Looking at Ye Zhuo like this, Jiang's expression changed, as if she was about to scold him the next moment. But remembering Old Master's words, she finally endured and patiently said: "Zhuo'er, because of your mother's affair, do you have any resentment towards your grandparents and father? Think carefully, which elder can tolerate being threatened with scissors by their daughter-in-law? This is a serious crime of filial impiety, and it will be punished wherever it goes. Now we let your mother go and give her 300 taels of silver, we have already been very generous. If you don't believe me, send someone out to ask around, see which family's disobedient wife was divorced and still received compensation?"

  After saying this, Jiang saw that Ye Zhuo's expression seemed to have loosened a bit, so she asked again: "Alright, Zhuo'er, you'd better tell Grandma honestly, who told you those words? If you don't say it again, Grandma will get angry! When the time comes, I'll take Autumn Moon and Autumn Chrysanthemum for questioning, don't pity them."

  "Grandma." Ye Zhuo seemed to be moved by her words, raised his eyes, took a quick glance at her, and then lowered his head again, saying in a low voice, "It's not that I don't want to say it, but... the person who told me also did it for my own good. If I were to reveal what she said, then who would help me if something happens in the future?"

  "Help you? She's harming you, do you know that?" Jiang finally ran out of patience, her voice shrill. "Originally, things weren't as she said, but she had to fabricate rumors and cause trouble, speaking wildly, which led your mother to threaten Grandfather and Grandmother with a knife; Grandfather and Grandmother were helpless, so they wanted to divorce your mother. I'm telling you, it was because of her words that your mother was driven out of the Ye Manor. She's harming you, not helping you, do you know or not? You still want to help her cover it up?"

  "Really, Grandma?" Ye Zhuo's eyes widened as she stared at Jiang Shi.

  "It's true. Think about it carefully, isn't that so? If not for her words, your mother would still be enjoying a good life in the mansion now." Madam Jiang said with conviction.

  Ye Zhuo stared blankly at the cup in front of him, muttering to himself: "Is it really like this?"

  "Alright, Xiǎoér, quickly tell Grandma who she is."

  Ye Zhuo seemed to have made up his mind, lifted his head and said to Jiang Shi: "It's Xia Tong beside Wang Yiniang."

  "What?" The person was clearly beyond Jiang's expectations. She opened her mouth, stunned for a moment, and then reacted, extremely angry: "Zhuo'er, don't randomly accuse others."

  "What nonsense are you talking about? I told you not to tell, but you insisted on telling. Now that I've said it, you don't believe me." Ye Zhuo burst into tears.

  "Then tell me carefully, how did she tell you?" Jiang saw Ye Zhuo's appearance and wasn't sure if he was lying or not.

  "After the ceremony, I took Autumn Moon and Autumn Chrysanthemum back to our room. Later, I was hungry, so I asked Autumn Moon to go to the kitchen to ask for silver ear soup. On the way, she met Summer Tong, who told her these words. So I hurriedly went to find my mother, calling her out of your room, just wanting to tell her about this matter. Who knew that as soon as she heard it, she rushed into the room, without even checking whether it was true or false." Ye Zhuo finished speaking and wiped away a tear, looking extremely wronged.

  "Is that really so?" Jiang's expression seemed to be still somewhat disbelieving, her face sank, and she said seriously, "Zhuo'er, think carefully before speaking. If I find out you're lying, I won't forgive you!"

  "Don't believe me, ask Autumn Moon." Ye Zhuo tilted her head and continued to sob, "If it weren't for Grandmother's words earlier, I would have thought she was doing it for my mother's own good. Now that I think about it, I realize she must have been trying to provoke my mother into doing something, so that she could be divorced from the Ye family. This way, Wang Yiniang can..." At this point, she seemed to come to her senses and quickly stopped talking, still with tears in her eyes, she secretly glanced at Jiang Shi.

  Jiang's face turned dark and he stood up with a heavy gaze, nodding his chin to signal Mute Nü to keep an eye on Ye Zhuo as he quickly walked out.

  Although she still had to go and interrogate Autumn Moon, she already believed more than half of it.

  As soon as Zheng left, she thoroughly investigated the matter. When Ye Jiaming came back to say those words, she only left Zhou Mama and Dumb Nanny by her side - they were not likely to leak any information; Chunyu and several maids were doing chores in the courtyard, and they could all vouch for each other; as for Chuncao who was sent to call Zheng, she had been with Chunyu before she left, and later she was beaten and interrogated, but she insisted that she didn't know anything about those words. Besides, she had been serving in the main house since she was bought two years ago, and she was usually very loyal. Even if she knew Zheng was going to be divorced, she had no reason to help Zheng.

  From the time the words left her mouth to when she called Zheng Shi to go upstairs, it was only a matter of two cups of tea. During this time, Xia Ge and Xia He followed Zheng Shi closely, while Qiu Ju did not leave Bi Yu's residence. Only Qiu Yue went to the garden to say a few words to Xia Tong, then left for the kitchen. Coincidentally, after Wang Niang was sent away, Xia Tong was left in the main courtyard to gather information. All these signs indicated that it was Xia Tong who leaked out the conversation. However, Jiang Shi thought that Wang Niang and Zheng Shi were not on good terms, and Xia Tong was her trusted maid, so she couldn't believe it was Xia Tong at first. But when she recalled the words she used to deceive Ye Zhuo earlier, and Ye Zhuo's confirmation just now, she suddenly realized she had been mistaken.

  The Wang family has always been cunning, and in the past, whether it was openly or secretly, they have framed and harmed the Zheng family countless times. As long as they didn't like the Zheng family, they would let them do whatever they wanted. Looking at it this way, it's likely that they indulged her, allowing her to become arrogant and unaware of her place, daring to scheme against their own family. This time, she leaked the news to the Zheng family, probably thinking that through the Zheng family, she could stop the official's daughter from entering the household - after all, the official's daughter entering the household would only bring harm to her; if the Zheng family couldn't stop it, they would either be divorced or severely punished. In this way, she would have eliminated the thorn in her side and the pain in her heart for over a decade, killing two birds with one stone.

  Could it be that she didn't know how important the official's daughter was to the Ye family? For her own selfish gain, she disregarded the interests of the entire family. Truly short-sighted, and all the efforts I put into supporting her over these past decade or so have been in vain...

  Thinking so, Jiang's face sank, and she stepped into the flower hall, her eyes fiercely cast on Wang's wife.

  Upstairs, the mute sister-in-law saw Jiang leaving the door and walked forward to refill Ye Zhuo's teacup with some hot water. Ye Zhuo lifted his head, smiled at her, and softly said: "Thank you, Wu Sao." The mute sister-in-law returned a smile and retreated.

  The two of them stopped talking. Ye Zhuo held the tea cup, quietly sipping his tea, his eyes gazing at the window frame, as if waiting for something. Not long after, the sound of Wang's shouting and the slapping of a board came from the flower hall not far away. She lowered her eyelids, looked at the tea cup, and let out a light sigh.

  "Second daughter, dinner is here." At this moment, a voice sounded at the door, and then, Ma Sao from the kitchen came in with a food box.

  "Madam Ma, take the food box to Biyu Residence and give it to Qiuju in my courtyard. I'll eat later." Ye Zhuo said.

  The horse's wife was stunned for a moment and smiled to persuade: "It's already noon, miss. If you don't eat now, your body will be ruined by hunger."

  Ye Zhuo glanced out of the window and shook his head: "I'm not hungry now."

  Madam Ma heard the sound coming from the Flower Hall and said knowingly: "In that case, I'll have the servant girl take the food box over."

  "Thanks for your trouble." Ye Zhuo nodded slightly.

  After about the time it takes to eat a meal, Jiang Shi finally walked in tiredly and signaled Mute's wife to pour tea. It seemed that she had spoken too harshly earlier, so she drank two large bowls of tea before putting down her cup and waving at Ye Zhuo, saying: "I'm tired, you can go back now."