In addition, whenever Nanny Xia visited, she would advise her on how to properly serve Madam Yu, how to arrange her time, and how to sneak in rest without her master knowing. This helped Xiao Xiang avoid many beatings and scoldings, and made her work less exhausting. Hence, she not only felt grateful toward Nanny Xia but also developed a sense of admiration for her.

Her heart was inclined toward Ye Yaming.

Therefore, to obtain inside information from the Song family, or even to make any moves, they had to work through Xiao Xiang.

The Song mother and son had previously spoken ill of the Ye family and the original Ye Yaming behind their backs. Nanny Xia had heard about this from Xiao Xiang and felt quite indignant, believing the Song family was not good people. She had advised the original Ye Yaming twice about this.

Unfortunately, the original Ye Yaming was completely immersed in her fantasy of love and not only refused to listen but also scolded Nanny Xia, saying things like “don’t look at impropriety, don’t listen to impropriety,” and accusing Xiao Xiang of spreading gossip, claiming she wasn’t a good maid.

This frightened Nanny Xia into immediate silence, fearing that the original Ye Yaming would complain about Xiao Xiang to Madam Yu. Xiao Xiang had only been trying to help her, yet not only did she receive no appreciation, but she was also harmed by it.

Because of this, the original Ye Yaming had distanced herself from Nanny Xia for a period and stopped taking her along when visiting the Song family.

As a long-serving servant, Nanny Xia naturally knew the ways of survival for servants. From then on, she never spoke a single word against the Song mother and son.

Now that they were beginning to handle the engagement matter, Ye Yaming had only spoken with Nanny Xia about her thoughts last night.

Nanny Xia had watched the original Ye Yaming grow up, and being a woman herself, she deeply understood the bitterness of marrying someone unworthy.

When she heard that Ye Yaming wanted to break off the engagement, she was immediately filled with mixed emotions, almost to the point of tears.

Without Ye Yaming having to say anything, she immediately promised to find Xiao Xiang and obtain evidence against the Song family, ensuring that the Ye family wouldn’t be disadvantaged when breaking off the engagement.

So Ye Yaming entrusted this matter to Nanny Xia.

During this time, Ye Yaming had been focused on the matters between the Ye family and Meng Chengwei, as this was a matter of life and death for the entire family. One small oversight could lead to being dragged into Meng Chengwei’s quagmire, and she simply didn’t have the time or energy to deal with Song Yifeng.

Now that the Meng Chengwei matter was nearing its end, it was time to use this opportunity to deal with Song Yifeng.

Therefore, when Old Lady Ye offered to lend her people, Ye Yaming indeed found it necessary.

She said, “I’ll call Nanny Xia over to tell you about it.”

Soon after, Nanny Xia arrived. Hearing that Old Lady Ye intended to help Ye Yaming break off the engagement with the Song family, she was extremely pleased and immediately shared some of the negative comments the Song mother and son had made about the Ye family, which she had heard from Xiao Xiang.

This made Old Lady Ye quite angry.

Nanny Xia was a very wise old woman. Seeing that Old Lady Ye was angered, she quickly added, “Fortunately, our young lady is intelligent and perceptive, having discovered the true nature of this mother and son. That’s why she promptly sent this old servant to investigate them, isn’t it? Anyway, she hasn’t married into their family yet, so there’s still time for everything.”

Old Lady Ye was finally comforted.

At this moment, she wished she could immediately break off Ye Yaming’s engagement. She turned to ask Ye Yaming, “What do you plan to do next?”

Ye Yaming shook her head. “We won’t do anything yet. Let’s wait and see how things develop.”

Nanny Xia looked at her, hesitant to speak.

“Nanny, if you have something to say, please say it,” Ye Yaming smiled.

The original Ye Yaming had disliked Nanny Xia because of the Song family matter and rarely shared her thoughts with her. Nanny Xia, being perceptive, did not try to get close to the original Ye Yaming. The two had maintained a lukewarm relationship for two years.

After Ye Yaming (the current one) arrived, she gradually approached Nanny Xia, and now Nanny Xia had resumed her old habit of being concerned about matters.

She glanced around the room and, seeing that apart from Old Lady Ye’s trusted Nanny Yu, there were no other maids or elderly women in the room, she said in a low voice, “Young Lady, we don’t need to wait for him to make a mistake. We can devise a plan to ‘make him commit a mistake.’ I’ve heard that Miss Yu from the house to their left visits their home every day…”

As she spoke, she gave Ye Yaming a meaningful wink.

Old Lady Ye’s eyes lit up when she heard this and said to Ye Yaming, “Yes, we can certainly use this situation to our advantage.”

Ye Yaming frowned slightly and shook her head. “No, we cannot do this.”

Nanny Xia was Old Lady Ye’s attendant, having grown up in the Mei family. The Ye family had proper moral values, but when Nanny Xia was young in the Mei family, and later when she occasionally accompanied Old Lady Ye back to her maiden home, she had heard about and seen too many dark secrets in the Mei household.

When Old Lady Ye assigned these elderly nannies to the girls in the family, she was concerned that the sheltered environment at home had made the young ladies naive about worldly affairs. She feared they might be at a disadvantage after marrying into more complex environments, so she wanted the nannies to guide them.

Now, seeing that Ye Yaming disagreed, she thought Ye Yaming was being too soft-hearted. She was quite outspoken in front of Old Lady Ye.

She tried to persuade Ye Yaming: “If Miss Yu didn’t have such intentions, we naturally wouldn’t do anything. But she knows you’re engaged to Young Master Song and still tries to seduce him, so she has only herself to blame. Besides, we won’t force her. Whatever consequences come her way, she has brought upon herself.”

“To measure others by my standards—I don’t like treating a girl this way,” Ye Yaming said.

It was one thing for Yu Linger to seduce Song Yifeng of her own accord, but for her to set up a scheme, guiding her to commit a mistake and then using it to create public opinion that could potentially ruin a girl’s life—this was something she would not do.

Old Lady Ye seemed moved by these words.

She gazed at Ye Yaming, and the slight worry in her heart finally dissipated.

Despite her young age, Ye Yaming possessed near-supernatural intelligence. Though neither Old Lady Ye nor Ye Chongming spoke of it, they worried that she might use her intelligence to take a wrong path.

In the short term, they feared she might suppress or even persecute the First, Third, and Fourth Branches to solely obtain the Ye family property; in the long term, they worried she might use her beauty and wisdom to marry into an official’s family or even the royal family, causing turmoil in the court.

Ye Chongming and Old Lady Ye were elderly and had no ambitions. They only hoped for a smooth life, for the family to conduct business steadily, and to live peacefully. They did not wish for someone from their family to become a person who could overturn the court.

Such a person could indeed bring glory to the family, but would more often be walking on a tightrope—one misstep could lead to destruction, bringing catastrophic disaster to the family.

Now, Old Lady Ye discovered that Ye Yaming could show kindness even toward a stranger who coveted her fiancé. One could imagine the softness of her heart.

Such a child would naturally not be ruthless toward her family and would not take the wrong path or make mistakes.

A smile gradually appeared on her lips, and her gaze toward Ye Yaming was filled with loving kindness.

Ye Yaming didn’t notice the change in her gaze and continued addressing Nanny Xia: “Moreover, using this scheme not only won’t help, but it might even backfire.”

Nanny Xia had wanted to say something more, but hearing this, she quickly closed her mouth and listened carefully to what Ye Yaming had to say.