The Old Madam seemed to have finally made up her mind. Such a ruthless girl absolutely could not be allowed to stay any longer!
With that thought, she immediately ordered the steward to gather the old maids and head to the courtyard where Ye Yunmian was staying. To prevent Ye Yunmian from injuring anyone again, the steward even had the women bring clubs and ropes.
“Master! This is bad!” Steward Liang hurriedly reported to Ye Weiyin. “The Old Madam has taken people to the eldest miss’s courtyard. She says the eldest miss beat Madam Tong to death and has gone mad, and she wants to lock her up!”
Ye Weiyin immediately rose and headed outside.
But the moment he reached the doorway, he hesitated.
His foot stopped in place.
“Master? Although the eldest miss has caused quite a commotion, she’s done it all for you and Third Young Master!” Steward Liang said anxiously. “This old servant only has rough men under him. They can only serve in the outer courtyard, so I didn’t dare assign them to stay close to the eldest miss. Now that the Old Madam has brought so many people, if you don’t go, she’s bound to suffer greatly!”
Ye Weiyin stood there in a daze, as though he did not dare cross the threshold.
Seeing that he remained motionless, Steward Liang dropped to his knees.
“I truly don’t understand you, Master! She’s your own flesh and blood! When the late master was alive, the person he doted on most was the eldest miss. Although she hasn’t been by your side these years, when you were young, you followed her around every day. Have you really forgotten all of that?” Steward Liang said sorrowfully.
He could understand why the Duke did not dote on Third Young Master.
After all, when the old Duke passed away, Third Young Master had not yet been born. The late Duchess had suffered a terrible shock and fallen ill. To protect the pregnancy, she had taken countless medicines. After giving birth, she remained deeply depressed and passed away not long afterward.
If she had never given birth, perhaps she would not have died so soon.
Perhaps the Duke felt that Third Young Master had caused his mother’s death and thus harbored resentment. That, Steward Liang could understand.
But what about the eldest miss?
She was innocent!
“Take some men over there and don’t allow anyone to get close to the eldest miss,” Ye Weiyin said darkly.
“If you don’t go in person, the Old Madam won’t let this matter rest. And my men don’t dare openly oppose her…” Steward Liang continued to persuade him.
He was only a servant. Even with his master’s orders, he dared not place himself above an elder of the Ye family.
If something happened to the Old Madam because of him, he would only be harming his master.
Pain flashed across Ye Weiyin’s face.
After struggling inwardly for a long while, he finally stepped outside.
Yet the moment he left the room, he suddenly relaxed and looked back in surprise.
That intense feeling of discomfort from before… had not appeared.
How strange.
Over the years, it wasn’t that he had never wanted to take care of his third brother.
He simply… couldn’t.
He didn’t know why, but whenever he made certain decisions, his head would split with pain.
For example, involving himself in his third brother’s upbringing, directly confronting the Old Madam, or wanting to kill the people from the second branch…
The moment he entertained such thoughts or actually acted upon them, it was as though he were being punished by heaven itself. The pain would rob him of his sanity, and he would suffer nightmares night after night.
But this time, he felt none of that discomfort.
A few days ago, when he had entrusted his trusted aides to his little sister, he had felt nothing as well…
In other words, his strange affliction did not flare up because of his little sister?
Ye Weiyin found it odd, but his worry had not completely disappeared.
Just because he could go see his little sister did not mean he would be able to argue with the Old Madam on her behalf.
When he was young and discovered that the Old Madam harbored malicious intentions toward his younger brother, he had been so furious that he wanted to poison everyone in the second branch.
Yet dozens of venomous snakes had failed to take their lives. Instead, he himself had suffered as though trapped in hell.
This time, he probably wouldn’t be able to harm that old hag either.
But in Steward Liang’s eyes, as long as the Duke was willing to show himself, the eldest miss could still be saved!
At that moment, Ye Yunmian was already surrounded.
The Old Madam’s face was full of anger, and the people around her all looked fierce.
Yet Ye Yunmian was feeding her donkey, her expression calm beyond belief.
“Yunmian, child, it is my fault as your grandmother for not noticing that you’ve become so gravely ill!” the Old Madam said. “Since there is something wrong with your mind, you should rest properly. The convent outside the city is a wonderful place—quiet and scenic. You’ll go there today.”
“No,” Ye Yunmian replied slowly.
“If you dare resist today, you’ll suffer a bit of physical pain,” the Old Madam said, narrowing her eyes.
Ye Yunmian tossed the dry grass into the feeding trough and patted the donkey’s head.
Then she said leisurely,
“Old Madam, your memory truly is poor.”
“What do you mean by that?” the Old Madam snorted.
“Though I spent the past few days at Five Aggregates Temple, I still heard about the Xie family impeaching my brother and me in court. His Majesty seemed quite angry and specially sent a governess to teach me proper etiquette. Has that governess already been invited into the residence?”
The moment she heard this, the Old Madam’s expression changed drastically.
In her fury, she had only thought about locking Ye Yunmian up and had completely forgotten about that matter!
“I have no manners, which is precisely why I need a governess,” Ye Yunmian said with a smile. “But if I have no manners, then why is it so surprising for me to do something outrageous?”
“At the border, human lives are as worthless as grass. When enemy raiders attack, every commoner has to become a soldier. What etiquette could I possibly have learned there?”
“Naturally, I only learned crude skills—cursing and killing.”
“If that counts as madness, then there are far more lunatics at the border. Shouldn’t the imperial court go and deal with them as well?”
Her tone was light and unhurried, and her eyes brimmed with mockery as she looked at the Old Madam.
“You wanted to make my life difficult and brought in a governess for me. Now you’ve picked up a stone only to smash your own foot. Doesn’t that feel wonderful?”
After saying that, she chuckled softly, her laughter clear and carefree.
This time, it was the Old Madam who nearly went mad—with anger.
Ye Yunmian was right.
The governess sent by the Emperor absolutely could not be sent away without accomplishing anything!
This wretched girl wasn’t even at home, yet her information was so well-informed and her reaction so swift that it had completely caught her off guard.
She had thought she could use Madam Tong’s death as an excuse to imprison her.
Instead, the girl had turned the tables on her.
Infuriating!
The Old Madam’s face turned green with anger, and blood vessels bulged in her eyes.
When Ye Weiyin arrived, this was the scene he saw.
With only a few casual remarks, his little sister had rendered the Old Madam speechless. No one dared make another move.
Meanwhile, she leisurely stroked the donkey’s fur, smiling all the while.
For the first time in his life, Ye Weiyin felt an unprecedented sense of ease.
He had a vague feeling—
something had changed.
And deep in his heart, a trace of anticipation quietly arose.
“Steward Liang,” he said, standing outside the courtyard with a solemn expression, “select a team of people. From today onward, they will answer only to the eldest miss.”
“Also, the eldest miss lacks capable maidservants. Find a slave broker and choose a few. Appearance and manners are secondary; loyalty and competence are what matter most.”
After thinking for a moment, he added,
“One more thing. From now on, no matter how big or small the affairs of this household are—even if the decision comes from me—it must first be approved by the eldest miss. Nothing is to be carried out without her consent.”