After the mind-reading and gossip-eating incident, officials in the imperial city were demoted one a

[That's a complete lie! It's clearly because you didn't let Mother manage the household, so you're leaving it for your mistress! That scumbag father was even mocked by his colleagues for not managing the household well last time. If Mother were to bring that up, he'd definitely agree.]

If someone were to bring up his poor management of his household in court, in the emperor's eyes, he would be seen as someone who couldn't even manage his household, let alone govern the country!

"My husband, do you know why I brought up the matter of the steward last time? It was at the Liu family banquet, when those officials' wives openly said that their mothers doted on me and were afraid that I would be overworked, so they worked harder themselves."

But privately everyone says that my mother is wary of me, her daughter-in-law. Everyone knows about my mother's background, so..."

[Mom, you're amazing! Thumbs up!]

The interactions between noble ladies were not just casual chatter, and Ye Mian hesitated.

“Mother, I have some young men here who have also told me about our family’s management of household affairs.”

"Second brother, you have one too!"

"Brother, really?! Your friends are all very knowledgeable, and they're discussing this issue too?"

"Yes! Not long ago, the teacher assigned an essay on the topic of managing a family and governing a country. The students all said that the stepmother manages the household very well, making their father and sons feel at ease when they are away from home."

I said my grandmother managed the household exceptionally well, and they all looked at me strangely afterward, a look I still don't quite understand.

Ye Li'an rubbed his forehead in a helpless manner, but actually he was hiding the smile in his eyes.

The eldest and second eldest brothers were also incredibly helpful.

Ye Mian panicked. This meant that the officials in the capital city all knew about his family's affairs. No wonder someone had warned him last time.

"Madam, it is my fault. Mother is getting old and is indeed not suitable to manage the household affairs. Fortunately, you have given me some guidance."

“My husband, we are husband and wife. We share the same fate, and we share the same fate. I also have my faults. I used to be too lazy.”

"It is my greatest fortune to be able to marry you."

[Tsk tsk tsk! You're incredibly lucky, otherwise how would you be where you are today?]

Liu Yunshu had originally intended to feign a touched expression, but upon hearing her daughter's heartfelt words, she could no longer maintain the facade.

"By the way, my husband, I have invited the imperial physician to come and treat Yaoyao. Your cold is too severe. I will have the imperial physician take a look at you later."

Imperial physicians only treated nobles in the palace; they could only visit ministers' homes with the emperor's permission.

The Marquis of Ding'an's mansion had once received a special privilege, allowing Liu Yunshu to invite imperial physicians—a privilege few families in the capital city could match.

"Thank you, Madam."

Ye Mian was holding his nose and felt very uncomfortable. Not wanting to lose face in front of them, he made an excuse and left.

Today, the mother and son worked together to punish the housekeeper and also took control of the household. From now on, they will be the ones in charge of the household.

Ye Yaoyao was happy and started chatting with the system.

[System, good day! Sixty-six thumbs up for you.]

[Host, thank you!]

The system's tone was indifferent, but if it had a physical form, it would have been happily jumping around in circles long ago.

In fact, it has a mission: to gain the host's approval, but it cannot explicitly tell the host.

It was still trying to gain the host's approval, but the host was so helpful that it gave it sixty-six likes.

[Host, is there anything else you would like to know?]

Take the initiative, get good reviews, get good reviews!

Is scanning a person to uncover all their secrets enough?

[Host, that's not necessarily true. Cause and effect can change, and some secrets are deeply hidden. It's impossible to describe a person's entire life at once; otherwise, too much information would be dangerous for the host to absorb.]

In reality, the system hasn't reached that level of sophistication yet.

No wonder I felt my scumbag father had some unknown secrets. No worries, we'll dig them out later.

Liu Yunshu chatted casually with the triplets, secretly listening carefully to Ye Yaoyao's thoughts. Although she didn't know what the system had said, she guessed some of it, and Ye Mian still had hidden secrets.

Can we look at it from my mother's perspective? I'm a little curious why my mother likes my scumbag father?

【OK. 】

The triplets also looked interested. They moved to a more comfortable spot and sat down, waiting to hear about their parents' gossip.

Liu Yunshu's expression was somewhat unnatural. How could Ye Yaoyao have dug up things from her youth? She was a little uneasy and was thinking about how to stop her.

Ye Yaoyao's voice was already in my ears.

Their story is about the encounter between a noblewoman from a prestigious family and a student who failed his college entrance exams—a plot device often depicted in picture books.

It turns out that the scumbag father came to the capital city to take the imperial examination, but failed. He was worried about how to explain it when he returned home, so he complained and blamed everyone. Then he stayed in the capital city and set up a stall to sell calligraphy and paintings to earn money for his journey back home.

The father wasn't particularly good-looking, but he had a certain charm that could still captivate some young girls. His specialty was painting bamboo, which gave him the air of a refined gentleman.

One day, Mother and her maid got separated. At that time, Mother was not feeling well, and she stumbled and bumped into her scumbag father's calligraphy stall. That's how their fate began.

The scoundrel father sent his mother home, and his maternal grandparents thanked him for bringing her back. Knowing his difficulties, they gave him money as a reward.

Then the scumbag father pretended to be all smiles and said it was no trouble at all, and left without accepting the money.

Later, whenever her mother passed by her scumbag father's stall on her way out, she would buy him a piece of calligraphy or painting as a way of repaying his kindness in taking her home.

One day, Mr. Hua, a literary master, passed by and was attracted to the stall by the bamboo painted by his father. His father was writing an article and did not notice that a great man had come.

Mr. Hua noticed that the scumbag father's writing was quite good, and they chatted for a while. In this way, the scumbag father's refined appearance and knowledge won the appreciation of Master Hua.

Mr. Hua felt that his father's level was high enough to be a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and was surprised that he had failed the exam. Out of love for talent, he sent him to the Dyeing Ink Academy to be a teaching assistant.

Ranmo Academy is the dream academy of every student, founded by the literary master Mr. Hua.

Not long after, several candidates who failed the imperial examinations in the capital city committed suicide in front of the examination hall to prove their innocence, exposing the corruption and malpractice in the examinations, and how several pre-selected places had been arranged before the examinations even began.

Several talented but unsuccessful scholars, filled with resentment, acted rashly and committed suicide by crashing their heads into the examination hall. This incident caused a great uproar and had a terrible impact, prompting the emperor to reopen the investigation into the imperial examinations.

The mother and her three children nodded; they all knew about it.

Ye Li'an: After a thorough investigation, it was confirmed that the matter did indeed occur, and the evidence was conclusive. Officials in the Ministry of Rites were involved in fraud, but they dared not touch the top three candidates; their focus was entirely on the candidates ranked lower.

Those who get their rankings through connections are usually not very knowledgeable, while those who fail the exams have no power or influence and can only helplessly accept the injustice of the world.

Such things have happened in every dynasty, and the fact that it escalated to this point suggests that someone was manipulating things behind the scenes.