Ming Yan seemed to have been waiting at the mansion’s entrance for a long time: "Miss, you’ve finally come out. How was the meeting with the master?"

She lowered her head and replied softly, "Hmm."

Hearing the dejection in the young lady’s voice, Ming Yan smiled and comforted her: "Miss, don’t worry. The master is now the Emperor’s favored one, busy with endless affairs. Men all want a virtuous wife. After a while, when you marry into the Shen Mansion, you’ll be the mistress, and all the affairs, large or small, will be at your command."

At this point,

Ming Yan glanced thoughtfully at Qin Yin: "When the time comes, if any servants disobey, just dismiss them from the mansion."

She hadn’t forgotten that it was this Housekeeper Qin who didn’t let the young lady in just now, forcing her to use Qinggong to climb over the wall...

Qin Yin’s face still burned from the slap, and now, being spoken to by this young maid, it made him feel like a criminal.

Not only did they not reflect on their own young lady’s actions, but they blamed others?

He glared angrily: "With your young lady causing such a scene, it’s still uncertain whether she can enter my master’s mansion in the future. Do you know how many young women in the Capital admire my master now?"

Ming Yan was very agitated, springing up with the stance of arguing to the end: "What do you mean? Didn’t you receive the master’s order to spread that my young lady is his fiancée? Admiration from those women is useless."

He mocked: "It’s exactly as the words say."

Ming Yan took a deep breath, well then: "I see you didn’t spread the word at all. I’m going to complain to the master that you don’t respect the future mistress."

She walked over, wanting to pull the young lady to go complain.

Ye Zhi lifted her eyes, her voice choked, her nose slightly red, her eyes misty with tears, and called out softly: "Ming Yan, I suddenly miss Ah Tao a bit. Let’s go back to the mansion to see her. It’s been some time since we saw her. I wonder if her son is obedient."

They say women are made of water, and this statement is not false at all.

She cried as she spoke.

The delicate girl standing there, naturally charming, with apricot eyes brimming with tears, was pitifully lovely.

Ming Yan no longer cared about that man, anxiously soothing her: "Alright, alright, we’ll do as you say, Miss. Let’s go back to the mansion now. It’s better to visit the Shen Mansion less in the future, so as not to see a certain obnoxious person."

"You, you, you... a good man doesn’t argue with women." Qin Yin flicked his head and entered the mansion, closing the door behind him. Standing there, he prided himself on being a man of stable temperament, yet faced with this pair of master and servant from the Ye Mansion, they always made him irritable...

The third young lady of the Ye Family just cried, should he report this to Mr. Shen?

After a moment, he returned to his own courtyard, choosing not to report it.

Outside the door.

Under Ming Yan’s earnest persuasion, Ye Zhi stopped her tears, and they walked side by side towards the Ye Mansion.

...

In June of the same year, Right Minister Zhang Mingji was harshly reprimanded by Emperor Jingping after the Investigation Factory found evidence of his corruption and bribery. He was also ordered to reflect at home and hand over his responsibilities in the court.

That was not all. It was further uncovered that out of the two million taels of disaster relief for last year’s flood, one and a half million taels had ended up in Right Minister Zhang Mingji’s pockets.

The revelation of this case shocked the court and the public.

The Crown Prince immediately went to the Imperial Study Room to plead with Emperor Jingping: "Right Minister just made a momentary mistake. I beg Father Emperor to spare his life."

Emperor Jingping said nothing, quietly observing the Crown Prince before him.

As the future Crown Prince of the nation, he hadn’t considered the people at all. How many lives could have been saved with that one and a half million taels?

This blood money, Zhang Mingji dared to embezzle.