Spring flowers.

Chapter 8 The Zhang Family of Fourteen
Wei Yishang hadn't expected to see her uncle under such circumstances. He was sitting on the courtyard wall of the Ye family's house, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan in his left hand, with his right sleeve hanging down, as if he were missing his right arm.

“Scholar Zhang, I am Wei Changlin, the eldest son of the Wei family. I have come to invite you to teach at our family’s private school.”

Wei Changlin bowed deeply, fearing that he might offend the scholar by being impolite.

“Pedantic,” Zhang Juren glanced at Wei Changlin, unmoved.

Seeing this, Wei Yishang leaped over the wall and sat down next to Zhang Juren.

"Uncle, I am Wei Yishang. Do you still recognize me?" Wei Yishang lifted her bangs, revealing her entire face.

Normally, Wei Yishang has bangs, which makes her look very well-behaved, but now that she has them up, she looks a bit more playful.

Does it matter whether you recognize them or not?

Zhang Juren succinctly revealed the key point, which Wei Yishang greatly admired.

"Uncle, look over there..." Wei Yishang suddenly pointed in that direction. Before Zhang Juren could react, he looked outside the wall and was pushed down by Wei Yishang.

Wei Yishang jumped down from the courtyard wall, looked at her uncle, and said with a smile, "Uncle, please don't be offended. I just came up with this idea in a moment of crisis."

To everyone's surprise, instead of blaming him, his uncle burst into laughter.

"You little rascal, you're just as mischievous as my niece."

Once inside the Ye family's house, Wei Yishang observed that although the Ye family was not wealthy, Ye's mother was sensible and her upbringing must have been very sound.

Ye Mingzhen kowtowed to his mother to express his gratitude, and then asked his teacher, Zhang, "How is your health, teacher?"

"As you can see, he can jump off the building," Zhang the scholar said with a smile.

Ye Mingzhen smiled; he was used to his teacher's way and didn't find it abrupt. On the contrary, everyone else present was quite envious of this master and student pair.

“I have no interest in going to Beijing, but my niece and sister are there, and I’m afraid they’ll suffer, so it wouldn’t hurt to go.”

Now that Zhang Juren has agreed, Wei Changlin breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that this trip was worthwhile.

"I have some other things to ask the teacher. Young Master Wei, Miss Wei, you..." Ye Mingzhen seemed to have something to investigate. Seeing this, Wei Changlin tactfully led Wei Yishang away.

As he left, Ye Mingzhen glanced at Wei Yishang, a faint smile playing on his lips, a smile that was both polite and enigmatic.

Wei Yishang suddenly remembered that among the few clues in the book, her mother's family had been wealthy merchants. So where did all that wealth go?

My uncle is still here, but where is the old house?
With this lingering question in mind, Wei Yishang decided to ask her uncle, and then turned back.

Inside the Ye family residence, Ye Mingzhen sat down next to his teacher, Scholar Zhang, and asked, "Teacher, my father disappeared several years ago. At the time, he was falsely accused of being the Zhang family's doing, and I was devastated for a time..."

“Mingzhen, it’s all in the past…” Zhang Juren comforted Ye Mingzhen.

“Recently, someone saw my father in Shang County, which is thousands of miles away. I want to go and find out what happened.”

“Mingzhen, sometimes it’s happier not to know than to know, do you understand?” Zhang Juren had a rough idea of ​​what was going on. Suddenly, he stood up. “Your father, does he remember… remember my father back then…”

At this moment, Wei Yishang coughed a few times, entered the room, and looked at the group of them.

"I felt it was too hot outside, so I wanted to come in and escape the heat," Wei Yishang said, then sat down. "Uncle, I also want to know about my maternal grandfather."

Zhang, the scholar, recalled what happened back then. He happened to be taking a nap when he was carried out of the fire, losing half of his arm. When he woke up, he heard that his house had been burned down and his whole family had died tragically.

At that time, Zhang had already married into the Wei family and was unaware of the relevant matters.

All fourteen members of the Zhang family perished in the fire.

That day, Ye's father came to Zhang's house to work, but then he disappeared. At first, people said he was dead, but later they said he was missing.

“Then Mr. Ye is the key to this case…” Wei Yishang looked at Ye Mingzhen, but he remained silent.

After the discussion, Wei Yishang walked out of the house and found that Ye Mingzhen had followed her.

“Miss Wei is quite the schemer.” Ye Mingzhen closed his fan and pointed at Wei Yishang. “…” Wei Yishang was speechless for a moment.

"First, you treat the patients, then you bring up the discussion. Don't think I don't understand what you're thinking."

It turned out that Ye Mingzhen thought Wei Yishang was deliberately creating some scenes, with the purpose of... to seduce him.

Looks like you're not stupid; you understood my task?

Wei Yishang thought for a moment, not showing any outward joy or anger, but smiling inwardly...

"He's not as good as Ye Tanhua, who says one thing to people and another behind their backs."

Wei Yishang thought of the term "two-faced person." She realized that although Ye Mingzhen seemed gentle and refined, he was actually extremely ruthless.

But why did he save Pei Xiaorou that time? It doesn't make sense given his personality.

“You can use any means necessary in your Wei residence, but I will not tolerate any dishonesty. If I discover that you have any ulterior motives, I will make you shattered to pieces.”

Ye Mingzhen narrowed his eyes and gently brushed the leaves off Wei Yishang's head.

……

Wei Yishang thought of the Black Widow, whose gentle exterior concealed a vicious nature.

At that moment, a voice appeared in Wei Yishang's mind.

[Host, we have detected the male lead passing by your location. Do you wish to facilitate a meeting between him and the female lead?]

Wei Yishang ignored Ye Mingzhen and looked outside the door, but after looking for a long time, she didn't see anyone pass by.

Damn system, is it trying to scam me?

Wei Yishang was wondering when she suddenly saw a beggar walking over. The beggar was wearing tattered clothes with holes in them, and he was filthy.

Even so, one can still see that he has handsome features and is over eight feet tall.

Wei Yishang remembered that the male protagonist in the book was a poor scholar who later passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar.

This is a network of connections, resources, and powerful connections.

Wei Yishang was startled, her eyes becoming even clearer, and she blocked the beggar's path.

"What brings you here, Miss?" The beggar looked up, meeting Wei Yishang's eyes with some confusion.

"We are doing charity work and would like to invite you..."

Just as she was saying this, Wei Yishang suddenly realized that this was the Ye residence, and it seemed inappropriate for her to take him inside.

"You wait……"

Wei Yishang ran to her carriage, wrapped up the silver her brother had brought, and then went to the beggar and handed it to him.

The beggar frowned when he saw that it was silver.

"I cannot accept a reward without merit. Please tell me, Miss, what do you need me to do..."

He seemed to have endured much ridicule and mockery, appearing unusually calm, which was also quite poignant.

"Go to the capital and find the wealthy merchant Feng's mansion. Miss Feng Yueqiao in the mansion is my friend. Tell her that I will visit her in a few days."

Wei Yishang had a clear goal: to create opportunities for the male and female leads to meet.

"Also, remember to make yourself a nice outfit and groom yourself properly, don't blame me for not reminding you."

After Wei Yishang finished speaking, she smiled and was about to leave when she suddenly noticed that the beggar was still deep in thought.

(End of this chapter)