She first greeted Madam Cai respectfully, then beckoned to Ye Yayu: “Fifth Sister, come, let’s talk for a while.”

Ye Yayu shrank back, clutching tightly at Madam Cai’s clothes, almost burying her face behind her mother’s back.

Madam Cai glanced at Ye Yaming and said coolly: “Third Miss, that won’t be necessary.”

Ye Yaming wasn’t one to meddle in others’ affairs. Seeing the mother and daughter like this, she smiled at Madam Cai, said “Alright,” and didn’t pursue the matter further. She turned to speak with Ye Yaqing instead.

Ye Yaqing was half a year older than Ye Yaming. Since Ye Yaming was engaged to Song Yifeng, who had successfully passed the county examination and then the provincial examination, appearing extremely accomplished, and being a scholar, naturally several levels above merchants, with the Second Branch’s engagement serving as a comparison, Madam Tao had picked and chosen, trying to find a son-in-law more outstanding than Song Yifeng, but couldn’t find a suitable one.

Therefore, though Ye Yaqing was already fifteen and a half, she hadn’t yet been betrothed, and Madam Tao had been anxiously complaining since Ye Yaqing’s coming-of-age ceremony.

Regarding Ye Yaming’s intention to break off her engagement, apart from the elderly couple Ye Chongming and his wife, Ye Hongsheng as her birth father, and Nanny Yu and Nanny Xia, no one else knew.

So Madam Tao was still using Song Yifeng as a benchmark for selecting a son-in-law.

Recently, the matchmaker had finally found a young provincial examination graduate from the same batch as Song Yifeng who was willing to discuss marriage with the Ye family, and Madam Tao was quite satisfied.

This marriage arrangement was nearly finalized, which was why Madam Tao mentioned it during this family gathering.

“…His family just has more people, four generations living together, more than twenty people. But having many people has its advantages. When something happens, everyone helps each other, and no difficulty is insurmountable,” Madam Tao said cheerfully to Madam Yin.

“Yes, yes, like our family, we also have quite a few people, and isn’t that good? There’s always someone to worry about everything, which is the best.” Madam Yin’s face was smiling, her mouth politely agreeing, but her heart ached.

Before her husband left for Tongxiang, he had mentioned Song Yifeng’s unsuitability and told her to keep an eye on the Song family.

During this time, she had sent people to inquire and indeed found some unfavorable news. Since Song Yifeng passed the provincial examination, Madam Yu, in her interactions with neighbors, relying on the fact that new neighbors didn’t know her family background and wanting to elevate her status, had revealed through her words that she looked down on Ye Yaming for being a merchant’s daughter.

This made Madam Yin feel aggrieved. With her husband not at home recently, she didn’t know who to turn to with her anger and anxiety.

If she spoke to her mother-in-law or sisters-in-law, Song Yifeng was recommended by her father Yin De’an as a matchmaker, and this future son-in-law had always been her leverage for gaining face in front of her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law.

Now with the Song family being inappropriate, not only would her face be lost, but her father’s face would be torn off as well. She simply didn’t dare to reveal the truth and lose face voluntarily.

If she spoke to her daughter, who had recently been repeatedly praised by her father-in-law for her great wisdom, what then? Break the engagement? If not, how would her daughter interact with Madam Yu and Song Yifeng in the future? And if they did break it off… would her father-in-law and eldest brother-in-law agree?

In short, it was a tangled mess.

This matter weighed on Madam Yin’s mind, causing her to lose her appetite and sleep in recent days. If she hadn’t been busy helping with tea production, which distracted her somewhat, she might have fallen ill before Ye Hongsheng returned.

Ye Hongsheng had only hinted at the situation, letting Madam Yin investigate herself, wanting her to know it was true and not just rumors spread by those jealous of her having a good son-in-law.

Yesterday, upon returning and learning that his wife already believed the Song family was unsuitable, he revealed another piece of information: Ye Chongming already knew about the Song family’s unsuitability, and considering Ye Yaming’s exceptional wisdom, planned to break off the engagement and find a husband who would take the Ye family name.

This news caused Madam Yin another sleepless night.

Now, hearing her sister-in-law talk about Ye Yaqing’s engagement to a provincial examination graduate, and mentioning that he was from the same batch as Song Yifeng, her heart was truly a mix of emotions, a complete tangle.

Yet she had to maintain a facade and not let Madam Tao and others notice any sign, which was truly exhausting.

Ye Hongsheng had instructed her that this matter was of great importance, and not to mention the plan to break off the engagement to anyone until the final moment.

Madam Yin had a strong personality and didn’t want people to laugh at her, so she naturally wouldn’t discuss this matter with others.

Fourth, Madam Zhang, who habitually liked to be sharp and competitive, couldn’t stand seeing Madam Tao pleased with herself. Sitting nearby, she pretended to be curious and asked: “How old is this Scholar Wang? What does his family do?”

Hearing this question, Madam Tao’s smile stiffened briefly, then she glanced at Madam Zhang as if nothing was wrong: “Why does Fourth Sister-in-law ask so specifically? When Qing’er’s marriage is settled, you’ll naturally know all the details then.”

Madam Zhang pouted.

She asked this question because she naturally knew some of the circumstances, after all, Madam Tao had been discussing this marriage with the matchmaker for some time.

The reason it hadn’t been finalized was because this Scholar Wang was already twenty-three years old and had been married before. However, his wife died in childbirth along with the baby while pregnant with their first child.

In other words, if Ye Yaqing married him, she would be his second wife.

Moreover, apart from being a provincial examination graduate, this Wang had no other merits. Even Madam Yin’s father, Scholar Yin, though he hadn’t passed the provincial examination, had opened a private school to earn money for his family. The Wang family, though they had modest property, carried themselves with scholarly airs and didn’t engage in productive work.

Fortunately, Scholar Wang’s father, Primary-Level Scholar Wang, had four sons. Besides Scholar Wang, the others had only achieved the status of primary-level scholar or county-level scholar.

They relied on their “scholarly family” status to marry daughters of wealthy merchants. The Wang family lived off their daughters-in-law’s dowries and managed to get by.

Indeed, Scholar Wang’s previous wife was the concubine-born daughter of a minor salt merchant. After she died in childbirth, she not only vacated a position for Scholar Wang to marry again but also left her rich dowry to the Wang family.

The reason the Wang family had a matchmaker approach Ye Yaqing was simply because they coveted her rich dowry and her status as the legitimate daughter of the First Branch of the wealthy Ye tea merchant family.

In the future, when Scholar Wang needed money for the imperial examinations, could the Ye family just stand by and watch? They sent several hundred taels to Song Yifeng every year. For the son-in-law of their eldest legitimate daughter, it would only be more.

Such a family, in Madam Zhang’s view, was no different from blood-sucking parasites. Yet her seemingly shrewd sister-in-law, as if afflicted with an eye disease, couldn’t see clearly, and had to compete with the Second Branch, even willing to send her daughter as a replacement wife, just to have a son-in-law who was a provincial examination graduate.

It was simply ridiculous!

And this marriage arrangement, Ye Yaming knew about it.

Because in her previous life, Ye Yaqing had indeed married Scholar Wang.

If nothing unexpected happened, Ye Yaqing would marry in half a year. And in her previous life, because Song Yifeng said he wanted to pass the imperial examination before marrying, the original Ye Yaming stayed at home for nearly three more years, until she was over eighteen before marrying Song Yifeng.

Therefore, the original Ye Yaming knew very clearly about Ye Yaqing’s married life and the Wang family’s situation.