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

After Ye Mian got married, Ye Wan lived in the Ye family mansion. Of course, Ye Mian did not have the ability to build a mansion at that time. This mansion was part of Liu Yunshu's dowry.

At first, Ye Wan tried to please Liu Yunshu, hoping that she could help her find a good marriage.

Liu Yunshu carefully considered Ye Wan's conditions and thoughtfully analyzed her future.

They believed that Ye Wan's most suitable destiny was to marry into a merchant family and become the matriarch, where she could live a stable and worry-free life in her later years.

However, Ye Wanxin had lofty ambitions and wanted to become the mistress of an official's household. Even the lowest-ranking official wouldn't consider marrying a woman who couldn't read or write more than a few characters.

Liu Yunshu patiently explained the officialdom of the capital city to her, but Ye Wan wouldn't listen, thinking that Liu Yunshu looked down on her and was unwilling to help, and from then on, she harbored resentment in her heart.

The mother and daughter shared the same idea. Because they had very high standards, they rejected several suitable suitors who came to propose marriage. By the time they were twenty-one, they still hadn't found a husband.

As fewer and fewer people came to propose marriage, Old Madam Ye became anxious.

Only then did he realize that what Liu Yunshu said was true, and he had no choice but to ask her for help again. By then, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had deteriorated.

Liu Yunshu knew that getting involved would only please neither side, and she was unwilling to get involved in the matter any further.

Old Madam Ye went to Ye Mian to persuade Liu Yunshu to help, and her suggestion remained unchanged, except that she would no longer help with the arrangements.

Ye Mian was still a minor official at the time, and he thought he could get Ye Wan's help. He relied on the Liu family for power and his brother-in-law's family for wealth. He personally inquired about the Yun family.

However, since marrying into the Yun family would be a second marriage, and the family had a decent reputation, the marriage was agreed upon by both families.

Both mother and daughter were destined to be second wives. Old Madam Ye believed that Ye Wan was marrying down, and after crying, she accepted her fate.

The two of them also harbored resentment towards Liu Yunshu because she didn't help them.

Since marrying into the Yun family, Ye Wan has not curbed her arrogance; on the contrary, she has become even more unscrupulous, throwing her weight around in her husband's family.

The Yun family has a proper family tradition and tries to tolerate Ye Wan's behavior as much as possible, which makes Ye Wan more and more pretentious.

As Ye Mian's official position rose, Ye Wan looked down on the Yun family more and more, and returned to her parents' home several times, eventually settling down there with her daughter for an extended period.

At first, Ye Wan's husband, Yunfei, would come to persuade her to go back, but gradually he stopped setting foot in the Ye family home altogether.

"You...you cursed me! I'll fight you to the death!" Ye Wan's voice was choked with sobs, her emotions running high.

"Wan-meimei, calm down." Xue Ruoxue stopped her, then smiled at Liu Yunshu:

“Sister-in-law, your godmother only has one daughter, Wan’s sister. It’s your godmother’s wish for Wan’s sister to stay here. Your godmother is just lonely and wants to have a companion.”

"Ruoxue is right. I'm keeping Wan'er to keep my old woman company. Is that something you can't tolerate?"

Liu Yunshu turned her gaze to Xue Ruoxue, secretly marveling at how well she had chosen this goddaughter.

If I didn't know her husband's name was Ye Zhenghui, I would have thought they were a family!

Ye Yaoyao glanced at Xue Ruoxue and pouted.

"Liu Yunshu, so what if you're in charge of the household now? This household still belongs to the Ye family, and I can stay here as long as I want."

My older brother didn't say anything. I like being here, what can you do about it?

With someone backing her up, Ye Wan's voice was full of arrogance.

Heh! Liu Yunshu gave a disdainful chuckle. She'd been living a comfortable life for so long that she'd forgotten who owned this mansion.

"Some people are just so brainless. They haven't seen their husbands in so long, and they're probably already planning how to divorce them."

Ye Wan's smug expression vanished instantly. Indeed, Yun Fei hadn't set foot in the Ye residence for a long time, and he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

However, upon further reflection, she realized that her brother was an official, and she believed that the Yun family would not easily give up on the Ye family as a marriage partner.

Ye Wan calmed herself down and regained her arrogance and confidence.

Enraged by the repeated curses from the mother and daughter, he pounced on them quickly.

"Liu Yunshu, you have cursed me again and again, I will beat you to death."

Ye Li'an grabbed Ye Wan's hand, while Liu Yunshu had already seen Ye Mian's figure.

"Slap! Slap!" He slapped Ye Wan twice across the face.

Everyone was stunned when Liu Yunshu suddenly attacked someone, and even Ye Mian, who had just entered, stopped in his tracks.

Liu Yunshu's reprimand was forceful and resounding:

“As your sister-in-law, I’m trying to reason with you, but you won’t listen. To prevent you from being divorced and living a miserable life in the future, I’m going to wake you up now.”

As she spoke, Liu Yunshu slapped Ye Wan twice more.

Ye Yaoyao happily cheered for Liu Yunshu.

[The sound of your slaps is strangely pleasant. Unleash your power and wipe them all out in an instant.]

"Stop! Liu Yunshu, stop right now!"

Madam Ye snapped out of her daze, got up from her chair, and, despite her back pain, went over to pull Ye Wan away and protect her behind her.

"mother!"

Yun Piaopiao stepped forward to show her concern. She had just been thinking that she hadn't seen her father for a long time, and that what Liu Yunshu said seemed to make some sense.

"Liu, you're so kind. I've never hit Wan'er since she was a child. Who gave you the right to hit her?"

Old Madam Ye covered Ye Wan's face with a pained expression.

After hearing her daughter's heartfelt words, Liu Yunshu straightened her back even more.

“Mother, everyone says that the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother. You spoil your younger sister-in-law so much and even let her make mistakes. As the eldest sister-in-law, I should discipline her. Otherwise, when she comes to you crying and complaining later, you will be happy.”

"You're spouting nonsense and cursing my daughter! Wan'er is gentle, virtuous, and filial. The Yun family dotes on her! How could such a thing happen to her?"

Madam Ye was so angry that her face turned ashen. If she hadn't accidentally twisted her back earlier, she would have rushed forward without hesitation and given Liu Yunshu a few resounding slaps.

“Aunt, you’ve gone too far. When Uncle comes later, I’m going to tell him that you hit Mother.”

Liu Yunshu had already seen Ye Mian and called out to him.

"Husband, you've arrived. Now come and be the judge."

Ye Mian witnessed Liu Yunshu hitting someone and noticed that she had changed in the past two days and was no longer as gentle.

But considering what she said, it's possible that Ye Wan said something that angered her.

"How is this going?"

Ye Mian knew that the manor had invited a master to exorcise evil spirits today, but he was annoyed that his mother hadn't handled the matter well and had to ask him to come again.

Yun Piaopiao didn't expect Liu Yunshu to dare to ask her uncle to judge, and hurriedly spoke up:

"Uncle, my aunt and cousin cursed my mother, and my aunt even slapped my mother several times."

"Big brother, Liu Yunshu hit me. She dislikes that my daughter and I have been living here and wants to kick us out."

Ye Wan finally came to her senses, put down her hands that were covering her face, turned around and looked at Ye Mian crying. Her parents had never hit her since she was a child, how dare Liu Yunshu?

"Liu Shi thought Wan'er was an eyesore and wanted to get rid of her."

Looking at the clear five-finger mark on Ye Wan's face, Ye Mian felt a surge of anger. Liu Yunshu had gone too far.

"Madam, why did you hit Ye Wan?"

“Husband, I’m helping her. Look, my sister-in-law has been married for over ten years, but she’s spent less time at her husband’s house than at her own.”

She is the matriarch of the Yun family; what matriarch wouldn't manage the household affairs and instead stay at her maiden home all the time?

Yun Piaopiao and Ye Wan had grown accustomed to living at the Ye residence and neither of them wanted to return to their own homes. Living here made them feel like daughters of officials, which was why they didn't want to go back.

Yun Piaopiao glared angrily at Liu Yunshu, showing no respect for her elder.

"That's not how it is. It's because my aunt thinks that my maternal grandmother gives us too much monthly allowance, and she's jealous of us."

Liu Yunshu nodded in agreement:

“Mother is indeed biased when it comes to giving monthly allowances. The two young masters don’t even have as much money as the two of them when it comes to buying writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones.”

"Madam Liu, you have plenty of money, what's wrong with me giving Wan'er more?" Old Madam Ye said in a self-righteous manner.

Liu Yunshu looked at her greedy mother-in-law with sarcasm; in her heart, everything she owned was probably hers.

"Does my husband think so too?"

Ye Mian gently comforted him:

“Madam, we are all family. Mother’s personal savings are no more than yours, and what she gave to Wan’er and Piaopiao is nothing.”

[Ugh! That scumbag dad, he's so biased!]

Ye Yaoyao was disgusted by Ye Mian's nonchalant attitude.

Liu Yunshu was also disgusted. She came here today to vent her anger. Ye Xiyao was being bullied, and they were partly responsible. Ye Wan was asking for a beating, so why shouldn't she hit her?

"Is that so? So Mother can dote on her granddaughter Piaopiao, but not her own granddaughter, and can beat and scold her all the time, just because I have more money?"