Yihong brought in a large porcelain dish, took the candied hawthorn from Li Qian and Li Tianyou’s hands, arranged them nicely on the dish, and placed it in front of Li Shi and the Ren sisters.

Li Qian walked over to sit on the kang, picked up a string of candied hawthorn, and handed it to Li Shi: “There were only hawthorn-filled ones at the gate, so make do with these. We weren’t prepared today – next time you come, we’ll make them ourselves.”

Li Tianyou chimed in from the side: “Right, right, right! Next time have Yihong boil the sugar, I want to eat glutinous rice-filled ones! With a layer of dried fruits sprinkled on top!”

Li Tianyou’s words brought back Li Shi’s childhood memories. She forgot what she had been about to say earlier and took the candied hawthorn Li Qian handed her with a smile: “Thank you, Father.”

Rong Shi glanced at the father and son who had changed the topic too quickly and asked Li Qian: “What were you saying before, Master?”

Li Qian was distributing candied hawthorn to Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi. Hearing this, he replied casually: “What did I say about what?”

Li Tianyou walked over to pick up a string of candied hawthorn while helpfully reminding his father with good memory: “The line ‘Return the money to them first.'”

Li Qian made an “oh” sound and said in a casual tone, “If I tell you to return it, then return it. I’m the head of this family – you have to listen to me!”

Rong Shi didn’t argue with Li Qian either. She smiled and turned to Li Shi: “Since your father doesn’t want to accept it, have someone send it back.”

Li Qian made a “tsk” sound and waved his bamboo skewer while quietly calculating: “Twenty thousand taels! That’s quite a lot. Let me calculate… it’s enough to buy several fighting cocks, several crickets, then the chickens breed more chickens, the crickets breed more crickets… tsk, really don’t want it? What a pity…” Though he said this, there wasn’t much regret on his face.

Ren Yaohua, listening from the side, really couldn’t hold back anymore and spoke with suppressed anger: “Return it? Then should all the previous money be returned together too?”

Li Shi was startled, then frowned and scolded Ren Yaohua: “Hua’er, how can you be so ill-mannered!”

Ren Yaohua looked coldly at Li Tianyou, who was wiping his mouth with his sleeve, and said sarcastically: “Manners? Which family’s manners?”

Li Tianyou wiped his mouth and smiled carelessly at Ren Yaohua, showing his teeth.

Li Shi suddenly raised her hand and gave Ren Yaohua a hard slap.

The sharp “smack” shocked everyone present.

Ren Yaohua hadn’t expected Li Shi to hit her either. She looked up in a daze: “Mother…”

Li Shi felt some regret after hitting Ren Yaohua, but the sarcastic meaning in Ren Yaohua’s words had deeply stung her heart. So she still maintained a cold face with tears in her eyes: “Apologize to me!”

Ren Yaohua hadn’t wanted to come today in the first place. If Li Shi hadn’t insisted on bringing her along, she wouldn’t have wanted to set foot in here at all.

So what if Prince Xian’s mansion could be restored? If Prince Xian’s mansion had truly been concealing their strength all these years, her heart would only grow colder. During all those years when they were isolated and helpless, being bullied by a concubine, where was their maternal family? For the sake of these people’s so-called great cause, could they abandon even their flesh and blood?

Since they had already decided to abandon them back then, why put on this act of paternal kindness and filial piety now for show?

Over these years, how much money had Li Shi secretly sent to her mother’s family? Though Ren Yaohua didn’t say it openly, how could she not know in her heart? But they had accepted all the money Li Shi gave before. Now that they saw they could make a comeback, were they putting on airs?

Ren Yaohua covered her face and laughed coldly: “Apologize? Apologize for what? I’m just feeling cold-hearted. Now that you’ve cozied up to the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion, do you look down on the Ren family’s money? Then what were you doing all those years before? If you wanted to act noble, you should have refused from the beginning, not waited until now to find the Ren family’s money too vulgar! But have you thought about my mother when you refuse so decisively now? Have you considered how she’ll explain to her in-laws when she returns, whether she’ll be blamed by her husband’s family for not handling even this small matter properly?”

Li Shi wanted to stop Ren Yaohua from continuing, but Ren Yaohua stood up: “I never wanted to benefit from my maternal grandfather’s family anyway. You can enjoy your wealth and honor in the future – don’t bother remembering you have a granddaughter like me.” After saying this, Ren Yaohua got up and left.

“Third Sister—” Ren Yaoqi quickly called out, but Ren Yaohua had already hurried out of the room.

The room immediately fell silent. After a long while, Li Tianyou let out a dry “hehe” laugh, looked at everyone, and said awkwardly: “Wow, this girl really has quite a temper. Don’t know who she takes after.”

Li Shi was both anxious and angry. She could only instruct Nanny Zhou to send someone to follow, sitting there wiping away tears, not knowing what to say.

Ren Yaoqi had originally wanted to follow out to check, but Li Shi held her hand, so she could only sit down and softly comfort Li Shi.

Li Qian was silent for a long while, then suddenly said: “All these years, we’ve made you suffer. This girl… though this girl has a quick temper, what she said makes sense.”

The reason Li Shi and her daughter could be bullied by a merchant family was because they were unwilling to expose their strength too early – in other words, their maternal family wasn’t backing them up. No wonder Ren Yaohua would resent them.

Rong Shi sighed without speaking and had Li Tianyou send someone to follow Ren Yaohua to make sure nothing happened to her.

After Ren Yaohua’s outburst, Li Shi no longer had the mood to stay at her mother’s family. She was somewhat worried about whether Ren Yaohua had gone home after rushing out in such haste, and also worried that the slap she gave earlier was too hard and would make Ren Yaohua’s face swell.

Understanding Li Shi’s feelings, Rong Shi didn’t try to keep her longer, only saying: “Go back and check on Hua’er first. Leave Yaoqi here to talk with me.”

Ren Yaoqi, being specifically asked to stay, said nothing.

Seeing that she still had one daughter who could understand her mother’s family and was willing to be close to her maternal grandfather’s family, Li Shi felt somewhat comforted. She apologized to her parents on Ren Yaohua’s behalf, then took her people and left.

After everyone had gone and Li Qian and Li Tianyou had also left, Rong Shi asked Ren Yaoqi: “Qi’er, don’t you resent us?”

Ren Yaoqi thought about it and answered honestly: “I did resent you when I was young, and I envied Seventh Sister and Eighth Sister. But after growing up, I understood that good days and bad days are made by oneself. The reason we didn’t live well these years was more due to our reasons. Look, aren’t we living quite well now?”

This was Ren Yaoqi’s honest feeling – she had figured this out long ago.

Prince Xian’s mansion wasn’t easy either. Her uncle Li Tianyou still hadn’t married and had no children. Finding a suitable family was one reason, but more likely it was due to concerns about the court.

A Prince Xian’s mansion without male heirs to continue the family line was more reassuring than one with descendants everywhere.

Those who sacrificed for Prince Xian’s mansion were not just Li Shi alone, and they were all willing.

Taking a step back, even if Prince Xian’s mansion couldn’t help but expose their strength early to temporarily protect them and let them live well in the Ren family, would they be able to escape the court’s subsequent attempts to eliminate them?

Once Prince Xian’s mansion no longer existed, would their mother and daughter’s days in the Ren family be better?

The court must have been watching their situation all these years.

Seeing Ren Yaoqi say this, Li Shi didn’t know what to say. She sighed: “What do you think about your grandfather’s unwillingness to accept the Ren family’s money anymore? Do you also think your grandfather wants to raise his head high and spite the Ren family elders?”

Ren Yaoqi shook her head: “Whether we, mother and daughter, can establish ourselves in the Ren family doesn’t depend on whether you accept the Ren family’s money, but on what strength Prince Xian’s mansion can demonstrate in the future. Given my grandfather’s character, even if you don’t accept his money now and openly reject his overture, he wouldn’t dare to turn against you at this time. Instead, he would be even more wary of you. This way, the Ren family would be even less likely to look down on us, mother and daughter.”

This was exactly Old Master Ren’s character.

If Prince Xian’s mansion had accepted the money too quickly this time, Old Master Ren might have muttered to himself, thinking that even if Prince Xian’s mansion could make a comeback, it was nothing special. If they could be won over with money now, they could be won over with money in the future, so he wouldn’t be particularly concerned about Li Shi.

On the contrary, refusing the Ren family’s money would make Old Master Ren think that Prince Xian must still have backup plans, and that he was currently dissatisfied with their poor treatment of Li Shi, wanting to settle accounts after autumn. He would be more respectful when dealing with Li Shi in the future.

If Prince Xian truly didn’t care about Li Shi, he could have happily accepted the Ren family’s money and continued to keep the Ren family and everyone else in the dark, unable to see clearly.

Hearing this, Rong Shi said with relief: “Good child, you have such a perceptive heart!”

Rong Shi thought that this granddaughter not only resembled Noble Consort Wan in appearance, but also inherited Noble Consort Wan’s intelligence. Being so understanding and broad-minded at such a young age, she would surely become someone remarkable given time.

No wonder even someone like Xiao Jingxi had developed feelings for her.

Ren Yaoqi didn’t know what Rong Shi was thinking and smiled with pursed lips upon hearing this.

Rong Shi continued: “By the way, there was something I originally wanted to tell your mother, but she left first, so I’ll tell you instead.”

Having had more contact with Ren Yaoqi, Rong Shi knew that although this granddaughter was young, she was more decisive and capable than her mother, so she treated her as an adult.

Ren Yaoqi nodded: “Please speak, Grandmother.”

Rong Shi pondered: “Recently, quite a few families have wanted to arrange marriages for your uncle.”