Qi Ji nodded, strongly agreeing with Lu Guanyi’s viewpoint.

But he was also curious: “Why do you think this Miss Ye possesses such skills?”

Among the aristocratic families in the Capital, there were indeed people who demonstrated remarkable abilities at a young age, but they were all forged through open and hidden conflicts within their households from childhood.

Take Lu Guanyi, for example. He was only seventeen this year, just two years older than Miss Ye. Yet his wisdom and strategies were admired even by the Crown Prince.

Although the Crown Prince had familial ties with Lu Guanyi, the aristocratic families in the Capital were so intertwined that which family couldn’t claim some connection to the royal family?

The reason Lu Guanyi caught the Crown Prince’s eye was simply because he had been clever from a young age. Since he was six, in the few interactions he had with the Crown Prince, he had left profound impressions, thereby gaining the Prince’s protection and being groomed as a future asset.

Without the Crown Prince’s backing, after Lu Guanyi’s grandfather died, he would have long been killed by his vicious and scheming stepmother. How could he have survived until now?

In contrast, Ye Yaming came from a family whose values they had thoroughly investigated before partnering. The Ye family was as righteous and harmonious as any family could be. Such a family would naturally produce someone like Ye Yaqing; someone like Ye Yaming seemed rather unusual.

Lu Guanyi said: “Some people are naturally gifted with intelligence and cannot be judged by ordinary standards.”

Qi Ji nodded.

“As for these two matters Miss Ye mentioned…” he asked.

“Let’s just observe for now,” Lu Guanyi said. “Since she didn’t ask for our help, we shouldn’t investigate. This is basic respect for the Ye family.”

“Alright,” Qi Ji agreed, “but since Miss Ye asked me to put in a good word with my father, I’ll speak ill of the Yang family when I return home.”

…

Meanwhile, at the Ye household, after seeing off Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, Ye Chongming asked Ye Yaming: “What do we do now?”

“Let’s have First Uncle take action,” Ye Yaming said. “When you return home, tell the family that on the sixteenth, you’ll be taking me up to the tea garden on the mountain.”

Ye Chongming and Ye Hongchang weren’t completely incompetent. With the Yang family as their unscrupulous competitors, the Ye family had been cautious and planted their pawns within the Yang household over the past two years.

Now that they wanted to deal with the Yang family, these pawns could serve as witnesses to testify that Yang Chuzhi was Yang Hong’s son.

As for the Meng family’s people, Ye Yaming wanted to resolve the matter quickly, but ancient people respected festivals. Going to the mountains before the Lantern Festival would make the news less credible when leaked, so they had to wait until the sixteenth.

These two days would also allow the Yang family matter to unfold.

“Good, I’ll tell your First Uncle to get started,” Ye Chongming said.

Thus, that afternoon, Ma Dafu went to the government office, beat the drum to report an injustice, and accused the Yang family of plotting against his daughter and son’s lives. He also accused the Yang family of deceiving the emperor by having their son pose as a servant’s child to participate in the imperial examinations.

The public was in an uproar.

“How is Ma Dafu filing a complaint? Didn’t he become a monk?”

“Who said he became a monk? Don’t you see he has hair? He’s wearing the clothes of a Yang family servant—has he been hiding at the Yang household? His hair is all white, but he’s only in his forties, right?”

“Come on, is that the point? The point is that the Yang family had their son pretend to be a servant’s child!”

“Yes, yes, this Yang Hong is something else, coming up with such a scheme. If not for Ma Dafu, once his son passed the imperial examination and became an official, wouldn’t their Yang family prosper?”

“Goodness, this is the crime of deceiving the emperor!”

“Hey, hey, stop arguing. I can’t hear what the magistrate is saying inside.”

So the crowd outside the government office quieted down for a while. After a moment, they heard a commotion inside, and those on the outskirts quickly asked: “What happened? What happened? What has been revealed in the investigation?”

“Ma Dafu produced an account book recording all the bribes Yang Hong gave to various officials.”

“Wow, no wonder the Yang family could get away with so many despicable deeds and avoid prosecution. It turns out they had bribed the officials.”

A young man looked around and whispered, “I wonder if Magistrate Qi’s name is in that account book. If it is… hehe.”

An old man nearby slapped him on the head and angrily said: “Do you want to die? Come, come, follow me home quickly. Let’s see if your father doesn’t beat you with a stick.”

“Ouch, ouch, Uncle Qin, don’t pull me. I won’t say anything else, alright?”

…

Inside the government office, Magistrate Qi Peicui’s heart was pounding when he received the account book.

Though considered an honest official, he followed the unspoken rules of officialdom by accepting some gifts from wealthy merchants. If he didn’t accept them, the officials beneath him and the minor clerks in the office wouldn’t dare accept any either, cutting off their source of income.

Cutting off someone’s livelihood was like killing their parents. If he did that, he would face difficulty at every step in the Lin’an government office, unable to accomplish anything, and would eventually have to leave in disgrace.

So he would accept token amounts. And like everyone else, he wouldn’t accept under his own name. His share was collected by Secretary Wu on his behalf.

He tried to steady his nerves and opened the account book. He discovered that the first name recorded was that of the former prefect, who had accepted a substantial amount.

The second was the current circuit intendant.

This circuit intendant had held his position during the former prefect’s tenure and had remained in office without being transferred.

Seeing this, Qi Peicui felt increasingly uneasy.

But after quickly flipping through the entire account book, he found that his name wasn’t there, which allowed him to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

He struck his gavel: “Bring in the accused, Yang Hong.”

…

As Ma Dafu, the victim, was handling this matter, the Ye family naturally wouldn’t go observe the proceedings. But all the developments at the government office were promptly reported to the third floor of Jixiang Hall.

Ye Chongming and his son Ye Hongchang were both present.

Ye Yaming had said she wouldn’t manage this matter and stayed at home.

Now, upon hearing that Ma Dafu had presented an account book, Ye Chongming was startled and asked: “Did Ma Dafu obtain this account book?”

Ye Hongchang shook his head and leaned close to his father, lowering his voice: “I don’t know how Ming’er got it. But don’t worry, she already had someone tear out the page with Magistrate Qi on it.”

Father and son exchanged glances, their expressions extremely complex.

They had thought Ye Yaming was ruthless enough by having Ma Dafu accuse Yang Hong of deceiving the emperor, but the even more devastating blow was yet to come.

Yang Hong’s account book not only sealed his fate but also implicated a group of officials. These officials who accepted bribes, if the amounts weren’t too large, would at most be demoted but wouldn’t lose their positions or their lives.

However, with such a blemish, their careers were ruined. How could they possibly spare the Yang family who had harmed them?

Whether Yang An was truly Yang Hong’s son was something no one could prove definitively. Even with witnesses, Yang Hong could counter-accuse them of being bribed. With protection from officials, the Yang family might get away with just paying a fine.

But with this account book, no one in the Yang family would escape.