Xia Chunyu scowled. “I just used a bait.”

“What bait?”

“Do you remember that Third Uncle asked Father to help him look for a good position? The right assistant minister is going to retire next year. The Helian family and the minister have a close relationship,” Xia Chunyu said casually.

Ye Jiayao nodded, understanding what Chunyu did. It was no wonder they spared her.

“I think that Third Uncle will bring trouble to this family if he gets that position,” Ye Jiayao said. The department was in charge of assessing the promotion of governors. It was a job that allows lots of commission and grey income. Imagine a greedy person occupying such an important position…

Xia Chunyu has considered this a long time ago. The reputation of Third Uncle in Jing Zhou wasn’t very good. People called him Xia Peeling because of his greed. Every year, his performance evaluations would fail and he would use the Jing An Marquis’ reputation to bump it back up to average.

“We’ll find a reason to turn him away when the time comes,” Xia Chunyu assured her. “You were so brave tonight, by the way. I don’t even dare to correct Third Auntie even if she was wrong!” he joked.

“I just cannot let mother be bullied,” she replied.

Xia Chunyu smiled at her. Yaoyao has certainly won Mother’s heart and trust. Even if Liu Li wants to cause trouble for her, he was sure that Mother would be watching out for her.

Jiang Yue suddenly came in and reported, “Heir-son Lord, Second Young Mistress, Granny Sun is here on behalf of Madame.”

Granny Sun came in with a servant girl who was carrying a bowl.

“Heir-son Lord, Second Young Mistress,” Granny Sun greeted with a smile, curtsying. She told the Second Young Mistress, “Madame asked me to check up on you. She said that you did not eat much at dinner so you must be hungry. I asked the kitchen to stew the porridge of bird’s nest especially for you.”

Xia You had always been very lukewarm to her so hearing that she suddenly cared about her moved Ye Jiayao. It seemed that her performance tonight really touched Xia You.

“Madame also said that you should take it easy for the next few days and just pay attention to your health. You do not need to follow the schedule anymore.

Ye Jiayao wasn’t sure if she heard that right. The rule of Xia’s family was very strict. Even when Qiao was pregnant, she still had to follow the schedule!

She wanted to whoop with happiness. She has finally gained her mother-in-law’s acceptance.

“Granny Sun, is Madame alright?” Ye Jiayao was a little worried. She knew that the Old Lord wouldn’t have said anything in public, but in private was a different matter.

Granny Sun smiled reassuringly. “Madame is very good. I haven’t seen her in such a good spirit for so long.”

Madame just worried too much about the Old Lord’s feelings and the mansion’s reputation so she never confronted Zhou. However, Second Young Mistress’ action today encouraged Madame to be braver and more ruthless.

“Well, then, Granny Sun, thank Mother for me,” Ye Jiayao said sincerely.

After Granny Sun left, Xia Chunyu turned to Yaoyao with a lascivious grin.

Ye Jiayao blinked at him, unamused, as she ate her porridge. “Go look at the mirror so you can see how creepy you look.”

Xia Chunyu’s grin widened. He said suggestively, “Yaoyao, tonight has been stressful for both of us. What do you say we blow off some steam…”

“Stop thinking whatever weird thing you’re thinking right now.”

“What weird thing?” Chunyu asked innocently. “It’s only weird with others. For us, it’s making love.”

“Love my ass,” Ye Jiayao retorted, blushing. “Mother’s rewarding my courage with porridge. Let me enjoy this!”

Xia Chunyu laughed. “Then go savor that porridge. One thing I forgot to tell you, though, Father said that since you don’t have to kneel anymore, you have to copy the family rules for a hundred times.”

Ye Jiayao choked, her eyes widening. “What??

She saw the family rules of the mansion on her first day here, it was a total of sixty-six pages!

The porridge she was eating suddenly became difficult to swallow.

He saw her face fall and suggested, “Well, he didn’t say that you have to do it all by yourself. In the yard, Jiang Yue, Qiao Xi, and Xiang Tao are literate…”

“Will that be okay?”

He shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. If Father is in a good mood, he will let you pass. If he’s in a bad mood, he might reject it and double your punishment.”

Ye Jiayao groaned frustratedly.

“It’s not difficult for Father to be in a good mood. Just make him something delicious,” Xia Chunyu advised.

Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes. “If I do that, Father might think that I’m just tricking him. How about I copy one and you find people to imitate my handwriting?”

He shook his head. His wife really was crafty if she could find a way to make cheating more sincere.

“Can I just leave this matter with you? If it’s not handled then I’ll just be too anxious to think about other things… like making love…” she trailed off.

He immediately perked up and said readily, “I will make sure this gets done. You don’t have to worry about this.”

Ye Jiayao smiled sweetly at him. “My husband is the best.”

Xia Chunyu was surprised by the warm and happy feelings that those simple words evoked in him. The last time he heard that from her was when they were still at Black Wind Ridge.

In the Old Lord’s mansion…

Xia Zhuofeng returned to his room and was confused as to why his wife wasn’t there to welcome him. He turned to Granny Sun and asked, “Where is the Madame?”

Granny Sun didn’t know where she was either.

Xia Zhuofeng went ahead and washed himself to get ready for bed before returning to the room. There, he saw You sitting on the couch, reading the account books. He sat opposite her but her eyes still stayed firmly on the books. He coughed twice to get her attention but she still didn’t respond.

“Madame,” Xia Zhuofeng called sternly.

Without looking up from her reading, You asked calmly, “What’s the matter?”

Xia Zhuofeng, fed up, snatched the books away from her. “You can read this later, we have to talk about something first.”

“What do you want to talk about?” she asked, still calm and perfectly collected.

You’s reaction surprised Xia Zhuofeng. She was not worried at all. Wasn’t she supposed to cry and plead for forgiveness? How could she be so calm as if nothing had happened?

“What happened today was extremely inappropriate. Third Brother just got here, why did you have to dig up all the issues so soon? Do you realize how embarrassing that was?

You slightly looked surprised. “You should know the cause of this incident. Could you please tell me what I did wrong?”

“Even if Zhou was wrong, you shouldn’t have let Jinxuan intervene. If this gets out, what would others think?”

You said, “Yes, that’s my fault. I shouldn’t have let her help me. I should’ve just slapped Zhou on the face to stop her arrogance and greediness.”

Xia Zhuofeng was speechless. That was not the conclusion that he wanted her to get from this.

“I have endured her arrogance and underhanded attacks for so many years. Well, that stops today. Today, I finally figured out how to deal with her through Jinxuan’s method,” You said through gritted teeth. “And you, don’t talk to me about ‘brotherhood again’. This so-called close relationship with your brother is messed up. If your brother truly cares, about you, he wouldn’t have done such sneaky things to take advantage of you and your wealth. Your mother might have tasked you to take care of him before she passed away, but your tolerance with his bad behavior screwed him up.

“What the hell are you on about?” Xia Zhuofeng bit unhappily.

You sneered, “You are blind to your brother’s fault. Your brother is known in Jing Zhou as Xia Peeling because of his greed. Did you know that Zhou made people quietly transport 15 carts of extremely chests to the new house? Do you think that with all that secrecy and weight, those carts are filled with books?”

Xia Zhuofeng was shocked. If this was true, then Third Brother has been lying to him all this time!

“The truth is going to come out in the end. I am telling you that if you keep indulging them and giving in to their demand, it will damage the family’s reputation. And if that happens, don’t expect me to be there and pick up the mess for you. I will take what belongs to me, go back to Hang Zhou and leave you with your brother,” You said, her tone and voice brokering no argument.