An old woman came in from outside, went to Guan's face and saluted, saying: "The old slave conveys the words of my master, saying that Ye's daughter is not feeling well. Please ask Ye's mother and Zheng's mother to send Ye's daughter back to Yingfengyuan to rest. The matter here will be handled by Ye's father and Yang's official with my master and Du Gongzi, so please don't worry, old ladies."

  After she finished speaking, she raised her head and glanced at Guan Shi. Earlier, when the master of her house mentioned this matter, Ye Lao Taiye said that Ye's family was managed by Ye Lao TaiTai, and he had to ask Ye Lao TaiTai before answering. Even if there were men who feared their wives in this world, they wouldn't say so openly in front of outsiders. So she was extremely curious and wanted to know what kind of person Ye Lao TaiTai was. However, the old lady in front of her, although quite spirited, looked very ordinary in appearance and attire, without any intimidating air about her.

  Guan listened to these words and shifted his gaze to Ye Zhuo's face. The one who was in charge of the Ye family was not her, nor was it Ye Yuqi, but rather this capable granddaughter of hers.

  But unexpectedly, this look made her heart ache. She saw Ye Zhuo on the verge of tears, with red eyes and quietly crying on Zheng Man's shoulder. Just as she was about to ask a question, Zheng Man spoke up: "Auntie, I think we should go listen to how they're discussing things, but Zhuo's emotions are unstable, you see... How about this... Why don't we ask if there's a separate room and arrange for Zhuo to be in the separate room, then have Qiu Yue keep an eye on her? That way, if anything happens, we'll also be able to hear it. It'll be more reassuring that way."

  Guan understood Ye Zhuo's meaning and turned to the old woman: "Did you understand what Mrs. Zheng meant? Please convey this message to your master."

  The old woman responded with a sound and went out to report.

  "Wait a moment, Grandma...” Yè Zhuó looked around the room and saw no one else, while Yang Jianxiu was guarding the door, so he leaned in close to Guān Shì's ear and whispered.

  After a while, the most suitable person to speak out was Guan's family. She had a very agile mind, excellent eloquence, and a strong temperament, with sufficient courage. In countless confrontations with the Xie and Ye families' second house, her fierce fighting power was evident. The most valuable thing is that her identity is still an unsophisticated rural old woman. Whatever out-of-place words she says, as long as Ye Yuqi and Yang Jianxiu mediate in between, Nie Zhongkun and Madam Nie wouldn't dare to argue with her too much. Having her speak out would be the most suitable choice, being able to advance or retreat at will.

  Guan listened, her eyebrows opened and she smiled, feeling extremely pleased that her granddaughter was relying on her again. She patted her chest and guaranteed, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it right away, Grandma will definitely help you vent your anger."

  "Thank you, Grandma." Ye Zhuo leaned into Gu's body.

  Zheng Manwen just smiled and didn't have any other thoughts. She had previously clashed with Wang Niang and often ended up at a disadvantage, knowing that she wasn't good at arguing, so it was best to let Guan Shi take over.

  Nie Ji's wife went out for a while, then turned back and said: "Madam Zheng's request, my master has agreed. Please follow me, the three of you."

  Guan and Zheng Manwen supported Ye Zhuo together, and they went out of the door. However, they didn't go to the room where Du Haoran was treating his illness, but instead went to the resting hall in this courtyard.

  It was a small courtyard, and after entering the courtyard and going up the steps, the woman led them into a side room next to the main hall: "Please have a seat in this room, Miss Ye."

  Ye Chou had suffered such a great injustice, and naturally couldn't pretend to be unaffected. So all along the way, she walked with red eyes, streaming tears, and constant sobbing. Although they knew Ye Chou was crying for the sake of the Nie family, Guan Shi and Zheng Manwen's mood was still extremely uncomfortable. Supporting her as she sat down in the house, Guan Shi immediately spoke with an indignant face: "Don't worry, Grandmother will definitely get justice for you."

  As she spoke, she instructed Qiu Yue with two more sentences, and then followed Zheng Manwen and the servant to the main hall.

  This house is separated from the hall by only one wall. The words spoken in the hall can be heard here. Ye Zhuo heard Nie Zhongkun's voice on the other side and stopped crying, listening carefully with her ears perked up.

  Nie Zhongkun first said a few words of courtesy, then loudly ordered: "Bring her in."

  Right after that, the sound of footsteps seemed to be three or four people entering the door at the same time. Qiuyue stood up and ran to the wall to take a look. It's not clear whether the master of the Nie family wanted to use this compartment to secretly observe his disciples' every move when building this house. The other rooms were made of brick, but only this room was made of wood. No matter how exquisite it was built, there were always some gaps between the wooden boards on the wall, and standing here could see the other side. Qiuyue took a look and ran back, whispering to Ye Zhuo: "It's Tang Ayi."

  Ye Zhuo sneered. It seemed that Nie Zhongkun wanted to put the blame on Tang Hua's head.

  As expected, the old lady knelt down and An Zhongkun stood up, saying to everyone: "I'm ashamed, I didn't discipline these servants strictly enough, which led them to cause such a big disaster. I'd like to apologize to all of you first." He bowed his hands together in a gesture of respect.

  In his opinion, this was originally a matter for the lady of the house, but now he, as the master of the Nie family, had apologized to Du Haoran and the Ye family, which represented the greatest sincerity of the Nie family. At this time, the culprit had also been pushed out, even if this thing was not done by this villain, Du Haoran and the Ye family should be honest and fearful, take responsibility for this matter, and give the Nie family a step down. Du Haoran was on good terms with the Nie family and would still have to live in the Nie family's house in the future; the Ye family were ordinary common people, and Yang Jianxiu was even a small official who could be taken down by the Nie family if they were not pleased, so how could they not give face to the Nie family?

  But he didn't expect that as he bowed, everyone stood up and returned the courtesy, saying "I don't dare to receive Mr. Nie's courtesy." However, no one responded to his words, saying something like "In a big house with many servants, it's inevitable that there will be one or two who are not careful". He couldn't help but feel embarrassed, turned around and ordered Aunt Tang: "Tell me all about the good things you've done, if there's even one false word, not only you, but also your children will be sold to the mine."

  "Master, spare my life, master, spare my life... I, an old slave, dare not hide a single word..." Auntie Tang kowtowed twice before continuing, "Because Miss Ye was ill, yesterday the mistress sent many nourishing foods to Miss Ye and was afraid that her maid wouldn't know how to prepare them. So she especially instructed me to go help her cook. But unexpectedly, Miss Ye didn't appreciate the mistress's kindness and spoke with great disrespect. I argued with her and was so angry that I couldn't calm down when I returned. Today, I heard that Fifth Master is going to compete in jade carving with Miss Ye at the Biyi Pavilion. I thought that they would need some snacks, tea, and incense, so I tampered with those things and asked Wang, a servant who gets along well with me, to switch them out. My intention was... my intention was to make Miss Ye lose face..."

  Tang's wife said to this point, and repeatedly gave Nie Zhongkun a bow, crying and sobbing: "Although the old slave has made a mistake, please look at the old slave who has served in the Nie family for a lifetime. Spare the old slave. The old slave will definitely keep his place from now on and not provoke trouble or harm others. Master and madam, have mercy..."

  "Come on." Nie Zhongkun interrupted her words, "Take her out and beat her to death!"

  "Oh no, Master and Mistress..." As soon as the old nurse heard this, she let out a loud cry and crawled forward on her hands and knees to Guan's and Zheng Manwen's feet, knocking her head repeatedly on the ground. "Old Lady Ye, Mistress, Miss Ye is also unharmed, isn't she? Please spare my life, I'm begging you...I'll kowtow to you, kowtow..." The sound of her knocking her head on the ground echoed out, and blood began to seep from her forehead.

  Zheng Manwen was nothing, but in the past at Ye Jia's second house, Jiang Shi had also dealt with some errant servants in this way. However, Guan Shi was startled, looking at a person covered in blood rushing to kowtow to her, she hastily stood up and retreated to one side. Fortunately, in the chaos, she didn't say anything about forgiving him.

  No one spoke, so the servants had no choice but to step forward and drag Old Lady Yu out, screaming in a shrill voice like a pig being slaughtered. She was being coerced by Mrs. Nie using her children as leverage, forcing her to take the blame. However, she thought just like Niu Zhongkun that everyone would not dare to offend the Nie family and would at least say some polite words to give them an excuse to back down. But unexpectedly, no one spoke up now, and it seemed they really were going to drag her out and beat her to death. Thinking of her children, she didn't dare speak the truth, but only kept screaming: "Spare my life, mistress! Mistress, spare my life..."

  "Hold on." Du Haoran, who had been sitting there silently the whole time, finally spoke up just as Nanny Tang was about to be dragged out of the doorway.

  These two words, when heard by Tang's ears, were no less than the heavenly music, and for a moment, she cried bitterly, her whole body softened there.

  The servants of Nala naturally stopped in their tracks, threw down Tang Yu and retreated to one side.

  "Hao Ran, such a wicked slave should be beaten to death as a warning to others. If we let him off lightly, the people below will follow his example and the mansion will surely fall into chaos, laying down trouble for the future. This matter cannot be handled with leniency." Nie Zhongkun lectured Du Hao Ran with an air of benevolent seniority.

  Du Haoran smiled faintly: "I don't want to let her off, I have some doubts and I want her to clarify."

  Nie Zhongkun's face showed embarrassment, and he dryly said: "You ask, you ask."

  Du Haoran turned his head and looked at Tang Ayi: "I'd like to ask you, when did you know that Nie Wugongzi was going to compete with Ye Gu'niang in jade carving?"

  Not only did Madam Nie not expect Du Haoran to be so unreasonable, but even Nie Zhongkun didn't think he would pursue the matter to the end. With time being of the essence, Madam Nie merely threatened Tong Yini and didn't instruct her to carefully consider whether there were any loopholes in her alibi. When she heard Du Haoran's question, Tong Yini was taken aback, involuntarily turning her gaze towards Madam Nie. Seeing Madam Nie glare at her, she quickly averted her eyes and stuttered: "I-I think it was this morning."

  "What time is it now?" Du Haoran asked again.

  "In the morning... at around dawn." Madam Tang could only vaguely mention a time.

  (Thank you for losing the ring, magi spent money to vote for the excellent evaluation of Liang Shui, thank you He Xi for rewarding the sachet and the safe charm of the lost ring, thank you for the pink ticket from Mo Ran Wu Sheng!)