“Yes, indeed,” Madam Yin said with a look of relief. “When he came to break off the engagement, I was furious. Now it seems that was a blessing in disguise.”

She was about to say that she would carefully select another husband for Ye Yaming to comfort her daughter, but just as the words reached her lips, she suddenly remembered Ye Chongming’s warning and hastily closed her mouth.

In the past, Ye Yaming wouldn’t have wanted to continue this conversation. She wasn’t the original owner of this body and couldn’t bring herself to feel close to Madam Yin. She had to put on an act in front of Madam Yin to maintain the original Ye Yaming’s character.

The original Ye Yaming had been very attached to and respectful of her mother. Her competitive nature came partly from inheriting Madam Yin’s traits, but also because Madam Yin had no sons. As her mother’s eldest daughter, she needed to support her mother and uphold her banner.

Moreover, Ye Yaming had just resolved to unite all members of the Ye family, which naturally included Madam Yin.

In this ancient society that emphasized filial piety, she could remain distant from her uncles and, if necessary, cut ties through family division, but there was no way to sever relations with her birth parents, Ye Hongsheng and Madam Yin.

Furthermore, without familial affection, romantic love, or even friendship, what would be the point of building a successful career in this different time and space?

She affectionately took Madam Yin’s arm, pulling her along as they walked deeper inside, saying, “Yes, Mother. As the ancients said, ‘Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and good fortune may conceal disaster.'”

“Right, right, right.” Seeing her daughter, who had been somewhat distant lately, become affectionate again, Madam Yin was almost moved to tears.

“Did the Song Yifeng incident upset Maternal Grandfather and Grandmother?” Ye Yaming asked.

Yin De’an had come once, sat with Ye Chongming for a while, had a cup of tea, and then left. Ye Chongming had asked if he wanted to see Madam Yin and Ye Yaming, but Yin De’an had declined.

But Madam Yin, concerned about her parents and worried they might fall ill from anger, had informed the Old Madam and returned to the Yin household.

She had hesitated about whether to bring Ye Yaming along, but the Old Madam had talked her out of it.

She said that Ye Yaming was the one most hurt by this incident, and bringing her to her maternal family, where people would repeatedly inquire about the broken engagement, would be like rubbing salt in her wounds.

Madam Yin found this reasonable and went to her maternal home alone with her servants. She stayed for a while, had a meal, and then returned.

Seeing Ye Yaming’s concern for her maternal grandparents, Madam Yin quickly said, “They’re fine. Your maternal grandfather was indeed quite angry, but that’s secondary; most importantly, he feels extremely guilty toward you. He believes it was his poor judgment that led you through this ordeal. He feels he has failed you. Your maternal grandmother and uncle comforted him at length, and I also told him about your condition when I went back, which helped ease his mind somewhat.”

She took Ye Yaming’s hand and continued, “Yaming, don’t blame your maternal grandfather. He truly didn’t know Song Yifeng was such a person. No matter what, he would never harm you.”

“Mm, I understand,” Ye Yaming smiled. “Tell Grandfather not to blame himself. This engagement wasn’t forced on me by him and Grandfather; I was willing at the time. If anyone’s to blame, it’s the heartless Song mother and son. But thankfully, they’ve received their just punishment.”

“Yes, heaven has eyes,” Madam Yin pressed her palms together and bowed toward the sky.

Ye Yaming accompanied her to the entrance of the main room and was about to take her leave when she saw a figure running toward them—it was Ye Yayin.

“Sis-Sister, is what they’re saying… true?” Ye Yayin had run over in a hurry, panting, barely able to speak coherently.

“If you’re asking about Song Yifeng being thrown in prison, then yes, it’s true,” Ye Yaming said.

“I heard from the servants that you broke off the engagement a while ago?” Ye Yayin asked further.

Ye Yaming nodded, “Yes.”

The matter of her broken engagement hadn’t been deliberately concealed, but it hadn’t been announced throughout the household either. It wasn’t a good thing, and the servants who knew about it were afraid that discussing it might reach the ears of the upset Old Master and Old Madam, resulting in severe punishment, so they all kept silent.

Therefore, apart from Ye Hongchang and Madam Tao, who managed the first branch, and her birth mother, Madam Yin, others were unaware.

It was only when Song Yifeng was imprisoned, causing a stir throughout the city, that the household servants began to discuss it, and those who knew about the broken engagement revealed the news. This led to the consolation from Ye Hongrong and Ye Yayin.

Ye Yaming guessed that Ye Yaqing would be coming soon as well.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, she saw Ye Yaqing approaching. Like Ye Yayin, she was also out of breath from running. And because the first branch was far from the second branch, she was so winded that she couldn’t speak at all.

“Don’t rush, don’t rush. I know what you want to ask. Yes, yes, the Song family broke off the engagement with me a while ago. Now Song Yifeng has received his punishment and is in prison. Seeing him like this, I’m so relieved, I could celebrate with a feast,” Ye Yaming said, patting Ye Yaqing’s back.

“Everyone, come in and sit down.” Madam Yin was delighted that everyone was concerned about Ye Yaming and quickly invited them all into the hall, repeatedly calling for refreshments to be served.

Ye Yaming wanted to ask about Ye Yaqing’s marriage situation, but worried she might not speak freely in front of Madam Yin, so she said to Madam Yin, “Mother, let me take my sisters to my place.”

“That’s fine,” Madam Yin smiled. “You sisters have a good talk.”

Ye Yaming led Ye Yaqing and Ye Yayin back to her courtyard and explained in detail the circumstances of Song Yifeng breaking off the engagement, angering Ye Yaqing and Ye Yayin to the point where they cursed continuously. However, their vocabulary of curses was quite limited, consisting mainly of phrases like “he’s so bad” and “I’m so angry.”

After discussing her situation, Ye Yaming asked Ye Yaqing, “How is your engagement proceeding?”

Ye Yayin also blinked her big eyes, curiously looking at her cousin.

Ye Yaqing glanced at Ye Yayin and was about to make an excuse to change the subject when Ye Yaming said, “It’s fine, let her listen and learn from this. It will help her be more discerning when choosing a marriage partner in the future, learning from these lessons.”

“Yes, Second Sister, please let me listen too,” Ye Yayin pleaded softly.

Ye Yaqing smiled at her and then said to Ye Yaming, “Fortunately, you reminded Grandfather, Grandmother, and my father. They sent people to investigate the Wang family thoroughly and found it indeed unsuitable, so the engagement was called off.”

Ye Yaming nodded, feeling relieved.

Ye Yayin, however, asked curiously, “In what way was it unsuitable?”

To prevent young girls from developing thoughts about matters between men and women too early, older girls typically avoided discussing their marital affairs in front of younger ones.

Ye Yaqing glanced at Ye Yaming, and seeing no objection, she explained in detail to Ye Yayin, “At first glance, their family seemed excellent. Setting aside their scholarly background, they didn’t take concubines, which made everyone believe they had upright family values, making many eager to arrange marriages with them. Moreover, they didn’t look down on merchant families; from their Old Madam down to their granddaughters-in-law, many came from merchant backgrounds.”