There was a sound of a cup falling to the ground inside the Ye manor.

 The descendants of the Ye family, other than Ye Fengyu, were called over. Even Ye Huangshu who constantly guarded the martial arts tower was called over, too.

 The Ye family almost got into trouble earlier that day.

 The head of the Ye family was red with anger.

 Ye Sheng dejectedly knelt on the ground. The people from the eldest branch of the Ye family were all on tenterhooks.

Ye Sheng knew that he could not hide the incident that had happened back at the quarry, so he hurried back to the manor to ask for punishment.

 “Father, I think it’s not entirely Ye Sheng’s fault. I have seen those fake dark iron ores and it did not look strange at all.” After receiving the news, Ye Fengcheng also came back from the mine.

He had seen the ores back in the quarry, and even though he had been in and out of the mines for over 20 years, he could not easily tell that it was fake at first glance.

 Those were ordinary rocks, but he did not know which method was used to coat those rocks with half an inch of dark iron ore.

If it was him managing the quarry, he would have been deceived too.

 “That Merchant Chen took a highly toxic drug, but we can’t find the source. Someone must have planned this. This brat is so muddle-headed that he almost made a big mistake.” Ye Fengyun glared at Ye Sheng.

 This brat was a letdown. He was planning to let Ye Sheng be in charge of sending ores to the city next time. But after a close call, he would inevitably be punished by the family rules and be locked up for a month.

Those who were observant would immediately recognize that someone was trying to set up the Ye family. Only the Song family would do such a thing in the whole Autumn Maple town.

 It was a pity that the only witness immediately poisoned himself. The person sent out to investigate found out that the merchant was a ruffian from a neighboring town. He had no more leads after that.

 It was hard for the Ye family to accuse the Song family without any evidence and could only suffer this loss in silence.

 “Fortunately, it’s all thanks to Lingyue’s ingenuity. Otherwise, our loss would have been great,” Ye Huangshu, who stood on the side, remarked.

 The person who rendered a great achievement, Ye Lingyue, was standing on the side.

Other than speaking a few words at the quarry, Ye Lingyue had been quietly waiting by the side all this time. Her disposition made Ye Gu very satisfied.

 He heard that it was Ye Lingyue’s first time at the quarry that day.

 This girl surprisingly ended up as a blessing to the Ye family. If it wasn’t for her, the Ye family would have lost at least 5,000 taels of gold, which was half a year’s profit of the Ye family.

 “Lingyue, even your Big Cousin could not tell they were fake. How did you find out that there was something wrong with that batch of ores?” Ye Gu saw that Ye Lingyue kept silent. His voice surprisingly turned gentle, knowing that she might still be in shock after what had happened.

 “Master, it’s by accident. I can’t be compared to Big Cousin. I just thought that the merchant looked a little strange and tried to sound him out on purpose. Who knew that I had a stroke of good luck.” Ye Lingyue sheepishly scratched her head and pulled a charming smile, like she had no bad intentions.

 Could it be that this girl was just lucky?

 Ye Gu was puzzled. He thought that before Ye Lingyue went to the quarry, she had never seen a dark iron ore in her life. If so, she could not have distinguished the real from the fake!

 Well, perhaps it was just a coincidence. Girls were more observant as compared to men like Ye Sheng.

 “No matter what, you have accomplished something big this time. Tell me, what do you want as a reward?” Ye Gu was fair in meeting out rewards and punishments. Ye Sheng made a big mistake, thus he would be confined for a month as punishment. Ye Lingyue, who did a great job, would be rewarded.

 Ye Fengyun and Ye Huangshu became nervous when they heard that Ye Gu was rewarding Ye Lingyue.

 Ye Lingyue was rising too rapidly in the Ye family these recent weeks. If this went on, she would probably become the second Ye Fengyu.

 ‘If she dared to have any improper desires…’ Ye Fengcheng glared coldly at Ye Lingyue.

 “Master, if it’s possible, I’d like to help out in sorting and cutting the ores in the quarry.” Ye Lingyue’s reply made the people in the Ye family surprised.

Cutting and sorting the ores? What kind of reward was that?

 Wasn’t a reward supposed to be gold, silver, martial arts skills, or weapons?

 Which young master and a young lady of the Ye family was willing to do such rough work at the quarry? It was hard work and this Ye Lingyue was foolish to have wanted such a reward.

 “This… Of course. Go and get a token from your Big Uncle then you can freely go in and out of the quarry.” Ye Gu did not expect that Ye Lingyue would ask for such a reward, and he could only agree to it.

 When Ye Lingyue came out of the hall, Ye Sheng came up to her, looking ashamed.

 “Lingyue, thank you so much this time.” Ye Sheng did not like Ye Lingyue before, but she did him a big favor by accident in the quarry earlier on. She even tried to defend him in front of the Master! Ye Sheng’s liking for Ye Lingyue rose and his attitude towards her became natural and friendly.

 “Big Cousin, you’re too polite. We are family, you don’t have to thank me.” Ye Lingyue looked flattered.

 “If you have any problems or if anyone dares to bully you in the future, just tell me.” Seeing Ye Lingyue looking at him with full respect, Ye Sheng felt pleased. He patted Ye Lingyue’s shoulders casually before leaving.

At the same time, the Song family in Autumn Maple town.

 “What? The plan failed? How do you even do things?” The head of the Song family, Song Wanshi, smashed the red sandalwood table in front of him with a punch. The exquisitely crafted white porcelain cup on the table was about to fall to the ground.

 Suddenly, the cup stopped in mid-air. It moved strangely in the air and then landed steadily on a pair of hands. Not a drop of water in the cup splashed out.

 The owner of those hands was a young man with yellow skin.

 The facial features of the man were considered proper, but it was a pity that his pair of eyes looked overly lewd, making him look slightly sinister.

 “Master Lian, please excuse us.” The head of the Song family then remembered that they had a distinguished guest at home.

 In Autumn Maple town, the head of the Song family, who was on equal footing with the head of the Ye family, was as docile as a kitten in front of the young man who looked no more than twenty-five or twenty-six years old.

“It doesn’t matter. I have accepted your money and must take care of the problem. Since I promised to help you get rid of the Ye family, there will be a next time and it will not fail.” The young man, who was known as Master Lian, gave a determined smile.

“With you here, the Ye family is nothing. In a month, it will be that Ye Gu’s fifty-fifth birthday. At that time, I’d have to trouble Master Lian again.” When the head of the Song family thought of how the Song family would dominate the place after they got rid of the Ye family, he gloated in his heart.

They looked at each other with a smile and there was a murderous intent in both of their eyes.