Initially, when the Ye family wanted to gift a house to Song Yifeng, he refused. This residence, he claimed to others, was purchased with money he earned from copying books, writing poems, and selling paintings, but in reality, it was bought with the Ye family’s money.

Even so, to preserve Song Yifeng’s self-esteem and dignity, whenever he needed money, Yin De’an—Madam Yin’s father and Song Yifeng’s enlightening teacher—would send someone to inquire, learn about Song Yifeng’s need to participate in activities or need for funds, and then dispatch someone to send a message to the Ye family. The Ye family would eagerly send people to deliver the silver. After Song Yifeng’s token refusal, the Ye family would have to persuade him at length before he would finally accept.

This behavior, in Ye Yaming’s view, was truly a case of taking advantage while pretending to be virtuous.

But what happened later? After the Ye family wholeheartedly supported Song Yifeng, once he passed the imperial examination and became a jinshi, he disdained the Ye family for being merchants, believing that a merchant’s daughter wasn’t worthy of him, the great talented scholar Song. He thoroughly looked down on this engagement.

Concerned that breaking the engagement would tarnish his reputation as a man of his word, and knowing that the Ye family had spent so much money on him and wouldn’t easily let go of this marriage arrangement, he reluctantly married the original owner but treated her with extreme coldness, barely entering her chambers a few times a month.

After the Ye family’s misfortune, not only did he fail to help them seek justice or exoneration, he felt relieved.

Ye Yaming even suspected he might have had a hand in pushing things along behind the scenes, to free himself from this marriage alliance with the Ye family.

After the Ye family was sentenced to have their property confiscated and be exiled, he didn’t immediately divorce the original owner, thereby gaining a reputation for virtue.

But in private, he subjected the original owner to all manner of verbal humiliation and cold violence.

Madam Yu wanted both a good reputation and to get rid of the original owner. Instead of dealing with the original owner herself, she used the excuse that the original owner hadn’t conceived after nearly two years of marriage into the Song family. She bought a formidable maid to be Song Yifeng’s concubine, and after she became pregnant, immediately elevated her to the status of concubine, hinting that she should bully the original owner.

With a husband speaking coldly to her, taking a concubine and allowing that concubine to bully and insult her, and with all the original owner’s maids and old women sold off by Madam Yu under various pretexts, the original owner was kept under strict surveillance by the old women Madam Yu assigned, not allowing her to leave the house. During her time of extreme suffering, Song Yifeng had servants “inadvertently” reveal the news of Ye Hongsheng and his wife and Ye Yayin’s tragic deaths.

The original owner was naturally strong-willed and had prided herself on marrying Song Yifeng, developing deep feelings for him. Now she faced daily humiliation from Song Yifeng, insults from his concubine, and various harsh treatments and abuse from Madam Yu. She only continued to endure because she held onto the hope of seeing her parents and sister, hoping for a chance to escape her cage and visit them.

This devastating news struck like a bolt from the blue, leaving her with nothing to live for. So, on a snowy night, with a piece of white silk, she ended her life at the age of twenty.

Having heard that those who die wearing red clothes can become vengeful ghosts, she deliberately wore her wedding dress that she had carefully embroidered for three years. She wanted to become a vengeful ghost to take revenge on those who had harmed the Ye family, as well as Song Yifeng and his mother.

Yet for some unknown reason, she didn’t become a vengeful ghost but went to the underworld and received an opportunity to be reborn.

Recalling all the suffering the original owner had endured, Ye Yaming sighed deeply, her gaze toward Madam Yu as cold as if it had been tempered in frost, filled with coldness and disgust.

If Meng Chengwei’s actions against the Ye family could be understood as business competition, albeit with vile and vicious methods, the Song mother and son had received the Ye family’s kindness yet treated the Ye family and the original owner in such a manner—it was truly disgusting beyond words.

Ye Yaming couldn’t tolerate such people, and after transmigrating, she wanted to break off the engagement immediately.

But even in modern times, divorced women, even without fault, would be pointed at and gossiped about, with people saying things like, “If she wasn’t at fault, why would the man divorce her?” In this ancient era, the criticism toward women was even harsher.

Song Yifeng was adept at putting on a facade. At this time, the Ye family was wealthy, and the Song family was poor; although Song Yifeng had passed the provincial examination, talented scholars in Jiangnan were numerous, and being a provincial graduate wasn’t particularly remarkable. He only stood out because of his young age.

If the engagement was broken off poorly, it might damage the Ye family’s reputation, while Song Yifeng, having received so much money from the Ye family and having passed the provincial examination, would get what he wanted by breaking off this unwanted engagement with a merchant family.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

So Ye Yaming planned to proceed slowly. She not only wanted to break off the engagement but also to completely ruin Song Yifeng’s reputation.

Since she couldn’t immediately break the engagement and was unwilling to pretend cordiality with Madam Yu, she had gone up to the mountain with Ye Chongming and Ye Jiaxing under the pretext of taking a break.

Now, encountering Madam Yu inadvertently here, she felt truly unlucky.

After saying those words, she nodded to the woman who had come to stand beside Madam Yu, politely saying, “Continue your chat,” and then promptly turned and got into the carriage.

Madam Yu was stunned.

Because her son was intelligent, scholarly, and handsome, after his engagement to Ye Yaming, Ye Yaming had fallen in love with him at first sight and was particularly respectful toward her as a future mother-in-law.

This dismissive behavior, saying a few perfunctory words and then turning to leave, was unprecedented.

Meanwhile, the woman standing beside her observed this and asked with a smile, “So this is the Ye family’s young lady you mentioned? Truly a beauty.”

She didn’t show it on her face, but inwardly she was scornful.

She was a new neighbor who had bought the house next to Madam Yu’s. During their recent conversations, Madam Yu would always talk about her family’s relationship with the Ye family, saying how the Ye family’s daughter was so fond of her son, how she curried favor with her as a future mother-in-law, bringing gifts every few days to show filial respect; and how the Ye family, seeing her son’s talent, tried to curry favor with them.

But now, it didn’t seem that way at all.

People who are accustomed to being flattered, when suddenly treated coldly, especially losing face in front of a new neighbor, are bound to be resentful. Madam Yu inwardly seethed with anger and determined that the next time Ye Yaming came, she would treat her coldly, letting her know that her future mother-in-law was not to be trifled with.

Seeing a tall, elegant young man approaching from a distance, Madam Yu’s eyes brightened. She waved to the young man and smiled, “Xiaofeng, you’re back?”

She turned to the old woman and said, “Madam Luo, my son is back, so I won’t chat with you anymore. Let’s talk again tomorrow when we have time.”

Saying this, she no longer paid attention to Madam Luo, but went to meet her son and returned home.

Entering the courtyard, she recounted her encounter with Ye Yaming and how coldly Ye Yaming had treated her, complaining, “She’s not even officially part of our family yet and treats me like this; who knows how she’ll behave after she enters our door.”

“She wouldn’t dare!” A cold glint flashed in Song Yifeng’s eyes.

He spoke earnestly to Madam Yu, “Mother, you’ve raised me with such hardship; I absolutely won’t allow anyone to be unfilial to you. If it were before, we might have had to endure it. Now that I’ve passed the provincial examination, the Ye family wouldn’t dare be arrogant in front of you.”

He slightly raised his head, his face showing not only forbearance but also an undisguised hint of smugness: “Just now, the Education Commissioner looked at my essay and said I would rank high in the metropolitan examination. When that time comes, all the coldness the Ye family has shown us, you can return to them in full.”