“Yes, yes,” others chimed in, with compliments flowing freely as if they cost nothing.

Though Ye Hongsheng was comforted, his feelings remained mixed with both joy and concern.

The Marquis of Xuanwu returning specifically from the frontier to attend his son’s wedding was a good thing. It showed that the Marquis still valued this legitimate eldest son. His regard for Lu Guanyi would also benefit Ye Yaming.

But consequently, after the wedding, Ye Yaming would have to face her father-in-law. If the Marquis of Xuanwu was dissatisfied with her background, who knew if he might humiliate her? He wouldn’t need to do anything special—merely not responding to her greetings or speech, or pretending not to see her, would be enough to make the servants of the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion look down on Ye Yaming.

In that case, Ye Yaming’s days at the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion would be difficult.

Qingzhi wasn’t on duty; this clever maid, upon hearing that the bed-setting party had returned, ran off to gather information.

Therefore, in no time at all, these words were transmitted to Ye Yaming’s ears through Qingzhi.

When Ye Yaming heard Madam Zhou’s description of the differences between the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion and the Ye family residence, she smiled: “How could they be the same? Our Ye family is an ordinary household, and the regulations for building our house are fixed—no matter how wealthy we are, we cannot overstep certain boundaries. The Xuanwu Marquis Mansion is a marquis’s residence, bestowed by the Emperor to a First Rank General. There’s no comparison.”

To encourage military generals to willingly guard the borders and protect the country, the Emperor’s material rewards were extremely generous. This was first reflected in the mansion he bestowed.

Many of the Lu family’s servants had either been brought by Lady Shi or purchased by her. As the legitimate daughter of the Duke Weiguo’s household and the Empress’s younger sister, Lady Shi naturally maintained a grand and impressive bearing. The servants she had employed would inevitably carry some of the Duke Weiguo household’s imposing manner and look down on others.

This was the significant difference between the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion’s servants and the Ye family’s servants.

As for the Marquis of Xuanwu returning for the wedding, she didn’t find it strange.

This marriage was bestowed by the Emperor. No matter how dissatisfied Lu Zhongyong might be with this marriage, he couldn’t say much. As long as there was no war at the frontier at this time, he would return to attend, showing respect for the Emperor’s marriage decree.

Ye Yaming was to be married tomorrow, so Ye Hongsheng and Madam Yin naturally had dinner with their daughter.

Madam Yin had also heard what those who had gone for the bed-setting ceremony had said, but she was still very worried and asked Ye Yaming, “When you marry into the Lu family, you won’t suffer any grievances, will you?”

Ye Yaming saw that although Ye Hongsheng didn’t speak, the concern in his eyes was even greater than Madam Yin’s.

She smiled and said, “Don’t worry. When have you ever seen me suffer grievances or be taken advantage of?”

Hearing her say this, Ye Hongsheng not only didn’t feel reassured but became even more worried.

He said, “Being too rigid makes one prone to breaking. After all, you’re marrying into the Lu family as a daughter-in-law. Although there are no senior in-laws in the household, their trusted servants are still there. If you’re too formidable, and they say a word to the Marquis, it won’t end well for you. Sometimes, when you should be gentle, you must be gentle, and don’t appear too formidable.”

These were words from the heart, spoken only by parents.

Ye Yaming sincerely nodded: “Father, I understand. I’ll balance firmness with gentleness, neither letting those servants walk all over me nor allowing them to spread rumors about me being too severe. I understand how to maintain this balance.”

Ye Hongsheng finally felt reassured.

He further comforted his daughter: “I heard from the clan patriarch and others that the Marquis of Xuanwu was very courteous to them, and Zimo was especially attentive, accompanying them the whole time. He also gave them very generous red envelopes, and at the end personally saw them off, not returning until their carriages had gone far away. The patriarch praised Zimo extensively.”

This was something Ye Yaming didn’t know.

She was very satisfied with Lu Guanyi’s performance: “That’s what he should do.”

The next day was the wedding day, and Ye Yaming was pulled up early to dress and prepare.

She was fine, having gone to sleep early the night before and being an early riser normally, so she was bright and energetic now. But Bai Rui and Lu’E couldn’t control their yawning.

“What were you two doing? Stealing chickens last night?” she joked.

As senior maids, Bai Rui and Lu’E would go to the Marquis’s mansion and help Ye Yaming deal with the mansion’s servants, so last night Ye Yaming had told them to sleep early. Instead, she had Qingzhi stay on night duty. That girl Qingzhi had excellent sleep quality; no matter when, she could fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Even with less sleep, she would still be full of energy the next day.

Even being on night duty wasn’t a problem, as it just meant sleeping in her outer room. Ye Yaming never got up at night, didn’t need to drink water, and slept through until dawn, so she never had to summon her maids. Qingzhi, sleeping in the outer room last night, had a full night’s sleep.

“Hey, don’t move.” Madam Zhou twisted her head back.

Ye Yaming had to sit still.

Lu’E covered her mouth as she yawned, desperately holding back the tears that were about to squeeze out, and said, “I was just a bit excited and didn’t sleep well last night.”

She and Bai Rui were senior maids and had a separate room in the residence in Lin’an. Here, they shared a room. Last night, they had discussed how to deal with the masters and servants of the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion, talking until late, so they hadn’t slept well.

“I’ll go wash my face with cold water, and I’ll be fine,” Lu’E pulled Bai Rui out with her. Shortly after they returned, both indeed looked much more energetic.

Today they didn’t need to do much, just accompany Ye Yaming.

Madam Zhou, reciting blessings, combed Ye Yaming’s hair once, then washed her face. Madam Yin brought tang yuan (sweet rice balls) for Ye Yaming to eat.

While eating the tang yuan, aunt and niece Ye Ruhui and Ye Yaxiu arrived, one after the other.

After Ye Ruhui exchanged a few words with Ye Yaming, she beckoned to Bai Rui.

Bai Rui quickly followed Ye Ruhui outside.

Ye Ruhui said, “Have a young maid prepare a few bite-sized pastries for you, and put them in your pouch. When you arrive at the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion, you’ll be sitting until night. If they haven’t thought things through carefully, you might have to go hungry.”

That’s how it had been when she got married. Originally, to avoid needing the toilet when getting into the bridal sedan chair, she hadn’t dared to eat much at her parents’ home, just casually eating two tang yuan and stopping, not even daring to drink a sip of soup.

As a result, from morning until evening, she had no chance to eat or drink, and was both hungry and thirsty. By the time all the ceremonies were finally completed, the Su family was holding a wedding banquet outside, with guests coming and going, and no one had time to look after them. Her maids and older female servants weren’t familiar with the Su household and were afraid of getting lost or accidentally trespassing somewhere, which would give the Su family a bad impression of the new daughter-in-law. So they all just had to endure.

Both of her daughters had experienced the same when they got married.

Bai Rui, however, felt that given how much Lu Guanyi valued Ye Yaming, this wouldn’t happen. And if such a situation did occur, Ye Yaming definitely wouldn’t endure it; she would order the Lu family servants to bring food and snacks.

But it was better to be safe than sorry, so she sincerely thanked Ye Ruhui for the reminder and asked Zi Yuan to go to the kitchen to get a plate of pea cakes, which she divided into four portions and hung them on the four maids.