Only after being reborn did I realize that I was the white moonlight of a powerful minister.

Le Ge'er was very sturdy and threw himself into Ye Wanning's arms, "Mother, Mother, he told me to call him Father, is he really my father?"

Ye Wanning nodded and said, "Yes, he is your father."

"Great! I have a father now!" Le Ge'er cheered. "Go wash up quickly, Chunxi made steamed buns today, they smell so good."

Ye Wanning was pulled to the kitchen, where Le Ge'er was, making it very lively.

However, children's minds are easily distracted, and soon Qingshan led them to catch sparrows.

Ye Wanning and Yunzhi were checking the dowry.

"My family provided land and farmland as part of my dowry, so let the original people continue to manage them," Ye Wanning said. "As for the shops, continue to rent them out; I don't want to bother running them anymore."

She had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of her life.

Yunzhi, accompanied by several maids, was putting things into the storeroom when they came to a box and discovered that the gold headdress inside was missing.

"What's going on? Take another look, and search carefully," Yunzhi instructed the other maids.

But no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find it. They even lost a jade thumb ring, which was also a valuable item.

Yunzhi frowned. "Madam, could it have been taken? The First Madam and the Second Madam would never withhold your dowry; they're not that kind of people. The storeroom door has been locked since we arrived at the Xie family yesterday, so it's very likely that it was stolen while we were at the Ye family's place. Shall we send someone back to tell them?"

"That's not a good idea. If I send someone back, it will affect my relationship with my two sisters-in-law. I trust their character, and that's why it's not appropriate to ask them directly. They'll definitely go to great lengths to prove their innocence," Ye Wanning said.

"What should we do then?" Yunzhi frowned. "That set of jewelry alone is worth two thousand taels of silver."

Such a valuable item cannot simply be thrown away and discarded.

Ye Wanning thought for a moment, then went to Xie Bohuai and told him about the missing dowry. "I think it was either a relative of the Ye family or one of the servants in the Ye household. Since they dared to reach into my dowry, they must be very short of money and definitely want to cash it out."

Xie Bohuai agreed, "I'll send people to inquire at all the major pawnshops and keep an eye on the people coming and going from the Ye family. Don't worry, we'll definitely be able to find it for you."

"The money is a minor matter; the real issue is finding this kind of person. Otherwise, it could lead to even greater trouble in the long run," Ye Wanning said, concerned about this.

Xie Bohuai's men immediately went to investigate, and the men sent out quickly got the news. It was no secret that Ye Mingxuan had redeemed a prostitute, but Ye Mingxuan couldn't possibly have that much money. Following the clues, they found Ye Wanning's dowry jewelry.

To be honest, Ye Mingxuan was quite stupid. After stealing the items, instead of melting down the headdress and selling it, he thought the complete headdress would be more valuable, so he pawned it directly.

Upon hearing this news, on the day of her return visit to her parents' home, Ye Wanning specially invited her second uncle's family over.

Ye Xianrong was reluctant to come, thinking that Ye Wanning definitely wanted to show off, but since Ye Wanning asked, he had no choice but to bring his whole family.

Upon arriving at the Ye residence, Ye Xianrong noticed that no seat had been reserved for him and said sarcastically, "So you know you're all successful now and look down on your second uncle, huh?"

"No, not yet." Ye Mingyue chuckled and had tea poured. "You'll always be our second uncle, otherwise we wouldn't have invited you over. Oh, Mingxuan, why do you look so pale? Are you tired?"

Madam Li pursed her lips and said, "He's not lucky; he can only study hard. These days, Mingxuan has been studying diligently every day, and his complexion has even worsened. He's really working hard. I'm asking you, Mingyue, when did you promise to help introduce me to a renowned teacher?"

"No rush, there's something we need to figure out first, otherwise our family will make a fool of ourselves." Only Ye Mingyue and his brother were present at the moment. Ye Mingyue said that if this matter escalated, it would definitely cause a major falling out with their second uncle's family. This kind of thing should be handled by the men, not by the women like Ye Wanning.

At this moment, Ye Wanning was sitting in the inner room with her sisters, and could hear the conversations outside clearly.

Ye Wanyu couldn't hold back any longer and said in a low voice, "How can there be such a person? He even dared to steal my cousin's dowry and went to prostitutes to keep a mistress. He has truly disgraced the family!"

"Stop talking," Lin said. "Let's hear what your brothers have to do."

Ye Wanyu pouted, wishing she could go out and yell at them herself, but her brothers wouldn't let them.

The Ye Xianrong couple outside understood the implication in Ye Mingyue's words. Li was not happy. "I'm telling you, Mingyue, just say what you want to say. Don't beat around the bush. We are your elders, not criminals."

"Yes, you specifically invited us over, and I was quite happy. I was thinking of Wan Ning's homecoming, the whole family getting along so well, how wonderful." Ye Xianrong said sarcastically, then turned to look at his son, who was still staring blankly, and felt a little unhappy.

Since redeeming Cui'er, Ye Mingxuan has been spending every day with her, without ever stopping. His energy has been completely drained, and he can't help but keep yawning.

Ye Mingyue glanced at his brother. Since things had come to this point, he had no choice but to lay everything out on the table. He gave a wink to the person next to him, and the servant immediately went to bring over the pawnshop manager.

The shopkeeper brought in the jewelry, glanced at Ye Mingxuan, and confirmed, "Reporting to you two gentlemen, it is indeed this gentleman who came to pawn the jewelry. I also have the contract he signed and sealed here, there is no mistake."

Ye Mingyue hummed in agreement, "Thank you for your hard work, shopkeeper. Please go have a cup of tea first, and I'll call you back later if I need to speak with you." He then looked at Ye Xianrong's family, "This headdress was Wan Ning's dowry, but Mingxuan pawned it a few days ago. Second Uncle, I..."

"What do you mean?" Ye Xianrong sensed something was wrong. "Are you saying that Mingxuan stole Wanning's dowry?"

Ye Mingyue said, “Second Uncle, please calm down. My elder brother and I both know that family scandals should not be aired in public, which is why we didn’t leave anyone else here. The shopkeeper just identified them, and there’s also the contract signed and sealed by Mingxuan. You can verify it; it can’t be faked.”

Ye Xianrong stared at the contract, his hands trembling with anger. After confirming there were no mistakes, he still tried to find excuses for his son, "It's impossible! Mingxuan studies every day, how could he do such a thing? Could he have been framed? Mingxuan, you said you didn't do such a thing, right?"

Ye Xianrong spent the first half of his life daydreaming, imagining a future of great success. Later, he faced reality and realized that such a dream was impossible, so he placed his hopes on his son.

When Ye Mingxuan was asked by his father, his legs trembled instantly, and his eyes darted away, not daring to answer.

Li looked at her son and said, "Don't be afraid. If you didn't do it, just say you didn't. It's not impossible that someone with bad intentions might find someone who looks like you! You're a scholar, someone who will pass the imperial examinations and become a high-ranking official. You would never do such a thing!"

"I..." Ye Mingxuan never thought he would be discovered when he stole the things. Besides, Ye Wanning had so much dowry, and he was also a member of the Ye family. What was the big deal about taking one or two items? Was it really necessary?

Ye Mingyue lost his patience. "I'm telling you, Mingxuan, a real man should be responsible for his actions. If you won't admit it, are you going to make a scene in court?"

"Ye Mingyue, how dare you!" Ye Xianrong roared, "Are you trying to force me to my death over such a trivial matter? I've already said that Mingxuan is a scholar; he doesn't need that much money. Why are you being so aggressive?"

Ye Mingyue was so angry he laughed. Just as he was about to retort, his elder brother spoke first, "Second Uncle, if we wanted to force you to your death, you would already be in court by now. We only called you here because we're all family and it wouldn't look good if this got out. You know me, I'm a very methodical person. Since we dared to call you here, it means we've already confirmed it. Why don't you ask Mingxuan where he's supposed to be studying?"