Chapter 20 Nonsense
"Mother! Look at how smug she is! She just opened two run-down shops, and she really thinks she's some kind of emperor's favorite!" Ye Jingshu threw the teacup in her hand hard on the ground, shards flying everywhere.
Madam Zhou sat to one side, her expression also unpleasant. Since being confined to her quarters, her status in the household had plummeted; even the servants dared to roll their eyes at her—all thanks to Ye Wanning!
"Keep your voice down!" Madam Zhou whispered. "Do you want the whole mansion to hear?"
Ye Jingshu cried in grievance, "Mother, are we just going to let this go? Just watch her shit and piss on our heads?"
"Let it go? How could I!" A ruthless glint flashed in Zhou's eyes. "She wants to climb the social ladder, doesn't she? I'll make sure she climbs as high as she can and falls as hard as she can!"
Ye Jingshu's eyes lit up: "Mother, you have a plan?"
Zhou leaned closer to her and whispered a few words.
Ye Jingshu nodded repeatedly, a sinister smile spreading across her face: "Mother is truly amazing! I'll go and take care of it right away!"
Within two days, rumors began to circulate in the capital. They said that Ye Wanning's shop had grown so large entirely by currying favor with Prime Minister Pei, and that the two had spent an afternoon alone together at Qingfeng Tower, suggesting a close relationship. Some even embellished the story, claiming to have seen Ye Wanning emerge from Pei's residence late at night, disheveled.
Ye Chengjing crushed the teacup in his hand: "What nonsense are they spouting! They have no idea what kind of person Ningning is!"
Minister Ye's expression was also very unpleasant. It wasn't that he didn't trust Ye Wanning, but if such words were to spread, it would be too damaging to the reputation of an unmarried young woman.
"Father, don't listen to those outsiders' nonsense!" Ye Chengjing exclaimed anxiously. "Ningning and Prime Minister Pei are just business partners; it's not as filthy as they're making it out to be!"
Minister Ye did not speak, but only sighed and walked towards the Red Leaf Court.
Ye Wanning was checking the accounts when she saw Minister Ye enter. She quickly stood up and said, "Father."
Minister Ye looked at her, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.
Ye Wanning probably already knew what it was about, and spoke first: "Father, are you worried about the rumors going around outside?"
Minister Ye nodded, his expression grave: "Ningning, those words..."
"A clear conscience fears no accusation. Let them say what they want; the innocent will clear themselves." Ye Wanning said calmly. "Anyway, we can't find any concrete evidence, so let them talk."
"That's true, but it's not good for your reputation," Minister Ye said worriedly. "You're just an unmarried young lady..."
“If Father is worried, think about who is spreading these rumors,” Ye Wanning interrupted him, her eyes clear. “There are no secrets that stay hidden forever; if you want to investigate, you can always find out.”
Looking at his daughter's serene profile, Minister Ye suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity. Was this the same little girl who had teared up over the smallest thing when she first returned home?
He was silent for a moment, then nodded: "You're right. Father will investigate."
He turned around, but Ye Wanning called him back: "Father, there's something else I want to tell you."
"you say."
Ye Wanning took out a few sheets of paper from the drawer and slowly handed them to him: "This is what my daughter found out through someone. The midwife who delivered Madam Zhou's baby back then is still alive. She said that when Ye Jingshu was in her womb, Madam Zhou never entered the Marquis's mansion."
"What's written on this..." Minister Ye snatched the paper and looked at the midwife's statement and several testimonies written by villagers who knew Zhou back then—it clearly stated that before Zhou married into the Marquis's mansion, she had a lover in her hometown and was pregnant.
Minister Ye's hands trembled as he held the paper, his face turning from white to red, then from red to ashen. He slammed his fist heavily on the table: "That bitch! She's been deceiving me for so many years!"
He had always believed Ye Jingshu to be his daughter. Although he knew Zhou had remarried after becoming pregnant, he still considered her his own child and treated Ye Jingshu with kindness. He never imagined he had raised someone else's daughter for over a decade!
"Father, please calm down." Ye Wanning handed over a teacup. "Your health is the most important thing."
Minister Ye took the teacup, his hands still trembling. He took a sip of water to calm himself down: "Ningning, how did you find out all this?"
“My daughter found out by chance,” Ye Wanning said, lowering her eyelashes. “A few days ago, I went to Ci'an Hall and met a nanny from Madam Zhou’s hometown, and that’s how I learned about these things.”
She didn't say it, but actually, all of this was something Ye Jingshu had inadvertently revealed while showing off in her past life. Back then, Ye Jingshu was drunk and laughed, saying that Minister Ye was a fool, completely fooled by her mother.
Minister Ye looked at the testimonies and trembled with rage: "I'm going to question that vile woman right now!"
"Father," Ye Wanning stopped him, "now is not the time."
"Why?"
“Think about it,” Ye Wanning said slowly. “Rumors about my daughter and Prime Minister Pei have just spread. If you go and question Ye Jingshu about her background now, what will people think? Won’t they think you’re making it up on purpose to avenge my daughter?”
Minister Ye was taken aback, then realized what was happening: "Then... what should we do?"
“Wait.” A glint of light flashed in Ye Wanning’s eyes. “Wait for the right moment, to let everyone know that Ye Jingshu is an imposter.” She paused. “For example, when Ye Jingshu herself reveals herself.”
Looking at the calculation in his daughter's eyes, Minister Ye suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. This daughter seemed to be far more formidable than he had imagined.
A few days later, Ye Jingshu really did jump out. She found some excuse to get Ye Chengjing to lift her confinement, and then ran to the ladies and cried, saying that Ye Wanning, relying on Prime Minister Pei's support, was acting tyrannically in the mansion and bullying her, her "elder sister".
The ladies had already heard a lot of rumors, and when they saw Ye Jingshu crying with tears streaming down her face, they believed it even more.
"I knew it! How could a girl who just came back from the countryside open a shop so quickly? Turns out she's climbed the social ladder."
"Yes, Prime Minister Pei is a man, and she is just a young girl who hasn't left her chambers yet. How could she... be with Prime Minister Pei..."
Hearing this, Ye Jingshu felt extremely smug and cried even harder.
At this moment, Ye Wanning brought Chuntao in.
"What are you saying, little sister? It's so lively." Ye Wanning's voice was calm, and her indifferent gaze swept over the ladies present.
The ladies wisely kept quiet, their eyes flickering.
When Ye Jingshu saw her arrive, she cried even harder: "Sister, I know you don't like me, but you can't...you can't..."
“Can’t what?” Ye Wanning interrupted her. “Can’t cooperate with Prime Minister Pei? Or can’t live a better life than you?” She walked up to Ye Jingshu, looking down at her. “Instead of gossiping about me here, sister, you should think about your own background. Oh, I forgot, you probably don’t know that you’re not actually a young lady of the Marquis’s mansion, are you?”
Ye Jingshu's expression changed drastically: "You... what nonsense are you spouting!"
"Whether I'm lying or not, we'll know by asking Madam Zhou," Ye Wanning said loudly. "Someone, go and invite Madam Zhou here. Tell her an old friend wants to see her."
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