"If Second Aunt lacks the demeanor of an elder, then don't blame your niece for being rude. I will only handle the affairs of the second branch today. If the bickering continues, the entire second branch will be sent back to the ancestral home to serve the Old Madam."
Yu Zening, lifting the curtain to enter, overheard Yu Mingyue's words. Yu Mingyue, with a stern face and sharp eyes, possessed a decisiveness reminiscent of her father. He was most afraid of his late father.
As a maid removed Yu Zening's black sable cloak, he couldn't help but shiver, unsure if it was from the cold or from guilt.
Yu Zening wore an indigo brocade long coat. His complexion was fair and delicate, his eyebrows thick and eyes large, presenting a handsome appearance. Due to his usual idleness and disinterest in affairs, he looked several years younger than Madam Zhao.
To put it bluntly, with his looks, even after divorcing his wife, he wouldn't have trouble finding a woman from a decent family.
Madam Zhao was muddled, unfavored, and troublesome. It was no wonder her husband was unwilling to visit her courtyard, and consequently, disliked his legitimate children.
"Second Uncle, please sit!"
Yu Zening responded with an "Ah," hesitated, and then sat in the lower seat.
If his elder brother was home, he would listen to him. If his elder brother was away and his sister-in-law was recuperating, then... he would listen to Sixth Miss.
"Does Second Uncle truly intend to divorce Second Aunt?" Since he was here, Yu Mingyue decided to see it through.
If the various branches of the Yu family could work together harmoniously, the Yu family would naturally prosper.
Yu Zening still felt a bit embarrassed, tucking his hands into his sleeves. "Madam Zhao is an unworthy wife, prone to jealousy and rudeness, incapable of teaching her daughters, and cruel to her concubine-born sons and daughters..."
Yu Zening, like a child complaining, listed a string of Madam Zhao's shortcomings.
Madam Zhao's eyes bulged, her eyes bloodshot. "Yu Zening, do you have any conscience? You've taken in a whole household of concubines, bringing all sorts of people into the manor. I stopped you, but you didn't mention it. You only favor that little vixen and mistreat my Miaoyan..."
Madam Zhao rose from the couch, crying and shouting, nearly losing control of the situation.
Chi Dan was a little worried. Her young lady was only thirteen. Was it too early for her to learn about the ugliness of marriage?
But the two people present clearly didn't treat the young lady as a child; they dared to say anything.
"Ahem!" Yu Mingyue coughed lightly.
Yu Zening, ashamed and angry, pointed at Madam Zhao. "Why haven't you stopped?"
"Second Uncle, if Second Aunt were truly so jealous, how could Second Uncle have taken so many concubines, let alone have Second Sister, Third Sister, and Third Brother?"
Among the entire Duke's manor, the second branch had the most offspring.
Madam Zhao felt that Yu Mingyue had voiced her grievances. Her crying intensified. She was quite willing to cast aside all pretense of dignity, as she had already been thoroughly humiliated.
Yu Mingyue's words made Yu Zening's old face flush with embarrassment. "Mingyue, men have always had three wives and four concubines. You are still young; you wouldn't understand, wouldn't understand..."
"Second Uncle is not wrong, but no other family's inner chambers are in such disarray that they threaten divorce, nor do they ruin their children's futures and the family's reputation." A sharp glint flashed in Yu Mingyue's eyes.
As Yu Mingyue finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room suddenly shifted.
Madam Zhao's crying abruptly stopped, and Yu Zening's expression froze.
Although Yu Mingyue was young, she possessed considerable authority in managing household affairs, and no one around her dared to disobey.
"Second Aunt, you champion the cause of Eldest Sister, but have you considered Second Brother's future? If this matter gets out, will any noble young lady be willing to marry Second Brother?"
Madam Zhao's expression became awkward. She had been so focused on her anger towards that slut's daughter for snatching her daughter's marriage that she had forgotten this.
"Didn't Eldest Sister refuse the Li family's eldest son herself?" Yu Mingyue looked at Madam Zhao.
"Yes, but..."
"No 'buts.' If Second Sister marries well, wouldn't Second Aunt, as her legitimate mother, be honored? Would it harm Second Aunt or the Duke's manor?"
Madam Zhao lowered her head, so thoroughly admonished by a child that she was speechless.