Old Madam Yu, who had been watching from the side, couldn’t help but smile to herself. After the incident, Yao Yao had learned to be smarter. She knew that a child who cried would get candy.

However, compared to Yu Jianjia, who always used the excuse of being sick to fool her father, Yao Yao had really suffered a grievance, and was much more pitiful.

Yu Youyao shook her head with tears in her eyes. “I’ve thought it through. The Yu family has been a scholarly family for generations. If the children in the family don’t know how to read and write, they will definitely invite mockery and be looked down on by others. In the past, I was ignorant and did not understand your painstaking efforts. I’ve disappointed you. Father, don’t worry, wait for me to make you proud.” She pursed her lips slightly and looked sad. Then, she continued, “When my face recovers, I’ll go to class to study. Father, don’t be angry with me anymore.”

Her words were really gracious, and she was already exuding the poise of the first young mistress of the residence. Yu Zongzheng nodded in agreement. “I’m very relieved that you think this way. In the future, you should learn as much as you can from Ms. Ye every morning, but you don’t have to over-exert yourself. You can continue learning from Nanny Xu during the remaining time.”

Just now, because of Old Madam Yu’s lecture, Yu Zongzheng had felt a little pity and affection for Yu Youyao, but only now had he truly begun to approve of her.

Yu Youyao’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Father.”

Yang Shuwan, who had been standing at the side waiting for Yu Zongzheng, was so angry that her face stiffened when she saw him behaving like a kind father towards Yu Youyao.

All these years, she had tried her best to make him distance himself from Yu Youyao, so that he would come to completely hate this eldest daughter of his. However, Yu Youyao had now managed to win his heart back by simply shedding a few tears?

This was not at all what she had planned!

Yu Zongzheng said a few more encouraging words to Yu Youyao before leaving the Jade Courtyard with Yang Shuwan.

As soon as they stepped out, Yu Zongzheng scoffed coldly. He flicked his sleeves and prepared to leave, as he had no intention of following Yang Shuwan to the Main Courtyard to visit Yu Jianjia.

Yang Shuwan was worried that he would go to the Clear Autumn Courtyard to be with Concubine He again. She panicked. “Master, where are you going? Jia Jia is still sick. You…”

Yu Zongzheng exploded with rage. “Yang Shuwan, you know very well whether Jia Jia is sick or not. Don’t treat me like a fool.”

Yang Shuwan said anxiously, “Master, I…”

Yu Zongzheng erupted in a fit of anger and interrupted her sternly, “I had originally thought that although you were the daughter of a concubine, the Yang family was well-educated, and you were well-versed in literature and calligraphy, so you would naturally be different from other concubine daughters. I have always treated you with great respect, but I didn’t expect that I had misjudged you. Look at your face, full of jealousy and schemes. How can you be the mistress of the household? Jia Jia is a good child. Don’t you dare use her again in the future. If I find out, I won’t let you off easily.”

With that, he turned and left.

“Master!” Yang Shuwan shouted, but did not receive a response. She stomped her foot angrily, feeling uneasy and panicked.

This was the first time that Master had lost his temper at her and said such harsh words. It was obvious that he was enraged, and it would probably be difficult to continue fooling him like before.

Yang Shuwan was filled with worry. When she saw many maidservants craning their necks to look around, she was so incensed that her heart hurt. Her eyes darkened and she almost vomited out blood on the spot.

Where was her dignity as the mistress of the Yu Residence?!

As soon as Madam Yang left, the second-in-charge under Yu Youyao, Xia Tao, poked her head out from behind the wall and cleverly ran into Yu Youyao’s room.

Old Madam Yu was getting on in years and couldn’t afford to be vexed. After Yu Zongzheng left, she also asked Nanny Liu to help her back to the north courtyard.

Meanwhile, Yu Youyao was busy eating cake. Ever since Nanny Xu arrived, she had been controlling Yu Youyao’s meals, making sure she ate more meals but in smaller portions. She also did not allow Yu Youyao to eat too many sweets. However, It was rare that Yu Youyao was not being disciplined today. Nanny Xu had even personally gone to the kitchen to make a few lovely snacks for Yu Youyao to eat freely.

As she ate heartily, the sadness in her heart faded completely.

Xia Tao said with glee, “Madam Yang was given a good scolding by Master.”

After saying that, she imitated Yu Zongzheng’s tone and speech, having memorized every word that he had said to Madam Yang and reenacting it perfectly.

When Yu Youyao heard this, she almost spat the pastry in her mouth all over Xia Tao’s face.

Xia Tao was quick to pour a glass of water for Yu Youyao as she gloated, “There were many servants nearby who also witnessed it. Madam Yang was so angry that her face turned crooked and she was really humiliated. Let’s see how she’ll be able to continue acting like the mistress of the household.”

Yu Youyao drank her water slowly. First, her father had been reprimanded by her grandmother, so he was already suppressing a stomach of anger. Then, he had been embarrassed in front of her grandmother, so he had to hold back his anger once again. As the head of the family, how could he let a woman from the household fool him like that? How could he maintain his pride and dignity?

All the anger he had within him was unleashed at once, so of course it was impossible to block or deflect it.

Earlier, her father admitted that he had been wrong to hit her, but he did not actually think that he was really at fault.

She had deliberately cried in front of her father to let him know that she had really suffered. The sadder and more aggrieved she looked, and the harder she cried, the more guilty her father would feel, causing him to feel more dissatisfaction with Yang Shuwan, the real culprit.

The tears she shed were equivalent to precious fodder.

Her father’s unhappiness with Yang Shuwan would increase from 70 percent to a hundred percent, so it would no longer be easy for the woman to deceive her father as she usually did.

She had even suggested that her grandmother set stricter rules and standards for Yang Shuwan too, so that the woman could be properly and openly disciplined.

She would be so busy all day keeping to the rules set by Grandmother, that she wouldn’t have the time or energy to think about how to coax Father or dispel his dissatisfaction and mistrust towards her.

Once cracks appeared and weren’t mended immediately, they would cause deeper and wider fractures, making it very difficult to be restored to its original condition.

Yu Youyao had planned carefully, step by step. It seemed that Yang Shuwan, who always made her suffer in the past, and Yu Jianjia, who often made her suffer in silence, weren’t that difficult to deal with after all.

Xia Tao was unaware of these thoughts in Yu Youyao’s mind, and was still chattering away, saying, “This time, Master was really angry. I reckon that even Third Miss has been implicated in his wrath. Madam Yang kept repeating that Third Miss was sick, but Master ignored her and went straight to the study, even though it’s an even date today.”

Yu Youyao smiled and said, “Father won’t really be angry with Third Sister.”

It wasn’t easy to invite Imperial Physician Hu over to check on Yu Jianjia’s health condition, so how could it be said that their father didn’t care about her?

Her father truly doted on both Yu Jianjia and Yu Qingning. He wouldn’t think that they were in the wrong just because of a few words from others.

He was merely angry at Yang Shuwan.

He most likely thought that Yang Shuwan was using Yu Jianjia to fool him.

Xia Tao was a little disappointed.

Yu Youyao gently rubbed the sachet in her hand. She had just started learning embroidery, so the needlework wasn’t too fine, and the texture was a little rough. She wondered if her cousin would mind.

Seeing that it was dark outside, she felt a little regretful. She had originally planned to send the sachet to her cousin today, but she hadn’t expected so many things to happen so suddenly.

She had no choice but to wait until tomorrow!

She hoped her cousin wouldn’t be angry that she’d kept him waiting.