Ye Yan clutched his chest, his face etched with pain.

He gasped for cold air, attempting several times to get up without success.

With a "bang," he fell back to the ground, his cheek pressed against the cold floor, looking thoroughly disgraced.

Old Master Ye couldn’t bear to look and turned his head away.

Ji Mingqian picked up the dagger from the ground, clicking his tongue, "Li Mochan said if anyone touches his wife, I shouldn’t be polite and to strike to kill— he’d take responsibility."

Ye Yan leaned against the wall to hoist himself up, his chest burning like fire, and he couldn’t help coughing.

"Cough, cough."

Lifting his head, he looked past Ji Mingqian, glaring at Ye Jiuliang, "You’ve conspired against me."

Ye Jiuliang rose to his feet, speaking indifferently, "Is this really important to discuss right now?"

"Just say it, what exactly do you want?" Having nothing left to lose, Ye Yan abandoned his last shred of pretense.

"The Ye Group can’t survive without me right now, and if something happens to me, the Ye Group will descend into chaos, and the Ye Family will be ruined. You personally promised your grandmother that even if one day you had the power, you wouldn’t turn against the Ye Family."

Ye Jiuliang’s eyes suddenly turned cold, his mocking smile fading away entirely.

Even now, he dared to use grandmother as a shield, truly... shameless.

"If you hadn’t mentioned it, I might have forgotten about that matter. Since you’re so concerned about the Ye Group, how about letting MK Group acquire the Ye Group? What do you think?"

Ye Yan’s smug smile lasted less than a second, "You..."

Ye Jiuliang continued unhurriedly, "When I get back, I’ll talk to my Li Mochan and suggest he acquires the Ye Group. If you have any other worries, speak now, and I might consider taking them on."

Seeing the situation spiraling out of his control, Old Master Ye hastily intervened, "Jiuliang, don’t be impulsive. The Ye Group represents the Ye Family’s many years of hard work. You can’t do this."

Regardless of whether MK Group had the capacity to acquire the Ye Group or not, Li Mochan always indulged Jiuliang, and he would certainly seek revenge for her and move against the Ye Group. By then, even if the Ye Group wasn’t acquired, it would surely be severely weakened.

"I can’t do that? Then, please tell me, what should I do?" Ye Jiuliang said with a sneer, "Should I let Ye Yan go?"

Old Master Ye had no answer.

After a moment of contemplation, he conceded, "As long as you don’t target the Ye Group, I won’t have any objections to whatever you decide to do with Ye Yan."

Given the current circumstances, he could only safeguard the Ye Group first. If Ye Lei woke up, the Ye Family would still have an heir and wouldn’t fall into the hands of Li Mochan, an outsider.

Ye Yan looked at Old Master Ye, his gaze calm, as if he had anticipated this decision.

"However, I’d still like to ask you to spare his life. After all, he is your father’s own older brother," Old Master Ye pleaded earnestly.

Ye Jiuliang glanced at Ye Yan, the corners of her mouth curling into a provocative cold smile, "Don’t worry, I won’t take his life."

Upon hearing this, Old Master Ye sighed with relief, but his face turned pale the next moment when he heard her words.

"Aqian, take him away."

"Got it." Ji Mingqian grabbed Ye Yan’s collar and roughly dragged him out.

Fearing he’d cause trouble, Ji Mingqian knocked him out with a chop of his hand.

"Dad." Ye Xin watched as Ye Yan was taken away, wanting to stop it but not daring to speak.

She turned to look at Xiang Zhen, who appeared completely calm.

Ji Mingqian’s actions had completely chilled her heart; how was she to safeguard a man who had tried to kill her.

As Ye Yan was taken away, the elder Mr. Ye probed, "Jiuliang, will you truly spare Ye Yan’s life?"

"If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do." She met his doubtful gaze with a clear, cold voice.

"I wasn’t joking earlier. The promise I made to Grandma now counts as fulfilled. I won’t touch the Ye Group, and I will also make Ye Lei wake up. From now on, I owe the Ye Family nothing."

Hearing that Jiuliang could make Ye Lei wake up, Xiang Zhen’s eyes lit up with hope.

"Can you really make Ye Lei wake up?"

Now that she had lost her husband, her son was her only support.

"I can make Ye Lei wake up, but let me say this in advance—if any of you fail to recognize your place and try to provoke me again, next time it won’t be just like today."

Xiang Zhen hastily nodded; she would agree to anything as long as her son could wake up.

"Uncle, let’s go get my mother’s spiritual tablet." Jiuliang turned her head towards Mingchong, her icy voice softening slightly.

Mingchong responded with a faint smile on his lips.

Before leaving, the elder Mr. Li took a backward glance at the elder Mr. Ye and shook his head with a light sigh.

Instantly, the living room fell into silence.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ye Yu stealthily watched the elder Mr. Ye, her thoughts beginning to churn.

With her eldest brother gone and Ye Lei needing time to recover even if he woke, it was the best opportunity for her to take over the company. It seemed she would have to put more effort into her father’s side.

After leaving the ancestral hall, Mingchong left first with Lan Ning’s spiritual tablet, while Jiuliang chose to take the elder Mr. Li’s car to the teahouse.

On the way, the elder Mr. Li inevitably brought up his little grandchild, "Xiaojiu, how old is the baby now? Why don’t you come back to the Li family to rest? We can hire several chefs to take turns cooking for you."

Listening to him, Jiuliang almost felt like he planned to fatten her up like a pig. She smiled lightly, "Dad, I promised Grandma I’d stay in M country for my confinement."

The elder Mr. Li paused, then beamed happily, "That’s true. Your grandmother and aunt have both given birth and have experience. I feel at ease with them taking care of you. I will visit frequently; just let me know whatever you want to eat, and I’ll bring it over."

Jiuliang chuckled softly, "Okay."

"By the way, I’ve had someone set up a nursery and a toy room for the baby. When you get back, have a look. If there’s anything that needs changing, we can have it altered."

"Dad, there’s no need to rush with these arrangements; the baby’s birth is still a long way off," Jiuliang said, amused.

"How can we not be in a hurry? A few months will pass in the blink of an eye, and we need to prepare the baby’s toys and clothes in advance," the elder Mr. Li said, disagreeing. He seemed eager to have everything perfect for his future grandchild in one fell swoop.

When Li Mochan was born, he was taken to M country by the Jiangs to be raised, and he had never personally cared for him. Now, he was hoping to lavish all the love and guilt onto the baby, wanting to pamper him with all his might.

Seeing the elder’s joyous demeanor, Jiuliang didn’t try to dissuade him further. If he wanted to splurge, let him; they had plenty of money, and it was all for happiness.

"How many months old is the baby now?" the elder Mr. Li suddenly asked, returning to the overlooked detail.

"Almost two months or so," she replied.

"Alright, I’ll move to M country a month before the due date," the elder Mr. Li decided.

He wanted to be present at the birth of his little grandchild, to establish his presence, lest the baby grow closer to the Jiangs and not to him.

Understanding the elder’s mindset, Jiuliang smiled wryly.

It seemed her child was going to be very sought after in the future.