Old Madam Yu slowly opened her eyes. “She’s copying Buddhist scriptures at the Temple Hall. It’ll be the Spring Buddhist Festival in April. I plan to prepare more Buddhist scriptures to worship Buddha, so I had her help to copy them.”

Yu Zongzheng’s expression softened. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to say a few words for Madam Yang, so that his mother wouldn’t be too hard on her.

It was a good thing that his mother was setting stricter rules for Madam Yang, but they had been married for many years after all, so he couldn’t simply watch her suffer.

When Old Madam Yu saw his expression, her voice also became several tones calmer. “Although I don’t like Madam Yang’s pettiness and incompetence in managing the household, I’m not that kind of wicked mother-in-law who will torture her daughter-in-law. I only called Madam Yang over to set the rules and have her observe them so that everyone else in the household will learn and follow, and the servants will not dare to misbehave anymore.”

“Mother, you’re so thoughtful.” Yu Zongzheng was filled with shame. His mother had never liked Madam Yang, but she had never treated her harshly in the nine years that she had been in the Yu Residence.

Old Madam Yu glanced at Yu Zongzheng evenly. “I heard that Concubine He stayed over in the study yesterday?”

As soon as Yu Zongzheng listened, his old face immediately twisted into panic. He finally understood why his mother had grounded Concubine He. “Yes. It was terrible of me.”

“You behaved terribly indeed, and she also acted improperly. Yesterday, I said that I wanted to set and enforce stricter rules for the First Madam. Everyone in the residence knew about it, yet she still deliberately broke the rules, disrespecting me completely.” Old Madam Yu said coldly.

Yu Zongzheng broke out in cold sweat. He did not dare to utter a single word.

Old Madam Yu said calmly, “This morning, Fourth Miss went to the Jade Courtyard and made Yao Yao so angry that she hugged her mother’s portrait and cried. How do you think she knew that Yao Yao had been beaten by you?”

Yu Zongzheng gasped inwardly and lowered his head, not daring to make a sound.

He had only mentioned it casually in front of Concubine He yesterday, but he hadn’t expected her to be so disrespectful of the rules and actually tell Fourth Miss about it!

He was furious, and the remaining pity he had for Concubine He dissipated completely.

Old Madam Yu said, “It’s time you cultivated your character. Don’t seek women’s company all the time. As a respectable man, it’s improper for you to hang out and fool around with women in the backyard.”

Yu Zongzheng did not dare to say anything else and only hurriedly agreed.

At night, Yang Shuwan came out of Temple Hall and returned to the main courtyard feeling exhausted. Nanny Li came over to report on Concubine He.

Yang Shuwan sneered. “That b*tch is naturally being punished by the heavens. She’d failed to even think—Old Madam is setting rules for me, so it’s obvious that the rules are also for the whole residence. That Concubine He is just a man’s plaything who only knows how to wiggle her butt for him, yet she had the audacity to disobey Old Madam, so she has been reduced to such a plight. Serves her right.”

Yang Shuwan had originally been worried that lowly woman would take advantage of the fact that she had to observe the rules by Old Madam’s side and try to seduce Master to dote on her more. She didn’t expect her to shoot herself in the foot.

After a long day of exhausting chores, Yang Shuwan finally felt a little happier.

However, when she thought about how she had to do the same thing again tomorrow morning, her expression turned back to looking dreadful.

The Nine Flowers Jade Dew Cream was extremely effective. The next day, Yu Youyao’s face had mostly recovered. It was no longer obvious that she had been slapped.

Yu Youyao was very happy and headed to An Shou Hall to greet her grandmother.

When Old Madam Yu saw this, a smile appeared on her face. “It was still swollen yesterday, but it seems to have mostly recovered today. Does it still hurt?”

Yu Youyao’s eyes curved as she smiled, and they sparkled. “It stopped hurting yesterday after I applied the ointment Cousin gave me. It’s completely fine now after just a night.”

Upon hearing that it was Zhou Linghuai who had given her the ointment, Old Madam Yu’s smile deepened.

The two of them had breakfast as Madam Yang served them. Then, Madam Yao brought her children over to greet them.

Since she hadn’t seen her grandchildren for a few days, Old Madam Yu was delighted by this. She immediately asked Yu Shanyan and Yu Shanxin about their studies.

Looking proper and respectful, Yu Shanyan answered clearly and eloquently, with the dignified aura of an eldest male legitimate offspring. When Old Madam Yu heard his reply, she nodded repeatedly and even praised him quite a bit.

When it was Yu Shanxin’s turn, he only chose certain things to elaborate and said, “Grandmother, Mentor taught me horsemanship and archery a few days ago. I’m better at it than Eldest Brother. I can ride horses faster than him, and I’m also better at archery. Mentor praised me for having a good foundation and strong basics. Father plans to find me a martial arts master who will specially teach me martial arts.”

When Yu Shanyan heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched. Seeing his brother’s smug expression, he didn’t have the heart to point out that out of the Six Arts of a Gentleman, he was only good at riding and archery.

Her second grandson had been an outgoing child since he was young. Old Madam Yu knew very well that he was a mischievous and cheeky one. However, when she heard that he, who wasn’t good at studying, had also been praised by his teacher, she was overjoyed. “Good, good, good. If you cultivate some martial arts skills, you can use it to work for the royal family. You two brothers will complement each other—one specializing in brains while the other in brawn.”

Yu Shanxin had managed to brag about himself and get praised. But just as he was feeling smug, he heard his mother say, “Old Madam, you can’t praise him or his head will grow so big that it’ll hit the ceiling.”

As she spoke, she glanced at Yang Shuwan, who was standing politely behind Old Madam.

Previously, Madam Yao had already heard that Old Madam Yu was going to set stricter rules for Madam Yang, and immediately guessed that Madam Yang had done something stupid, completely angering Old Madam and caused her to be taught a lesson.

They were both daughters-in-law, and although her family was separated into another branch of the family, she still had to show her filial piety. Madam Yao had been getting anxious and worried, but it also wasn’t appropriate for her to rush to Old Madam Yu’s place on the first day.

Now seeing that Old Madam Yu was treating her the same as before, she understood that the Old Madam’s anger was directed at Madam Yang and not her. She heaved a sigh of relief.

However, Old Madam had laid down stricter rules for her eldest daughter-in-law. As her second daughter-in-law, she should also be coming over more often to serve Old Madam.

After saying that, Old Madam Yu felt a little thirsty and reached out to gesture to Yang Shuwan.

Yang Shuwan was stunned, not reacting for a moment.

Nanny Liu frowned when she saw this. Just as she was about to serve the tea herself, Madam Yao stood up and quickly took it from Nanny Liu. She bowed and handed it to Old Madam Yu. “Old Madam, have some tea.”

All daughters-in-law were compared against each other. Old Madam Yu shot a glance at Yang Shuwan then took the tea. No matter how thick-skinned Yang Shuwan was, she couldn’t help but turn crimson. She tugged at her handkerchief and couldn’t help but hate Madam Yao for being so meddlesome. She glared at Madam Yao, whose gaze was fixed on Old Madam Yu.

After a while, Old Madam finished her tea. Yang Shuwan quickly reached out to take the teacup, but she was too anxious and accidentally hit the teacup over. Alas, although she managed to catch hold of the teacup before it fell and hit Old Madam Yu, the tea and tea leaves had spilled all over her.

Old Madam Yu was shocked and cried out, “Ai-yo!”

Madam Yao was also startled and quickly asked, “Old Madam, did the tea scald you?”

The servants always had to make sure that the tea was very hot when it was brought out, to ensure that it wouldn’t be served cold even if it was left sitting for a while. No one knew whether this cup of tea was from a batch that was freshly brought out—it was so dangerous to have spilled it on Old Madam Yu.

Yang Shuwan’s face turned pale with fright. She frantically wiped the tea leaves off Old Madam’s body with her handkerchief and apologized profusely, “Old Madam, I’m sorry. I was careless…”