The Heir of Marquis Yongbo, Ye Haohuan, smiled upon being defended by his sister:
"Little sister speaks correctly", he said with a smile, "you don’t even qualify as farmer girls, you can’t compare to them".
The housekeeper of Marquis Yongbo’s Mansion, seeing her son ridiculed by others yet praising the farmer girls so highly, calmed her anger.
Curious about the farmer girls and supportive of her son’s endeavors, she conceived a plan, aware that it was improper for her son, a man, to frequent these girls. Thus, she decided to intervene on her son’s behalf.
The legitimate daughter of Marquis Yongbo’s Mansion, hearing her elder brother’s high praise of these farmer girls, also wanted to meet and befriend them.
Soon, a visiting card was sent to the Ye Residence.
Ye Shiqi was also very busy today, as her elder sisters were bustling with so many items arriving.
Just before noon, someone knocked on the door, delivering a visiting card.
This card arrived at Ye Shiqi’s courtyard. When Ye Shiqi read the contents of the visiting card,"
"Marchioness Yongbo and the Lady wish to visit Lady Ye of the Ye family, set for tomorrow morning."
Ye Shiqi...? Marquis Yongbo’s Mansion, isn’t that the moniker they coined yesterday, the home of the ’big fool’?
The Marchioness and the Lady are coming, could it be that they want to take back the silver and the d items?
Have she and her sisters become so desirable lately? Could this be a trap?
Ye Shiqi just paused for a moment. Having moved here, she had to learn these social niceties. In her previous life, as a lady of the house, she would host parties for birthdays or other major events.
This was merely dealing with one or two people, and she felt no fear. With neither mother nor father at home, there was no need to be anxious.
Ye Shiqi instructed her servants to send a reply to the messenger, welcoming the Marchioness and the Lady of Marquis Yongbo to visit.
These days, the Ye Residence was continuously observed, visited by many, starting when Ye Haohuan of Marquis Yongbo’s Mansion paid a visit and sent many gifts afterward.
Then rumors circulated that The Heir of Marquis Yongbo, Ye Haohuan, was the ’big fool’. Seen out in the morning, the young men who spotted him laughed at him.
Ye Haohuan felt very depressed. Gossip about the girls had also spread, still discussing him. Originally intending to visit the Ye Residence again in the afternoon, he heard information from a guard.
His mother and sister were planning a visit, so he could not go. Depressed, he wondered why his mother and sister wanted to visit the Ye family.
Today he had heard too many jests, all mocking him, saying he had fallen for some country-bred farmer girls, sending money and goods, only to earn the nickname ’big fool’.
Ye Haohuan, coldly regarding those who mocked him, thought if these people knew of the prowess of the Ye family girls, they would not look down upon the farmer girls, currently laughing at him.
Today, Prince Thirteen encountered several of his brothers, each one mocking him, considering him a ’big fool’ within the group.
Of course, these people also believed, that without the intent of Prince Thirteen, the Heir of Marquis Yongbo, Ye Haohuan, would not have immediately tried to win over the Ye family.
Prince Thirteen had already heard from the Heir of Marquis Yongbo, Ye Haohuan, how formidable the Ye family girls were; this being only the youngest girl, could the others possibly be just as impressive?
It was merely a guess; not many had met the five Ye sisters yet. It was said another Ye family daughter had followed her father back to the countryside.
Prince Thirteen merely gave a cold glance at his brothers’ mockery.
Unable to procure grapes, some people scorn them as sour, thinking themselves noble and unwilling to associate with countryside girls or villagers, yet little do they know that some from poor families, both men and women, can be more remarkable than those from wealthy families.
Trained under such superior resources, his brothers, skilled in both literary and military arts, had not managed to shine and were not willing to devote their energy to excelling in a particular field, thus becoming jacks of all trades but masters of none.
If it weren’t for their noble status, what reason would they have to be proud when since childhood, they had been following the Emperor’s women, competing for favor and now positions?
To prevent these sons from rising to power too rapidly, the Emperor defended against them, made no one Crown Prince, nor granted any of these Princes any domain; neither the Princess nor the Commandery Princess had a domain either.
Initially, almost everyone in the Capital ridiculed Ye Haohuan, the Heir of Marquis Yongbo, and even Prince Thirteen.
By the afternoon, word came that Marquis Yongbo’s Mansion had sent an invitation to visit the Ye residence tomorrow; many families had been closely observing this particular household and the actions of the Ye family.
With the addition of Prince Thirteen’s team to their alliances, several groups began to act, the Emperor’s teams, excluding his youngest son’s, were activated.
The action involved the wives and ladies from Ministerial households; many were curious about the Ye residence, which had been without a lady of the house for more than twenty years and only managed by a housekeeper—neither Madams nor Ladies ventured to visit in person.
Since these farmer girls had bought the house and received support, Marquis Yongbo’s Mansion suddenly took an interest in the farmer girls’ appearances, becoming even more curious about them.
They wondered what abilities allowed Marquis Yongbo’s Heir Ye Haohuan to willingly offer wealth and goods.
Mockery is one thing, but those who had met Ye Haohuan of Marquis Yongbo’s household did not think of him merely as a dull brute.
Daughters of wealthy families and Ministerial households—some who had seen Ye Haohuan were indeed moved. Follow current novᴇls on NovᴇlFire(.)nᴇt
However, due to different stances within their family teams and elder constraints at home,
they could only align with their own family teams and vie for positions as Crown Prince’s main wife or concubine.
In the afternoon at the Ye residence, endlessly came dukes, marquis mansions, the Prime Minister’s Mansion, other generals’ mansions, and various officials’ homes sending invitation cards, all brought by Madams with their Ladies for visits.
From the afternoon till evening, guards at the gate continually received invitations, one after another.
The main entrance of the Ye residence witnessed wave after wave of visitors, all arriving in horse-drawn carriages, comprising mainly dignified servants from Ministerial households.
All were older women including old women and maids, but none were guards delivering the invitations; they didn’t enter inside but waited at the gate and then let the guards deliver them to hear the response.
Ye Shiqi was incredibly frustrated, receiving one invitation card after another, her maids counted them—there were dozens.
Having accepted Marquis Yongbo’s invitation and agreed to it, the wives from these ministerial households were also respectable. If she rejected them, it would mean offending the Imperial Ministers. With dozens of invitations, would even a high-ranking official invite so many people to a birthday party?
Why did all these people come at the same time?
They didn’t seem like one team, so what was their purpose in visiting together?
Ye Shiqi, while in the countryside, had not much understood the affairs of the nation’s Emperor, Princes, and Ministers.
Far from the Emperor, knowledge was pointless, but now in the Capital City, offending any family could potentially disturb her family’s peace.