Ren Shimin’s face stiffened as he glared at Ren Yaoqi.

Ren Yaoqi glared back uncompromisingly, and father and daughter stood staring at each other in the cold wind.

Finally, Ren Shimin felt it was beneath his dignity to argue seriously with a child. He coughed lightly, giving himself a way out, and said reasonably: “Father practices sword dancing merely for physical fitness and to admire the grace of ancient scholars, not to fight and brawl with others.”

Looking at the precious long sword in his hand, with its silver hilt adorned with amber and agate and a sharpened blade, Ren Yaoqi suddenly reached out to take it.

Ren Shimin quickly stepped back, saying in alarm: “Yaoyao, Father’s sword is real. Don’t touch it—you’ll cut your hand.”

She naturally knew this was a real sword. She also knew that her father had somehow listened to someone’s flattery and believed he had exceptional talent for swordsmanship. After practicing for a few years, he thought himself an unparalleled master.

So in her previous life, when she went to Ren Shimin crying about the family wanting to send her to Commander Lu, after Ren Shimin failed to reason with Old Master Ren and Old Madam Ren, he took down this very sword from the wall of his study’s right-hand room.

“Don’t be afraid, Yaoyao. Father will go find that Zeng Pu right now,” he had said, stroking her head for comfort, then confidently rushed out with sword in hand.

When he returned, they were separated by life and death.

Ren Yaoqi stepped forward and gripped the sword hilt with unusual determination: “Father, since your sword practice is merely for physical fitness and emulating ancient scholars, don’t use this sword anymore.”

Ren Shimin was stunned by Ren Yaoqi’s serious expression and involuntarily let go: “Why?”

The sword fell into Ren Yaoqi’s hands. It was very heavy and difficult for her to hold, but she gripped it tightly and said with disgust, “Because this sword looks unbearably vulgar. Ancient sages had an ethereal bearing—how could they use swords decorated with gold and jade? Besides, physical fitness doesn’t require a sword with a sharpened blade.”

Ren Shimin examined the sword in Ren Yaoqi’s hands carefully. He hadn’t noticed before, but after Ren Yaoqi’s words, he did find the sword somewhat vulgar. He said helplessly, “Fifth Brother found this sword for me and spent quite a bit of money on it, but it does look rather gaudy. Should I have the steward find me another one with a plainer appearance tomorrow?”

Ren Yaoqi shook her head: “Father, why don’t you consider carving yourself a bamboo sword? ‘With joints, the bones are strong; without heart, the character is pure. Through many storms and fierce winds, it would rather break than bend. Still green through all four seasons, not competing with other flowers for beauty.’ This is true scholarly bearing! Doesn’t Father often say that lacking meat makes one thin, but lacking bamboo makes one vulgar?”

Upon hearing this, Ren Shimin stroked his chin: “A bamboo sword? Wouldn’t that be too frivolous?”

Ren Yaoqi shook her head seriously, her tone carrying some criticism: “Your sword practice isn’t like those crude warriors who enjoy fighting and brawling! It might seem frivolous to vulgar people, but what do their opinions have to do with us? Surely Father wouldn’t insist on using such vulgar objects just because he cares about others’ opinions?”

Ren Shimin glared at Ren Yaoqi: “Of course not.”

After thinking, he smiled and nodded in agreement: “You make some sense. When Father has time, I’ll carve myself a ‘gentleman’s sword.'”

Ren Yaoqi breathed a sigh of relief. Many people acted impulsively because they felt they had sharp weapons to rely on. Weapons could embolden people.

In the future, she would carefully supervise Father’s practice with that “gentleman’s” sword meant only for physical fitness!

“I’ll dispose of this sword for you,” Ren Yaoqi handed the sword to the maid behind her, regardless of whether Ren Shimin agreed.

Fortunately, Ren Shimin was usually a good-tempered pushover most of the time and waved dismissively without concern.

Ren Yaoqi left satisfied with Ren Shimin’s sword. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to instruct all the maids serving in the study to praise Third Master’s grace with bamboo swords over real swords in the future!

Time passed quickly to the twelfth lunar month. The original external affairs manager, Nanny Jian from Ziwei Courtyard, being elderly, accidentally injured her leg getting up at night and was sent to an outer estate to recuperate.

The external affairs manager held considerable authority, especially over purchasing matters.

With the New Year approaching, the Ren family’s New Year goods and other items would naturally be handled by people sent by the Eldest Madam. However, it was inconvenient for Ziwei Courtyard to arrange its specific needs. Logically, since the Ren family hadn’t divided the household, each branch could obtain the most needed items from the common fund. But some things still required spending one’s own money.

For instance, today, Third Master suddenly decided the pomegranate flower potted plants in his courtyard were vulgar and wanted to replace them with golden-edged daphne. When his temper flared and he demanded immediate replacement, Ziwei Courtyard’s people had to find several pots of golden-edged daphne right away.

Or when Third Master was painting and suddenly recalled verses like “Bamboo baskets with rain, picking the first remnants, grain by grain producing cold like crimson crane crests. All mouths find it sweet as honey, who knows the wonder lies in slight sourness,” this meant Ziwei Courtyard’s people had to search everywhere for bayberries.

Such sudden situations were very common in Ziwei Courtyard, especially near New Year, when they became more frequent.

The Third Master was picky and demanding—this was known throughout the Ren family.

But Third Master was generous with money! As long as you could immediately obtain what he wanted, he didn’t care how much you spent.

Add to this the private clothing, jewelry, and sewing supplies that other masters and maids in the courtyard wanted to purchase… the external affairs manager’s position was quite lucrative. Of course, you also needed connections and networks to handle the job.

Thus, the various women in Ziwei Courtyard began stirring with ambition.

Madam Li currently had only one experienced nanny, Nanny Zhou, among her trusted servants. The others she relied on heavily were several senior maids, and with the New Year approaching, Nanny Zhou was also busy. The external affairs manager would ultimately need to be selected from among the courtyard’s women and daughters-in-law.

Sure enough, the next day, news came that a temporary external affairs manager would be chosen from among Ziwei Courtyard’s second-rank nannies.

Immediately, Ziwei Courtyard’s second-rank nannies began trying every means to gather information. Most of these women had nephews working in the outer courtyard. If they obtained this position and could gain face before the Third Master through it, nothing could be better.

The original Nanny Jian’s youngest son had been kept by Third Master as a personal attendant after handling several errands well, specifically to accompany him when going out.

Even Nanny Zhu from Ren Yaoqi’s room began roundaboutly asking Ren Yaoqi for information.

“What? Don’t you want to serve in my room anymore, Nanny? Looking for other opportunities?” Ren Yaoqi propped her chin on one hand, smiling sideways at Nanny Zhu.

“No, no, this servant is asking for Granny Guan in the back courtyard.” Nanny Zhu had no other relatives in the Ren mansion, but Granny Guan had a nephew living in the outer quarters’ group housing who hadn’t been assigned proper duties, only waiting for occasional odd jobs from the mansion. Granny Guan had promised Nanny Zhu some fabric scraps to help her inquire.

Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment: “I think I heard Nanny Zhou mention once or twice that Mother favors Nanny Wei from the tea room and Sister-in-Law Niu, who manages our courtyard gate keys.”

Upon hearing this, Nanny Zhu’s eyes rolled, and she immediately told Granny Guan this news. She also shared this as good news with Nanny Wei and Sister-in-Law Niu, hoping to curry favor.

Within a day, all the women and maids in Ziwei Courtyard knew that either Nanny Wei or Sister-in-Law Niu would take over the external affairs manager position.