Chapter 226 A Little Doubt

In the evening, the third uncle's family held a banquet. In order to celebrate his promotion to the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhou was extravagant for once. The whole banquet was filled with her clucking laughter like an old hen laying eggs, and she showed her undisguised pride.

He praised Liuli a lot again, but Liuli just smiled implicitly and said that it was the duty of family members to help.

Ye Jiayao ate the food in silence, wondering if this help was actually making things worse.

"Second aunt, have some fish roe. It's a good omen for many children and grandchildren." Yu Lian greeted Ye Jiayao politely as soon as a dish of fish was served.

Ye Jiayao's heart skipped a beat, her sensitive nerves were touched. She looked at Yu Lian who was smiling, and was sure that she did it on purpose.

Just as she was about to decline politely, Zhou scolded her, "Yulian, your second aunt is taking medicine and should avoid fish smell. Have you forgotten?"

Yu Lian seemed to have just remembered and said in a daze, "Oh, look at my memory. I'm sorry, Second Aunt."

Ye Jiayao smiled faintly. Did he think that he could hurt her by saying a few harmless words? He underestimated her too much.

"Besides, having a baby is not something you can do by just eating caviar. It depends on whether you have the blessing, Chunyu wife, don't you think so?" Zhou looked at Ye Jiayao with a smile.

Ye Jiayao sneered in her heart, and the smile on her face deepened: "Third Aunt is absolutely right. Luck is something that can only be encountered but not sought, and it is mysterious. Sometimes you think it is a bad thing but it turns out to be a good thing, and sometimes you think it is a good thing but it turns out to be a bad thing. It's really hard to tell."

Zhou's face changed slightly. Isn't this a curse that the master won't be able to stay in the position of Minister for long?

Youshi didn't like Zhoushi's harsh words. Ye Jiayao was her daughter-in-law, but she didn't say anything. It was someone else's turn to say anything. She said casually, "Today is to celebrate the promotion of my third brother. My third brother's wife will be the wife of the Minister from now on."

When Zhou heard this title she had long admired, she became happy again. She ignored Ye Jiayao's retort and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, I heard that you are familiar with the wife of the Minister of Personnel. I will need your introduction when the time comes!"

The two started chatting about this topic, and Liuli was always paying attention to Ye Jinyao who was sitting next to Ye Jiayao.

"Second sister-in-law, is this your little sister?"

Ye Jiayao smiled and said, "Yes, my third sister."

Liuli's eyes wandered over Jinyao's face, and she joked, "You are so handsome, second sister-in-law, you are better than her."

"Yes, it's like someone walking out of a painting. It's the first time I've seen him, and I can't take my eyes off him." Qiao echoed the praise.

Jin Yao's face turned slightly red, and she lowered her eyebrows to act obediently.

"Well, among the three sisters in our Ye family, Jinyao is the prettiest." Ye Jiayao said generously. Appearance is innate and there is no need to envy it. She thinks she is pretty good the way she is.

"Jin Yao, right? How old are you this year?" Liuli's voice was soft. After this period of practice, her ability to show affinity had gotten better and better.

Jin Yao whispered, "It's the fourteenth day of the New Year."

Liuli said thoughtfully: "Then I will soon be a 15-year-old..."

Yulian said, "She is the same age as Yinlian, Jinyao, come over and play more often when you have time."

Jin Yao smiled shyly, nodded, and whispered, "Okay!"

This was her first time at the Marquis' Mansion, and her first time to see these inestimable figures. Each of them was very impressive and not at all comparable to the ladies and young ladies from small places like Yangzhou. This made her feel very fresh and a little timid, but she believed that she could get along well with these people, and she must get along well with them.

Ye Jiayao was a little distracted. For some reason, Liuli's thoughtful words made her feel inexplicably uneasy. She turned to look at Jin Yao, whose eyebrows were as beautiful as a painting, and who looked calm and peaceful, with a slightly shy smile. Some scenes that she had ignored before suddenly emerged in her mind.

It seemed that she was not like this in front of Chunyu. Her eyes were clear as water, bright as stars, and she smiled innocently. Chunyu even praised her for being innocent and cute. She was not the same person as Jinrong.

I feel like there is a stone blocking my heart and I feel uncomfortable.

At this moment, Liuli was thinking, did the man surnamed Ye bring his sister here to keep the wealth within his family? Did he want to let Jin Yao be Chunyu's concubine?
That would be a really interesting show to watch. After all, Jin Yao is Ning's biological daughter. Could she be on the same side as the Ye family?

It seems that people with the surname Ye are destined to compete with their sisters for men in this life.

So should she add some fuel to the fire?
The men's banquet had not yet ended, so the women left first. Liuli, supported by two maids, walked past Ye Jiayao and Qiao with her not-so-big belly, and walked leisurely behind Youshi. It was unknown since when that Liuli was the only one beside and behind Youshi.

"Sister, they are all very nice people!" Jin Yao was a little excited. Today was her first time to get together with everyone since she came to the Marquis' Mansion.

Ye Jiayao smiled, but she was not smiling, and she said in a very secretive way: "Some people and things are not what you see on the surface."

I said this to Jin Yao, but also to myself.

It is easy to avoid an open attack but difficult to guard against a hidden one. She would never allow a fire in the backyard to happen. She hoped that she was just thinking too much.

Jin Yao understood. In fact, she understood all the sarcasm and ridicule at the table, but she looked confused and pretended to be innocent: "Sister, I don't understand!"

"You will understand later." Ye Jiayao smiled slightly. When she got home, Xiangtao said that someone named Ye Jinrong had asked Miss San to come over tomorrow.

Jin Yao immediately said, "I'm not going."

Ye Jiayao waved her hand and asked Xiangtao to go down. She turned to Jinyao and said, "After all, they are your mother and second sister. It's okay for you to go and see them."

Jin Yao said firmly: "Big sister, you don't need to persuade me. I am not against the person but the matter. They are my mother and second sister, but they did such a thing. I can't forgive them in my heart. It's better not to see them. It will only make me feel worse."

Ye Jiayao looked at her solemnly. Was she really so resolute? She was also a person who could distinguish right from wrong, but if she asked herself, if one day her biological mother committed such a crime against others, would she be able to turn her back on her relatives? After thinking about it, the answer was that she couldn't. No matter how bad she was to others, she always loved her biological mother. She couldn't be so resolute and refuse to recognize her.

It seems that Jin Yao is more cruel than her!

Jin Yao felt a little guilty when her elder sister looked at her deeply. She suppressed the determination in her eyes and explained hesitantly, "Now I am a person without a father or a mother to love me. Only my elder sister treats me well. I don't want to embarrass her."

Ye Jiayao smiled: "If you don't want to see me, then don't see me!"

As he was speaking, Chunyu came in.

Jin Yao lowered her head, called out "brother-in-law" softly, and went out.

Chunyu looked at Jinyao's somewhat lonely back and asked curiously, "What happened to Jinyao?"

Ye Jiayao smelled a faint smell of alcohol on him and told Qiao Xi to make some sobering soup.

"No need, just make a cup of tea." Xia Chunyu said.

Qiao Xi looked at the Second Young Lady's expression and Ye Jiayao nodded.

"Nothing? Ye Jinrong sent someone to tell Jinyao to go to her house, but Jinyao refused to go."

Xia Chunyu took off his coat and hung it on the hanger, saying, "It's better to have less contact with the mother and daughter."

Ye Jiayao hesitated and asked, "Chunyu, are you really letting Jinyao live here?"

Xia Chunyu turned around and smiled: "She is your sister. If she doesn't live here, do you want her to go to the Ning family?"

Ye Jiayao thought that living here might cause her a lot of trouble, but it was not right to just push her out. She couldn't convict Jin Yao just for the suspicion in her heart and for something she didn't know would happen. It's right to take precautions before it happens, but it's wrong to take precautions too much.

Thinking of this, Ye Jiayao felt relieved again and changed the subject: "Third Uncle is very happy, right?"

Xia Chunyu came over, sat down next to her, stretched out his long arms and held her in his arms. He liked hugging her and talking to her like this.

"Need I say more? He was so happy that he almost forgot everything. However, my father has already hinted to him that the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Works are the departments with the most officials being dismissed. Not many people can retire peacefully like the previous one."

Ye Jiayao leaned in his arms and said quietly, "I'm afraid it's hard to change one's nature."

"If it really comes to that, we can only say that it is all his own fault. We should try to have less contact with each other in the future." Xia Chunyu didn't want to worry about his third uncle's affairs anymore.

"The day after tomorrow, the envoy from Nanyue will arrive, and I will be busy for a while. After this is over, I will take a few days off to accompany you. Where do you want to go?" Xia Chunyu actually had an idea in his mind. He heard that there was a famous doctor in Hangzhou who specialized in gynecology and was the master of Imperial Physician Li. He planned to take Yaoyao to Hangzhou when the time comes, to travel around, see a doctor, and also to visit her grandmother.

Ye Jiayao's eyes lit up, and the soft light reflected in her eyes, sparkling like pearls.

"How many days off can you take?" If the vacation is long, you can go somewhere farther away.

In her previous life, she loved traveling and could set off with just a backpack. In this life, as someone's young lady, she is not so free anymore. Going out for fun is a luxury. She didn't expect him to have such a suggestion, which was exactly what she wanted.

Seeing the hope and joy that could not be concealed in her eyes, Xia Chunyu's mood also soared. He lowered his head and kissed her cherry-red and tender lips, kissing her carefully: "How long do you want me to take?"

"The longer the better." Recently, I can't stand teasing anymore. A slight provocation makes me unable to control myself. My heart and soul are pounding. Is it because I care about this man more and more?
"My dear wife, as you command..." Xia Chunyu chuckled and deepened the kiss.

Qiao Xi brought in the tea, and seeing this scene, she blushed and retreated quietly. Of course, she also took the tea away. The prince had nectar to quench his thirst, so he naturally had no need for the tea.

While Ye Jiayao was intoxicated, she could actually see a corner of a light green skirt fluttering by. She immediately thought of the time when she asked Qiao Xi to make tea. Wasn't that green dress Qiao Xi's? She was embarrassed and pushed Xia Chunyu away, saying shyly, "Qiao Xi saw me."

Chunyu said shamelessly with a smile: "It doesn't matter if they see it. They are happy when the master and the master have a good relationship. Come on, continue..."

Ye Jiayao glared at him and said shyly, "What are you going to do? I need to go change my clothes."

Before she could escape, he held her in his arms and kissed her deeply.

(End of this chapter)