"Oh." Ye Jiuge nodded. She sat down and began to drink some tea.

"Why aren't you surprised?" Qing Mama's expression was confused. When the news had broken, everyone from the Ye Residence had been astonished.

"What is there to be surprised about?"

Ye Jiuge told her about how the Su Clan's Old Master had exited his Spiritual Retreat and brought Su Yufeng back to the Su Clan. With Ye Yuxuan's personality, he would have wanted to curry favor with his father-in-law, who had become a Spiritual Master. As such, it was no surprise that he had released Ye Shanshan.

"The Su Clan's Old Master is old and senile. I can't believe that he has the gall to bring his daughter back home after she's behaved worse than a dog or a pig. If I were him, I would have locked Su Yufeng up in a swine's cage and drowned her," Qing Mama said viciously.

"I've heard that the Su Clan's Old Master is very protective of his family, even if they are in the wrong. Instruct the servants to be more obedient during this period. Don't leave the residence, unless there is a need." Ye Jiuge was worried that her shameless Father, Ye Yuxuan, would use the servants from the Zilin Residence to win his father-in-law's favor.

"Eldest Miss, please rest a.s.sured. They know what to do."

The maids in the Zilin Residence, under Qing Mama's discipline, were even more sensitive than rabbits regarding the goings-on in the Ye Clan. When they'd witnessed the Second Miss's release, they'd become even more honest than quails. They also took detours just to avoid pa.s.sing by the main residence.

"They have suffered just for following me. Later, given each maid a red packet to help them get over the shock."

Ye Jiuge felt helpless as well. Ye Yuxuan and Su Yufeng had not dared to deal with her. Instead, they were always pondering how they could dispose of the people around her. The servants in her residence must have been startled practically every day and suffered greatly.

"What suffering? They must have cultivated enough good fortune in their previous lives to serve the Eldest Miss."

Qing Mama was not bragging. In the Ye Residence, none of the masters treated their servants as well as Ye Jiuge did. Although they were frequently scared out of their wits by the Old Master and Madame, Ye Jiuge always arrived in the nick of time to save them. As such, they were extremely fond of her. Compared to the masters, who not only scolded and beat their servants but also frequently used them as scapegoats, Ye Jiuge was practically the reincarnation of Buddha. The frequent scares only served to unite the servants from the Zilin Residence more and more. Furthermore, Ye Jiuge was very generous. She gave out sufficient wages and frequently rewarded them.

"Qing Mama, you don't have to be so strict with them." Ye Jiuge was always busy. Apart from Zhen Zhu, who was her personal maid, she could not interact as much with the other servants.

In Qing Mama's eyes, the maids still needed to be trained. "Eldest Miss, you do not need to worry. I am well aware." Qing Mama had recently found that two of the young maids had decent apt.i.tudes. She was ready to train them carefully to see if they could serve the Eldest Miss in the future. Ye Jiuge could only allow her to do as she wished.

In the following days, Ye Jiuge locked herself inside the Pill Production Room to prepare the detoxification pill for Imperial Consort Xi. It was challenging to prepare the Thousand Threads Herb. It had to be immersed in dew water for an entire night before the exterior membrane layer could be washed off. After was.h.i.+ng off this layer, the messy and thin threads inside had to be picked out before the herb could be used to make a pill.

Ye Jiuge spent almost half a day preparing the Thousand Threads Herb. Just as she was ready to produce the pill, she suddenly remembered that the Black Fat Rat had given her a small bronze cauldron. She wondered about the effects of using it to create pills.

Ye Jiuge took out the small bronze cauldron, which was ash-gray with dust. No matter what she did, she could not remove the rust from the cauldron. It looked filthy and damaged. If anyone were to see that she'd used such a cauldron to produce pills, she feared that they would not dare consume her pills.

Ye Jiuge did not dare use the Thousand Threads Herb to test out the cauldron. Instead, she took out some pseudo-ginseng, borneol, Contusion Dispelling Herb, Sheep Ear Inula Herb, Chuanlong Yam, Common Yam Rhizome, Bitter Ginger, and Common Heron's Bill Herb to prepare a traditional hemostatic medicinal pill. When she injected some Spiritual Power into the small bronze cauldron, it expanded slowly, like an old ox pulling a shabby cart. Ye Jiuge had almost fallen asleep by the time the small cauldron finally grew to regular size. She had a bad feeling about it. Holding onto a glimmer of hope, she placed all the medicinal ingredients into the small bronze cauldron and started to refine them.

The alchemy fire that Ye Jiuge used in the Pill Production Room was merely an ordinary flame. If she were to use her Pill Production Furnace, it would take approximately the time needed to brew a pot of tea. However, the small bronze cauldron was a poor conductor of heat. The medicinal ingredients did not melt even after a long time.

Ye Jiuge looked gloomily at the Black Fat Rat, which was still sleeping soundly in the animal-skin bag. Indeed, it was true that inferior products were sold at a lower price. She could not depend on a cauldron that she had received for free.

She allowed the small bronze cauldron to be refined, slowly, as she turned to prepare the things required to refine the Thousand Threads Herb. Just then, the bronze bell in the corner of the Pill Production Room rang faintly to signal that someone outside had something to report.

Ye Jiuge opened the door to see Qing Mama speaking hurriedly: "Eldest Miss, the Old Master has requested that you head to the parlor."

"Why?" Ye Jiuge asked.

Qing Mama lowered her voice and said, "I heard that the Su Clan's Old Master has brought Madame back."

"What does her return have to do with me?" Ye Jiuge asked with disdain.

"Eldest Miss, after all, you are the Old Master's daughter. You still need to show him some respect," Qing Mama said helplessly.

It was alright for them to make a ruckus when they were alone in the house. However, in the presence of outsiders, they needed to maintain the façade of compa.s.sionate father and filial daughter, or else, everyone in the capital would laugh at them.

"Fine, I will go and have a look!"

Ye Jiuge returned to her room to change out of the everyday cotton clothing that she wore for producing pills. She put on a pale blue long skirt. Then, she rolled up her black hair into a 'spiritual snake'-style topknot and fastened it with a pearled emerald and jasper hairpin. A thumb-sized southern pearl dangled from the hairpin, which emphasized her fairness and beauty.

"Eldest Miss, you are truly gorgeous!" Qing Mama said in satisfaction. She believed that Su Yufeng and her daughter would be extremely startled to see the Eldest Miss.

Ye Jiuge smiled as she led Qing Mama and Zhen Zhu leisurely to the parlor. Just as they arrived outside the parlor, they heard a loud and clear voice: "Yuxuan, it is not my intention to reprimand you, but how could you send your pregnant wife to the Ancestral Shrine to suffer? Back then, when I allowed Yufeng to marry you, what did you say? Did you forget all about it?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Father-in-law, you are right to discipline me," Ye Yuxuan replied meekly and subserviently.

"Father, please stop reprimanding Old Master. It is my fault for not managing the Inner Courtyard well and making him angry." After persuading her Father, Su Yufeng said softly to Ye Yuxuan, "Old Master, I have learned from my mistake. Please forgive me this once!"

"Let's not talk about the past. Since you are back now, you need to rest and take care of the baby." Ye Yuxuan's tone was incomparably gentle with a tinge of upset. He said, "If I had known that you were already three-months pregnant, I would not have sent you to suffer at the Ancestral Shrine."