Madame Liu opened her mouth to speak, but her throat was so dry that no sound came out. Her face turned pale as paper under Old Madame Bai’s terrifying glare.
"Mother! I—I didn’t know!" Madame Liu stammered, falling onto her knees with a loud thud. "The head steward handles the monthly deliveries! I only sign the ledger! I would never dare to starve Eldest Nephew!"
"Silence!" Old Madame Bai slammed her dragon-head cane onto the stone floor, the loud crack echoing across the hall.
Before anyone could breathe, the heavy wooden doors of the dining hall were pushed open.
Madame Bai walked inside. Her face was dark with anger, and her eyes burned with pure fury. Behind her stood two of her personal guards.
She had just returned from checking the Northern Courtyard herself after hearing rumors about Yimei sleeping outside. When she saw the dusty, freezing room with her own eyes, her heart had nearly stopped.
Madame Bai walked straight to the center of the hall, ignoring everyone else, and bowed deeply to Old Madame Bai.
"Mother," Madame Bai said, her voice shaking with rage. "I have just come from Zhengyu’s courtyard. My son’s rooms have no heat, no proper bedding, and not even a single cup of warm tea! The stewards have been treating the Eldest Son like he is already dead!"
Old Madame Bai’s eyes turned cold as ice. She looked sharply at Madame Bai, her voice heavy and stern.
"And where were you, Madame Bai?" Old Madame Bai barked, pointing her cane directly at her. "You are his mother! You live in this same estate! How could you be so completely unaware of your own son’s living conditions?!"
The entire hall went dead quiet.
Madame Bai’s face flushed with deep shame. She lowered her head, her hands clenching tight inside her silk sleeves.
"I... I assumed the servants were doing their duty," Madame Bai admitted, her voice tight with regret. "Zhengyu always refused to see me whenever I visited, and he never complained. I thought he wanted to be left alone... I did not realize these snakes were stealing his share behind my back!"
"You were careless!" Old Madame Bai scolded sternly. "A mother who does not look after her own son’s courtyard allows the weeds to grow around him!"
Madame Bai turned her fierce, angry gaze straight onto Madame Liu. "Mother is right. I was foolish to trust my sisters-in-law to run this household fairly!"
Madame Bai stepped toward Madame Liu, her voice dripping with venom. "Sister Liu, you manage the household accounts. Every month, you come to the main hall boasting about how well you take care of every branch. Yet my son receives nothing?! Where did Zhengyu’s fifty silver taels go every month?! Where did his coal go?!"
"I—I don’t know!" Madame Liu cried out, backing away on her knees. "The head steward—"
"Enough of your lies!" Old Madame Bai cut in loudly.
Old Madame Bai stood up from her chair, resting both hands on her cane as her sharp eyes swept over the trembling women in the room.
"Since Madame Liu cannot manage the household fairly, her authority over the estate’s distribution is stripped today!" Old Madame Bai declared, her voice cold and unquestionable. "Starting now, the central budget and servant assignments will be handled under my direct supervision!"
Madame Liu let out a quiet whimper, her face completely drained of color. Stripping her authority meant she could no longer take extra money for her own branch.
Old Madame Bai then looked at An Yimei, who stood quietly to the side, posture straight and face perfectly calm.
"Yimei," Old Madame Bai spoke, her tone softening slightly. "You are the Eldest Daughter-in-Law. You noticed the wrong, brought the facts, and protected your husband’s dignity without making a disgraceful scene."
"It is my duty, Grandmother," Yimei replied smoothly, bowing politely.
"Good," Old Madame Bai said. "I am placing six senior maids and ten strong guards from my own courtyard into the Northern Courtyard today. I am also ordering the main treasury to deliver twenty piculs of top-grade smokeless coal and fifty silver taels directly to your hands immediately."
She turned her dark gaze back to Madame Liu. "And the silver that was stolen from the Northern Courtyard over the past three years will be deducted directly from the Second Branch’s monthly allowance until every copper coin is paid back to Yimei!"
Lady Chen and Madame Zhang swallowed hard, shrinking back into their seats, not daring to make a sound.
An Yimei bowed deeply, her voice calm, clear, and steady. "Daughter-in-law thanks Grandmother for her justice."
Yimei lowered her head, hiding a quiet, sharp smile. She hadn’t spent a single coin of her own dowry, yet she had completely crushed Second Aunt’s power and taken full control of her courtyard.
Within moments, the grand dining hall fell dead silent.
Only two people remained standing among the untouched silver plates and steaming bowls of porridge: Madame Bai and An Yimei.
Madame Bai stood motionless for a long moment, her chest heaving with heavy, angry breaths. Her hands were clenched so tightly inside her dark silk sleeves that her fingernails bit into her palms. The harsh words of Old Madame Bai still echoed in her ears—A mother who does not look after her own son’s courtyard allows the weeds to grow around him!
Slowly, Madame Bai turned her head. Her sharp, dark eyes locked onto Yimei, burning with humiliation, pride, and helpless rage.
She took three heavy steps forward, stopping directly in front of her new daughter-in-law.
PA!
The sharp, loud crack of a slap echoed violently off the high wooden beams of the empty hall.
Yimei’s head was forced to the side from the sheer force of the blow. A stinging, burning heat spread across her left cheek instantly, and the sharp edge of Madame Bai’s gold ring left a tiny, red mark near her cheekbone.
Qinqin, who was waiting near the doorway, gasped in horror and took a frantic step forward. "Miss—!"
"Stay where you are!" Madame Bai snapped without looking back, her voice shaking with intense, suffocating authority.
An Yimei did not cry out. She did not fall, nor did she reach up to touch her burning skin.
Slowly, deliberately, Yimei turned her head back to face her mother-in-law. Her posture remained as straight as iron, and her dark, clear eyes met Madame Bai’s furious gaze without a single trace of fear, tears, or weakness.
Madame Bai stared at the unbroken composure in Yimei’s eyes, her own breathing fast and ragged.
"You think you are clever, don’t you?" Madame Bai hissed, her voice low, cold, and trembling with suppressed rage. "You stood before Old Madame and played the dutiful, protective wife! You humiliated Liu, yes—but in doing so, you gave old Madame a reason to insult me in front of the entire family!"