Huandi knew about Wang Jizu and Wang Daxing's scheme. But adopting a mindset of "not my business, not my problem," she didn't tell anyone.
Now that her daughter was in trouble, she couldn't find anyone to help her. She had no choice but to swallow her pride and come beg Ye Yunniang.
Ye Yunniang was not one to return good for evil and refused outright.
"I told you the information, why won't you help me?" Huandi demanded sharply, shedding her previous meekness.
"Why didn't you help me?" Ye Yunniang retorted.
"Wang Daxing would beat me to death," Huandi shook her head, too scared and afraid to act.
Huandi reached out and grabbed the hem of Ye Yunniang's clothes again.
"Now I'm telling you, you can have him and the people behind him all sent to prison. You wouldn't be under threat anymore."
"We don't need you to tell us. We've already found out Wang Jizu was involved," Tie Xiong's voice sounded from behind.
Huandi scrambled to her feet and ran away quickly.
"Sister-in-law, don't worry. Not a single one who harmed you will get away," Tie Xiong assured Ye Yunniang.
"Was Wang Damei really married in a ghost marriage?" Having experienced it herself, Ye Yunniang knew the horror of ghost marriages. She didn't want a five-year-old child to go through that.
"Magistrate Bao has issued an order; ghost marriages are forbidden in Jiangcheng," Tie Xiong reassured Ye Yunniang, promising he wouldn't let anything happen to Wang Damei.
Ye Yunniang trusted Tie Xiong and, setting aside her worry for Wang Damei, headed to the market.
Arriving at the market, Ye Yunniang picked out and bought some mountain produce, finally coming to the pastry shop.
At the market pastry shop, the best seller was red bean cake. Both the adults and children at home loved it.
She queued up and bought two catties.
It was noon, and Ye Yunniang was getting a bit hungry.
She sat down at a nearby tea stall, ordered a cup of hot tea, and ate some red bean cake.
While eating, she saw some acquaintances approaching.
Bai Yurong, Li Mingshu, and Jiang Mingyue, the three of them without their children, sat down at the tea stall.
"Waiter, bring tea quickly. I'm parched," Li Mingshu urged.
Ye Yunniang lowered her head and ate her red bean cake.
After drinking a cup of tea to quench her thirst, Li Mingshu looked at Bai Yurong. "Mother, is the old man really out of money?"
Li Mingshu didn't believe Old Master Jiang's words.
"I'll take Yi'er and go again tomorrow," Bai Yurong also refused to believe Old Master Jiang was completely penniless. She thought the treasure Old Master Jiang had must have been hidden away by Concubine Xue.
"What if he really has no money?" Jiang Mingyue said without much hope.
"Pah, pah, impossible," Li Mingshu refused to believe it. He had no desire to live a life without silver.
"The old man must have hidden it," Jiang Mingyue also changed her tune. "Besides, we still don't know where my second brother is. He definitely has even more."
Bai Yurong and Li Mingshu agreed with Jiang Mingyue's words. Having lived in the Jiang family for many years, they knew Jiang Mingzhe was the wealthiest.
"Our relationship with Second Brother is just average," Li Mingshu felt it wouldn't be easy to get silver out of Jiang Mingzhe.
Mentioning Jiang Mingzhe reminded people of Jiang Mingrui.
"Fourth Brother, that fool," Jiang Mingyue sneered, looking down on Jiang Mingrui.
"After the elopement incident, Second Master must hate Jiang Mingrui deeply. If you, as his younger siblings, could get on good terms with him now..." Bai Yurong left the rest unsaid.
Jiang Mingyue and Li Mingshu weren't fools. Thinking of the treasures Jiang Mingzhe had given Jiang Mingrui, their eyes burned with greed.
"But where do we find Second Brother?" Li Mingshu's one sentence plunged their heated hearts into icy water.
"We don't need to look for him. We'll wait for Second Master to come to us," Bai Yurong said with confidence.
"Why would Second Brother come looking for us?" Jiang Mingyue didn't believe it.
"Jiang Mingzhe has a woman who bore him a child," Bai Yurong's words made Ye Yunniang tighten her grip on the red bean cake in her hand.
"Second Brother has an heir!" Jiang Mingyue was shocked. Li Mingshu was also so shocked he choked on his tea.
"Mother, is your information reliable?"
"Chunyao said it herself. Could it be false?"
The red bean cake in Ye Yunniang's hand crumbled.
She couldn't believe it. Why her?
"Who is Chunyao?" Jiang Mingyue and Li Mingshu didn't know her.
"Who Chunyao is isn't important. What's important is that Chunyao's man is Chef Jin, and he's Second Master's trusted confidant."
Both Jiang Mingyue and Li Mingshu knew who Chef Jin was, so they believed Bai Yurong's words.
"Who is the one who had a child for my second brother?" Jiang Mingyue asked curiously.
"Don't know. Chunyao didn't say. She only said Second Master has a child and that her family must come to Jiangcheng," Bai Yurong shared what she knew.
"Mother, do you know Chunyao's family?"
"Chunyao's third sister-in-law is my cousin's daughter. She told me herself."
"No wonder Mother delayed returning to Shancheng," Li Mingshu understood now.
"I'll go find Chunyao now," Jiang Mingyue said anxiously.
"Mingyue, don't rush," Li Mingshu stopped Jiang Mingyue.
"How can I not rush? That's my nephew. I, as his aunt, must go see him." While the child was young, she could win his heart over. Then future wealth and luxury would be hers.
"Right now, we not only can't acknowledge him, we have to pretend we don't know.
We need to befriend Chunyao and Chef Jin, use them to find the woman and child Second Master has hidden away, and gain their trust."
"Too troublesome," Jiang Mingyue frowned.
"Mingyue, Second Master is not a fool," Bai Yurong's words reminded Jiang Mingyue that acting like that would only anger Jiang Mingzhe.
Jiang Mingyue thought about Jiang Mingzhe's cleverness and realized her approach was improper.
The three of them sat down and discussed how to get close to Ye Yunniang through Chunyao.
Ye Yunniang silently finished her red bean cake, drank her tea, and left.
Arriving home, she found Chunyao waiting at the door.
"Yunniang, you're back from shopping."
"Yes, Sister Chunyao. I haven't seen you for days. Where have you been?" Ye Yunniang smiled as she greeted Chunyao.
"It's almost New Year, so I went back to my family home for a couple of days. My mother makes cured sausages, fragrant and spicy, perfect with rice. Try some." As she spoke, Chunyao handed Ye Yunniang the six links of cured sausage she was carrying.
"That's too much, I can't accept it," Ye Yunniang declined. The sausage in Chunyao's hand had to be over a catty.
"You made that fried crispy fish before, and Jindou and I ate a huge bowl of it. You must take this sausage." Chunyao insisted, stuffing it into Ye Yunniang's basket.
"That's different. You helped fry the fish," Ye Yunniang tried to give it back.
"Just take it. I just got back and have things to do at home. I'll head off first." Chunyao walked quickly towards her home.
Ye Yunniang watched Chunyao walk away, then looked at the sausage in her basket, sighed, and walked into the courtyard.
Back home, she took out the items she bought from the basket, took half a catty of red bean cake to the Xu family, and brought her three children home.
"Mother, your hand is injured. I'll cook."
