After saying this, she scanned the crowd, her face smiling, but her gaze paused on Su Rou’s face, her eyes filled with coldness and warning.

When Su Rou saw that events had completely turned in the opposite direction from what had been planned, she knew trouble was brewing and felt anxious.

At this moment, public opinion was entirely in Ye Yaming’s hands, and Su Rou had heard plenty about Ye Yaming’s formidable nature from Ye Yaqing. She also knew in detail about how Ye Yaming had confronted the Yang siblings at the jewelry shop.

If she were to say anything unfavorable about Ye Yaqing now, Ye Yaming might turn her spearhead toward her. Hadn’t she seen that Yang Chuzhi was about to be sent to the authorities on charges of theft?

Had they known Ye Yaming would be at the Chen family today, they would never have executed their plan.

Wasn’t Ye Yaming supposed to be absent? Where had she suddenly appeared from? If she were here, why hadn’t Ye Yaqing mentioned it?

As these thoughts raced through her mind, weighing the gains and losses, Su Rou quickly changed her strategy amidst her complex calculations.

She echoed Ye Yaming’s words: “Miss Ye makes a good point. We’ve all hosted banquets before and after the New Year, and small incidents are unavoidable. This doesn’t affect anything. Since the servants are handling it, let’s get back to our enjoyment.”

She then turned to Miss Chen with a sweet smile: “Isn’t that right, Sister Chen?”

Some of the more tactful young ladies also chimed in, comforting Miss Chen.

Miss Chen was a clever person. Hearing Ye Yaming and Su Rou’s coordinated responses, she knew they were concealing something and didn’t want to make a big deal of the incident. Besides, the back gate was guarded by servants, and without her parents’ orders, these people couldn’t leave.

So this matter was something she could completely ignore and leave to her parents to handle. Moreover, while the Su family might not matter much, the Ye family’s face was worth saving.

She thus took the easy way out and smiled: “Thank you all for your understanding. I’ll have someone deal with this later. Let’s get back to our enjoyment and not let this small matter spoil our mood.”

She took Ye Yaming’s hand: “Let’s go. The wind is strong by the lake; we should return to the hall.”

Ye Yaming pinched Ye Yaqing hard and warned her with a look, pulling her along to follow Miss Chen.

By now, Ye Yaqing had come to her senses and knew that if this incident got out, it would certainly affect her reputation. As for Yang Chuzhi, there did seem to be something improper about his behavior earlier.

Regardless, following Ye Yaming and finding a private place to plead Yang Chuzhi’s case was the most appropriate approach.

So she silently followed Ye Yaming back to the hall.

Madam Tao had been sitting in the hall all this time, still waiting for Ye Yaqing to send someone to call her to identify Yang Chuzhi. But no matter how long she waited, no one came.

Just as she was growing restless, she saw the two sisters enter. Both looked quite upset, especially her daughter Ye Yaqing, who was pale as if she had received a great shock.

She was about to call Ye Yaqing over to ask what had happened when she heard Old Lady Ye call to her: “First daughter-in-law, come quickly. This is the Chen family’s Grand Aunt. You remember her, don’t you? When you gave birth to Jiaxing, Grand Aunt Chen came to our home to join the celebration.”

Madam Tao had no choice but to gather her spirits and socialize with Grand Aunt Chen.

Ye Yaqing followed Ye Yaming to a corner and sat down. She looked at her cousin, about to speak, when Ye Yaming placed a cup of hot tea in her hands.

Ye Yaming whispered: “If you don’t want to die, and don’t want him to die either, then keep your mouth shut and act as if nothing happened. After the banquet ends, I’ll take you home, and we can discuss anything then. If people notice something is wrong, this matter will be impossible to keep quiet.”

Ye Yaqing stared at her cousin with wide eyes.

Ye Yaming ignored her and drank her tea.

Although she had contingency plans for everything, when Ye Yaqing had fallen toward the lake, she had still broken out in a cold sweat from fright.

Falling into a lake in this weather—even if one wasn’t drowned, half a life could be lost to the cold, especially for someone with Ye Yaqing’s physical constitution, in an era with limited medical resources. One careless fever, and a person could be gone.

Wasn’t that how the original host had died?

After drinking a cup of hot tea, her body gradually warmed up, and her mood relaxed considerably.

But Ye Yaqing was still not giving up. When Ye Yaming finished her tea, she grabbed her arm and said: “He’s not a thief, is he? That jade pendant was planted by Mother Lin or Old Woman Liu, wasn’t it?”

At least she knew enough not to let others overhear, speaking in a whisper close to Ye Yaming’s ear.

Seeing her like this, Ye Yaming felt somewhat exasperated and couldn’t help saying: “You seem quite clever after all. So why did you let yourself be deceived so thoroughly?”

Ye Yaqing’s eyes widened even more: “No, what nonsense are you talking? Who deceived me?”

“Must you drown before you’ll believe you’ve been deceived?” Ye Yaming’s gaze was cold.

Ye Yaqing stared back at her, but finally lowered her gaze in defeat, murmuring: “It’s not possible. He wouldn’t deceive me.”

She grabbed Ye Yaming’s arm: “Whatever the case, you can’t have him taken to the authorities as a thief. Sister, please. Doing that would ruin his future.”

Ye Yaming saw that as she became agitated, she forgot about their surroundings. If they continued, their conversation would surely be overheard.

She said: “Don’t worry. He hasn’t been taken to the authorities but has been brought back for questioning by Uncle. If he truly has done nothing wrong and sincerely wishes to marry you, Uncle won’t harm him.”

“Really?” Ye Yaqing brightened. “You’re not lying to me?”

“Yes, I’m lying. I’m the worst person in the world, the only one who would lie to you; everyone else is completely sincere toward you.” Ye Yaming didn’t want to talk to her anymore and turned her body to face the other direction.

She would have preferred to go sit beside Old Lady Ye, but she had to stay here and watch over this fool, lest she be manipulated or influenced by someone like Su Rou.

Su Rou needed to be dealt with, but now was not the time to make a scene. Catching a mouse risked breaking a jade vase. Besides, what use would it be to scold Su Rou or slap her? It would be meaningless.

The Su family was a merchant family, and Su Rou was helping the Yang family scheme against Ye Yaqing to gain benefits for the Su family. When the time came, the Ye family would teach the Su family a harsh lesson—that would be striking the snake at its vital point.

Ye Yaqing realized she had spoken inappropriately and angered her cousin, so she quickly moved closer to apologize to Ye Yaming.

“Alright, alright, just stay where you are quietly. We’ll go home after the meal. Don’t pay attention to Su Rou, and pretend not to understand anyone who questions you,” Ye Yaming said.

She worried that if she took her eyes off this fool for one moment, she would be deceived again and even help count the money for her deceiver.

An unworldly young lady who, even after such a harsh lesson from society, still hadn’t awakened and stubbornly refused to admit she had been deceived by a man—Ye Yaming found it exhausting.

After sitting for a while, it was announced that the meal was being served.

Madam Tao looked back and noticed that Ye Yaqing’s complexion was much better than when she had first entered, and Ye Yaming had already returned to normal, chatting and laughing with a girl beside her. Only then did she put her mind at ease.