The Ren mansion began bustling from the afternoon onward. Because this wedding had come so suddenly, the Ren family had made no preparations beforehand. Old Madam Ren and Great Madam Ren also had no intention of making it a grand affair. All ceremonies and protocols were kept as simple as possible, and they didn’t even invite guests – only a few close relatives of the Ren family attended.

After all, no one knew whether this joyous occasion might ultimately turn into a funeral, which would be very inauspicious.

While the Ren family was busy bustling about outside, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but worry.

Perhaps because Concubine Fang and the Han family’s actions had been so pervasive, Ren Yaoqi always suspected whether the events happening around her were orchestrated by someone. Even Ren Yijun’s sudden, severe illness made Ren Yaoqi involuntarily think in terms of conspiracy.

Now that the affairs of Concubine Fang’s Fangfei Courtyard were also under Ziwei Courtyard’s management, Ren Yaoqi instructed Nanny Zhou to pay attention to movements from Concubine Fang’s side. Being uneasy, Ren Yaoqi had Nanny Zhou summon the maids arranged in Fangzhi Courtyard for questioning, only to learn that Concubine Fang had still not left her room during these days, and even Nanny Yu and the head maid Jinju, who attended to her daily needs, had rarely left the courtyard.

Ren Yaoqi also asked Nanny Zhou to help investigate the background of the spirit medium that Great Madam had invited to the mansion, as well as the woman she had found for Ren Yijun’s fortune-bringing marriage.

Nanny Zhou was quite capable, and by evening, she had news.

“Fifth Miss, this servant has carefully investigated that woman and found no problems with her. Her reputation in Yanzhou is quite good. Although she inevitably engages in some mystical practices to make a living, she has never done anything harmful. Over ten years ago, there was a wealthy household in the neighboring town where the second wife wanted to use witchcraft to harm the legitimate son left by the original wife. She secretly approached this woman wanting her to set up an altar and cast spells, but this woman refused. She even secretly revealed this matter to that legitimate son’s wet nurse, telling her to guard against the second wife. Later, when that legitimate son grew up safely and learned of this incident, he specifically sought her out and gave her quite a bit of silver. Her good deed from back then also became known. The reason Great Madam invited her to the mansion to exorcise evil spirits for Third Young Master was because she had inquired about this woman’s character and found it to be decent – she wouldn’t randomly harm people for money.”

Great Madam Wang had always been cautious, and Ren Yaoqi believed this point.

“As for the girl who was brought in for the fortune-bringing marriage, her surname is Qi and her given name is Yuegui. She lives in Dongxiang Village, thirty li outside Baique Town. Her great-grandfather was once a local gentry in that area, known for his charitable deeds and good reputation. By her grandfather’s generation, the Qi family divided their property, and her father was the second son who received over ten mu of good farmland. Though in Dongxiang Village, he could be considered a small landowner. She has an older brother above her and two younger brothers below, all from the same mother, so the family composition is quite simple.”

Ren Yaoqi frowned slightly: “Since the Qi family has no worries about livelihood and only has one daughter, they should treasure her greatly. How could they send her for a fortune-bringing marriage?”

Nanny Zhou sighed: “Fifth Miss, you don’t know. The Qi family is somewhat patriarchal, treasuring their sons extremely while their daughters… Miss Qi has been working in the fields since childhood and has never received much education. Recently, Miss Qi’s youngest brother got into a fight with his cousin from his uncle’s branch, and that cousin accidentally fell into the river and drowned. The Qi clan elder demanded that Miss Qi’s family compensate half their farmland to that uncle’s family, or the uncle would report to the authorities. Miss Qi’s family only has those dozen or so mu of land in total. Of the three brothers, only the eldest has married, while the other two haven’t taken wives yet. After compensating with this farmland, not only would the family face financial hardship, but the two younger brothers would struggle to afford marriages in the future.”

Now Ren Yaoqi understood, saying sarcastically: “So the Qi family decided to sell their daughter?”

Nanny Zhou looked at Ren Yaoqi somewhat strangely. Fifth Miss had been much more even-tempered lately, so why did she seem angry upon hearing about the Qi family’s situation?

Nanny Zhou naturally didn’t know that, as a woman who had similarly been sold out by her family for profit, Ren Yaoqi always felt some indignation in her heart.

“I heard that originally there was a middle-aged man in Dongxiang town who had lost his first wife and wanted to marry Miss Qi as his second wife. Though this man was quite wealthy and had no sons, promising a substantial bride price, the Qi family was initially tempted. But later, the Qi family somehow learned that this man had secretly… ahem, had some unclear relations with a widow in the village while his first wife was seriously ill, essentially angering his first wife to death. When Miss Qi learned of this, she threatened to cut her hair and become a nun, saying she’d rather never marry. But how could the Qi family allow her not to marry? In desperation, Miss Qi said she’d rather marry a dead man and remain a widow for life. These words happened to be overheard by this spirit medium, so when it came time to find someone for the Third Young Master’s fortune-bringing marriage, the spirit medium thought of Miss Qi. After calculating birth charts, she was compatible with the Third Young Master. When the spirit medium asked the Qi family’s opinion, they were already troubled by Qi Yuegui’s marriage prospects. Hearing it was the Third Young Master of the Ren family in Baique Town, and that she would be carried in with eight sedan chairs as the legitimate wife, with a bride price sufficient to buy dozens more mu of good farmland, how could the Qi family be unwilling? Since Miss Qi had spoken those words earlier, she had nothing to say now.”

From this account, the Qi family didn’t seem to have any particular problems. Otherwise, any schemer would have to be incredibly capable. As for what kind of person this Qi Yuegui was, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t judge yet, but she had never heard of such a person in her previous life.

The night passed quickly. Ren Yijun’s wedding was held at the seventh hour of the second day. Due to the special nature of this marriage, Ren Yaoqi, as an unmarried woman, could only remain in her courtyard.

Hearing the sounds of music and drums coming from outside, for some reason, only evoked feelings of desolation and bleakness. No one in the Ren household appeared joyful, and even Great Madam, whose son was getting married today, looked exhausted without a trace of a smile. Old Master Ren and Old Madam Ren didn’t even show their faces.

This cold and silent wedding finally ended late at night.

Ren Yaoqi had people continuously monitor Ren Yijun’s condition. The Great Madam had invited every physician she could find, all saying that the Third Young Master had years of accumulated depression in his heart, and a bout of cold had triggered all the problems previously suppressed in his body. He couldn’t keep down rice water, and even when fed medicine, he would vomit up as much as he was given. One physician hesitantly told Great Madam that this was because Third Young Master himself didn’t want to live, which angered Great Madam so much that she immediately flew into a rage and had the physician thrown out.

Ren Yaoqi also didn’t believe that Ren Yijun wanted to live. He had such a proud and unrestrained temperament, the person who told her to resist when she was most hopeless, someone who dared to smash the ancestral shrine – how could he have such negative thoughts?

But Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help asking herself: apart from that Third Brother who had dared to take her to smash the ancestral shrine, how much did she understand about Ren Yijun?

He had ambitions in his heart but was far from achieving them due to his poor health. He hated seeing sympathy and contempt in others’ eyes, so except for Third Uncle Ren Shimin, who treated him as a normal person, he was harsh and difficult to get along with when dealing with others.

Remembering the look in Ren Yijun’s eyes on the day they sent Third Master Ren back – excited yet tinged with a hint of loneliness – Ren Yaoqi felt somewhat confused.

However, Ren Yaoqi thought, she still had to try. She decided to send someone to Yunyang City tomorrow to request that the Yanbei Princess Consort send a skilled physician to examine Ren Yijun. The Yanbei Prince’s mansion had several physicians with excellent medical skills, renowned not only in Yanbei but throughout the entire Great Zhou Dynasty.

But early the next morning, before Ren Yaoqi could send someone to the Yanbei Prince’s mansion, someone came to report that Third Young Master had been able to keep medicine down this morning.

This news filled Ren Yaoqi with joy.

Not only was Ren Yaoqi overjoyed, but Great Madam, who had felt her son already had one foot in the coffin, wept tears of joy. Early in the morning, she went to Ren Yijun’s courtyard and personally watched him drink a bowl of medicine and eat a bowl of clear porridge, then bowed repeatedly toward the western sky.

Ren Yaoqi also went to visit Ren Yijun.

However, as soon as she entered Ren Yijun’s courtyard, she saw someone kneeling on the veranda of the main building. When she approached for a closer look, it was an unfamiliar girl of fifteen or sixteen.

The girl had slightly dark skin with a few freckles on her face, but her features were quite delicate, with a particularly pretty, small, upturned nose. She was wearing bright red clothing, but from her chest down to her skirt had been splashed with something, creating a wet, blackish stain, and her body carried the smell of medicine.

Seeing Ren Yaoqi observing her, the girl also turned to look at Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua. Her eyes weren’t large, but were very clear and bright. She grinned at Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua, then continued to lower her head and kneel properly.

“This is…” Ren Yaohua frowned in confusion.

A clever maid at the entrance immediately whispered, “Third Miss, Fifth Miss, this is the newly arrived Third Young Madam.”

“Third Sister-in-law?” Ren Yaohua’s eyes widened as she looked again at the kneeling girl.

“Ah…” The girl blinked and responded somewhat shyly.

The two maids nearby couldn’t help but giggle.

Ren Yaohua: “…”

Ren Yaoqi asked: “Why is Third Sister-in-law kneeling here?”

Qi Yuegui smiled bashfully: “I did something wrong and am being punished by kneeling.” After saying this, she refused to say more.

One of Ren Yijun’s maids, who was quite familiar with Ren Yaoqi and knew she had a good relationship with Third Young Master, whispered: “Great Madam ordered Third Young Madam to kneel.”

Ren Yaoqi was somewhat curious about how this newly arrived Third Sister-in-law had managed to offend her mother-in-law on her very first day, especially when Ren Yijun’s condition had improved right after her arrival.

Great Madam was not someone who would lose her temper unreasonably. Even with the eldest daughter-in-law, who had never given birth, Great Madam rarely embarrassed her in front of others and was always gentle and pleasant toward her.

However, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t ask too many questions here, so she nodded toward Qi Yuegui and entered the inner room with Ren Yaohua.