Chapter One Hundred and One: A Plan

  Happy New Year! Wishing everyone good health, all the best, abundant wealth and success in all endeavors!

  Yeh Yuqi was in a great mood as he had promised to take care of the matter, and since it was almost noon, he invited Yang Jianxiu to have lunch at De Yue Lou. Elegant words and romantic feelings.

  "Old man, we won't go anymore. You take good care of Mr. Yang. Today's matter, thanks to Mr. Yang, otherwise who knows how much more trouble it would have caused." Guan Shi said, and then expressed some words of gratitude to Yang Jian Xiu.

  "It's just a small effort, Auntie doesn't have to be polite. Otherwise, let's go to De Yue Lou for dinner?" Yang Jianxiu heard Guan Shi say she was going back, and his heart felt a bit reluctant. But men and women are different, he really couldn't persuade her to stay. As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on Ye Zhuo. In just this short time, he had figured out that the head of the Ye family's main house was this young girl with the lowest generation and youngest age. And at the Jiang family's residence, Ye Zhuo could clearly understand him. So now he didn't look at anyone else, only looking at Ye Zhuo.

  Ye Zhuo met the pleading gaze, and couldn't help but smile inwardly. However, she didn't plan on persuading Guan Shi to change her mind. After all, what kind of person was Yang Jian Xiu? Whether he wanted a wife or a concubine, no one knew, so it wasn't suitable for him to get too close to Zheng Shi at this time. Besides, Zheng Shi following them here to handle the procedures was necessary due to circumstances, and not out of personal desire; but following them to De Yue Lou to eat would be inappropriate, and might lead to her being looked down upon.

  Guan's family heard Yang Jianxiu's invitation, and hesitated for a moment. The reason was that she was very grateful to this Mr. Yang. Since he had invited her, refusing him would be too impolite.

  She looked at Zheng Shi, wanting to see what her opinion was. If Zheng Shi also agreed to go, then they could all go together. Anyway, the women were in a separate room, so there was no need to worry about being gossiped about.

  "Aunt, you go with Uncle to eat. Zhao sister is still at home waiting. I'll go back and tell her, so she won't worry." Zheng said. It was clear that she didn't want to follow them to De Yue Lou for dinner, especially since the host was a strange man.

  "We won't go either." Gu heard Zheng say this and also made up her mind. She turned to Yang Jianxu with an apologetic smile, "My daughter-in-law is alone at home, and I didn't say not to come back for dinner. It's not good if we don't go back. Mr. Yang, please have a few more cups later, and forgive the old man if there's anything that's not properly hosted."

  Since Mr. Guan had said so, Yang Jianxiu couldn't keep them any longer and personally helped them call a carriage, seeing them off as they left, before following Ye Yuer to De Yue Lou.

  Although Ye Zhuo was eager to talk to Yang Jianxiu in person and hear from his mouth what she wanted to know, even if she followed him, she would have to sit separately and couldn't drink and chat with the men at the same table, so she couldn't achieve her goal. Helpless, she could only follow Guan Shi and Zheng Shi back home, hoping that Ye Yuqi would understand her intention.

  I didn't expect this trip would take so long, it wasn't until late in the evening that I stumbled back home. As soon as I stepped inside, I loudly demanded water to drink.

  Ye Zhuo personally brought a pot of tea to the hall, and just listened to Guan Shi scolding Ye Yuqi: "If you can't drink, don't show off. You got drunk and made Yang Gong unable to go to Wanfu Alley to see the house, it's really too rude."

  "Haha, we had a great chat, so I ended up drinking a few more cups. Didn't expect to lose track of time like this. But Mr. Yang was also having a blast, and he invited me to go house hunting with him tomorrow." Ye Yuke took the towel handed to him by Guan Shi, wiped his face carelessly, then took the tea water handed over by Ye Zhuo and drank it all in one gulp.

  "Grandfather, what were you all talking about?" Ye Zhuo asked.

  "You don't know, this Mr. Yang's father was a big name in our Nanshan Town." Ye Yuqi turned to Guan Shi, "Old lady, you know Yang Shen Yi, right? Your father had asked Yang Shen Yi to treat his illness when he was still alive."

  Mr. Guan was shocked: "Could this Mr. Yang be the son of the divine doctor Yang?"

  "That's right." Ye Yuxiu nodded slightly.

  "But since Yang's father is a divine doctor in Nanshan Town, shouldn't Yang have an ancestral home in Nanshan Town? Why would he still want to buy a house?" Ye Zhuo asked in surprise.

  Ye Yiqi nodded in approval of her granddaughter's astute thinking and said, "The ancestral home does exist. However, Yang's mother died giving birth to him due to a difficult labor, and Yang Shen Yi remarried another wife who gave birth to three younger brothers and one younger sister. The stepmother treated the two brothers well on the surface but did many despicable things behind their backs. Therefore, Yang worked hard to achieve success, passed the imperial examination, and later became the chief secretary of the South Cloud City Prefecture, where he stayed for ten years and got along with each successive prefect."

  Recently, a newly arrived governor had a strange temper and repeatedly punished his subordinates. Yang was also somewhat arrogant, but it happened that his older brother fell seriously ill, and since they were close brothers, Yang simply resigned from his position and returned to Nanshan Town to care for his brother. However, because he had been away for many years, his three younger brothers' children had already taken over his house, and he didn't want to stay in that home either. So he planned to buy a new house outside and live separately. That's why he went to Qingyun Alley to look at houses.

  "It turned out to be so." Ye Zhuo nodded. Yang Jianxiu, as a subordinate of the superior and also from Nanshan Town, was familiar with these officials in the Nanshan County government office, which wasn't surprising. However, thinking about it, it was probably just a casual acquaintance from eating together and exchanging greetings, but if you said that they really understood each other's inner workings, it might not be possible.

  As expected, Ye Yuxi said again: "Zhuo'er, I asked Yang Shanggong to ask about Gong Shuban's background, he said he wasn't clear either. Usually it's just a nodding acquaintance, and there's no particular interaction. However, he also said that if we're not in a hurry, he can help us slowly investigate later. But today Yang Shanggong also mentioned one thing, he said Gong Shuban likes to gamble on stones, once during dinner he heard Gong Shuban talk about gambling on stones, with a beaming expression."

  "Gambling on stones?" Ye Zhuo thought he wouldn't get any news, but upon hearing this, his eyes lit up. Then his eyebrows furrowed, and he fell into deep thought.

  "What's wrong?" Ye Yuqi didn't know that Gong had secretly sold the second house's property, and thought that Ye Zhuo wanted him to investigate Gong Shubao's situation in order to prevent the Taos and Gongs from retaliating against the Ye family again.

  Ye Zhuo waved her hand slightly. She felt like she had grasped a subtle clue.

  Today she also saw that, Gong Shuban helped people handle the transfer procedures, and he was absolutely in power. In addition to paying a certain fee to the government, those who handled the transfer had to pay a sum of money to Gong Shuban as a show of respect. So although this bookkeeper was an insignificant official, he made a lot of money from his position, and it was definitely a lucrative job. With such a wealthy father, why did the Gong family still want to marry into the Ye household as a concubine? And why did Tao Changsheng go to great lengths to set up someone for a small workshop, and yet harbor so much resentment when he couldn't get his hands on it?

  Could it be that Gong Shu lost money in a gamble and owed a large sum of debt?

  If that's the case, then whose money did Gong Shuban owe? If he embezzled public funds, is there any way to use this matter to remove him from his position as bookkeeper?

  Thinking of this, Ye Zhuo let out a sigh.

  Even if the truth about Gong Shuban's embezzlement of public funds for gambling is investigated and verified, what can be done to bring him down? The Ye family's social status is too low, they don't even know anyone in the government. It was only thanks to Nie Bowen and Du Haoran that Xie's family was able to plead guilty yesterday; this time, there's no one to rely on for Gong's case, wanting to take down the entire Gong family would be extremely difficult.

  Unless. Let's drag Yang Jianxiu into this. He has been the chief secretary of the prefecture for many years, even if he is not in office now, his level is still much higher than Gong Shuban. A minor Gong Shuban shouldn't be his opponent, should he?

  Thinking of this, Ye Zhuo asked: "Grandfather, when did Yang Xianggong make an appointment with you to go see the house?"

  "Tomorrow afternoon, Mr. Yang said he had a car and didn't live far away, so after breakfast tomorrow, he would come to the mansion to pick me up." Ye Yukei had drunk some wine. At this time, he returned home, feeling relaxed in both body and mind. Sitting there, he began to feel drowsy, and as he spoke, his eyelids drooped, and his words became indistinct. "Just now... it was Mr. Yang who sent me back with his car..."

  "Hey, don't sleep. If you want to sleep, go back to your room and sleep. You can't sleep here, who can carry you if you fall asleep?" Guan's wife saw this and became anxious, she patted Ye Yuqi a few times with force, and pulled him back to his room to rest.

  Ye Zhuo Ben still wanted to ask about Yang Jian Xiu's personal situation, but seeing Ye Yu Qi like this, he had no choice but to shut his mouth and go out to find Qiu Ju: "Qiu Ju, when we didn't come back today, did the old master of the second house come?"

  "He came. He was with the second old lady. I told him that the young lady and the old master had gone out on business and would return at some unknown time today. He said he'd come again tomorrow." Qiuju said, "The second old master specifically instructed that the young lady should not go out tomorrow afternoon, as he will come over then to discuss important matters with her."

  "Very good." Ye Zhuo's mouth curled up into a meaningful smile.

  That night, Ye Zhuo was exhausted from practicing the incense and fell asleep. The next morning, she went to Zheng's room, coquettishly took out a wine-red cloud-patterned jacket and a jade-colored embroidered flower-patterned long skirt for Zheng to wear, and personally styled her hair into a high bun, choosing two pieces of jewelry for her to wear. Ye Zhuo was an expert in dressing up in her past life, and after she worked on Zheng, although the clothes and accessories were all semi-new, Zheng's skin was extremely white, and her eyebrows and eyes were black, which made the deep red clothes bring out a unique, natural flavor that was not overdone. She looked beautiful without being showy, without revealing any signs of deliberate dressing up.

  "Man Wen looks great in this outfit today, it really brings out her spirit." Guan said with approval during dinner.

  Zheng glared at Ye Zhuo: "Isn't this all because of you? This child is getting more and more out of hand, causing trouble every day."

  Ye Chou stuck out her tongue and remained silent. With Guan's family present to defend her, she didn't need to explain herself.

  As expected, Guan heard this and immediately said: "That's just right! Children should be a little mischievous. If she were as serious as an old man, not smiling or making noise, that would be something to worry about."

  "This is indeed." Zheng smiled. After her daughter was adopted into the main house, she seemed much more lively than before and no longer as cautious as before.

  Thinking of this, she felt a little heartache and self-blame. In the past, in the second house, it was because of her that her daughter's personality was suppressed.

  "Is Old Ye at home?" a familiar male voice called out from the entrance of the courtyard.

  "Mr. Yang has arrived, I'm full." Upon hearing this voice, Ye Yukei threw down his chopsticks and stood up.

  "Grandfather, don't hurry off. Please ask Mr. Yang to sit in the hall for a bit, I'll go make some tea." Ye Zhuo said, "Autumn Moon, bring out the pastries you've prepared."

  Thank you stillia for the New Year's firecrackers worth 999 starting coins, thank you Guang Han Gong Zhu A for the sachet worth 588 starting coins, thank you Mǒu Qī and Bái Jiè Zǐ for the New Year's red envelope, thank you... Taiwan Xiao Yǒu Yǒu's pink ticket! Everyone, I'm busy with the New Year, Guang Han Gong Zhu A's update ticket will be added after the New Year.