The third day of November was a sunny day. It was rare to have such a fine day in winter. It happened to be the grand feast for Old Madam Ye's seventieth birthday.

The General's Mansion was cleaned inside and out. The public funds were also taken out to buy new things. The birthday feast was naturally held in the East Courtyard. The East Courtyard had a quiet and elegant environment. The flower beds were neatly trimmed. The maids wore fresh and clean ruqun and their words and deeds were not vulgar. Each one was pretty and cute. As soon as one walked in, one could feel that it was indeed the style of a large family.

Old Madam Ye sat high in the main hall of Rong Jing Hall. Many ladies and young ladies had already come to greet her. After all, the Ye family was a first-class military family in Ming Qi. The dignitaries had to come to show their respect for the sake of human relations. Ren Wan Yun was also busy greeting the guests.

Although it was Chen Ruoqiu who temporarily managed the household for now, in previous years, Old Madam Ye's birthdays were all handled by Ren Wan Yun. As for dealing with these noble ladies, Ren Wan Yun could do a better job than Chen Ruoqiu. After all, Chen Ruoqiu had a bit of the air of a scholarly family. Ren Wan Yun was different. She handled things appropriately and for a while, Rong Jing Hall was filled with laughter.

Ye Yuanbai nestled beside Old Madam Ye and ate honey and lactose. The ladies below complimented him from time to time on how smart he was at such a young age and that he would surely achieve great things in the future. Old Madam Ye was so happy that her eyebrows curved. Even Ren Wan Yun, because of these compliments, had the gloom in her heart because of Ye Cindy swept away these days.

But Chen Ruoqiu was very uncomfortable when she heard that everyone was praising Ye Yuanbai and Ye Yuan, who was on duty outside. The third branch was most afraid of talking about sons. Everyone knew that Chen Ruoqiu had married Ye Wan for many years. Except for having Ye Amy, she had no son. But Ye Wan wasn't interested in other women either. Old Madam Ye once wanted to give Ye Wan several concubines to have more children but was rejected by Ye Wan. Old Madam Ye was angry with Chen Ruoqiu because of this. Compared to Chen Ruoqiu, Ren Wan Yun was obviously more favored by Old Madam Ye.

"But, why haven't we seen the eldest girl and the fifth girl of the Ye family today?" Lady Yi smiled.

Ren Wan Yun was in charge of receiving these ladies. Ye Amy naturally got close to those noble young ladies. She took them to have tea and snacks in the garden. But today, Ye Lily and Ye Cindy were still not seen.

When Ren Wan Yun and Old Madam Ye heard this, their expressions sank at the same time and Chen Ruoqiu curled her lips.

Ye Cindy's body wasn't fully recovered yet. Now she could finally see people rationally but kept saying that she would definitely tear Ye Lily to pieces. However, these words couldn't be heard by outsiders. These days, Ren Wan Yun had been comforting Ye Cindy to prevent her from having the idea of suicide. As for how to comfort her, Chen Ruoqiu could think of it. It was nothing more than promising what a miserable end Ye Lily would have.

As for Ye Lily, she somehow heard that Old Madam Ye had privately accepted the horoscope of the Wei family for her. From that day on, she changed her previous silence and resisted like crazy. She even threatened to resist the marriage and even elope. This was a big deal when Old Madam Ye heard it. Ren Wan Yun and Old Madam Ye thought that Ye Lily's rebellious nature was gradually showing up now. What she said about resisting the marriage and eloping was indeed something she might do. But now Ye Lily mustn't have any accidents. Once she had an accident, the matter of exchanging brides between Ye Cindy and her sister wouldn't work.

So since Ye Lily threatened to resist the marriage, Old Madam Ye and Ren Wan Yun decided to directly lock Ye Lily in the ancestral hall. The ancestral hall was in the southwest corner of the Ye Mansion and was generally not seen by anyone. At least half of the guards outside were added and the deeds of sale of all the maids in the West Courtyard, including Ye Lily's four personal maids, were found by Old Madam Ye and tightly held in her hand.

The implication was that if Ye Lily made any move, these maids wouldn't be saved.

So these days, Ye Lily had been locked in the Ye family's ancestral hall and recited scriptures and prayed every day. Ren Wan Yun hoped to smooth Ye Lily's rebellious nature and also to prevent any accidents. Today was Old Madam Ye's birthday. If Ye Lily was let out, she was afraid that she would say something shocking in public. After discussing with Old Madam Ye, they simply didn't let Ye Lily appear in front of everyone.

Thinking of Ye Lily, Ren Wan Yun had a headache. She had been immersed in the big mansion for so many years, but now she couldn't even figure out what a little girl was thinking. Saying that Ye Lily was stupid, she calculated everyone in the matter of Ye Cindy without making a sound. Saying that she was calm, she was also openly showing off her intention to elope. So she had to be locked up.

After enjoying Ren Wan Yun's wonderful expression, Chen Ruoqiu smiled and said: "Sister Cindy's body isn't fully recovered yet. So she won't come out now. She will come out during the birthday ceremony for Old Madam later. Sister Lily caught a disease. She can't be exposed to the wind and has rashes on her face. There are so many young ladies here. I'm afraid she will infect the ladies. So I let her stay in her room."

If it was said that Ye Lily was ill, it was inevitable that someone would be curious to go and have a look. But if it was said that this disease could be contagious to others, no one would ask about Ye Lily. Especially the ladies all cared about their beauty. How could they take such a big risk to see her.

Madam Jiang, Jiang Xiaoxuan's mother, also smiled. There was a hint of probing in her words: "So that's the case. I thought the two girls were busy embroidering their wedding dresses and didn't even want to see us. Wan Yun must take good care of the girls. So that when they get married in the future, there won't be any delays." Saying this, it immediately drew echoes from a group of ladies around.

The marriages of the Wei family and the Huang family were widely spread in Dingjing City. Unfortunately, the Ye family had never confirmed it. This made people a little strange. There were surely many people who wanted to probe. Which lady was going to marry which one was still a mystery. So today, Madam Jiang asked to see if the widely talked-about marriage could come true.