Chapter 18: Played Like a Fool

Ye Chutang immediately denied the embroiderer’s guess.

“Lord Ye never came to see me, so how could he know I’m good at embroidery? He brought me back because—”

Ye Anling, worried that Ye Chutang would say something shocking again, quickly interrupted her.

“Elder Sister, Father has been loyally serving His Majesty and is often so busy he barely has time to eat. It’s not that he deliberately didn’t visit you.

He didn’t know anything about the nanny mistreating you. If he had, he would never have turned a blind eye.

When he heard the manor had burned down, he was so worried that he immediately asked for leave and went to fetch you before dawn.”

This explanation had zero credibility, and not a single onlooker believed a word of it.

No matter how busy a court official is, there are always rest days.

There are long holidays for the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and the end of the year.

Claiming to have no time was just an excuse.

Fifteen years with no free time, and now suddenly he’s available? No one with half a brain would believe Lord Ye had no ulterior motive.

Ye Chutang met Ye Anling’s warning gaze and pretended to accept her explanation.

“Second Miss Ye is right. My mother was so good to Lord Ye, helped him establish himself in the capital and rise through the ranks. He wouldn’t repay that kindness by scheming against me.”

“Please don’t overthink it, Elder Sister. Father’s always missed you. Bringing you back is just about reuniting as a family.”

“So, what you’re saying is, Lord Ye won’t make me marry that eunuch on your behalf?”

That line dropped like a thunderclap, stunning everyone into expressive silence.

Especially Ye Anling and the two maids— their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

The looks on their faces confirmed Ye Chutang’s claim.

The crowd started buzzing.

“Wasn’t Second Miss Ye connected to the Crown Prince? How did that eunuch set his eyes on her now?”

“I heard the Empress has someone in mind for the Crown Princess and summoned Second Miss Ye to the palace a few days ago.”

“Lord Ye is a favored official. That eunuch wouldn’t dare try to snatch his legitimate daughter, would he?”

“When it comes to favor, who can outshine that eunuch? Even the Empress treads lightly around him.”

“No wonder Lord Ye brought the legitimate eldest daughter back…”

Ye Anling couldn’t take it anymore. Her vision darkened.

Before she fainted, two words flashed through her mind—It’s over!

If, three days from now, Ye Chutang ended up being chosen by that eunuch, then she would become the target of everyone’s scorn!

Qiulu quickly rushed to catch Ye Anling, but lacking strength, both of them tumbled to the ground.

Ye Anling’s injured back of the head hit the floor, staining the gauze with blood.

The pain forced her to wake up, her fragile appearance as if she might shatter at any moment.

The shop owner was worried about something happening at the embroidery workshop and quickly sent someone to fetch a doctor from Huichuntang.

Ye Chutang met Ye Anling’s tearful gaze, puzzled.

“Why are you acting so wronged? Did I say anything untrue?”

“And even if it was false, it’s not my fault. I only overheard the news about me replacing you in marrying that eunuch from a maidservant at the Minister’s residence.”

Ye Anling trembled as she denied it.

“That eunuch wanting to marry me—complete nonsense!”

Although the matter was true, as the legitimate daughter of the Minister, she wasn’t someone a eunuch could just take.

The Empress’s plan was for the eunuch to formally request a marriage decree from the Emperor.

But the Emperor had gone to Qingyun Temple for a retreat and wouldn’t be back for another five days.

So, she hoped to take advantage of this gap in time to shift the eunuch’s attention onto Ye Chutang before the Emperor returned.

As for the Empress—

As long as she gave up the position of Crown Princess, the Empress would let her become the Crown Prince’s side consort, fulfilling the Prince’s wishes.

She was confident she could climb her way from side consort to primary consort, from favored consort to Empress!

In the end, her plan couldn’t keep up with the changes.

Ye Chutang had somehow found out the real reason she was brought back—and even said it out loud!

Ye Chutang had achieved her goal and didn’t bother to argue with Ye Anling.

Whether people believed her or not, the rumors would spread like wildfire.

“Maybe the maid disliked you and made it up to get you in trouble.”

After saying that, she turned to the embroidery workshop owner and asked, “Does the workshop accept embroidery pieces?”

The shopkeeper froze for a second, then asked, “Does Miss Ye want to sell embroidered handkerchiefs?”

“Yes. The Minister’s household is so poor—if I don’t earn some money, I might starve to death.”

Everyone: “……”

The Minister is a second-rank official in the capital—even if he’s the cleanest one around, there’s no way his family can’t afford food, right?

Ye Anling couldn’t stand it any longer. Ignoring her headache, she glared angrily at Ye Chutang.

“Elder Sister, I know life in the countryside was hard on you, and you want revenge on the Ye family.

But you can’t spout nonsense to gain sympathy and play everyone for fools!”

After that second line, the way everyone looked at Ye Chutang changed.

Their eyes filled with anger and hostility.

No one liked having their sympathy used against them.

Ye Chutang looked at Ye Anling, whose face was red from yelling, and a look of confusion appeared on her own face.

“The Minister’s household has money? Then why did Lord Ye tell me that after twenty years of serving in office, he’s only saved up 5,000 taels? And to give me a 10,000-tael compensation, he’d have to sell everything just to gather the other 5,000?”

Ye Anling had no idea about the 10,000-tael thing.

For a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.

Ye Chutang added, “If Second Miss Ye doesn’t believe me, you can ask Lord Ye yourself when you get home.”

She spoke so confidently that Ye Anling’s denials seemed completely unconvincing.

“I don’t manage the household, so I don’t know our finances.”

The crowd: Got it!

Minister Ye didn’t want to give Ye Chutang too much compensation, so he pretended to be broke.

Poor Miss Ye, actually believed it and got played like a fool.

But speaking of which, Minister Ye sure is willing to spend for Second Miss Ye, just to help her avoid marrying that eunuch.

10,000 taels isn’t a small amount!

Ye Chutang saw the sympathetic looks from everyone and smiled faintly.

The final goal she had before leaving the house—achieved.

Ye Jingchuan cared about saving face? Then she’d make sure he had none left!

Just then, the doctor from Huichuntang came rushing in with his medicine chest.

He had also been the one who treated Ye Anling’s earlier injury.

“Miss Ye, the wound on your head is quite serious. If it splits again, it might leave a scar—and hair won’t grow there.”

That scared Ye Anling pale.

“Doctor Xu, no matter how much silver it takes, I don’t want a scar.”

“The key to avoiding a scar is resting and taking care of the wound. That’s all I can say.”

While the doctor redressed Ye Anling’s injury, Ye Chutang asked the embroidery shopkeeper again:

“Shopkeeper, how much would you pay for a handkerchief like this?”

“Miss Ye’s embroidery is excellent. Depending on the fabric, I’d pay at least fifty copper coins per piece.”

The softer and lighter the fabric, the higher the embroidery skill required—and the higher the price.

Ye Chutang raised an eyebrow. “Two handkerchiefs would be a silver tael. That’s pretty good pay.”

“Clothing pays even more. A single piece can go for at least five taels. Is Miss Ye interested?”

Ye Anling looked at Ye Chutang, who resembled a beggar, and quickly answered on her behalf.

“She’s not interested!”

“Elder Sister, no matter how poor the Minister’s household is, it won’t let you starve. You don’t need to work so hard to earn silver.”

The shopkeeper knew girls like Ye Anling, pampered daughters of noble houses, always looked down on people like them, reeking of “filthy money.”

She ignored Ye Anling’s rejection and waited for Ye Chutang’s reply.

Ye Chutang never planned to make money through embroidery.

She had only asked the question to draw attention to her suffering in the countryside.

“Shopkeeper, I’ve been a bit busy lately. I’ll come find you once things calm down.”

“Of course, I’ll be waiting anytime.”

“Although I don’t care much for this set of clothes, the fabric’s not bad. Pick out a few nice bolts of cloth for me.”

The shopkeeper replied, “Miss Ye, good fabric doesn’t come cheap.”

Ye Chutang glanced at Ye Anling, her smile sweet.

“Second Miss Ye has quite a bit of private savings. She can afford a few bolts. You don’t need to worry, Shopkeeper.”

“All right. A few days ago, we received a bolt of cloud-patterned silk, two bolts of shimmering brocade—I’ll give them all to you, Miss Yun.”

“Thank you, Shopkeeper. Anything else?”

“Of course. We also have heavenly silk, golden brocade, celestial-scented satin…”

A string of prices popped into Ye Anling’s head.

Cloud-patterned silk: eighty taels per bolt.
Shimmering brocade: fifty taels per bolt.
Heavenly silk: a hundred and sixty taels per bolt…

Just thinking about how she’d be the one footing the bill made her feel like she couldn’t breathe.