Madam Xia was genuinely afraid of Ye Weiyin.
Just because her husband had impeached him once, the man had tried to ruin her son’s entire life!
If they hadn’t discovered it in time, would her son still have had any future left?
Now, the children in the family hardly dared go out, all because they feared that Ye Weiyin might secretly scheme against them again!
Ye Weiyin had committed so many wrongs, yet His Majesty had tolerated him again and again. At most, he would dock his salary or order him to reflect behind closed doors—a severe threat followed by a light punishment. He had been given countless chances, but he had never once changed!
Listening to his wife’s grievances, Lord Xie also felt somewhat aggrieved.
Ye Weiyin’s ancestors had indeed earned tremendous merit for the nation, but precisely because of that, Ye Weiyin appeared even more useless and despicable.
If not for the protection of his ancestors’ achievements, how could someone like him have inherited a noble title?
“This matter cannot be brought up again for the time being,” Lord Xie sighed. “His Majesty doesn’t wish for me to keep targeting the Ye family. Besides, that Eldest Miss Ye is merely a young woman. It would not be appropriate for me to make things too difficult for her.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help feeling regret.
The four children of the late Duke’s branch of the family—what a pity. Not a single one of them had turned out well.
The Ye family served as a warning to him. As parents, the most important thing was to educate one’s children properly. Otherwise, no matter how prosperous a family was, incompetent descendants would drag it down.
The ancestors of the Ye family had earned everlasting glory, yet in the future, beneath that illustrious reputation, there would be the stain named Ye Weiyin.
If he were one of the Ye family’s ancestors, he would probably want to burst out of his coffin and give this unfilial descendant a thorough beating!
“And that’s it? Nothing happened?” Madam Xia said gloomily. “You have no idea how pitiful Old Madam Ye looked. When I visited yesterday, she was lying in bed and could barely catch her breath!”
“Sister-in-law!”
Just as her words fell, Xie Yinlan rushed in.
She had always been courteous and well-mannered, so her sudden intrusion left the couple stunned.
“Sister-in-law, what kind of old lady invites guests over to chat whenever she’s ill?” Xie Yinlan immediately asked.
Madam Xia froze.
“Sister, what do you mean by that? I’ve known Old Madam Ye for years and often visit her. She was simply in a bad mood and wanted someone to complain to…”
“You really are too naive, Sister-in-law. Was she complaining? She was lodging accusations! As an elder, she went around complaining about her junior to outsiders. That alone proves she never treated Eldest Miss Ye as her own family! Besides, all of this is merely Old Madam Ye’s side of the story. How do you know there aren’t other reasons behind it?”
After speaking, Xie Yinlan realized that her tone had been too harsh. She took out her mother’s jade thumb ring and said,
“Brother, Mother asked me to say these things, so please don’t be offended.”
“How is Mother?” Lord Xie immediately asked.
“Mother is doing very well. The prescription has already been prepared, though she needs to recuperate at the Five Aggregates Temple for some time. Since it’s inconvenient for her to return home, she asked me to bring you a few words.”
“So the physician said her illness can be cured?” Lord Xie asked happily. “If that’s the case, we must reward this divine physician generously.”
“Reward her?” Xie Yinlan couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “Brother, you’ve already offended her. This physician is none other than Eldest Miss Ye herself!”
“…”
Lord Xie froze, the wrinkles on his face seeming to blossom in shock.
“Sister, don’t joke around,” Madam Xia said at once, her face full of disbelief. “Isn’t Ye Yunmian just a teenage girl? How could she casually treat illnesses? Oh, right—Old Madam Ye said she learned a few prescriptions from some wandering doctor and thinks she’s capable now. When she was at home, she even wanted to perform acupuncture on the old lady. The needles were so thick it looked as if she wanted to stab someone to death!”
Upon hearing this, Xie Yinlan’s expression became indescribable.
Again, it was something Old Madam Ye had said.
Even if Ye Yunmian weren’t a particularly kind person, she still felt that Old Madam Ye was someone they should no longer associate with. Her words were simply too excessive.
“How many days has Miss Ye been home? Old Madam Ye doesn’t understand her at all. But I spent over half a month with Miss Ye on the journey back to the capital, and I’ve seen her abilities with my own eyes! I don’t care what the rumors outside say, but I found her to be extremely kind. Not only did she treat my illness, but whenever she saw sick refugees by the roadside, she never showed the slightest disgust and cured many of them. How could such a person be as unfilial, greedy, and vicious as Old Madam Ye claims?”
The more Xie Yinlan spoke, the angrier she became.
Some of those refugees had been filthy and foul-smelling, and no one dared approach them.
But Miss Ye did.
She even cared about their feelings. When speaking with them, she lowered herself to their level, chatting warmly and enthusiastically like an ordinary commoner.
If she were truly greedy and vicious, why would she bother helping those people?
The couple listened in confusion.
The Eldest Miss Ye that their sister described seemed like an entirely different person from the one Old Madam Ye had spoken of.
“Are you certain Miss Ye can cure Mother?” Lord Xie asked solemnly.
“I’m certain.” Xie Yinlan nodded, then said seriously, “When I came back, I also discovered something else. Miss Ye donated a large amount of silver to the Five Aggregates Temple and asked them to provide porridge to the poor for three months! Brother, have you ever seen a greedy person do something like that?”
As soon as Lord Xie heard this, he staggered and sat heavily in his chair.
Something was wrong.
He had always believed he was right, but now he suddenly felt he might have been terribly mistaken.
Over the years, because his wife had been close to Old Madam Ye, he had heard many things from her. As a result, whenever he heard that someone from the Ye family had done something, anger would immediately rise in his heart, and he would want to uphold justice.
Setting aside whether he had been right or wrong in the past, just this time…
This young lady of the Ye family had been willing to repay malice with kindness. She could not possibly be the person described by the rumors.
Lord Xie frowned deeply, suddenly unsure of what to do.
“Mother said that you should stop meddling in that family’s affairs so much in the future. Besides, even if Eldest Miss Ye had done something wrong before, she had only just returned and was immediately humiliated by you. We were indeed rather overbearing. Brother, I hope you’ll investigate the matter carefully. If we’re in the wrong, then we should admit it.”
As she spoke, Xie Yinlan placed the jade thumb ring into her brother’s hand.
Lord Xie’s expression grew heavy, and Madam Xia was also stunned.
Over the past few years, they had unconsciously assumed that the children of the Ye family’s main branch could never do anything good. At first, they would still investigate matters, but later, even the slightest rumor was enough for them to believe it as truth.
After a long while, Lord Xie finally said with difficulty,
“I understand.”
He still had doubts in his heart, but if there were doubts, then he had to get to the bottom of them.
He had not become an official for nothing. He also had many connections, and gathering information was not difficult.
He immediately summoned someone and gave his instructions.
In less than a day, numerous letters were delivered one after another to his study.
These had all been sent by his “informants.”
With unease in his heart, he opened them and began to read.
The more he read, the bigger his headache became.
Since Eldest Miss Ye had returned home, there had been no shortage of conflicts!
But if one had to say she was at fault, there seemed to be only one thing she had done wrong:
She had refused to act according to Old Madam Ye’s wishes.
As for the other matters, such as collecting debts…
There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with that.
And then there was her refusal to remain under house arrest…
Who had she done that for?
For his own mother…