Madam Zhang said, “This set of hair ornaments is a small token of my regard.” She instructed her maid, “Later, send them to the Third Miss.”

Having fought bitterly with her siblings in the Zhang family, she was naturally strong-willed.

After marrying Ye Hongrong, if he had been incompetent, she would have felt uncomfortable in the Ye household and unable to hold her head high when returning to her maiden family.

Ye Hongrong had previously been idle and carefree. After she married him, she repeatedly urged him to improve himself, but after managing the teahouse for only a short time, he made a serious mistake, was beaten with boards, and placed under house arrest. Madam Zhang thought her husband’s prospects were ruined.

Not participating in the family business meant that although he would receive a ten percent share when the family divided its assets, since he hadn’t earned money for the family, what he received would certainly be worth next to nothing. After the division, he wouldn’t be able to manage it either. The future of the Fourth Branch appeared bleak.

In their despair, the First Branch offered no help, but it was Ye Yaming who extended a hand to the Fourth Branch, taking Ye Hongrong to Huizhou. Upon their return, she suggested to Old Master Ye that Ye Hongrong manage affairs in Huizhou.

Although this meant her husband was rarely home, Madam Zhang was pleased. Compared to Ye Hongrong being idle at home with the couple growing tired of each other, she preferred to see her husband go out and build a career.

She was grateful to Ye Yaming, though she had never expressed it.

Now, learning that Ye Yaming had secured a good marriage, she had specially selected a set of hair ornaments to offer her congratulations.

She never expected this marriage to be a fabricated one. While feeling sorry for Ye Yaming, she felt even more strongly that these ornaments should be given as compensation for Ye Yaming.

She wasn’t someone without conscience.

Madam Tao’s face reddened again from Madam Zhang’s pressure.

She knew how to behave appropriately. If Ye Hongchang were still the family head and her son the next successor, she too would have shown great generosity, displaying the demeanor of the main family mistress by giving Ye Yaming lavish gifts.

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t done so before.

But now, harboring resentment toward the Ye family elders and Ye Yaming, it was already commendable that she hadn’t voiced any complaints, let alone thought of giving gifts to Ye Yaming.

She gave Madam Zhang a hateful glance, then turned to smile at Ye Yaming: “Your First Aunt had planned to give you a substantial gift at your wedding. I truly never expected your engagement to be like this. Yaming, you’ve suffered. First Aunt will send servants with gifts later.”

Ye Yaming quickly waved her hands: “No need, really no need.”

She stood up and gave a bow to Madam Tao and Madam Zhang: “Thank you, First Aunt and Fourth Aunt, for your consideration. I don’t feel I’ve done anything that requires First Aunt and Fourth Aunt to spend money.”

She raised her head, her smile radiant as flowers: “If this engagement succeeds, when the wedding day comes, First Aunt and Fourth Aunt can give gifts then. It’s not too late.”

Among those present, only Old Madam Ye knew the truth.

In her view, Lu Guanyi had feelings for Ye Yaming, and the betrothal gifts showed how much he valued her. Unless he died on the battlefield (heaven forbid), this marriage would certainly succeed.

After all, with the Crown Prince as matchmaker, Master Zhi delivering the betrothal gifts, and the Lu family sending a second uncle, even without Lu Guanyi’s parents’ involvement, this marriage was as good as confirmed.

As for Madam Zhang, despite her sharp tongue and seeming penchant for calculation, she had a clear mind. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have chosen to marry Ye Hongrong and enter the Ye family.

The Ye family’s circumstances were inferior to the Zhang family’s, and Ye Hongrong wasn’t the eldest son who would inherit the family business. Marrying into the Ye family brought a comfortable life, but didn’t particularly enhance Madam Zhang’s status among her many siblings.

Old Madam Ye only worried that after Madam Tao sent her gift, upon discovering who the proposer was and that this marriage wasn’t fabricated, she might not accept the reality.

Why hadn’t Ye Yaqing’s marriage been settled at her age? It was simply because Madam Tao wanted to find a son-in-law comparable to Song Yifeng, believing that as the legitimate daughter of the First Branch, Ye Yaqing’s husband should also be first-rate in the Ye family.

After Ye Yaming seized the inheritance rights from the First Branch and became the next family head, this idea became Madam Tao’s obsession: “Ye Yaming, even if you become the family head, what of it? A woman’s greatest tragedy is an unhappy marriage. I’ll watch you cry then.”

Having lived as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law for over twenty years, Old Madam Ye understood Madam Tao’s mentality clearly.

She also knew clearly that no matter how much Madam Tao struggled, she couldn’t realize this wish. After all, Lu Guanyi’s status was too high, like a windfall from heaven. Such good fortune couldn’t happen twice.

She spoke up: “Yaming is right. Let’s forget about the gifts. When Yaming gets married, you can bring them as part of her dowry.”

With her mother-in-law’s word, Madam Tao and Madam Zhang could only agree. The maid behind Madam Zhang closed the box and retreated to the side.

“This matter concerns the safety of the Ye family. Please, First Aunt and Fourth Aunt, don’t tell your servants, not even your confidants. If anyone asks, just say it’s someone my father met in the capital. As for who it is, you don’t know either,” Ye Yaming instructed.

In this world, there’s no shortage of people who hope others fare poorly and love to make assumptions.

If the Ye family members said this, those people would surely guess that Ye Yaming’s husband was old, ugly, and unsuccessful—someone they were embarrassed to talk about for fear of ridicule.

After all, there were some nobles in the capital who reached their forties or fifties but remained mere fifth-rank officials without regular duties. These were second-generation wastrels who indulged in debauchery and whose family fortunes had declined, looked down upon by everyone.

Given Ye Yaming’s outstanding appearance and her book “The Tea Ceremony,” it was entirely possible that she’d caught the eye of an older man who wanted her as his second wife.

Hearing this, Madam Tao frowned.

If people misunderstood and made such assumptions, how could she arrange her daughter Qing’er’s marriage?

But she knew she couldn’t say this, or Madam Zhang would surely back her against the wall.

Ye Hongchang was in the capital, and Ye Jiaxing’s tea set business was growing, constantly traveling between the capital and Xinping. On the rare occasions he returned to Lin’an, he spent time whispering with the scholars who designed tea sets.

As for Ye Yaqing, telling her would be useless.

Thus, Madam Tao had no one to consult with. Upon returning to her courtyard, she sighed to Elder Nanny Li.

Elder Nanny Li comforted her: “You’re privy to the information, so you have such thoughts. Outsiders may not necessarily make such guesses. Our Ye family isn’t the type to sell our daughters for glory. Remember the young mistress’s marriage? If the Old Master and Old Madam were that sort, they would have accepted the Bai family’s proposal back then.”

Madam Tao was startled, then recalled and repeatedly said, “Yes, yes, yes. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten.”

Old Madam Ye didn’t just have four sons; she also had two daughters. The younger daughter was premature and died at the age of three, while the elder daughter, Ye Xuwei, grew up successfully.

Ye Xuwei was only a year older than Ye Hongchang, and her appearance was no less beautiful than Ye Yaming’s. At that time, a family surnamed Bai in Lin’an City had taken a liking to her, wanting to marry her as a second wife. The Bai family was also aristocratic, but by the third generation, they had declined and had little money. Besides being attracted to Ye Xuwei’s appearance, they were also interested in the Ye family’s wealth.