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

The emperor's gifts consisted of nothing but jewelry, silks, and skincare products, filling ten boxes in total. This quantity was already considered a great honor for the subject's daughter.

Ye Mian reassessed Ye Yaoyao's value and concluded that Ye Yaoyao could not stay any longer.

Chen Yuanzhao returned home with a gloomy face. Madam Chen came to greet him, but her smile froze when she saw his expression.

"Master, let's dye it..."

The look in Chen Yuanzhao's eyes revealed a sinister chill.

"What...what happened?" Madam Chen's heart tightened. Hadn't she already calmed things down yesterday?

"The Emperor bestowed a reward upon Ye Yaoyao, and the evidence against those officials is irrefutable."

Chen Yuanzhao suspected that Madam Chen might be lying about the blood test for kinship.

Madam Chen knelt down with a thud and cried out:

"My lord, I have always been loyal to you, but you have always doubted me. Do you only believe me if my son and I die to prove our innocence?"

"Enough! Get out!" Chen Yuanzhao roared, veins bulging on his forehead.

Madam Chen looked at him in surprise. How could things have turned out like this after her trip to the Ye family? In his rage, Chen Yuanzhao could only wipe away her tears and leave with a gloomy face.

Chen Yuanzhao knew that Madam Chen wouldn't really die. At this moment, his mind was filled with thoughts, and Ye Yaoyao's words were like a venomous snake lingering in his heart.

If his son wasn't his biological child, then he only had one daughter, Chen Ranran, who is now missing and has likely met with misfortune.

Chen Yuanzhao paced back and forth in frustration, spending a long time in his study before finally coming up with a solution.

"Master, something terrible has happened!" The butler knocked on the door.

"What is it?" Could it be news that Chen Ranran attempted suicide but was rescued?

"Rumors are spreading that the madam is having an affair, and that the young master is not the master's biological son," the butler said cautiously, his head bowed low.

"understood."

With so many people hearing about this, it was only a matter of time before Ye Yaoyao bestowed the reward upon them and the news spread.

"Master?" The butler looked up, puzzled as to why he was so calm.

"Come here, I have something to tell you."

“Master, this…” The butler looked troubled.

"Go and do it, but don't let a word of it leak out, understand?"

"Yes." The butler left.

When Madam Chen learned that rumors of her adultery and fathering an illegitimate child had spread, her face contorted with rage, and she began smashing things frantically.

"Madam, your... lotus seed soup." The maid carrying the tray was too frightened to step forward and said tremblingly.

"You blind, shameless hussy, why are you still drinking lotus seed soup? Get out of here!"

Madam Chen shouted angrily and grabbed a vase, smashing it at the maid.

"Madam, this old servant has something to report."

"Come in. All of you, get out. No one is to approach without my order." Seeing that it was the butler, Madam Chen took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm.

"Madam, Master has asked me to do something."

"what's up?"

“The lady was given slow-acting poison in her daily tonics, and she died from the poisoning within a month.”

"Chen Yuanzhao is so cruel! Has he said how the young master will deal with this?" Madam Chen gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with anger.

"No."

"Understood, let's go down."

Upon hearing the steward's report, Madam Chen calmed down. She realized that everyone in the manor had been bribed by her; anyone who wanted to harm her was dreaming!

Ye Yaoyao had the gifts accepted and told her two elder brothers about Ye Mian's embezzlement of the mine.

"The person behind the illegal iron ore mining operation must be very powerful."

Iron ore, weapons, and private armies—the three of them thought of this at the same time, and finally they made some progress.

“Little sister, I couldn’t find out that Xue Ruoxue was my scumbag father’s mistress. The two children she gave birth to were my father’s children.”

What everyone knew in secret was finally brought up in public.

"Really? That scumbag father has gone too far, deceiving Mom and us like this."

Ye Yaoyao pretended to be angry.

"Xue Ruoxue seems to have connections with people from the Imperial Uncle's Mansion."

"The Imperial Brother-in-Law's Residence!"

[This mother and daughter are really something, one is from the Imperial Uncle's family and the other is from the Princess's family. How did Xue Ruoxue manage to get involved with the Imperial Uncle's family? Does her scumbag father know?]

Could that scumbag father also be part of the emperor's faction?

"Ye Chengzhu has recently entered the official circle, and our father and Xue Ruoxue have done a lot of work to help him."

"Did Xue Ruoxue marry the Emperor's brother-in-law, or the Emperor's brother-in-law's wife?"

"The Empress Dowager, it is said, helped out in a small way, and they gradually became acquainted."

"Knock knock! Young Master, an invitation has arrived from the Imperial Uncle's residence." Butler Li's voice rang out from outside.

"What a coincidence!"

Ye Li'an opened it and took a look.

"Three days later, we went to the manor outside the city to enjoy the flowers."

"Let's go!"

The next morning, the constables escorted several families of exiled criminals through the streets. These families were the ones that Ye Yaoyao had pointed out at the palace banquet.

Imperial Censor Liu was the one who was pelted with the most rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs by the people.

Fu Ling and Fu Ya stared at Madam Chen, and finally saw her make a move. Madam Chen, wearing a large cloak, hurriedly walked out of the back door, got into the carriage at the alley entrance.

"Fuling, go back and tell Miss that I'm going with her."

"Okay." Fu Ling quickly ran away.

Fuya followed Madam Chen all the way to Qingxinzhai.

There weren't many people going to the teahouse for tea in the morning. When Madam Chen went in, the waiter bowed and greeted her, but didn't go up to greet her.

Fuya walked over, and the waiter greeted her with a smile.

"Are you alone, young lady? There aren't many customers yet. Would you mind sitting in the main hall?"

"Waiter, I don't drink tea. Could you take me to see the lady who just came in?"

"Well, young lady, what business do you have with that lady?"

Fuya took out her purse and showed it to the waiter.

"Here's the thing, I found a purse on the road. I only saw the lady's back at the time, and I wanted to ask if it was hers that I lost."

“Young lady, that lady is our honored guest. I’ll go up and ask her. If she’s willing to see you, I’ll call you.”

“Okay.” Fuya nodded.

The waiter ran up, but came down again shortly after.

“Miss, the lady says she hasn’t lost anything.”

"Xie Xiao'er." Fu Ya, now on the stairs, had already determined by the sound that Madam Chen was in the private room on the right side of the third floor.

After leaving the teahouse, I walked to the opposite side and carefully observed the people coming in and out.

A quarter of an hour later, a slightly overweight man dressed in brocade entered the teahouse. Judging from the waiter's attitude, he must be the owner of Qingxinzhai.

After Ye Yaoyao finished her morning practice, Fu Ling ran back to report that she had brought several people with her.

"Fourth Miss, Madam Chen is in a private room on the right side of the third floor. A middle-aged man went in after her; he might be Madam Chen's lover."

"Understood, Fuling and Fuya, you two find an excuse to lure Chen Yuanzhao over."

Chen Yuanzhao was a hereditary Duke of Cheng'en, holding a nominal position and not required to attend the morning court.

"Yes, Miss," the two replied in unison, then turned and left.

"Come on, let's go in for tea and breakfast." Ye Yaoyao waved her hand and led everyone into the teahouse.

"Waiter, take us to the private room on the third floor. We want the best tea and pastries. The rest will be your errand fee."

Ye Jingyang took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and waved it in front of the waiter.

"The third floor?" The waiter hesitated. The owner had just said that people were not allowed to go up to the third floor.

"No, we can't! We have to go."

"Yes, yes, please come upstairs with me, sir."