Ye Shiqi initially thought that these little girls just wanted to meet these young masters and ladies, regarding them with such gazes.
Later, she learned that these people looked at them the same way commoners would enviedly look at others riding in horse-drawn or ox-drawn carts—it was just like in her former life when people drove luxury cars like BMWs and Ferraris.
Whether one rode bus number 11 or took the subway, or rode a motorcycle, people whose vehicles were less flashy would look with envy at those driving luxury cars.
Ye Shiqi and her fourth sister, Ye Fengqi, accompanied these young masters and ladies, along with a group of people that included horse-drawn carriages and mounted guards. They attracted quite a few gazes as they passed through the village.
At a turning point in the middle of the village, and quickly approaching the village entrance, suddenly, some people rushed out of another alley.
These people first blocked those riding in the carriages, and those behind them also stopped.
"Hey, a good dog doesn’t stand in the way; move aside quickly," Ye Fengqi spoke first to those blocking the road.
"This fourth young lady, our Lady has something to discuss with these gentlemen," said the person dressed as a house servant.
"Tch, your Lady, can’t she have found the wrong people? With their ages, aren’t they ashamed to be meeting with these young masters?"
Ye Fengqi then said, recognizing which household the house servant belonged to.
With the road ahead blocked and some mounted guards quickly moving forward, their stance with drawn swords suggested that a clash could erupt at any mismatched word.
"Move, move, move! If you don’t, don’t blame us for being rude!"
The aggressive guards chased them away. These people also held sticks and some held swords.
They knew their place; could their swords compare in sharpness to those of the guards?
Typically they might intimidate the village folk with a display of power, frightening the meeker villagers, but against true trained fighters, they were the ones feeling apprehensive at this moment.
Merely to fulfill their task and to avoid punishment, one apprehensive person said, "Our master is also related to your Tang Family’s master."
Sima Roumei said quietly to Tang Xiyue, who lived not far away, "Your relative?"
Tang Xiyue responded with an unmoved sneer, "Someone who knocks on our door to claim relations; I do not acknowledge such relatives."
Their conversation seemed to be overheard by those blocking the road: "Young Master Tang, our young madam is married into your Tang Family; how could she not be a relative?"
Sima Roumei then asked Tang Shunyan, "Did you hear that? They’re saying she’s your relative!"
Tang Shunyan, somewhat impatient, yet with no expression showing on his face, said icily, "I don’t recognize her!"
All the boys started laughing.
Ye Shiqi...A concubine daughter from the Tang Family had married into Bushen Village, becoming the wife of Eldest Young Master Ye Zhengjie. Because of this matter, the people from Ye Zhiwei’s family spread the news everywhere, flaunting it within their circle.
The day after the bride arrived, she discovered that Eldest Young Master Ye Zhengjie had a bedchamber maid and was preparing as his prime wife to send these maids away.
Unknown to others, Ye Zhengjie and his family protected them, and those two maids were already pregnant.
This Miss Tang was not one to suffer losses quietly; she directly sent the two bedchamber maids to the laundry room.
Ye Zhengjie and his family had just climbed up by marrying into the Tang family; despite his wife’s actions, he dared not speak up, and secretly had people look after the two maids.
In reality, he didn’t just have these two maids; there was also a concubine who had borne his children.
Fearing that Miss Tang would find out, he sent the concubine to live in a rented house in the county before the wedding, keeping it a hidden affair.
Ye Zhengjie had a concubine living in a rented house in the county, and Ye Shiqi discovered it rather coincidentally last year when she asked her uncle to help them purchase a house there.
Furthermore, they rented a shop in the county specifically to sell the produce from their estate.
That house was intended for the staff of their shop or for when their business expanded, at which point they would move out from there.
Her uncle had already found a house; the family that owned it was relocating elsewhere and was selling the property, so she, along with her four sisters and parents, went to see it.
This property, unknown to their grandparents and Aunt Lai, was a covert investment, and they were already taking precautions against their grandparents.
That day they saw the house; it was a large property with a main courtyard, courtyards at all four cardinal directions, and it was costly.
With the money they had earned over the years, renting a shop and purchasing a house was well within their means, so they chose this house.
After viewing the house, they prepared to go to the county government to pay the silver and complete the deed. But, as they walked down one street and passed by an alley, taking a shortcut through this alley would lead them to the county government office.