As soon as Song Yifeng entered the door, Madam Yu couldn’t wait to tell him the news about the Ye family’s troubles.

“This is wonderful. If the Ye family becomes destitute, you can break off the engagement,” Madam Yu said happily.

Song Yifeng shook his head: “Mother, don’t reveal these thoughts to others. I cannot possibly break off the engagement with the Third Miss Ye now.”

Madam Yu became anxious: “Why not?”

“The Ye family declines, and we immediately break the engagement—do you think my reputation is too good?” Song Yifeng said.

A scholar’s reputation was particularly important. If he immediately broke off the engagement when his future in-laws fell on hard times, how would those officials who wanted him as a son-in-law view him? Would they still dare marry their daughters to him?

He wasn’t that foolish.

Madam Yu was stunned for a moment, then slumped into her seat dejectedly: “Then what can we do? Do you want to marry that merchant’s daughter?”

Ye Yaming had come of age, and the Ye family would likely bring up the marriage soon. Especially now that the Ye family appeared to be declining, wouldn’t they try to grasp onto the Song family as a lifeline?

“Don’t worry,” Song Yifeng said calmly. “If they send someone to discuss the marriage, tell them I need to focus on my studies and participate in the next imperial examination. We can discuss marriage after I complete the examination.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Let’s do that,” Madam Yu brightened up.

Song Yifeng was silent for a moment, then sighed softly: “If only we could push the Ye family’s situation further downhill.”

Madam Yu frowned.

After thinking for a long time, she sighed: “We’re still too weak.”

Even a broken ship has three nails. Even if the Ye family declined, their connections and foundation remained. If she and her son tried to do something and the Ye family discovered it, they could ruin Song Yifeng’s future with just a finger.

Her son was her life. Madam Yu dared not gamble with her son’s future. While the status of a daughter-in-law’s family was important, it could never compare to her son’s future. Only when Song Yifeng passed the imperial examination and became an official would they have the privilege to be picky.

She looked up at Song Yifeng: “My son, you must study diligently and strive to pass the imperial examination as soon as possible. Otherwise, you’ll be tied to the Ye family for life.”

Song Yifeng nodded firmly.

He decided to have someone spread rumors about the Ye family at the prefectural school. If the news reached the ears of those officials and they wanted him to break off the engagement, it would be effortless.

Currently, he was constrained by this engagement to the Ye family. He didn’t even dare try to catch the eye of those officials’ daughters, fearing it would anger the officials and ruin his future.

So for now, he could only spread the news.

…

Although Ye Hongchang was at home, he still kept track of outside events. He quickly heard from the servants about what had happened when his father and son went to the teahouse that morning.

So he had been worrying at home all day.

Ye Chongming, however, remained calm and unhurried. He had tea with his old friends at the teahouse, and because his old friends wanted to comfort him, they invited him to a meal. At noon, he took his grandson to Taibai Tower for a sumptuous lunch, and didn’t return home until it was almost time for dinner.

Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Ye family was going to celebrate together in the main hall of the main courtyard.

So when Ye Hongchang heard that his father had returned, he had himself carried to the main courtyard and asked about the situation outside.

Speaking of this, Ye Chongming smiled bitterly.

He shook his head and said, “In the past, everything was good. But now that our family has encountered a little adversity, these people immediately distance themselves, as if I’m going to borrow money from them.”

He sighed: “Indeed, hardship reveals true friendship.”

He shook his head, seemingly unwilling to mention those who watched coldly, probed with words, or kicked them when they were down, and only mentioned the positive side: “Of course, there are also a few genuine friends. Some people even offered to lend me money, although our friendship isn’t particularly deep—just that one time when he encountered difficulties, I gave him a hand.”

As the head of the tea guild, he often dealt with disputes among tea merchants. Plus, being generous, when he saw people in difficulty, he would help if it was within his ability and they deserved it.

Over the years, he had done this many times.

But when he encountered difficulties, few were willing to help him. Most precious were those one or two people he had helped before who took the initiative to find him, wanting to lend him silver.

Hardship truly reveals genuine feelings.

He finally understood why Ye Yaming had said earlier that they should let rumors spread for a while to screen out their true friends.

He had indeed been too comfortable for too long and couldn’t see people’s true hearts.

“Being able to see clearly who is a person and who is a ghost through this opportunity isn’t a bad thing,” Ye Hongchang consoled.

Ye Chongming nodded.

“Are the tea garden owners on the mountain still stable?” Ye Yaming asked.

Speaking of this, Ye Chongming smiled, gratified: “Most of the garden owners are still grateful. We’ve treated them well over the years, and they don’t want to see our family in trouble and have to switch to another merchant, so they’ve all expressed willingness to help us through this crisis.”

Ye Jiaxing nodded vigorously beside him.

…

The night of the Mid-Autumn Festival was a time for family reunion. During dinner, Ye Yaming saw her Third Aunt Madam Cai, whom she hadn’t met since her transmigration, and her twelve-year-old cousin Ye Yayu, the posthumous daughter of her Third Uncle.

Madam Cai wore a moon-white dress with a light blue outer robe, with only a jade hairpin in her hair and no other ornaments.

Her appearance wasn’t particularly beautiful, but she had a scholarly air about her that made her seem delicate and weak. Her behavior was gentle and elegant, showing excellent temperament. Her complexion was also very good, her face calm with no signs of distress.

This appearance was completely different from what Ye Yaming had imagined for the Third Madam.

In her imagination, Madam Cai, who lost her husband at eighteen while pregnant and remained a widow for twelve years, living in seclusion and not socializing with people, should be silent, wooden, and emaciated.

It’s not that all widows must be like this. Many women who lost their husbands but didn’t want to remarry still lived brilliantly and weren’t different from others.

The reason Ye Yaming had such assumptions was mainly because Madam Cai had isolated herself too much. She not only didn’t go out or concern herself with worldly affairs, but also didn’t interact with others in the mansion. Unless it was a major festival, people in the mansion couldn’t see her at all.

Not only was she like this, but her daughter also rarely moved about in the mansion and seldom interacted with her cousins. This couldn’t help but make Ye Yaming think too much.

Now seeing Madam Cai with rosy cheeks and elegant manners, though silent and expressionless, her eyes were lively, not at all like someone who had isolated herself.

Her daughter Ye Yayu, probably because she rarely interacted with people, appeared timid, sticking close to her mother, head lowered, afraid to interact with others, fitting the image of a girl who had been too sheltered.

Ye Yaming couldn’t help but frown.

After Madam Cai lost her husband, if she wanted to live an isolated life, that was her freedom, and Ye Yaming wouldn’t judge whether her approach was good or not.

But as a mother, restraining her daughter from interacting with relatives in the mansion, leading to her developing a withdrawn personality, was indeed inappropriate.