"The old master has ordered the servant to come and congratulate the second young lady, whose wedding date has been set for the 26th of next month. The old master instructed that tomorrow, the young lady should go with the old mistress to pick out fabric to prepare her wedding dress."

  Ye Zhuo's face lit up with joy, and he instructed Qiu Yue: "Get a big envelope and give it to Chun Ya."

  "Thank you, Second Miss." Chun Ya was overjoyed, came forward and kowtowed, accepted the reward, and retreated.

  Qiu Yue looked at Ye Zhuo's face, which immediately calmed down, and let out a deep sigh. She had always thought that the marriage between their families was a good one. But the young lady insisted on going her own way, determined to break with tradition and have herself adopted into the main house, no matter how much she tried to persuade her otherwise. Now, everything was unfolding according to the young lady's plan, but Qiu Yue didn't feel any joy at all.

  "Yelin, I hope you won't disappoint me." Yezhuo gazed out the window at the falling leaves, let out a soft sigh. Then lowered her head, picked up her pen, and continued practicing calligraphy.

  Ye Lin, full of resentment, did not disappoint Ye Zhuo. Just as Ye Zhuo followed Jiang Shi out to select fabrics, Xie Jizu personally came to the door and requested to break off the engagement.

  Ye Yuzhang's face turned iron-green with rage, his sharp eyes staring at Xie Jizong, his tone firm and hard: "Mr. Xie, although our Ye family is not of high social status, we are not to be bullied by anyone! The engagement was just settled yesterday, and you come today to break it off, what kind of reason is this?"

  "What's the logic?" Xie Jizu sneered, "I came personally to break off the engagement, it's giving you face, otherwise, if I let the matchmaker convey the message, your Ye family will probably not be able to marry anyone in the future."

  Ye Yuzhang heard this and remembered what Ye Zhuo had said in the upper room that day, and a very bad feeling arose in his heart. He didn't dare to use a strong attitude towards Xie Jizu again, and cupped his hands: "Please ask Mr. Xie to clarify."

  "I'm asking you, this second daughter of yours, is she a widow's fate?" Xie Jizu slammed the teacup onto the table with a "clang", "You clearly know that your second daughter has such a fate, and you also clearly know that I am the pillar of two families, passing on the lineage is difficult. Yet you still want to marry her into my Xie family? What deep grudge or great hatred do you have against me, wanting to cut off the incense fire of my Xie family?"

  Ye Yuzhang suddenly changed color. He did not expect that the words he had said in the upper room just a few days ago, when only he, Jiang Shi and Ye Zhuo were present, would be transmitted to Xie Jizu's ears? Moreover, it was even clearer than what Ye Zhuo had said at the time, her fate was a husband-killing fate!

  "Hum, no wonder you were in such a hurry to set the wedding date, without even waiting for us to match their eight characters. The reason is right here. I say, Old Master Ye, aren't you being too unreasonable? Here is Miss Ye's birth chart, now quickly return Thunder's birth chart to me."

  Now, Ye Yuzhang is extremely regretful for letting Ye Zhuo go to Guangneng Temple and see Master Nengren. Even if he were to make excuses now, thanks to the relationship between the Xie family and Master Nengren, when the Xie family asks about it at Guangneng Temple, they will know that this matter cannot be denied. He can only take out Xie Yunfeng's letter of guarantee and hand it over to Xie Jizong, intending to speak softly and ease relations with the Xie family, but unexpectedly, Xie Jizong takes the letter of guarantee, stands up, and brushes off his sleeve: "From now on, our Xie family store will no longer do business with your Ye family!" After speaking, he turns around and leaves.

  Ye Yuzhang seemed to have been drained of all his energy, sitting there for half a day without moving, until Jiang Shi came in and asked him what the Xie family was doing here. He then suddenly woke up with a start, shouting: "Bring me the second young lady!" After shouting, he immediately stood up again, waving his hand, "I'll go myself."

  Ye Yuzhang arrived at Biyu Residence, Ye Zhuo was strolling in the courtyard, saw Ye Yuzhang and Jiang Shi coming, and hurriedly went to greet them.

  Ye Yuzhang was anxious and flustered at this time, directly entering the house and sitting down, sending out Qiuyue and others, with a gloomy face staring at Ye Zhuo and asking: "Don't you want to form an alliance with the Xie family?"

  Ye Zou understood the situation and naturally knew why Ye Yu Zhang, who had never set foot in Biyu Residence before, came today. So, there was no trace of panic on his face, only a look of astonishment as he stared at Ye Yu Zhang: "Grandfather, why ask this? Such a good marriage, why would I be unwilling?"

  Ye Yuzhang asked this question just to probe, he couldn't think that Ye Zhuo would find a way to resist this marriage. Seeing Ye Zhuo say so, he asked again: "On that day, could Abbot Ren help you with the divination, was there anyone else present?" This is the only reason he can think of. Otherwise, how could the Xie family say something more detailed than what Ye Zhuo said?

  "No." Ye Zhuo shook his head. "Since men and women cannot be alone in the same room, I asked Qiuyue to accompany me inside. At that time, there were only three of us in the room."

  "Autumn Moon?" Ye Yuzhang raised an eyebrow, his sharp gaze looking towards the outside of the door.

  "Grandfather." Ye Zhuo hastily called out to him, "You asked like that just now, did something happen?"

  "Hum, the Xie family has come to break off the engagement, saying you're a jinx who brings bad luck to your husband."

  "Ah!" Ye Zhuo exclaimed, her eyes filled with both terror and panic. She sat there for a while, stunned, before tears suddenly began to flow down her face, and she choked out: "Grandfather, how could this be? How could this be?"

  "What about Autumn Moon? Let her in." Ye Yuzhang saw this and slapped the table in annoyance.

  Ye Chou wiped away her tears, shaking her head: "It can't be Autumn Moon, she's like a sister to me, and has always hoped I'd marry into the Xie family. This news couldn't have come from her. Besides, when Master Airen sighed and shook his head back then, he didn't say I was destined to be a widow. So how could such rumors spread now?"

  At this time, Autumn Moon had already entered the door, and after giving a courtesy to Ye Yu Zhang, she looked at Ye Zhuo, then looked at Ye Yu Zhang again, wanting to speak but hesitating.

  Ye Yuzhang saw this, slapped the table and angrily said: "You lowly maid, confess truthfully, did you spread out the news about Second Miss?"

  Qiu Yue suddenly knelt down and kowtowed, saying: "Old master is wise, I am loyal to the young lady with all my heart, I will never say this out. If the young lady can marry into the Xie family, I can also follow her there to enjoy good fortune, I would be stupid if I were to ruin this marriage. But..." She stole a glance at Ye Zhu again.

  "What is it? Hurry up and say it." Ye Yuzhang slapped the table again with force.

  "It was just yesterday that the young lady came out of the main courtyard, in a bad mood, and chatted with me for a few sentences. After finishing speaking, I saw... saw the big girl's skirt exposed in the thicket. At that time, the words had already been spoken, and I was afraid that the girl would know and worry unnecessarily, so I didn't mention this matter."

  "Yel Lin?" Ye Yuzhang furrowed his brow and looked at Jiang Shi, "Has Yel Lin shown any unusual behavior these past two days?"

  "Yesterday afternoon, Lin'er came to me and said she wanted to go to the Lin's house to find her younger sister. I thought she was in a bad mood, so going out for a walk would be good for her, so I agreed."

  Ye Yuzhang closed his eyes and weakly waved his hand: "Take Ye Lin to the main courtyard." Without further investigation, he could be certain that the news must have been spread by Ye Lin. Although the Lin family's household was similar to the Ye family's, they were relatives of the Xie family through marriage. The younger sister of Wen Shi, Xie Yunfeng's mother, was now the mistress of the Lin family and also the mother of Ye Lin's cousin. Ye Lin had gone to the Lin family at a time when Wang Yiniang was being severely punished and locked up in the small courtyard again. It could be seen that her purpose for going there was not to have fun, but to plot something else.

  "Old man, this doesn't necessarily mean that Lin'er did it." Jiang Shi hastily clarified, having always been fond of Ye Lin. Seeing Ye Yu Zhang like this, she quickly spoke up and also gave Qiuyue a stern glance.

  "Whether it was her doing, one inquiry would make it clear." Ye Yuzhang stood up and walked out.

  It is not clear how Ye Yu Zhang interrogated Ye Lin, but according to the mute sister-in-law's message, Ye Zhuo only knew that the matter was indeed spread by Ye Lin. However, Ye Lin did not receive any punishment and was only locked in the courtyard, not allowed to come out.

  "Miss, how can Master be like this? Eldest Miss did something wrong, yet she didn't even receive a punishment." Qiu Yue felt indignant.

  Ye Zhuo smiled: "I reckon Old Master still wants to form an alliance with the Xie family by marrying Ye Lin off."

  "Ah? Then... isn't that letting her off easy?"

  "If you were Xie's family, would you still marry Ye's family daughter, even as a concubine?"

  "Of course not. The news was spread by the eldest sister, and who would dare to marry a woman with such a bad reputation, who doesn't care about her family members or the family's interests? Moreover, the eldest sister is not even pretty."