“Kong’er, go pour your Second Mother some water,” Chen Jiuniang suddenly found an opportunity to interject.

Mom’s still got the moves! The moment she takes a drink, I’ll have a chance to speak! Ye Kong hurried to pour the water.

“Let me do it.” A crisp voice rang out as Xiaohong, standing beside Second Wife, quickly stepped forward with mincing steps and took the teapot from Ye Kong’s hands.

Isn’t this the girl I flirted with two years ago? Two years later, she’s still so pretty.

Ye Kong grumbled internally as he handed the tea to Second Wife. After fumbling for a long while, he managed to get out “Second,” but just couldn’t bring himself to say “Mother.”

Second Wife took the bowl but showed no sign of actually drinking. She continued firing away like a machine gun: “You see how infuriating these people are! If we don’t discipline these shameless hussies, this manor will fall into chaos. Oh, and that Little Juan from the Seventh Wife’s household – she walked right past me the other day and completely ignored me. When I asked her about it later, she claimed she didn’t see me! Back when she was serving in my quarters…”

Ye Kong was ready to pass out. Ye Haoran had nine official wives, each with several maids. If she was going to critique them one by one, she wouldn’t finish by this time tomorrow!

“Second Mistress!” Ye Kong finally threw courtesy aside and loudly interrupted Second Wife’s incessant chatter. “My mother and I want to move out of the Ye Manor. Please grant us permission.”

Second Wife thought to herself: Just as I expected – they want to move out. But her face showed a baffled expression as she asked, “Why? Is it because of Sister Ma? You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve already ordered her entire family expelled from the manor. We can’t tolerate such wicked servants – they’ve really crossed the line.”

Ye Kong felt frustrated. Once a person becomes famous, everyone’s attitude changes. Second Wife, who originally couldn’t wait to drive him away, now wanted him to stay.

“But I still feel we’re no longer suitable to live here,” Ye Kong said with determination. Other matters were minor, but if the emperor moved against Ye Haoran, he had no intention of becoming collateral damage.

“I know – you feel your mother lost face in front of those people and will be too embarrassed to eat there anymore,” Second Wife said, as if she’d thought through every angle. “You don’t need to worry about that either. I’ve had people clean up a courtyard in the rear compound. From now on, we’ll eat in the back, with meals delivered right to our door. You can eat whenever you want, without having to squeeze in with the servants at the front.”

“Second Mistress…” Ye Kong couldn’t find an excuse for the moment. Even if he did, she’d probably agree to it immediately. Damn, he really didn’t know how to bring this up.

“Is there something else?” Second Wife didn’t wait for Ye Kong to speak before smiling again. “If there’s nothing else, go back to your room and play with Xiaohong. We sisters need to have some private girl talk. Hehe, why aren’t you going? Don’t tell me you want to eavesdrop on women’s matters?”

Ye Kong had no choice. Pulled by Xiaohong’s small jade-like hand, he could only follow her out of the room.

“Sister Xiaohong, they’re talking about women’s matters. Why aren’t you in there talking with them? Why’d you come out with me?” Ye Kong let go of Xiaohong’s soft little hand. Though it felt nice to hold, he still knew where to draw the line.

Ye Kong wasn’t the same as when he first arrived in Cangnan Continent. He understood clearly what it meant to be a senior maid.

“They’re women, so naturally they talk about women’s matters. I’m not a woman, so I don’t talk about women’s matters,” Xiaohong said with obvious subtext, as if declaring something.

Could it be she hasn’t yet… Ye Kong blinked but pretended not to understand. “What are you talking about? It’s like a tongue twister. If you’re not a woman, then are you a man?”

Xiaohong giggled, her large eyes sparkling. “So Eighth Young Master, you really don’t Read on Jormuntl understand anything. There’s a difference between a girl… and a woman.” After laughing, she leaned in close and asked, “If you don’t understand anything, why do you go around visiting brothels? Tell sister – what did you do at the brothel?”

Holy shit, is she trying to corrupt a minor? Uh… she’s getting a bit too close, and the question is a bit much. Ye Kong felt a certain area getting warm. He sat down in a chair to hide his embarrassment and continued playing dumb: “I went to help Liu Changqing and the others fight bad guys.”

“Oh, so you really don’t understand anything. I thought you went to the brothel for pleasure,” Xiaohong said, seeing his childlike appearance and actually believing he knew nothing.

Ye Kong found playing dumb rather entertaining. He said indignantly, “Who says I don’t understand? Going to a brothel means finding women to do good things! I go all the time! Don’t think I’m just a kid!”

“Oh?” Xiaohong’s beautiful eyes widened a bit more as she pressed, “You go all the time? Then you know what good things you do with women?”

“Haha, you don’t even know that! Let this young master teach you properly!” Ye Kong laughed brazenly.

Xiaohong looked somewhat panicked, somewhat expectant, and somewhat disappointed – a very complicated expression.

You don’t know much yourself, do you? Look at you, worried I might teach you through action? Ye Kong said smugly, “The good things you do with women are… listening to them sing songs, making them drink wine, and watching them dance! Now do you understand?”

Xiaohong nearly fainted. “That’s all?”

“Yes, seeking pleasure with women means exactly those things,” Ye Kong said with an “I know everything” expression.

“Haha, you really are just a child,” Xiaohong giggled until tears nearly came out.

Hehe, my acting skills could win an Oscar!

Xiaohong rolled her almond-shaped eyes at him and asked again, “Eighth Young Master, you were so clever at Treasure Spring Pavilion today, having Liu Changqing and the others display their military merit. Did someone teach you that?”

So now she’s fishing for information. But sister, your interrogation technique is really quite poor. Ye Kong shook his head. “No. If I hadn’t gone, who would have thought of that method? Why would you think someone taught me? Are you looking down on me?”

“No, no!” Xiaohong hastily denied it. She didn’t want to anger this bad-tempered person who hit whoever he saw.

Ye Kong said angrily, “Then why did you ask like that! You’re clearly looking down on me!”

Xiaohong quickly explained, “It’s not like that. I believe you’re very smart too, it’s just…”

It’s just that Second Wife told you to ask, right? Ye Kong looked at Xiaohong smugly, thinking: I’m way better at extracting information than you are, lady.

Xiaohong immediately understood as well. This kid really was cunning – instead of her fishing information from him, he’d fished it from her. She simply said, “Second Mistress asked me to pass along a message.”

“Mm?”

“Even if you leave the Ye Manor, your surname is still Ye.”

After hearing this, Ye Kong lowered his head in thought. Second Wife’s meaning was very clear: even if he moved away from the Ye Manor, if disaster befell the manor in the future, he wouldn’t be spared. Only by staying and weathering the storm together could they survive.

There was some logic to it. His strength wasn’t sufficient yet to travel far. In this world, low-level cultivators were even more vulnerable than ordinary people – being captured for soul seizure or used as a cauldron for demon cultivation were very real possibilities.

It seemed he could only stay at the Ye Manor for now. Once his immortal techniques reached a higher level, who would dare provoke him then?

“Fine, fine,” Ye Kong waved his hand unhappily. “I need to rest now. You go back to the other room.”

But Xiaohong stubbornly refused to leave. “They’re chatting about women’s matters – what would I do there? Why don’t I take you to see your new courtyard in the inner compound instead, and see if you’re satisfied with it?”

“Alright.” Since he was staying, it made sense to check out the new place.

The inner compound was indeed far superior to the outer courtyard – tall beams and large buildings, painted and decorated, with an artificial stream outside the courtyard and various flowers inside. Even the courtyard walls were more refined than those in the outer compound.

However, Ye Kong wasn’t concerned with any of that. What he cared about was spiritual energy – the more abundant and active, the better. But spiritual energy couldn’t change much over a distance of just a hundred meters or so; the inner and outer courtyards were essentially the same.

Another consideration was whether the inner compound was quiet enough and suitable for cultivation. In this respect, it was much better than the outer courtyard. The inner compound housed the women’s quarters, and they generally didn’t socialize much. There wouldn’t be random people coming to have Chen Jiuniang do embroidery work. Once he set up that “Spiritual Cultivation Formation” he’d obtained from Fan Jiushe, it should be possible to cultivate in peace.

By the time Ye Kong and Xiaohong finished viewing the courtyard and returned, Second Wife had already finished chatting with Chen Jiuniang. Actually, Chen Jiuniang didn’t want ​noodles​to leave the Ye Manor either. Although she’d always had low status, being expelled from one’s husband’s household was very shameful in Cangnan Continent. Only those who committed major offenses in their husband’s family would be driven out.

Additionally, she felt that given Ye Kong’s temperament, if he caused trouble here, people would still show some restraint out of respect for the Ye Manor’s authority. But if they left and this boy caused trouble, people would probably come knocking at their door every day.

So they moved that very day. Mother and son had nothing valuable anyway – they packed a few bundles and headed for the inner compound. Xiaohong helped look after them, casually picking up one of the bundles.

From a corner of the bundle protruded a thin volume with a yellow cover. Xiaohong secretly pulled it out for a look, and immediately blushed bright red. She glared viciously at Ye Kong up ahead and spat, “Reading such filthy things – you’ll die! You lying fraud was just pretending to be innocent with me!”

After finally getting settled, the sky had already darkened. The inner compound was indeed better – meals were delivered right to the door, and there was even a dedicated dining room.

As Ye Kong and Chen Jiuniang ate their meal, Chen Jiuniang’s eyes actually grew moist. She murmured, “Kong’er, Mother is blessed because of you. If not for your accomplishments, how could Mother ever enter the Ye Manor’s rear compound or live in such a large house? Perhaps later, I might even be entered into the Ye family’s ancestral hall.”

Ye Kong put down his chopsticks and sighed. It seemed his mother had her own aspirations. What she cared about wasn’t necessarily eating well or living well, but receiving the Ye family’s recognition – or rather, legitimacy. On this continent, legitimacy held more weight in women’s hearts than gold and silver. Ye Kong could only further abandon the thought of leaving the Ye Manor.

“Mother, don’t say that. This is nothing. Later, when I cure your face, when that old man Ye comes back, he won’t even recognize you.”

Chen Jiuniang laughed and scolded, “You rotten child, what are you saying? The General’s hair isn’t even white yet – how is he an old man?”

Just as they were talking, someone else arrived outside. Ye Kong looked back to see the steward Ye Cai leading two maids.