The old man's face turned even greener and darker, "Shut up!"

"Fushu!"

"flower."

Ye Shiheng and his son Ye Zelin spoke in unison, one in a loud and fierce voice, the other in a low voice, both with a reprimand in mind.

General Ye lectured Ye Shiheng, "Look at you, you brought all sorts of people into the Ye family!"

Ye Shiheng said, "Dad, please be careful with your words."

"Grandfather." There was a hint of displeasure in Ye Zelin's words.

Hua Fushu turned his head, glanced at the old man out of the corner of his eye, and said to Sanqiao, "Qiao'er, Grandfather Ye's saying, 'Scholars are good for nothing,' makes a lot of sense. Go out and find a private school or something, and tell those scholars this famous saying. Tell them to stop studying, because studying is useless."

The old man flicked his sleeves and left. Mrs. Xu was annoyed with Hua Fushu and followed him hurriedly.

As soon as the old man left, everyone looked at Hua Fushu, some with helplessness, some with warning, and some with gratitude.

Ye Shiheng took a breath first, "Hua'er, you really dare."

Madam Ouyang said, "Hua'er, the old man is not someone you can easily mess with. Don't contradict him anymore."

Ruhuan said with a lecturing tone, "Hua Fushu, you only want the world to be in chaos!"

Ye Zelin knew that Hua Fushu had contradicted his grandfather for him and was disrespectful to his grandfather, so he didn't want to say anything to her. He bowed to Madam Ouyang and Ye Shiheng, and took Hua Fushu back to Penglai Residence.

As soon as he returned to Penglai Residence, Ye Zelin said, "Sister Fushu, I know you were disrespectful to Grandfather because of me. Mother was right. Don't offend Grandfather again in the future. If you do, your life will not be easy. Our family affairs are very complicated and difficult. You shouldn't get involved and cause trouble."

Hua Fushu said, "I'm not doing this for you. If the old man hadn't scolded my whole family, I wouldn't have argued with him and gotten involved in your family's mess."

Yesterday, when Hua Fushu heard Ye Zelin say that his grandfather was going to move back to Feiyuan, he hurriedly asked Sanqiao to find out why his grandfather moved out of the General's Mansion a few years ago.

Sanqiao was quick in her work and soon found out that the old man wanted Ye Shiheng to make Madam Xu his co-wife, but Ye Shiheng refused. After the old man pressed him several times, Ye Shiheng still refused. Finally, the old man got angry and took Madam Xu to live in another courtyard.

In the same year, Ye Songyan, the son born to Mrs. Xu, was sent to Mount Wutai to learn martial arts.

Ye Zelin told her that Ye Songyan was going to Wuyin with them.

Hua Fushu asked about some things about Wuyin's maternal grandparents' family, such as who else was there and what their names were. She also asked about Ye Songyan. Ye Zelin didn't say anything, but only told her not to provoke Ye Songyan. Hua Fushu said she remembered everything.

After the rain, Ye Zelin left the house and went to Wenxuzhai. Hua Fushu was not the kind of person who could stay there, so he asked Sanqiao to go out for a walk.

Ruhuan went to Feiyuan. At this time, General Ye and Madam Xu had already settled in.

She has never liked Hua Fushu, and because Hua Fushu was disrespectful to her grandfather on her brother's behalf, she didn't dare to cause trouble for her.

General Ye doted on his granddaughter Ruhuan the most. He asked her a lot of questions and finally asked about Hua Fushu.

Ruhuan told the old general everything about how Hua Fushu broke off the engagement and how she relied on Ye Zelin, and even added fuel to the fire.

The old general didn't have a good impression of Hua Fushu to begin with. After hearing what Ruhuan said, he disliked Hua Fushu even more and repeatedly asked Ruhuan to stay away from Hua Fushu.

Ruhuan said, "How can she be worthy of my second brother? She is such a despicable and lowly thing."

General Ye said, "Just talk to Grandpa, but don't say it in front of your father and mother. Although her background is lowly, she is still your second brother's wife."

Ruhuan said disdainfully, "She just took advantage of our family's wealth and status to sell herself out and get into Second Brother's bed."

The old man had no intention of discussing Hua Fushu. He asked Ruhuan to chat with him and brought up the matter of Ye Songyan's return.

Ruhuan was very happy. Among her brothers, except Ye Zelin, she had the best relationship with this fourth brother.

It was already late when Hua Fushu returned to the General's Mansion. By then, Ye Zelin had already bathed and changed his clothes. He was wearing a jade-colored soft silk gown and sitting on a small couch reading a book. As soon as Hua Fushu entered the room, he saw Ye Zelin reading a book.

She walked over, looked at him and then at the book in his hand. Ye Zelin was just wondering, so Hua Fushu asked, "Is this book so good?"

Ye Zelin replied, "Books contain both golden houses and beautiful women. Any book that can benefit people, cultivate their character, and broaden their horizons is a good book and worth reading."

Hua Fushu sat next to him and said, "According to what you said, the Four Books and Five Classics and historical texts are all good books, while books like the Classic of Mountains and Seas and In Search of the Gods are not to be read."

Ye Zelin said, "Not really. Books like the Classic of Mountains and Seas and Records of the In Search of the Gods are fine to read just for fun, but if you say they can broaden your horizons, that's not true."

Hua Fushu was a little anxious, "How do you know that you can't gain knowledge if you haven't seen it?"

Ye Zelin paused and said, "You have an impatient temper. You can read some scriptures to calm your temper."

Hua Fushu deliberately annoyed him and said, "I can't read a single word. My father should have told you. I remember I told you too."

Ye Zelin said, "If you want to study, I can teach you, and I can do it for free."

Hua Fushu made a face at him and said, "Sorry, I'm not interested."

Ye Zelin sighed softly, but Hua Fushu didn't notice. She stood up and sat on the stool beside the round table. As soon as she came back, she asked Sanqiao to prepare hot water for her bath.

Ye Zelin continued reading his book. After a while, he raised his head and said to Hua Fushu, "You are a girl after all. Don't come back so late next time you go out."

Hua Fushu was immediately displeased. "What's it to you? Why do you care?"

Ye Zelin was also displeased and said, "Why would I care about you? If Brother Fei Mo hadn't asked me to take good care of you, I wouldn't bother to care about you!"

Hua Fushu replied: "Then don't worry about it!"

His kindness being ignored, Ye Zelin ignored Hua Fushu, changed direction and continued reading.

Sanqiao prepared hot water and came to call Hua Fushu. Hua Fushu picked up some clothes and went to take a bath.

It drizzled for two consecutive days, but it cleared up on the third day of the Lunar New Year. The mountains and forests were shining under the warm sunshine. Swallows were chirping on the eaves of the General's Mansion, and the ancient tree by the wall was full of flowers, as if welcoming someone's return.

Someone did come back today.

Ruhuan got up early in the morning and asked Douzhi to take out all the clothes in the closet, but there was not a single piece she wanted to wear. She then urged Douzhi to go to the ready-made clothing store in the city to buy more than a dozen sets of clothes, and she picked out one set and reluctantly put it on.

She ordered Douzhi to tie her hair into a bun and put on a thin layer of powder. Looking at herself in the bronze mirror, Ruhuan nodded, quite satisfied.

Ruhuan went to Feiyuan to have dinner with General Ye. After the meal, she talked with General Ye for a long time and then waited for someone outside the gate.