The old woman at the corner gate saw Chunyu following Yezhu, and knew that Old Lady had allowed Yezhu to go out, so she didn't stop them. Qiujie followed behind, seeing that the young lady still ignored her, and followed them out of the corner gate, then suddenly ran away without a trace. And before Chunyu came, probably having received instructions, she only closely followed Yezhu, ignoring Qiujie's small movements.

  The three of them arrived outside the large house, and all they could hear was the eerie silence inside, as if no one lived there. Autumn Moon stepped forward to the gate and looked in, shouting loudly: "Is anyone home?"

  "Who is it?" After a long time, a weak and hoarse female voice came from the house, followed by an old woman with white hair, who was Guan Shi.

  Ye Zhuang hastily entered the door, went forward and supported Guan Shi, asking: "Grandmother, are you okay?"

  Although Qiuyue had come to help with the chores for a few days, after Gu's family was done mourning, where did they have the energy to recognize the maids of the second house? So she didn't recognize her. Just as she was narrowing her eyes to take a closer look, she saw Ye Zhuo enter and exclaimed in surprise: "Zhuo, how did you come?"

  The first wife and the second wife had no dealings with each other. Although this time, because of Jiang Xing's matter, the second wife led the old and young to help for a few days. But after the funeral was over, they naturally returned to their original state. Unexpectedly, Ye Zhuo brought her maid and came, Gu Shi was naturally very surprised.

  "Come and see your great aunt," Ye Zhuo said with a smile, "Isn't it that Great Aunt doesn't welcome Zhuo'er?"

  "What's going on?" Guan's face stiffened into a smile as she gazed at Ye Zhuo's delicate face, her emotions extremely complicated. She was all too familiar with her younger brother's nature of lighting up at the sight of even a single coin. The second wife had never been willing to interact with the first wife before, precisely because she was afraid that the first wife would ask to borrow money from him. Now, Ye Zhuo had taken the initiative to come over - could it be that he still remembered those 580 taels of silver? But having lived for over 60 years and having met countless people, Guan knew that Ye Zhuo was a child with an extremely pure nature after just one encounter. She couldn't bring herself to give such a child the cold shoulder and reject him at the door.

  Ye Zhuo was reborn as a human, and she wasn't that ignorant little girl anymore. She could vaguely guess Gu's psychology. However, it wasn't suitable to say more at this time. She only supported Gu and entered the hall, looked around, didn't see Ye Yuzhang and Zhao, and asked: "Are Grandfather and Grandmother doing well?"

  "Alas." Guan sighed, "Your paternal grandfather held on until the day of your burial, and when he came back, he fell ill. And as for your paternal grandmother, from that day on, she was never able to get out of bed again."

  "Have you seen a doctor? What did the doctor say?" Ye Zhuo asked anxiously.

  "The doctor said it was due to excessive grief and also external contraction of wind and cold."

  Ye Zhuo looked at the tightly closed door and asked: "Can I take a look?"

  "Thank you, Cuī. Your kind intentions have been understood by your great-grandmother. However, your great-grandfather and great-aunt are not in good spirits and do not want to see anyone; besides, after the illness has passed, it will be too late."

  Ye Zhuang saw Guan Shi's sudden refusal and knew that if she didn't clarify things, next time she might not even be able to enter the courtyard. She didn't care whether Chun Yu was standing behind her or not, took a step back, and bowed down, saying: "Grandmother, you also know about my mother's divorce. I miss her and want to go out often to see her, but as you know, my grandmother is quite strict and doesn't like us going out. So Zhuang'er begs Grandmother to allow her to come visit often, so she can take the opportunity to visit her mother."

  Autumn Moon was shocked upon hearing this, turned her head to look at Spring Rain's expression, and indeed saw that Spring Rain's face didn't look good. She couldn't help but feel anxious in her heart, fearing that Spring Rain would go back and teach these words to Jiang Shi, and then the young lady would receive who-knows-what kind of punishment. However, upon further thought, she felt it was strange - the young lady wasn't a reckless person without any mind or strategy, so why today did she say such things and do such careless things in front of Spring Rain?

  Guan didn't know that among the servants following Ye Zhuo, there were also people from Jiang's family. When she heard Ye Zhuo suddenly clarify things, she was taken aback for a moment, staring at Ye Zhuo, unable to react for a long time. After a while, she finally stepped forward and helped Ye Zhuo up, her face no longer guarded, with a loving expression in her eyes: "Good child, it's hard on you. You can come to Grandmother's place whenever you want."

  "Thank you, Great Aunt." Ye Zhu took a deep breath and stood up straight. She knew she hadn't misjudged her, Guan was the kind of person who was genuinely kind-hearted and extremely responsible.

  "But how are you going to get to the Zheng's house? You can't just walk over there, it's not safe for three girls." Guan said seriously.

  "Great Aunt, don't worry, I've already asked Qiuju to hire a carriage, it should arrive soon." Ye Zhuo said with a smile.

  "Your mother is a good person, unfortunately..." She looked at Ye Zhuo and gently stroked her hair. "I'm not free to leave now, and it's not suitable for me to visit your home either. Why don't I send you over together to see your mother?"

  Ye Zhuo's eyes were filled with gratitude: "Thank you, Grand Aunt, for remembering me. I will pass on your regards to my mother." In his heart, he was even more respectful. Guan Shi had lost both her son and grandson, such pain could crush a strong man. But she persisted without falling down, still able to sympathize with and comfort others. What a brave and open-minded old lady she must be!

  "Once you're there, don't stay too long, just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea and then come back. Otherwise, your grandmother will find out, and next time you won't be able to go out."

  "Yes, great-grandmother, don't worry, I'll be careful." Ye Zhuo replied.

  At this time, the sound of horseshoes and carriage wheels came from outside the door.

  "Great Aunt, I'm leaving now. I'll come back later and first come here to pay respects to you, Great Aunt, before returning to the mansion."

  "It's better this way." Guan didn't bother with pleasantries, sending Ye Zhuo off to the gate and watching her drive away before returning inside.

  Qiu Yue saw Chun Yu also got on the car, standing under the car facing Ye Zhuo opened his mouth, but ultimately did not say anything, silently watching the car drive towards Zheng's house.

  Before long, the carriage came to a stop. Ye Zhuo got out of the carriage and let Qiu Yue pay the fare. He said to the driver, "Uncle, I'll be back in a little while, would you mind waiting for me here for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea?"

  "Alright." The carter responded with a crisp tone. There were not a few horse-drawn carriages carrying passengers in Nanshan Town, and after waiting for a while, there would be another deal to be made, so he was naturally happy about it.

  Ye Zhuozheng was about to turn around when he heard Qiu Ju calling out: "Aunt, are you going to buy vegetables?" Turning his head, he saw Liu Shi carrying a vegetable basket and walking over from the left. He hastily called out: "Aunt." Gesturing for Qiu Yue to go forward and help Liu Shi carry the vegetable basket.

  Liu didn't decline, handing the basket to Qiuyue and smiling at Ye Zhuo: "Come see your mother? Hurry in." After speaking, she reached out and pushed open the slightly ajar courtyard door.

  "I wonder if Mother's wound has healed?" Ye Zhuo asked as he followed Liu Shi into the house.

  "It's nothing. The wound wasn't deep, and after taking medicine for a few days, it's already fine." Liu walked into the hall and sighed: "But, your mother is used to living a life of luxury, and here, she can't get used to eating or sleeping. Just now, I went out and bought seven taels of meat for her."

  Ye Zhuo looked at the large piece of fatty meat that Qiu Yue had put in the basket on the table, smiled and said: "My mother never eats fatty meat. Has she changed her taste after leaving for a few days? I think this piece of meat should be more to the liking of my cousins."

  That piece of meat was naturally given to Zheng Fanghui and the others to eat. Even if Zheng wasn't there, Liu would still cut some meat for her son and husband from time to time. Her son was at an age where he needed to grow his body, and her husband worked hard from dawn till dusk every day, so they couldn't be too frugal with food. What Liu said earlier was just a hint that Zheng had spent a lot of money here, and if Ye Zhuo wasn't embarrassed, it would be best for him to take out his own monthly allowance to give to Zheng as his share of the food expenses.

  But unexpectedly, Ye Zhuo was as cunning as a monkey, not only did he not fall for it, but he also dared to speak his mind directly, which made Liu's smile somewhat awkward. She coughed and sat down: "You've never experienced poverty, so you don't know. Poor people, if they haven't had meat for several days, they must eat fatty meat to satisfy their craving." Then she said, "Sit down."

  "No, I'll go take a look at my mother. I wonder if she's in her room?" Ye Zhuo stood still.

  Liu was just about to speak when he suddenly wrinkled his nose and opened his eyes wide: "What's that smell?"

  Ye Zhuo took a sniff and indeed smelled a whiff of smoke.

  She hadn't even reacted yet when Liu slapped her thigh and exclaimed: "Ah, my kitchen!" She got up and rushed towards the backyard.

  (Special thanks to Qin Mu Jin for his multiple rewards, thank you!)