Wen Tao had been working as an accountant under him for about ten years. Originally, he was just the accountant for Ji Xiang Tower, but later Ye Chongming saw that his accounting was good and his character seemed decent, so he made him the chief accountant.

His salary was higher than that of ordinary accountants, yet he only needed to check the accounts each month, which was quite relaxed.

“Why would he do this?” he asked.

Ye Yaming shook her head. “There’s no conclusion yet, don’t rush. Let’s wait and see. Perhaps I’ve guessed wrong?”

Ye Chongming knew that although Ye Yaming was young, she handled matters very astutely and was never rash. If she said Wen Tao had problems, then he certainly did.

He just couldn’t understand why Wen Tao would betray the Ye family. What benefit would it bring him?

“Besides Wen Tao, we should also watch the others. I want to know if these accountants are making errors intentionally or unintentionally. If unintentional, he would certainly believe his accounts are correct and wouldn’t anxiously seek out Wen Tao; if intentional…”

Ye Yaming didn’t finish, but Ye Chongming understood her implied meaning.

“Please be patient, Grandfather, and let’s observe slowly. We haven’t even touched the two in the Capital yet,” Ye Yaming added.

“The ones in the Capital have problems too?”

Ye Yaming nodded.

Ye Chongming was speechless.

Now, he had to consider the issue of replacing the accountants. “If we replace all of them, apart from Mr. Jiang, who else could we use?”

Over the years, he had thought about having loyal household-born servants learn accounting from these accountants. But when people’s livelihoods depended on their skills, how could they easily teach you? Naturally, they would just go through the motions and teach halfheartedly. The two apprentices he had sent to learn still couldn’t handle accounts independently.

“Don’t worry, I’ll resolve this issue. Please be patient,” Ye Yaming said.

Ye Chongming had to suppress his impatience, curious to see what Ye Yaming had in mind.

After a few days, when Ye Yaming had drawn up furniture designs for the new residence and given them to carpenters for production, a rumor began circulating among the servants and workers of the Ye household, teahouses, and restaurants. The rumor claimed that with her elevated status, Third Miss Ye planned to catch mistakes and remove the old staff trusted by the Old Master, replacing them with the newly purchased servants she had trained on the estate.

When this rumor spread, not only were the accountants and stewards alarmed, but even the servants feared for their positions.

Li Fu came to find Ye Chongming and reported this rumor to him.

Seeing Ye Chongming deep in thought, neither questioning the rumor nor showing anger, Li Fu couldn’t help but call out, “Old Master…”

“Hmm? What is it?” Ye Chongming came back to his senses.

“This… this is causing anxiety among everyone. Isn’t that problematic? If it’s not true, perhaps you could ask Third Miss to clarify; if it is true, would you…” Li Fu hesitated, “Would you just let Third Miss proceed this way? Your health is still robust; you could manage the family for another ten or twenty years without issue.”

Ye Chongming stared at this old steward he had employed for twenty years and remained silent for a long while.

Under his gaze, Li Fu felt as if there were sharp blades at his back, utterly uncomfortable.

“Who told you these things? Where did the rumors start? Have you investigated?” Ye Chongming asked.

“Well…” Beads of sweat formed on Li Fu’s forehead. “They all came to ask me. I felt something was amiss, so I hurried here and haven’t had time to investigate thoroughly.”

“Should I… should I go investigate now?” he asked.

“Yes, go investigate,” Ye Chongming said.

Li Fu breathed a sigh of relief, hastily bowed, and withdrew.

Just as he left, Ye Hongchang entered. “Father, there are rumors among the household servants saying that Yaming wants to replace the people you trust.”

Ye Chongming fixed his gaze on him. “Li Fu just told me about it. Do you believe it? What do you think of this matter?”

Ye Hongchang shook his head. “Impossible, it’s a false rumor. If Yaming wanted to replace them, she would have done so directly. How could she let rumors spread throughout the household? And she would certainly consult with you first.”

Only then did Ye Chongming feel reassured.

Having problems with accountants was one thing; they could be replaced. But if Ye Hongchang had other ideas and wanted to use this opportunity to discredit Ye Yaming and drive a wedge between the two heads of the family, that would be a major problem.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“I will investigate this matter. You needn’t worry,” he said.

Seeing that Ye Chongming had the situation under control, Ye Hongchang felt relieved. His current position made questioning this matter somewhat awkward and could easily be exploited by others, creating further complications.

As he was about to take his leave, Ye Chongming asked, “Who told you about this?”

“My servant. He heard it from discussions among the other servants.”

After hearing this, Ye Chongming waved his hand, signaling Ye Hongchang to leave.

Shortly afterward, Ye Hongrong also arrived.

But before he could speak, Ye Yaming entered.

Ye Chongming gestured for Ye Hongrong to be quiet and asked Ye Yaming, “Who’s causing trouble?” Without waiting for Ye Yaming’s answer, he asked, “Is it Wen Tao?”

Ye Yaming neither confirmed nor denied. “Didn’t you ask Steward Li to investigate? Let’s wait for his results before discussing further.”

Ye Chongming’s eyes filled with disappointment. “As soon as you audit the accounts, someone steps forward to sow discord between you and me. If that’s not a guilty conscience, what is it? If it were Shen Zhongyi and Liu Shen, the rumors would only spread outside, not within the household. Now everyone fears for their positions; it must be Wen Tao.”

Ye Hongrong was startled as he listened.

Ye Yaming shook her head. “Wen Tao isn’t that unsophisticated. Even if he wanted to spread rumors, he would have Shen Zhongyi and Liu Shen do it, while he advised from behind the scenes.”

Ye Chongming was silent for a moment, then said, “Let’s summon them.”

Ye Yaming raised an eyebrow.

If it were up to her, she wouldn’t go to such lengths. She would simply call in the accountants, question them briefly, then dismiss those who needed dismissing and punish those who deserved punishment.

After all, based on the accounts she had examined, none of them were innocent.

The reason she approached it this way was out of consideration for Ye Chongming’s feelings. These people had served Ye Chongming for many years, especially Wen Tao, who was Ye Chongming’s most trusted person. Now that problems had emerged, Ye Chongming was undoubtedly feeling distressed.

Now that Ye Chongming was ready to make a decision, she naturally wouldn’t delay further.

She nodded and said, “Alright.”

Before long, Wen Tao and the others were “invited” to the Ye residence by the household guards.

All three men looked quite displeased. Especially Wen Tao, who had always been favored in Ye Chongming’s presence. As soon as he entered, he began to protest, “Old Master, what is the meaning of this?”

Just as he finished speaking, he noticed Ye Yaming sitting in a lower position, and his eyes immediately turned cold. “So it’s Third Miss. Such a grand authority you have. Now that you’re becoming the wife of the Xuanwu Marquis’s heir, you’ve started throwing your weight around, not even respecting the Old Master? Even the Emperor values filial piety. Aren’t you afraid that if your reputation spreads to the Capital, the Emperor will be displeased with you?”

At this point, not only were Ye Chongming and Ye Yaming present in the room, but all the male members of the Ye family were also seated.

Ye Hongsheng was the most protective of his children. How could he tolerate Wen Tao speaking about his daughter this way? His expression changed, and he was about to rebuke him.