She knew that at this moment, Ye Jiaming's heart and eyes only had the unborn son. As soon as he said so, Ye Zhuo would inevitably be unlucky.

  Ye Jiaming glared at Wang Yiniang with great dissatisfaction. Just now, although Gong Shi had withdrawn her hand, he had also seen that there was not even a red mark on it. The tea was specially poured by Li'er, and Ye Zhuo repeatedly reminded her to be careful, saying the tea was hot, and even offered to change it to warm tea. Moreover, the teacup had been under his watchful eye all along, and Ye Zhuo knew whether he did it intentionally or not. Now that neither of them had been scalded, punishing Ye Zhuo slightly would be enough to appease Gong Shi's discontent. But Wang Liuyun was afraid that there wouldn't be chaos in the world, so she fabricated a crime out of thin air and accused Ye Zhuo of intentionally trying to harm Gong Shi. If Gong Shi really pursued the matter and wanted to severely punish Ye Zhuo, he would have no way to explain it to his father.

  So he scolded Wang's wife, saying: "Which eye did you see that Zhu'er intentionally wanted to harm the mistress? I'm sitting so close, I don't see clearly, but you do? If Zhu'er was intentional, could she repeatedly remind the mistress to be careful and ask for a change of warm tea? Isn't it true that you want to gain some benefit from this, just as Zhu'er said?"

  The queen dowager did not expect Ye Jiaming to say such a thing, and suddenly the grievances she had been holding back could no longer be contained. Her heart felt a pang of sadness, and tears fell as she took a step forward and knelt in front of Ye Jiaming, knocking her head on the ground: "I only spoke out because I couldn't bear to see Ye Zhuo plotting against you, milord. If you're going to say such things about me now, then I have no choice but to die to clear my name."

  She said, and was about to rush towards the pillar in the corner. In her mind, that pillar was still far away, and either Ye Jiaming or Ye Lin would have to come forward to stop her. She made such a gesture, and Old Lady Ye wouldn't be angry with Ye Jiaming, but she would definitely hate Gong Shi and Ye Zhuo.

  "Mother..." As expected, her body was held in a tight embrace by Ye Lin. And so the mother and daughter pair began to cry bitterly together.

  "Get them out of here." Ye Jiaming was even more annoyed at the sight. A good tea ceremony had been ruined by Wang's mother and daughter, making a mess of things. If it made Gong think less of him and the Ye family, he would feel wronged. How could he speak up for the Ye family in the future?

  This is the courtyard where Gong lived, and all the servants are people she brought with her. As soon as Ye Jiaming spoke up, two servant women came in and unceremoniously dragged Wang's mother and daughter out.

  Ye Jiaming said: "Zhuo'er was careless in serving tea, startling the madam, and is forbidden from leaving her room for half a month; she must also embroider ten more pieces."

  But he didn't expect that as soon as his words fell, he heard a "ouch" and saw Gong Shi, who had been sitting silently beside him, suddenly reveal a painful expression on her face.

  "What's wrong? What's wrong?" Ye Jiaming's expression became flustered as he hastily stepped forward to support Gong Shi.

  "It's probably because I was startled by Tuo Er just now and moved the fetal air." Mrs. Gong groaned.

  "Someone, hurry up and get the doctor." Ye Jiaming was anxious as soon as he heard it, loudly shouting at Li'er who was stunned beside him. He also stretched out his arm: "Come on, I'll carry you into the house to rest."

  Gong pushed his hand away and said to the maid behind him with a painful expression: "Wu Ayi, take me back to the Gong's house. Others want to harm me, but my husband is still protecting me, I don't dare to stay in the Ye's house anymore."

  Ye Jiaming's face turned black.

  Although he was heartless and unfeeling, he wasn't muddled. Gong Shi's attachment to his own flesh and blood, he knew best. When he first discovered she was pregnant, Gong Shu Ban was furious, wanting to abort the child in her womb. However, Gong Shi cried and made a scene, even going on a hunger strike and attempting to hang herself, forcing Gong Shu Ban to back down and send someone to fetch him, hurrying him to marry Gong Shi into their household. Normally, whether eating or walking, sitting or lying down, she was extremely careful, afraid of being bad for the child in her womb, and at the slightest discomfort, she would ask a doctor to examine her, with reputation taking second place.

  However, she now puts punishing Ye Zhuo first, and it seems that if she doesn't punish Ye Zhuo heavily, she will be in pain and want to leave the house. Doesn't this mean that her stomachache is fake?

  He felt a little displeased in his heart. It seemed that the cup of tea earlier was deliberately spilled by Mrs. Gong. Why did she have to make things difficult for Ye Zhuo? Wasn't it just because she didn't agree to demote Ye Zhuo from being the legitimate daughter to an illegitimate one? Since she had entered the Ye family, she would be a member of the Ye family from then on. As Ye Zhuo was the legitimate daughter, there was hope that she could marry into a good family, which should also be a good thing for her. Why did she insist on demoting Ye Zhuo to an illegitimate daughter before she would be satisfied?

  But thinking of Gong's temper, he got a headache again. Since childhood, Gong had been spoiled and was both arbitrary and stubborn in doing things, never giving up until she achieved her goal. Now she insisted on heavily punishing Ye Zhuo, if not following her way, she would really be angry to the point of collapse.

  Forget it, let's just go along with her. I thought that since I was the one who gave the order to punish, and Old Master Ye would stop it for the sake of the Ye family's interests. Between myself and Old Master Ye, one playing the bad guy and the other playing the good guy, I believe we can smooth this over.

  Thinking of this, Ye Jiaming stood at the door and ordered his maid Xia Yu: "Pass on my order, give Second Miss twenty slaps, then lock her in the woodshed." After finishing speaking, he gave her a wink, before turning around and embracing Gong Shi with one hand. This time, Gong Shi didn't make another sound.

  Ye Zhuo stepped forward, her eyes stern: "Father, if I take these twenty slaps, the crime of harming my stepmother will be pinned on me. Now I ask you, do you really want to put this crime on my head? My reputation will be ruined, and Ye Lin and Ye Jue's reputations won't be much better either. If all three daughters can't marry well, is that what you want to see? If we don't marry well, it might not bode well for the child in Mother's belly either. Moreover, if I'm beaten today because of the child in Mother's belly, it means this child will have seen bloodshed before birth. I think this isn't good for the child or Mother either."

  Ye Jiaming was taken aback and stopped in his tracks.

  Yes, twenty slaps are a small matter, but damaging one's reputation is a big deal, and it affects his son even more. Ye Zhuo and Ye Lin are about to get married soon, if they can't secure good marriages for themselves, that would be a huge loss for the Ye family! The child in Madame Gong's belly won't grow up for another ten or so years. If they marry well, it will also benefit that child. Most importantly, the unborn child has already seen bloodshed before birth, which is very inauspicious! Giving birth is like taking a trip to the gates of hell for women. If Madame Gong has a difficult labor and both she and the child die, wouldn't he be losing out big time? It's not worth risking his son's future just to satisfy Madame Gong's momentary pleasure!

  "Put me down." Gong saw Ye Jiaming's expression and knew he was wavering, so she turned around and tried to struggle out of his arms, saying to Lier, "Pack up your things, let's go back to the Gong Manor."

  "Yeh Chia-ming coaxed in a spoiled tone: "Wan-yin, don't be so willful. You can't stand Chu-er and want to give her dozens of slaps? No problem. Once you give birth to a son, you can slap her as many times as you want. Just next time, let's find an excuse that won't tarnish the Ye family's reputation, okay? Now your body isn't well, you need to rest properly, don't exhaust yourself, just hand Chu-er over to me to deal with."

  Gong's face was gloomy, his eyes coldly staring at Ye Jiaming: "What if I said I must beat her?"

  "Y...". Ye Jiaming was startled by Gong's gaze and asked in confusion, "Why do you have to hit the porcelain?"

  "I know." Ye Zhuo's cold voice sounded from beside him.

  "Do you know?" Ye Jiaming looked at Gong and then at Ye Zhuo, his expression even more perplexed.

  Yue Zhuo's mouth curled up in a mocking smile: "I guess, Madam, you've been trying to force the Yue family to compromise on my matters, wanting to make the old master and master surrender, so that you can control the Yue Manor with an iron fist? After all, although I am the legitimate daughter of the Yue family, no one truly cares about me or speaks up for me. But I just happen to be a big bargaining chip for the Yue family, and in the near future, I can bring the greatest benefits to the Yue family. As long as the old master and master compromise with you on my matters, they will take a step back, and then another, and you can do whatever you want in the Yue Manor. Madam, am I right?"

  "You..." Madame Gong stared at Ye Zhuo, her eyes filled with shock. This was a thought deeply hidden in her heart, and she had thought that even the old fox of the Ye family hadn't understood it, but unexpectedly, it had been seen through by this fifteen-year-old little girl. How frightening was this Ye Zhuo!