Chapter 5: Sisters-in-law

The eldest daughter-in-law is the main wife of the eldest son, so her character and abilities are the most important, and her family background cannot be too poor, or she won’t be able to control the other sisters-in-law. Therefore, after careful selection, Ye Chongming and Old Madam Ye chose the eldest daughter of the Tao family, who also had land and tea gardens and was well-known, as the eldest daughter-in-law.

Madam Yin’s father, Yin De’an, became a scholar in his twenties and had a good chance of becoming a jinshi and an official. If he succeeded, the Ye family would have a strong backing in the officialdom. So even though the Yin family only had thirty mu of land and no other income, and Yin De’an was still studying for the imperial exams and living a tight life, Ye Chongming still managed to marry Madam Yin to his second son.

The third daughter-in-law, Madam Cai, came from a family that ran a silk shop and did moderate business.

These three sons’ marriages were all arranged by Ye Chongming and Old Madam Ye.

When it came to the fourth son, Ye Hongrong, before Old Madam Ye could find a matchmaker, he had already set his eyes on Madam Zhang.

Madam Zhang’s family background was not a problem; her family were salt merchants, doing quite well. In terms of family background, the Ye family was not as good as the Zhang family.

The problem was that Madam Zhang was born to a concubine. Her mother was originally a thin horse from Yangzhou (*). Father Zhang was a lecherous man with seven or eight concubines and over a dozen children. Such a family was bound to be chaotic and had poor family values.

T/N: 瘦马 Young women sold as concubines. These women, often from poor backgrounds, were taken from places like Yangzhou and sold to wealthy families. They led difficult lives, far from their homes.

But Ye Hongrong insisted on marrying her. After repeated inquiries, Ye Chongming and Old Madam Ye found that although Madam Zhang had some minor flaws, there was nothing seriously wrong with her. They thought that since Ye Hongrong was the youngest son and didn’t need to support the family business, having a wealthy father-in-law and a wife with a large dowry would benefit him. So they agreed.

After Madam Zhang entered the family, Old Madam Ye found that she was indeed calculative, always striving to be the best and liked to use small tricks. Growing up in such an environment, she had to fight for everything to get good things. This habit and temperament, developed from a young age, were hard to change even if Old Madam Ye wanted to discipline her.

Moreover, her youngest son was also troublesome, so Old Madam Ye didn’t have the energy to discipline someone else’s child. Although Madam Zhang had many minor flaws, her overall character was not bad. So Old Madam Ye turned a blind eye and didn’t bother to get angry.

Madam Zhang prided herself on her family background being better than all her sisters-in-law. Moreover, the second and third sisters-in-law had no sons, and although the eldest sister-in-law had given birth to the eldest grandson of the Ye family, she only had one son, while Madam Zhang had two sons in three years. So she looked down on her three sisters-in-law.

On the other hand, she was the only one born to a concubine and feared that her sisters-in-law would look down on her. So, she put on a tougher attitude than anyone else. She didn’t dare to be presumptuous in front of Tao but was arrogant in front of Madam Yin and Madam Cai.

Madam Cai spent her days in the courtyard praying and didn’t come out, while Madam Yin was strong-willed and thoughtful. Madam Zhang’s disdainful behavior seemed to be directed specifically at Madam Yin, often making her very angry.

Ye Yaming pulled Madam Yin out of the room. This was not the place to argue.

After leaving the main courtyard, she stopped and called out to Madam Zhang, “Fourth Aunt, what happened?”

“Hehe, Old Madam doesn’t want to say, so don’t make it difficult for Fourth Aunt,” Madam Zhang said, looking troubled.

“Alright then,” Ye Yaming said with a half-smile. “I was thinking that if something happened at home, maybe Brother Yifeng could help. But it seems there’s nothing serious, so I’m relieved.”

With that, she pulled Madam Yin and Ye Yayin, saying, “Let’s go back.”

“Wait,” Madam Zhang called from behind.

Madam Yin wanted to stop, but Ye Yaming pulled her forward, saying, “Mother, I haven’t seen Father for days. Let’s have the servants call him back, and we’ll have a family reunion dinner.”

Without looking back, Madam Yin could imagine Madam Zhang’s frustrated expression and felt much better. She shouted, “Alright, let’s do that. Call your father back.”

Second Master Ye Hongsheng was not good with words but had a keen sense of taste and was a tea enthusiast. He was responsible for quality control at the Ye family’s tea factory. Since the factory was far from home, he often stayed there. Although he didn’t handle business matters, he was still the second master of the Ye family. Moreover, the Ye family’s tea reputation was all thanks to him. As long as he was willing to intervene, nothing in the family would be hidden from him.

Today, with the trouble caused by the fourth son, Old Madam and the main branch didn’t inform the second branch. Madam Yin thought of having her husband come back so they wouldn’t be kept in the dark.

“Sister-in-law, wait a moment,” Madam Tao, who had just come out, called out to Madam Yin after hearing the exchange between Madam Zhang and Ye Yaming.

As the eldest sister-in-law and mother of Ye Jiaxing, Old Madam always respected Madam Tao, and Madam Yin couldn’t ignore her, so she stopped.

“Fourth Sister-in-law, do you want to say it yourself, or should I?” Madam Tao said sternly to Madam Zhang.

Because the second branch had no sons and the second master was not capable, while the fourth master was the most favored by Old Madam, Madam Zhang dared to be rude to Madam Yin. But she didn’t dare to disrespect Madam Tao.

She said, “Eldest Sister-in-law, it’s not that I don’t want to say it, but you heard Old Madam’s instructions. This matter shouldn’t be known to too many people. If it gets out, the Ye family will be in trouble.”

“It’s not about saying it or not, but about doing it or not. It’s already happened, so why be afraid of people talking? The whole family is only hiding it from the second branch. Fourth Aunt, I suspect you and Fourth Uncle did something against the second branch. Otherwise, why hide it from us?” Ye Yaming said.

Her father couldn’t handle matters and stayed at the tea factory all day.

Having a father who was a poor scholar with no sons, Madam Yin was disregarded by Old Madam and Madam Tao and scorned by Madam Zhang, enduring her hardships in silence.

The original owner, as the eldest daughter of the second branch, had to protect her mother and younger sister. Although she looked gentle and weak, she had a strong temperament like Madam Yin and was very determined.

Therefore, Ye Yaming didn’t need to suppress her temper and act cautiously.

Madam Zhang was stunned and about to retort, “Don’t talk nonsense, I didn’t mean that…”

“Enough,” Madam Tao interrupted coldly, stopping Madam Zhang.

Knowing she was in the wrong, Madam Zhang didn’t dare to be tough anymore but still muttered, “A niece talking to her elders like this, really no manners.”

She spoke very softly, and even Madam Tao, standing next to her, could barely hear.

Madam Tao guessed that Madam Yin and Ye Yaming didn’t hear it and didn’t want to cause more trouble, so she ordered the maids and old women, “You all step back.”

Madam Mei and Madam Tao were very strict in managing the household, and with this order, the maids and nannies immediately retreated to a distance.

Madam Tao then said to Madam Zhang, “Speak.”