suppression Division started from the lowest level as a Demon Subduing Envoy,

then gradually advanced, with the ultimate hope of becoming a Garrison Envoy.

Shen Changqing's predecessor was a probationary Demon Subduing Envoy in the Demon Suppression Division, the lowest rank among the Demon Subduing Envoys.

Possessing the memories of his predecessor,

he was very familiar with the environment of the Demon Suppression Division.

Without taking much time, Shen Changqing stopped before a pavilion.

Unlike other solemn and murderous places in the Demon Suppression Division, this pavilion stood out like a crane among chickens, presenting a different kind of tranquility amidst the blood-soaked Demon Suppression Division.

At this moment, the pavilion's door was wide open, with people occasionally entering and exiting.

Shen Changqing hesitated only for a moment before stepping inside.

Upon entering the pavilion,

the environment suddenly changed.

A scent of ink mixed with a faint bloody odor assailed his nostrils, causing him to instinctively frown, but he quickly relaxed.

The bloody scent that clung to everyone in the Demon Suppression Division was almost impossible to wash clean.