Ye Jingchuan stared at Ye Chutang descending from the sky as if he had seen a ghost.
"You stayed on the roof all night? Where’s the maid?"
Last night, the guards had searched the rooftops of the Minister's Mansion multiple times but found no trace of Ye Chutang or her maid.
Ye Chutang rolled her eyes.
"I’m not a lightning rod or a raincoat—why would I stay on the roof?"
Kong Ru noticed that her clothes were dry, with only her shoes slightly damp.
"Master, Chutang must have just arrived."
Ye Chutang glanced at Kong Ru, who looked weak from diarrhea, and asked pointedly, "Did you have a pleasant night, Madam Ye?"
Kong Ru’s face darkened instantly, her shriveled stomach aching faintly. "So it was you!"
Hadn’t she instructed Granny Liu to torment this girl properly?
How did she know martial arts—and poison?
Ye Chutang waved Kong Ru’s dowry list in front of her. "Didn’t you poison me too?"
Then she turned to Ye Jingchuan, displeased.
"Didn’t I warn you to keep your household in line and not provoke me?"
Ye Jingchuan hadn’t expected Ye Chutang to be so capable—not only evading the search but moving freely through the Minister's Mansion.
He secretly thanked his stars he hadn’t acted yet, or he’d be the one facing consequences today!
"Madam, did you really poison Chutang?"
Kong Ru knew from his tone that Ye Jingchuan was about to scapegoat her to placate Ye Chutang.
"Yes. I thought Chutang was too arrogant and needed a lesson."
Slap!
Ye Jingchuan struck Kong Ru hard across the face.
Weak from illness, she crumpled to the ground, her fine robes soaking in the rainwater.
Clutching her cheek, she lowered her gaze to hide the hatred in her eyes.
"Master, this humble wife admits her fault."
Seeing her swollen face, Ye Jingchuan softened slightly.
"Your monthly allowance is suspended for six months. After the homecoming banquet, you’ll be confined for three months. Any objections?"
The punishment sounded light but was severe in practice.
A house mistress under confinement couldn’t attend social gatherings or host events.
Worse, she’d have to delegate some household authority—and face ridicule from other noblewomen.
Kong Ru knew the repercussions but recognized this wasn’t the time to argue.
"This humble wife accepts."
"Go prepare. We’ll pay respects to Chutang’s mother shortly."
"Yes, Master."
As Kong Ru retreated in disarray, Ye Chutang’s lips curved.
"Madam, consider this a warning. If you misbehave again, next time it’ll be a lethal dose."
Kong Ru shuddered.
"Chutang, I acted foolishly. It won’t happen again."
She still didn’t know how she’d been poisoned. If Ye Chutang wanted her dead, she’d have no defense.
Once Kong Ru left, Ye Jingchuan pressed, "Where were you last night? And the maid?"
Ignoring him, Ye Chutang strode to her bedchamber.
Feigning shock at the emptied room, she remarked,
"Minister Ye, was it really necessary to strip my room bare just because I was gone one night?"
To Ye Jingchuan, this was the pot calling the kettle black.
He followed her inside, eyes sharp.
"Are you claiming you didn’t have someone loot Ningchu Courtyard of all its valuables?"
Ye Chutang scoffed.
"Father, if you didn’t want to give me gifts or my dowry, you could’ve just said so. No need for theatrics!"
She added pointedly, "Only three people could’ve emptied a courtyard in the Minister's Mansion."
The master, the mistress, or the matriarch.
The logic was airtight, leaving Ye Jingchuan speechless.
Even with inside help, clearing Ningchu Courtyard in two hours was impossible.
Baffled, he let it go for now.
"The theft will be investigated by the capital magistrate. I’ll have furnishings replaced.
For now, focus on learning etiquette from the matron. You’ll get the five thousand taels shortly."
Ye Chutang corrected, "Not five thousand—fifty thousand."
Ye Jingchuan gaped. "How much?!"
"Did you really think I’d let the poisoning slide?"
"I don’t have fifty thousand! The Minister's Mansion’s coffers would run dry!"
Ye Chutang wasn’t buying it.
"Take it up with Madam Ye. She’s the one I’m holding accountable."
Ye Jingchuan frowned. "She’s no merchant like your mother. Where would she get that sum?"
"No money? Then I’m leaving."
With that, Ye Chutang leaped onto the roof.
"Oh, and cancel the homecoming banquet. Farewell."
Knowing this was blackmail but powerless, Ye Jingchuan yielded.
"Fine! Fifty thousand—you’ll have it!"
The banquet had to proceed; Eunuch De couldn’t be offended.
The roof tiles, cleansed by the rain, gleamed under Ye Chutang as she perched on the eaves, legs swinging playfully.
"Fetch it then. I’ll wait."
Before leaving, Ye Jingchuan voiced his burning question:
"Chutang, you could’ve fled the Minister's Mansion and avoided Eunuch De. Why stay?"
It made no sense to him.
Ye Chutang remained for the original host’s sake—to reclaim her status as the Ye family’s most brilliant daughter.
"First, I’m a Ye. Second, there’s no escaping the emperor’s domain."
"You’re shrewd. But if Eunuch De desires you, would you submit?"
Her grin widened. "Of course not."
A chill ran down Ye Jingchuan’s spine.
"Defying him means death—for you, the Ye clan, even your late mother."
"Relax. I know my limits."
Half an hour later, Ye Chutang held fifty thousand taels in banknotes.
"Father, stop pretending to be poor. It’s embarrassing."
Ye Jingchuan glared at the stack in her hand.
"Thanks to you, the embarrassment is public now!"
Though he’d profited from Tang Wanning’s dowry shops and embezzled ministry funds,
his dual loyalty to the Crown Prince and Second Prince drained his reserves.
His entire savings barely topped two hundred thousand taels—
and Ye Chutang had just claimed a quarter in one day!
Tucking the notes into her sleeve (and secretly into her spatial storage), Ye Chutang smirked at his pained expression.
"Moral of the story: dishonesty has consequences."
Then she asked, "Shall we visit my mother’s grave now?"
"Let’s go. Madam has prepared the offerings."
As she turned to leave, Ye Jingchuan blocked her, eyeing her sleeve nervously.
"That’s fifty thousand taels! Aren’t you afraid of losing it?"
"Better than leaving it in Ningchu Courtyard to be stolen."
"..."
Speechless, Ye Jingchuan gave up. "Move out."
Tang Wanning was buried in the western suburbs, a half-hour carriage ride away.
Kong Ru, still seething, had servants pack incense and paper money for the journey.
Ye Jingchuan’s gaze kept drifting to Ye Chutang’s sleeve, as if expecting the notes to fall out.
He tried fishing for information, but her evasive replies left him cold with dread.
"Father, I heard that in your climb up the ranks, you ransacked the family of your father-in-law, who helped you pass the imperial exams?"
"Do you have nightmares at night? Have you dreamed of my mother crawling out of her grave to settle accounts with you?"
"The things in Ningchu Court were emptied without a trace—could it have been my mother’s doing?"
With each sentence Ye Chutang uttered, the temperature inside the carriage dropped another degree.
By the time she finished speaking, Ye Jingchuan and Kong Ru were pressed tightly together, seeking warmth from each other.
When they arrived at the gravesite, the two hesitated for a long time, too afraid to step out of the carriage.
Ye Chutang seized them by their collars and dragged them before Tang Wanning’s tomb.
With a kick each, she forced them to their knees in front of the grave.
