Ye Zhen killed the old steward, and the Marquis of Zhongyong did not even show up. The servants knew that Ye Zhen's takeover of the household was a foregone conclusion, and the Marquis of Zhongyong had become her backer.
In addition, her assertive words naturally attracted people to try and impress her.
Therefore, news of Zhiyun leaving the mansion quickly reached Ye Zhen's ears.
Ye Zhen simply smiled faintly after hearing this.
Wanxing, however, was worried, "Should I go and follow them?"
She worried that Xie Jinyao was resentful and wanted to harm her young lady.
Ye Zhen shook his head. "No need."
There is no doubt that Xie Jinyao wanted to harm her.
However, she observed that Zhiyun was a very shrewd person and might not have been unaware that she would send someone to follow her. Perhaps this trip was a deliberate feint.
They also couldn't follow Zhiyun every time she went out.
That would surely alarm the Marquis.
Ye Zhen knew very well that the Marquis of Zhongyong still loved his daughter dearly.
The last time he warned her, it meant that the Marquis of Zhongyong had noticed the discord between her and Xie Jinyao. Now that she was in charge, her father was bound to worry that she might mistreat or seek revenge on Xie Jinyao, so he would definitely keep an eye on things.
Although she now has the power to manage the household, the true head of the Marquis's mansion is the Marquis of Zhongyong, so Ye Zhen chooses to wait and see.
She had someone bring over the account books from the mansion for the past three years.
The accountant was very uneasy, as he was one of the people Ye Zhen had caught embezzling.
Although Ye Zhen said that past mistakes should be forgiven and only the future should be considered.
Seeing that Ye Zhen was going to check the accounts again, he was very uneasy, so he asked cautiously, "The income and expenditure accounts for the past three years are quite a lot. What would you like to see, young mistress? This old servant can look for it for you."
Ye Zhen waved his hand, signaling him to leave.
She wanted the ledgers not only to find Xie Yunzhou's whereabouts over the past three years, but also to investigate something else.
Before going to the manor, she unexpectedly discovered that Liu was having an affair, and from their conversation, Xie Jinyao seemed to be Liu's child with that man.
Before Ye Zhen could investigate further, Liu sent him to the estate.
In his previous life, he had no freedom until his death, so Ye Zhen did not know who the man was. He could only judge from their conversation that the man did not live in the capital.
Given this relationship, and the fact that they are not usually together, there must be other interactions between them.
Ye Zhen wanted to see if he could find any clues in the account books.
Since it concerns the lineage of the Marquis's legitimate daughter and the reputation of the Loyal and Brave Marquis, she must have solid evidence and act with caution.
This cannot be known to the accounting manager.
The steward left Ye Zhen's courtyard looking uneasy. When he encountered other stewards, he no longer dared to talk to them as casually as before, and simply nodded in greeting before going about his business.
In order to survive, he reported other managers, and those managers must have reported him as well, but only the reporter and Ye Zhen know the specifics of who reported whom.
Now, he looks at the other managers with a mixture of guilt and wariness, fearing that someone might find fault with him again and report it to Ye Zhen one day.
Xie Tingzhou had just returned from outside the mansion when he saw this scene.
A slight smile played on her lips. Ye Zhen's tactic had worked. Now, the stewards in the manor dared not easily band together anymore and had to desperately try to impress her.
"Master, what are you laughing at?"
Xing Ze glanced at the two managers who had walked away, then looked at Xie Tingzhou, somewhat confused.
Xie Tingzhou ignored him and went straight back to the Mo Courtyard.
To this day, they have not discovered the true identity of the assassin in the mountains, nor have they found out his relationship with Xie Yunzhou.
Xie Tingzhou sat at her desk, rubbing the ring on her finger, wondering if Ye Zhen was lying to her.
Xing Ze was unaware of his master's thoughts, and Wan Xing blocked his way.
Wanxing handed him a food box. "These are pastries I made. Thank you for helping my young lady last time."
Xing Ze is a clueless, straight-laced man who believes he is acting under orders and therefore thinks Wan Xing should thank Xie Tingzhou.
He accepted the food box and said with a smile, "On behalf of my master, I thank Miss Wanxing."
Wanxing, ...
Watching Xing Ze stride away, Wan Xing fell into deep thought. Had she not expressed herself clearly?
She touched her face again, and the young lady and her master both said that she was very cute and pretty.
But Xing Ze didn't seem to pay much attention to her just now.
Could it be that Master taught me wrong?
Thinking of her master, sadness spread from Wanxing's heart throughout her body.
The master was the one General Ye found for the young lady.
After the young lady took her and Yinyue in, she had them learn martial arts from her, and thus the master also became their master.
When he learned that General Ye was in dire straits, his mentor, who was a close friend of General Ye, rushed to help.
In the end, he and General Ye were trapped in the swamp, and their bodies were never recovered.
This is the greatest pain in the young lady's heart.
General Ye disapproved of the Ye family's neglect of his daughter, but he was also constrained by his brother's family affairs and could not interfere too much. He felt pity for his daughter, but more than that, he felt sympathy.
In addition, she was in the military for most of the year, and apart from that one time when they met, they only corresponded by letter.
But her master had been by her side for many years and treated her like his own daughter. If she were still alive, she would never allow anyone to bully her.
She no longer needs to seduce Xing Ze to find help for her mistress, but she can't even do it well.
Wanxing returned to the courtyard looking dejected.
Seeing Ye Zhen staring blankly at the military book, she knew that the young lady was also missing her master, so she sat down on the threshold and did not disturb her.
Ye Zhen carefully stroked the military book, his eyes moistening.
When her master learned that she was interested in military strategy, he personally went to the border and carried all of his mother's military books back to the south to give to her.
But she was still young then and couldn't truly understand many things. Her master came from the martial arts world, didn't like studying when he was young, and was not knowledgeable in military strategy, so he couldn't answer her questions.
She would tirelessly write letters to her mother. If her mother was busy and unable to reply in time, her master would write down her questions, rush to her mother to ask for answers, and then explain them to her in detail when he returned.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
