Ren Yijun's words left no room for face-saving. Old Madam Ren's complexion alternated between red and white, as if she might faint at any moment.
First Madam Ren, while massaging Old Madam Ren's chest, turned and softly scolded, "Is that any way to speak? Hurry up and be quiet!"
Ren Yijun stiffened his neck and retorted, "I'm afraid if I keep quiet today, one day our entire family will lose their lives because of such ignorance, shortsightedness, and greed!"
Old Madam Ren clutched her chest, trembling as she pointed at Ren Yijun and said, "Rebellion! It's all rebellion! If you don't want to be a descendant of the Ren Family, get out!"
Ren Yijun sneered, turned, and left.
Ren Yiyan seemed somewhat anxious, chasing after him a few steps and calling out "Third Brother," then glancing back at Old Madam Ren and First Madam.
First Madam still cared for her son. Earlier, she had publicly scolded Ren Yijun out of fear that Old Madam Ren would blame him, so she secretly gave her eldest son a meaningful look.
Ren Yiyan said, "I'll go talk to Third Brother," then hurried out after him.
First Madam had Third Young Madam Qi bring over some ginseng tea for Old Madam Ren to sip. When Old Madam Ren looked up and saw Madam Qi, she thought of Ren Yijun's earlier disrespectful words and grew furious. She waved her hand, sweeping toward the teacup in Madam Qi's hands, and vented her anger, saying, "You get out too!"
Madam Qi seemed to have anticipated Old Madam Ren's action. She nimbly sidestepped, then without pausing, handed the teacup to the head maid Shanhu. With an apologetic smile, she said to Old Madam Ren, "Ah, I'll leave right away! Right away! Please take care of yourself and don't get too angry."
With that, Madam Qi dashed out before anyone could react.
Everyone: "..."
Once again, Old Madam Ren was overcome with rage. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the kang.
The entire room was thrown into chaos as they hurried to call a doctor, feed medicine to Old Madam Ren, and offer her ginseng tea.
After leaving Glory and Splendor Courtyard, Qi Yuegui happened to see Ren Yiyan, who had chased after Ren Yijun earlier. Unable to find Ren Yijun nearby, Ren Yiyan stopped a maid and asked if she had seen where Third Young Master had gone. The maid shook her head, saying she hadn't seen him.
Qi Yuegui thought for a moment and, without alerting Ren Yiyan, jogged back to Breeze Garden.
After searching around Breeze Garden, Qi Yuegui finally found Ren Yijun sitting casually on the grass in the small flowerbed he used for growing orchids.
"Young Master, you ran really fast today. I just saw Eldest Young Master chasing after you but couldn't catch up," Qi Yuegui said boldly as she walked over and sat down beside Ren Yijun.
Ren Yijun pushed her away, scowling fiercely. "Get away! Who said you could come near me!"
Although Ren Yijun looked fierce, the force of his push wasn't strong. Qi Yuegui cooperated by letting herself be pushed aside a bit, then grinned and said, "Oh, I forgot to ask for your permission, Young Master. Ahem, may I approach your esteemed person?"
Ren Yijun's previously unresolved depression was largely dispelled by Qi Yuegui's playful antics. He snorted and turned his face away.
Qi Yuegui then happily scooted closer again, and this time Ren Yijun didn't shoo her away.
The two of them sat quietly in the grass for a long while, with Qi Yuegui unusually calm and neither noisy nor disruptive.When Ren Yijun snapped out of his own thoughts, he glanced at Qi Yuegui and suddenly felt that even this foolish woman had moments of quiet likability.
Seeing Ren Yijun look at her, Qi Yuegui immediately gave him a big smile, revealing a row of small white teeth: "Young Master, have you finished pondering your troubles and returned to the world of the living?"
Ren Yijun’s mouth twitched. He realized he must have been lost in thought for so long that his mind had grown muddled, to the point of finding this woman likable.
"Can’t you just not speak?"
Qi Yuegui was baffled: "If I’m not allowed to speak, what’s the point of having a mouth?"
"Eating! You eat three big bowls of rice every meal—can’t even that stuff your mouth?" Qi Yuegui had a huge appetite. Every time Ren Yijun ate with her, he could see the stunned looks on the maids’ faces. In the end, Ren Yijun had no choice but to send all the maids away and not let anyone serve them. Otherwise, under those gazes, no one except Qi Yuegui herself could eat a bite.
Qi Yuegui gave Ren Yijun a disdainful look: "A woman marries a man for clothing and food! You can’t carry heavy loads or do manual labor, and you can’t even tell leeks from orchids. The only good thing about being with you is that I can eat my fill."
At this moment, Ren Yijun finally understood how his grandmother had felt when she wanted to strangle him after hearing the things he used to say.
But today, Qi Yuegui’s words left Ren Yijun unable to get angry, because he realized that there might truly come a day when he couldn’t even afford to support a wife who only asked for three big bowls of plain rice per meal and never complained about the food.
Qi Yuegui had already prepared herself to run while Ren Yijun chased after her in a rage, but this time, she saw that Ren Yijun didn’t lose his temper because of her words. Instead, he sat there lost in thought again.
Qi Yuegui couldn’t help but reflect inwardly: Had her words been too harsh today? Had she angered this young master into stupidity?
So, racking her brains, Qi Yuegui tried to find words to comfort him: "Um... actually, it’s not just one good thing. For example, you don’t hit women (probably because you can’t win), you give me most of the dishes during meals (because you’re too picky and eat too little), and you’re upright and don’t fool around with women (maybe because you lack the energy?)..."
Ren Yijun didn’t hear Qi Yuegui’s silent complaint, and his expression softened slightly. After a moment of thought, he asked with feigned nonchalance, "If one day in the future, you could only eat two bowls—no, one bowl of rice per meal, would you resent me?"
Hearing this, Qi Yuegui looked at Ren Yijun warily.
Ren Yijun also felt that being unable to support his wife was a shameful thing. He cleared his throat, his eyes shifting uneasily as he said, "It’s not that there definitely wouldn’t be food to eat, it’s just that maybe..." In the end, unable to withstand Qi Yuegui’s accusatory gaze, he put on a fierce expression and said somewhat awkwardly, "I’ll give you half of my bowl, how about that!"
Of course not! Young Master, is that even a human portion? That’s a cat’s appetite! Half a bowl isn’t even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth!
Qi Yuegui gritted her teeth and forced out a smile: "Young Master, if there’s no white rice, can I have as many coarse flour steamed buns as I want?"
Ren Yijun frowned, puzzled: "Coarse flour steamed buns? What are those?"Qi Yuegui gestured with her hand, "You haven't eaten them, but ordinary families outside often do. A bowl of white rice can probably be exchanged for five or six coarse cornbread buns. If I eat those, five or six would be enough for a meal, which actually costs about the same as a bowl of white rice."
Ren Yijun couldn't help but glance at Qi Yuegui, thinking to himself, This woman really is easy to keep!
Qi Yuegui looked at Ren Yijun with eager eyes, "Young master, is this acceptable now?"
Ren Yijun suddenly felt somewhat guilty and ashamed under her gaze, and his heart ached with discomfort.
He pursed his lips, turned his head away, and said in an awkward, gruff voice, "Don't worry, I'll try my best to make sure you have white rice for every meal."
Providing for the family was a man's responsibility, Ren Yijun thought. If the day ever came when the Ren Family fell, or if he was forced to leave, he was literate and could do calculations. As long as he was willing to swallow his pride, there were plenty of things he could do.
Earlier that day, when Fifth Master Ren Shimiao and Lin Kun went to the authorities to seek connections, he and Ren Yiyan had followed them out. Ren Yiyan and he went to ask Master Yang about the situation, but by chance, they accidentally overheard a conversation between Master Yang and an advisor under Lord Mu. It was precisely this conversation that made Ren Yijun realize the hidden crisis behind the Ren Family's current predicament. Although he didn't often go out, he was still a scholar, and he was much more perceptive than his third uncle, Ren Shimin, when it came to political matters.
On their way back, he and Ren Yiyan encountered Lin Kun, and the three exchanged information.
From the conversation they overheard between Master Yang and the advisor, Ren Yijun and Ren Yiyan gathered that, aside from their Ren Family, two other prominent families in Ningxia had also fallen into misfortune due to certain reasons.
Even the Su Family in Yunyang City, who operated horse ranches, had encountered some unexpected changes.
Traditionally, all the warhorses for the Yanbei Army over the years had been supplied by the Su Family's ranches. However, last autumn and winter, during the Yanbei Army's battles with the Liao people, issues were discovered with the Su Family's horses. It was later confirmed that the problems stemmed from the feed the Su Family provided for the horses.
This year, after replacing a batch of warhorses, the Yanbei Army did not purchase horses directly from the Su Family's ranches as they had in previous years.
In recent years, a group of herders had privately united to resist the Su Family's monopoly over the horse ranches in the northwest. The Su Family had initially paid them no mind.
In fact, the Su Family's horse ranches had not become the top in the northwest or monopolized the warhorse market without reason. Their horses were glossy, sturdy, fast, and had excellent endurance. Besides having ample funds and manpower, the Su Family also possessed a secret horse-rearing technique passed down within the family, and they occupied the most fertile grasslands in the northwest.
Thanks to their ability to breed the finest warhorses, the Su Family's position in Yanbei was not easily shaken, as the Yanbei Army needed warhorses.
Surprisingly, however, after the spring of this year, the Yanbei Army allowed other herders and the Su Family to send their horses together, from which the best warhorses were then selected.
Although the warhorses bred by the Su Family were excellent, other herders were not without good horses either. While the quality varied, some herders, relying on ancestral techniques and years of experience, bred horses that were no worse than those of the Su Family.Therefore, although the majority of the warhorses selected this time still came from the Su family's pastures, the Yanbei Army also purchased a portion from other herders. The Su family's monopoly over warhorses had already been broken.
Ren Yijun felt that these events coming together were not simple.
Because whether it was the two unfortunate families in Ningxia or the Su family, both had been relatively close to the Su family recently. The Su family was even related by marriage to the Zeng family, and now the Ren Family was also involved.
Ren Yijun couldn't help but suspect that the Zeng family's recent actions had grown too bold, already drawing the displeasure of the Yanbei Prince's Mansion.
As a scholar, he was familiar with the story of "killing the chicken to scare the monkey."
Only one update tonight, don't wait for more 〒_〒...
It's too late, couldn't finish writing in time...
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