Rong Shi did not say anything when Ren Yaoqi came to visit her again after not too long. She instructed the kitchen to prepare a few dishes that Ren Yaoqi liked and kept her for a meal.
While having tea after the meal, Rong Shi said, "I heard that two days ago, the young master of the Zeng family was recalled to Ningxia by Regional Commander Zeng."
Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi looked up and said, "Oh? Is Zeng Pu not comfortable leaving his son in Yunyang City anymore?"
During this period of misfortune for the Ren Family, several families close to the Zeng family were successively eliminated by the Yanbei Prince's Mansion. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Yanbei Prince's Mansion would not tolerate the Zeng family stirring up trouble right under its nose.
Although Ningxia was not part of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun under the jurisdiction of the Yanbei Prince's Mansion, the rulers of the Ningxia region had always been supported by the Yanbei Prince's Mansion, so Ningxia was effectively still under the control of the Yanbei Prince's Mansion.
Throughout the generations, the Princes of Yanbei had considered resisting the Northern Di and Western Yi as their responsibility. Similarly, the imperial court in the south had lost control over the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun and Ningxia.
Now that the imperial court was extending its reach into Ningxia, the Yanbei Prince's Mansion naturally would not sit idly by. At this time, it was safer for the son of the Ningxia Regional Commander to remain in Ningxia.
Rong Shi said, "It's certain that he's not comfortable, but I also heard that the Zeng family and the former Ningxia Regional Commander's family, the Wu family, intend to form a marriage alliance."
Ren Yaoqi was taken aback upon hearing this: "The Wu family? Wu Xiaohe's daughter? The Zeng family wants to form a marriage alliance with the Wu family?" Wu Xiaohe had only one daughter, Wu Yiyu.
Rong Shi nodded and smiled, "I heard that the lady of the Wu family has this intention, but the eldest young lady of the Wu family is unwilling. She even declared that if the young master of the Zeng family dares to go to Ningxia, she will take his life. Many people are waiting to see the joke."
Ren Yaoqi shook her head. This eldest young lady of the Wu family truly dared to say anything.
But Wu Yiyu and Zeng Kui... there was no such matter in her previous life.
In her previous life, Zeng Pu did not need to rely on a marriage alliance to consolidate his position in Ningxia, and Xiao Wei had not completely broken with the Yanbei Prince's Mansion at this time.
In this life, however, Zeng Pu had not been able to control the situation in Ningxia and could only seek allies to the greatest extent possible. Meanwhile, Xiao Wei, having lost the support of the Yanbei Prince's Mansion, was urgently trying to maintain her footing in Ningxia as the widow of the former Ningxia Regional Commander. Thus, the two sides found common ground.
But none of this concerned Ren Yaoqi. As long as Zeng Kui stayed as far away from Ren Yaohua's life as possible, that was all that mattered.
When Ren Yaoqi was about to bid farewell and leave her maternal grandmother's home, Rong Shi suddenly called her back, gently tidied her bangs, and said softly, "Qi'er, as a woman, you only have one chance to choose in your life. Your grandmother hopes you will be careful."
Ren Yaoqi was slightly startled: "Grandmother..."
Rong Shi gently patted her hand and said, "Grandmother knows you are a good child, understanding propriety in both conduct and actions. I mention this without any other meaning. I just hope you won't regret the decisions you make in your youth later on."
Ren Yaoqi was silent for a moment, then asked softly, "Then do you regret it?"
Rong Shi was taken aback by the question, then smiled and shook her head, sighing, "No regrets, to this day, no regrets."
Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment, nodded, and said to Rong Shi, "I understand, Grandmother."
Rong Shi sighed softly, patted her head, and said nothing more.
All the way back from Rong Shi's place, Ren Yaoqi kept thinking about the words Rong Shi had said: "No regrets, to this day, no regrets."Rong Shi, who had been chosen by Consort Wan to become Prince Xian's principal consort, naturally came from a distinguished background. However, later her family was implicated and purged by Prince Xian, scattering its members to the winds. She herself fell from the status of a prince's principal consort to her current circumstances, yet she could still smile and say to her face that she had no regrets.
Ren Yaoqi could sense that Rong Shi's declaration of "no regrets" carried no hint of reluctance.
What about herself?
Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but wonder: if it were her, could she remain unwavering and without regret? Lowering her head, she stared blankly at the natural wood grain on the small table before her, lost in thought and unable to snap out of it for the entire journey.
It wasn't until they reached the gate of her home, when Pingguo cautiously spoke up to ask Ren Yaoqi to alight from the carriage, that she finally broke free from her reverie.
As she stepped down from the carriage, Ren Yaoqi thought to herself that perhaps achieving "no regrets" wasn't so difficult after all. As long as one's heart remained steadfast and unwavering, how could there be so many instances of "if only I hadn't"?
The news of Concubine Fang's disappearance quickly reached the Fang family. Fang Yacun sent letter after letter inquiring about Concubine Fang's whereabouts, each more earnest than the last. Yet, beneath the surface of concern and urgency in his words lay a sharp, almost aggressive edge.
Old Master Ren knew Fang Yacun was subtly pressuring the Ren Family. However, despite sending people to search every corner of Yan Prefecture, they had found no trace of Concubine Fang. Even Nanny Yu, who had disappeared alongside her, had vanished without a trace.
Old Master Ren felt that since the last time his son had angered him to the point of vomiting blood, his health had been deteriorating. Yet, the Ren Family remained beset by internal strife and external threats, teetering on the brink.
Gritting his teeth, Old Master Ren had no choice but to persevere while entrusting some matters he had previously been reluctant to delegate to his eldest son, Ren Shizhong.
To make matters worse, Second Old Master Ren, who had already moved out after the family division, wrote from the capital saying that some previously smoothed-over connections had run into trouble again. He pleaded with Old Master Ren to help mediate, appealing to their shared family ties.
Second Old Master Ren suspected his elder brother was dissatisfied with the division and was secretly making things difficult to teach him a lesson. After all, the connection with Fang Yacun and the palace had been established by Old Master Ren, and they had merely benefited from it.
Because of this, Second Old Master Ren severely reprimanded his wife, Madam Liao, blaming her for turning against the main branch too soon. Thus, in his letter to Old Master Ren, his tone was exceedingly respectful. Now that they had divided the family, their branch relied entirely on the southern businesses for their livelihood.
While replying to comfort his younger brother and reassure him, Old Master Ren privately believed that Fang Yacun, seeing they still couldn't find Madam Fang, must think the Ren Family had secretly done something to her. This was likely his way of forcing them to produce her.
Old Master Ren could only inwardly curse Concubine Fang for disappearing at such an inopportune time. Yet, aside from sending out more people to search, he was truly at a loss.
Not long after, another letter arrived from Fang Yacun stating that he would soon be coming to Yanbei in person.
This showed that Fang Yacun genuinely cared about his sister, Fang Yaruo. For Old Master Ren, however, this only added to his headaches.What frustrated him even more was that Ren Shimiao seemed genuinely intent on breaking away from the Ren Family. Not only had he settled in Yunyang City with his wife and children, refusing to return, but he had also moved out of the Ren Family's subsidiary residence and rented a courtyard in Yunyang City for his family to live in. Old Master Ren instructed Old Madam Ren to stop providing any silver to the fifth branch, yet Ren Shimiao showed no reaction whatsoever.
After such a life-and-death ordeal, both Ren Shimiao and Madam Lin had become much more open-minded. At the very least, Fifth Master Ren no longer dwelled on the fact that he was spending his wife's dowry money, and Madam Lin no longer prioritized trivial matters over her husband and children.
However, Ren Shimiao also discussed with Madam Lin that once their daughter recovered, he would look for a few shops in Yunyang City to start a business and support the family. Madam Lin knew nothing about such matters but agreed to let Fifth Master Ren decide for himself. Her mother visited her every few days and secretly gave her a considerable amount of private silver to help with household expenses, so Madam Lin was not short of funds.
Ren Yaoqi learned all this news from Fifth Master Ren.
As for Fang Yacun's impending arrival in Yanbei, Ren Yaoqi merely smiled upon hearing it and said nothing.
On Fang Yacun's side, however, he was delayed by family affairs in the Fang Family before his trip to Yanbei.
The reason was that Old Madam Fang, for some inexplicable whim, suddenly announced publicly that she intended to adopt the newborn son of Ninth Master Fang to continue the family line under Eldest Master Fang.
Since Old Master Fang had been a philanderer in his lifetime, although Old Madam Fang had only given birth to one son and one daughter—with the son being intellectually disabled—there were many concubine-born children.
Fang Yacun and Fang Yaru were just two among her many concubine-born children. The other concubine-born daughters were hastily married off by Old Madam Fang, while the concubine-born sons were driven out of the Fang Family to fend for themselves.
In her youth, Old Madam Fang had been a ruthless character, especially after Old Master Fang's death, when her accumulated resentment toward the concubines and their children erupted completely, and she showed no mercy in her actions.
Thus, compared to the other concubine-born children of the Fang Family, Concubine Fang and her brother Fang Yacun were relatively fortunate. Fang Yaru married into the Ren Family as a noble concubine, living a life of comfort without worries about food or clothing, while Fang Yacun was even designated as the future head of the Fang Family.
Of course, this also had to do with Concubine Fang's cunning nature and her skill in scheming for herself and her brother.
Ninth Master Fang was also one of the many concubine-born sons of the Fang Family. Because he was born prematurely and physically weak, Old Madam Fang paid him little attention, raising him like a stray cat or dog. When he came of age, she drove him out to survive on his own.
Fang Yacun had little impression of this ninth brother and assumed he had died quietly somewhere after being expelled from the family. Unexpectedly, he suddenly reappeared, having fathered a son whom Old Madam Fang intended to adopt to continue the family line for the intellectually disabled Eldest Master Fang, Fang Yaxun.
Eldest Master Fang, Fang Yaxun, Old Madam Fang's only legitimate son, had been born intellectually disabled. Nevertheless, Old Madam Fang arranged an early marriage for him, hoping he would produce an heir to inherit the Fang Family.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned, as Eldest Master Fang seemed to be infertile.
Old Madam Fang successively arranged three concubines for him, but none ever showed signs of pregnancy.In the end, it was the Eldest Master's principal wife who, blushing, stammered and told Old Madam Fang that a certain part of the Eldest Master's body that should have been hard seemed to have never been hard at all.
Old Madam Fang was truly anxious now.
She had tried every method to cure her son's ailment, even secretly inviting some Jiaofang women into the mansion to enlighten the Eldest Master. Unfortunately, the Eldest Master's foolishness seemed to extend beyond just his head.
Last night, due to an unexpected issue, the chapter wasn't posted, missing the chance to ask for votes...〒_〒
The author is heartbroken...
Double pink votes, please...
Votes, votes, votes...^^~...
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