After breakfast, which Cai Damei had carefully prepared, Ye Yunniang left home with Li Pan and Li An.
They parted ways at the entrance of the alley.
Ye Yunniang arrived at the Baise Embroidery Shop.
Baise was taking inventory.
"You came just in time. You can take over this batch," Baise said, handing the ledger in her hand to Ye Yunniang.
Ye Yunniang took the ledger. It recorded various colored embroidery threads, with details like quantity, purchase unit price, and total price listed beneath each name.
Following the ledger, Ye Yunniang checked the contents of two large boxes of embroidery threads.
Then, under Baise's guidance, she placed a small portion of the threads into the display grid behind the counter. The remaining majority was stored in their corresponding locations in the warehouse in the backyard.
By the time she finished all this, the day was gone.
Ye Yunniang went home, first stopping by the school to pick up the two children.
Li Pan and Li An walked out of the school gate and saw their mother.
"Mom / Mom," they called out, running to Ye Yunniang's side.
"Mom, how was it at the embroidery shop today?"
"Are you tired?"
"You must be very tired."
"Mom should go home early to rest."
"Right. We can go back by ourselves."
Without waiting for Ye Yunniang to speak, the two of them finished the conversation between themselves.
"Let's talk about it when we get home." Once home, Cai Damei and Li Ping would also ask.
Ye Yunniang decided to explain everything at once.
After returning home and having dinner, Ye Yunniang described what she did at the embroidery shop all day and answered their questions.
On February 28th, the Jin Family Restaurant opened for business.
Ye Yunniang and Cai Damei went to the restaurant.
From afar, they saw the four large characters "Jin Yu Man Tang" (Gold and Jade Fill the Hall) shimmering with a golden glow under the sunlight.
Chef Jin and Chunyao stood at the entrance greeting guests.
"Sister Chunyao, Brother-in-law Jin, congratulations."
As she spoke, Ye Yunniang presented her gift—a gold-lacquered toad, symbolizing wealth rolling in.
Chunyao liked it very much and held onto the golden toad tightly.
After exchanging a few words, Ye Yunniang and Cai Damei entered the restaurant.
The restaurant had two floors. The first floor was spacious and open, while the second floor consisted of private rooms.
Cai Damei looked around. "Have Jiang Mingyue and the others arrived?"
"I don't see them," Ye Yunniang shook her head.
The reason Cai Damei came today was because Ye Yunniang had told her that Jiang Mingyue's family had designs on their household.
Cai Damei wanted to see clearly who they were, to be on guard in the future.
"They're here, the four at the door. The elderly one is Bai Yurong, the man is Li Mingshu. The young woman is Jiang Mingyue. The child Bai Yurong is holding by the hand is Jiang Mingyi."
Memorizing the appearances of the four, Cai Damei commented, "The whole family looks shifty-eyed."
"Mother is right," Ye Yunniang agreed with Cai Damei's words.
Having seen the people they came to see, the two didn't stay long and left the Jin Yu Man Tang.
When Chunyao finished her tasks and went to look for them, they were already gone from the restaurant.
Chef Jin stopped Chunyao as she searched.
"How come Jiang Mingyue and the others are with your family members?"
"I don't know," Chunyao said, puzzled.
"Did you tell your family about the young master's affairs?" Chef Jin's face turned stern.
"I didn't," Chunyao defended herself.
A flicker of guilt flashed in Chunyao's eyes, which Jin Dachuan caught.
"What did you promise me?" Chef Jin was very disappointed.
"It's not like that. I... my mother promised me she wouldn't talk carelessly."
"You also promised me you wouldn't tell anyone." Chef Jin's words silenced Chunyao.
After a while, Chunyao took Chef Jin's hand. "Dachuan, I was wrong."
Having been married for many years, Chef Jin couldn't bear to be too harsh on his wife.
"You know my temper. This is the last time."
Chunyao repeatedly assured him, "I won't tell my family anything from now on."
"Remember what you said." Chef Jin went to attend to the guests.
"Inviting me to a wedding?" Ye Yunniang widened her eyes at Liang Maimiao. "Have you made up with your mother?"
"My father came to see me," Liang Maimiao explained. She didn't want to return to her parents' home, but her father came to her house to find her.
Liang Maimiao's father, elder brother and sister-in-law, and younger sister had always been good to her.
It wouldn't be right for her, as an elder sister, not to go back for her own sister's wedding.
Thinking this way, Liang Maimiao returned to her parents' home to give Liang Hemiao a wedding gift.
Liang Hemiao took Liang Maimiao's hand and said she wanted to invite Ye Yunniang to attend her wedding.
She wanted to express her gratitude to Ye Yunniang for embroidering her wedding dress and red veil.
"I was paid for it," Ye Yunniang said, not wanting to go to the Liang household. She wasn't in the habit of offering warmth where it wasn't welcome.
"Not to the Liang house, to her husband's family." What Liang Maimiao said next puzzled Ye Yunniang even more.
"Why go to her husband's family?"
Liang Maimiao explained that Liang Hemiao wanted to thank Ye Yunniang on her wedding day.
Because of what Yang Guihua had done before, Liang Hemiao felt it was inappropriate to invite Ye Yunniang to the Liang house. She thought of having Ye Yunniang come to her husband's family home to meet.
"That's not good. It's inappropriate for a widow like me to go to her husband's family home." Ye Yunniang felt something was off, but couldn't pinpoint exactly what, so she declined.
"Yunniang, I know this puts you in an awkward position. But she's my only sister, and she just wants to see you on her wedding day to thank you for embroidering such a beautiful wedding dress for her. Please, do it for my sake, okay?" Liang Maimiao pleaded.
"Alright," Ye Yunniang agreed.
"Yunniang, you're truly wonderful. On the wedding day, I'll be in the bridal escort party. I'll take you to see her then."
After seeing Liang Maimiao off, Ye Yunniang went to the backyard to find Cai Damei.
Cai Damei was breastfeeding Bao Shuyi.
Beside them, Bao Min was watching tenderly as the child nursed.
Ye Yunniang knocked and entered.
Cai Damei glanced at Bao Min, signaling for him to leave.
"Master Bao, you don't need to leave. This matter might actually require your help."
Bao Min, who had reluctantly started to rise, sat back down.
"Speak, what matter requires my help?"
Ye Yunniang told them both about Liang Maimiao's visit and the request. She felt something was wrong with the situation but couldn't articulate exactly what.
After listening, Cai Damei also felt it was suspicious and looked at Bao Min.
"I'll arrange for someone to investigate," Bao Min said, rising to make arrangements after hearing the story.
In less than a day, the scheme involving Liang Hemiao and the people behind her was uncovered.
Wang Qiang had genuinely liked Ma Hui, but besides Ma Hui, he had several other lovers.
For example, the previous Wang Daxing.
Liang Hemiao's future father-in-law, Wang Dashan, was also one of them.
Wang Dashan was Wang Qiang's first man and doted on him, giving him a lot of money.
Because of this, Wang Qiang was able to afford to buy a house and land.
After Wang Qiang's death, Wang Dashan was sad for a few days but soon put it out of his mind.
The reason he thought of targeting Ye Yunniang now was due to Wang Jizu's instigation.
Wang Dashan's family ran a cloth shop. Due to poor management in recent years, the business had been declining.
Wang Dashan wanted to venture into the embroidery business.
To do embroidery business, you need good embroiderers. Wang Dashan had poached a few at high prices, but it wasn't enough.
Wang Jizu, who had somehow heard this news, approached Wang Dashan and recommended Ye Yunniang.
He also urged Wang Dashan to test Ye Yunniang's skills, which led to the incident where Liang Hemiao couldn't find an embroiderer for her wedding dress.
The wedding dress embroidered by Ye Yunniang satisfied Wang Dashan.
Ye Yunniang's appearance and spirited personality also pleased Wang Dashan.
Wang Dashan knew that under normal circumstances, Ye Yunniang would not agree to enter the Wang family as a concubine. So he had Liang Hemiao proactively invite Ye Yunniang to the Wang house.
Once the lamb entered the tiger's den, Ye Yunniang's life and death would be at Wang Dashan's mercy.
"Does Liang Maimiao know about this?"
