“What should we do then? If we don’t inform the Cai family and simply expel her, whatever happens to her outside will cause the Cai family to hold a grudge against us,” Ye Chongming said. “This matter cannot be concealed; it must be addressed. Surely you don’t intend to keep her in the Ye family?”

“That’s impossible.” Old Lady Ye’s face was filled with anger at the thought.

If this matter became known, the Ye family would truly become a laughingstock.

Ye Yaming had just been betrothed to the Marquis Xuanwu’s family, and Ye Yaqing and Ye Yayin still needed to choose husbands. If people learned that a man had been hidden in the Ye household for nine years before being discovered, wouldn’t others suspect that the Ye family’s management was chaotic and that the Ye family women were improper?

Old Lady Ye’s momentary softness instantly vanished. She raised her chin at Meng Ji and said, “Go ahead.”

Ye Yaming, seeing how Ye Chongming and Old Lady Ye were handling this matter, felt fortunate to have transmigrated into a good family.

For such matters, not to mention noble households, even small families would often resort to violent solutions, believing that without beating the offender to death or drowning them, the shame could not be washed away.

The Ye family had not suggested killing Madam Cai; they merely intended to divorce her and return her to the Cai family. This was already a very lenient approach.

Thinking this way, she immediately smiled bitterly.

Perhaps this was also why Madam Cai, Auntie Zeng, Auntie Zhang, and Xu Fu dared to act as they did.

The Ye family was kindhearted and never easily took lives. They calculated that even if discovered, they wouldn’t lose their lives. For the sake of reputation, the Ye family probably wouldn’t even speak of it outside, only having Madam Cai leave the Ye household.

In this way, things would merely return to the starting point, and they wouldn’t suffer much loss.

So everything had two sides—one facing the sun, one in shadow—and no one could say definitively which was good or bad. But for Ye Yaming, it was ultimately good.

Considering Madam Cai’s circumstances after being divorced, she said, “I think we could inform the Elder Master Cai that he can either take her back or leave her to our family to handle, regardless of life or death. I believe he would choose the latter.”

Taking Madam Cai back to the Cai family, if allowed to live, would bring shame upon the entire Cai family; if put to death, outsiders might say to his face that Elder Master Cai upheld propriety, but behind his back, they would say he was cruel and ruthless, and perhaps even his wife and daughters would fear him. There was no good outcome either way. The Ye family was passing the difficult problem to him, and how could he accept it?

Concerned that her meaning might be unclear and cause misunderstanding, Ye Yaming made her point more explicitly: “As long as Elder Master Cai states his position that life or death is for the Ye family to decide, we can then arrange for Madam Cai to ‘die from illness’ and send her elsewhere to live with a new identity. After all, it’s a human life at stake, and Fifth Sister is still here. If we disregard her birth mother’s life, when she grows up, she might harbor resentment.”

Old Lady Ye strongly agreed: “I think Ming’er’s idea is excellent.”

“I agree as well,” said Madam Tao.

Madam Yin nodded: “Very good.”

They were all women and could empathize. Although they found Madam Cai’s behavior improper, they didn’t think it deserved death.

When a man lost his wife, even if he didn’t remarry, he could still take concubines, keep women in his household, or even sleep with maids or maintain mistresses outside. Why should a woman’s similar mistake be punishable by death?

With all four women in the room saying this, and Ye Chongming not being a cruel person, he naturally had no objection.

He had always regarded the saying “A family that accumulates good deeds will have prosperity to spare; a family that accumulates evil will have calamity to spare” as his guiding principle, often repeating it to educate his descendants.

“Very well, we’ll do it this way,” he decided firmly.

Ye Yaming said, “I think it would be better to inform Madam Cai of this decision first. I see that she has resolved to die. If she sees her brother and sister-in-law arrive and feels that life would be worse than death, she might seize an opportunity when no one is paying attention to kill herself by striking her head against something, and that would truly be unfortunate.”

Old Lady Ye said to Madam Tao and Madam Yin, “You two go and talk to her properly. After all, you were sisters-in-law. Show her this kindness and complete this relationship.”

For such matters in the past, Madam Yin would not have been notified; it would have been handled by Old Lady Ye and Madam Tao. But now that Ye Yaming had become the next family head, the Second Branch’s status had risen, and it would be inappropriate not to involve Madam Yin in this matter.

Therefore, Old Lady Ye not only sent Madam Tao but also asked Madam Yin to go with her.

Seeing the two leave, Ye Yaming said, “I am still an unmarried young lady. It might be inappropriate for me to be present when the Cai family comes to discuss this matter. I should probably absent myself.”

Both Ye Chongming and Old Lady Ye had been thinking the same. Hearing her speak up of her own accord pleased them greatly.

“Go ahead. In a few days, we’ll be making jasmine tea again. Rest well these two days. You don’t need to worry about this matter,” Old Lady Ye said with a smile.

Ye Yaming stood up and added one more thing: “Regarding Fifth Sister, have her nanny ask if she would be willing to move to Yin’er’s place. They are similar in age, and Yin’er still has a childlike nature. With Yin’er gradually bringing her along, perhaps Yayu’s temperament might improve.”

In modern times, Ye Yayu’s condition would certainly require a psychologist. But such concepts didn’t exist in ancient times. Fortunately, Ye Yayu loved cats, and Ye Yaming felt that her psyche wasn’t completely closed off.

Ye Yayin was a sweet girl with a pure heart; perhaps Ye Yayu could accept her. If she could accept Yayin, then Yayin might slowly help her interact with others, and she might improve.

“Good, I’ll have someone ask. The Third Branch is no place for Yayu to live anymore,” Old Lady Ye said.

Ye Yaming nodded and returned to her courtyard with Lu’E.

Upon reaching her courtyard, she didn’t see Guan Ting waiting for gossip; only Bai Rui came forward to greet her.

Ye Yaming asked, “Where is Guan Ting?”

Bai Rui smiled slightly: “As per your instructions, this servant gave her a hint, and she went back to her room.”

Lu’E breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Miss, then I’ll go over there.”

Ye Yaming nodded.

Ye Yaming wanted to know the aftermath of Madam Cai’s incident, so she sent Lu’E to observe, rather than hearing it from someone else and potentially losing the truth in transmission.

As for Guan Ting, originally a person from the jianghu, she was less bound by convention, and hearing some gossip was acceptable. But having entered a grand household that wasn’t her own, going around inquiring about gossip and prying into others’ secrets made people uncomfortable.

Ye Yaming had Bai Rui give her a hint to see if she could realize this. If she couldn’t change, Ye Yaming would have to consider whether to let her stay.

After almost half an hour, Lu’E finally returned.

Upon returning, she angrily exclaimed, “Hmph, that Elder Master Cai is truly despicable. Not only does he lack any sibling affection, but he doesn’t even have the compassion a stranger might show. When he came and heard about this matter, he immediately wanted to beat the Third Madam to death with a rod to maintain his unassailable position.”

“Fortunately, Old Lady Ye said that the Third Madam is still a member of the Ye family at present. If the Cai family wanted a divorce letter, then they could handle the Third Madam however they wished; if they didn’t want a divorce letter, then the Ye family would make the decisions. Only then did Elder Master Cai soften, saying that he would defer to the Ye family’s handling and had no objections.”

“Have the Cai family left?” Ye Yaming asked.

“They have.”

“And the Third Madam?”

Lu’E shook her head: “I’m not sure. But the Fifth Miss has been taken by the Fourth Miss.”