The young man kneeling on the ground, only sixteen or seventeen years old, was still quite sturdy in build, but had small eyes and a sunken nose bridge. His face wasn't ugly, but couldn't be called handsome either. At this moment, although he was kneeling there with his head lowered, his eyes weren't honest, listening to the footsteps coming from the entrance of the courtyard, he turned his head sideways and glanced over here. When he saw that it was a woman entering, followed by several young women, his eyes lit up like an oil lamp being ignited, and he forgot to lower his head, staring straight at them.

  The man behind him was an old man in his fifties, and a woman in her thirties. The woman was now pleading with Ye Yuqi: "Uncle, we know that this matter cannot be settled by just knocking on the head. It's just a fight between two people, and it's not intentional to kill someone. Now that Pu'er is gone, even if Xing'er's life is compensated, he won't survive. Xing'er is also your nephew, you have always been kind-hearted, can you bear to see him beheaded? Let's settle this matter privately, don't report to the officials, okay? Whatever requirements you have, we will do our best to fulfill them."

  This woman was none other than Ye Yuzhang's eldest daughter and Jiang Xing's mother, Ye Jiamai.

  The old man standing in front of her was probably a senior member of the Jiang family and responded repeatedly: "That's right, what conditions do you have, just mention them."

  Ye Yuzhang was also standing in the courtyard at this time, seeing that Jiang's family had said so, Ye Yuqi still had a sullen face, and shouted at them to "get out", but couldn't help but open his mouth to persuade: "Yes, big brother. I know that Pu'er has passed away, your heart is hard to bear. But people can't come back to life after they die, just lift your hand and let Xing'er go."

  In his view, on the one hand, as the maternal grandfather, he can save Jiang Xing's life, and on the other hand, as a member of the Ye family, he can also get compensation from the Jiang family to support the three people in the main house who are struggling with poverty and illness.

  "Now you want us to lift our hands and let it go? But who lifted their hands to spare my family's Pu'er back then? Your son is a scoundrel, he forcibly took a civilian girl, and when my grandson saw it, he just tried to persuade him, but was beaten to death. Beaten to death! My poor grandson wasn't even 17 years old yet, not even married... Is this still heaven's justice?" Ye Yuqi's wife, Guan Shi, said sternly from the side, and as she spoke, she couldn't help but shed tears. "Heaven, why don't you open your eyes? Why did you strike down my grandson instead of killing off people like him?"

  "Get out, all of you! A life for a life, it's the way of heaven. We won't let this matter drop, we must take it to court and seek justice." Ye Yuqi heard his wife's wailing cry and also burst into tears, waving his cane as if to chase people away.

  Ye Jiaomei was about to say more, but Ye Yuzhang gave her a signal with his eyes and waved his hand, telling her to take Jiang Xing out first. Ye Jiaomei knew that her father-in-law was clever and must have had an idea for reconciliation, so she pulled Jiang Xing up from the ground and looked at her husband's father, Jiang Yunsheng.

  Jiang Yunsheng saw himself humbling himself to beg Ye Yiqi, but Ye Yiqi was not willing to give in. Before leaving, he couldn't help but say: "Brother Ye, I'll tell you this, even if we go to the court, we're not afraid. Our Jiang family may not be wealthy, but we have some relatives who are connected to the government. If you don't want us to compensate you with money, we can use our connections in the government to see if you can get justice in the end."

  Ye Yiqi was so angry that his whole body shook, and with a forceful strike of the crutch in his hand, he hit it straight at the old man's body: "Good, I want to see if there is still justice in this world!"

  Jiang Yunsheng dodged the cane with ease, his body agile. He stormed out in a rage. Ye Jiaomei quickly pulled Jiang Xing along, hurrying to catch up.

  Ye Yu Zhang hastily went forward and supported Ye Yu Qi, comforting him with words.

  As soon as the Jiang family entered, they saw this scene. Although it was not suitable for young people to see, leaving at this time was also not suitable. So she led them to stand at the gate of the courtyard. Ye Jia Mei walked over and softly called out "mother". Seeing Jiang Shi wave her hand, she knew it wasn't suitable to speak, and was about to quickly follow her father out, but unexpectedly, Jiang Xing stopped in front of Ye Zhuo and smiled, saying: "Is this Zhuo cousin? Zhuo cousin has grown up so much?"

  Among the three Ye sisters, Ye Zhuo was the most beautiful. At first, Jiang Xing's eyes were fixed on her with a sly gaze. Ye Zhuo had hidden behind Wang Niang and Ye Lin to avoid his gaze. But unexpectedly, she was still singled out by this man for questioning. She lowered her face, turned away, and didn't speak.

  "Hurry up and leave with your mother!" Jiang Shi's face sank. Although Jiang Xing was her own grandson, the Ye family's three sisters, especially Ye Zhuo, were to be married into a powerful family and play a big role. Jiang Xing had been lecherous since childhood, so to prevent him from getting close to them, Jiang Shi had not allowed him to meet the Ye sisters for five years. But she did not expect to let him see them in this situation.

  Ye Jia Mei saw this and with a forceful tug on Jiang Xing's arm, she pulled him out the door.

  The people in the Ye family's main house didn't notice this situation, but Ye Yuzhi was already sad and being scolded by Jiang Yunsheng made him suddenly turn pale and faint to the ground. Guan Shi and Ye Yuzhang hurriedly went forward to support him, busily giving him water to drink and helping him catch his breath, in a state of complete chaos.

  Ye Yu woke up, Ye Yuzhang let out a sigh and said: "Big brother, it's not that I'm speaking ill of you. Now that Pu'er is gone, the three of you are weak, sick, and old, and you have to get by somehow. Why don't we just let the Jiang family compensate us with some money? You can use this silver to take care of yourselves, and it would be a way for Pu'er to show her filial piety from beyond the grave. Otherwise, even if Jiang Xing were to pay with his life, on the surface it would seem like justice has been served for Pu'er's sake. But you three are poor and have no one to rely on, and Pu'er wouldn't be at peace in the afterlife either! So, let's just not pursue this matter with the Jiang family anymore. How much compensation do you want? I'll go help you negotiate, okay?"

  "A man can't come back to life, and I'm not necessarily after Jiang Xing's life. But listen to what Jiang Yunsheng is saying! If I could swallow this anger, what kind of person would I be? This matter, there's no room for discussion." Ye Yuqi panted heavily.

  "What he said was unpleasant to hear, but it's also the truth. That Jiang Yunsheng has a distant cousin who is married to Li, the county yamen's bailiff, as his concubine. If he spends some money to grease the wheels, even if you go to report him, it'll be pointless. This is just how things are in this world. You're not unaware of the ways of the yamen, otherwise your hand wouldn't have been injured for nothing back then."

  Ye Yuqi and Ye Yuzhang were young jade carvers in the workshop of the Xie family in town. Ye Yuqi was intelligent and diligent, gradually surpassing the skills of the Xie family's master jade carver. The master jade carver became jealous and worried that Ye Yuqi would replace him, so he had someone disable Ye Yuqi's hands on the road. Although Ye Yuqi discovered that the master jade carver was behind this and reported it to the authorities, the master jade carver had a relative who was a police chief, so not only did the master jade carver go unpunished, but Ye Yuqi was also beaten with a board for reporting the crime. The Xie family saw that Ye Yuqi's hands were disabled and, in order to appease the master jade carver, not only did they stop using Ye Yuqi, but they also fired Ye Yuzhang. It wasn't until then that Ye Yuzhang gritted his teeth, sold his wife Jiangshi's dowry, opened a small workshop, and gradually became wealthy; while Ye Yuqi was unable to work due to his disabled hands, and his family relied on Guan Shi doing embroidery and farming a few acres of land to barely make ends meet.

  So when Ye Yu Zhang said this, both Ye Yu Qi and Guan Shi fell silent.

  Ye Yuzhang knew his brother's temper, and this conversation could only go so far. If he continued, his brother would become angry and ask him to leave. So he changed the subject: "Come on, sister-in-law, hurry up and help big brother rest in the house. I've already asked Jiaming to buy a coffin, and your younger siblings are bringing Lin'er and the servants to help out. Don't worry about Pu'er's funeral arrangements. As for the expenses, I'll go find the Jiang family later and have them settle it together."

  Those words in front were quite touching, but the last sentence revealed the stingy nature. Ye Zhuo stood at the gate of the courtyard and listened, speechless for a moment.