The day before the third household left Baihe Town, Old Master Ren called Third Master Ren over. Ren Yaoqi knew that Old Master Ren summoning her father at this time must be about Ren Yaohua’s marriage, so immediately after Third Master Ren returned from the front courtyard, she went to find him.

When Ren Yaoqi heard the contents of the letter from the capital from Ren Shimin’s mouth, she took several deep breaths before temporarily suppressing her anger.

“So, grandfather wants to agree to the Zeng family’s marriage proposal?” Ren Yaoqi asked coldly with an expressionless face.

Ren Shimin said, “Father said he would consider it seriously.”

Ren Yaoqi remained silent for a long time before saying, “Father, could you go speak with grandmother about bringing Third Sister along to Yunyang City this time? Once Third Sister’s marriage is truly settled, she probably won’t be able to go out freely anymore, and we might not even know if she’ll be able to stay in Yanzhou in the future.”

Ren Shimin felt these were all small matters and agreed. Seeing his youngest daughter’s sadness, he couldn’t help but tease, “You’ve never gotten along with Yaohua since childhood, so why are you reluctant to part with her now?”

Ren Yaoqi smiled and turned her head slightly away, “No matter how much we don’t get along, she’s still my sister. She’s my only blood sister.”

That evening, when going to Ronghua Garden to pay respects, Ren Shimin indeed brought up taking Ren Yaohua to Yunyang City together. Old Madam Ren was somewhat surprised, but she was still reluctant to let Ren Yaohua leave Baihe Town. In the end, it was only after Old Master Ren agreed that Old Madam Ren had nothing more to say.

Early the next morning, before dawn had fully broken, the maids and servants of the Ren family’s third household began loading things onto the horse carriages. Fortunately, over the past few days, they had already gradually moved the larger and heavier items, so for one household with six masters and twenty or thirty maids and servants, their scattered luggage, organized together with seating, amounted to just over ten horse carriages.

When Ren Yaoqi came out of the Ren family residence, she once again turned back to look at this so-called ancestral home of the Ren family, just as she had done when she first awakened. Her expression showed not the slightest nostalgia, but rather a sense of relief as if a burden had been lifted.

She thought that this time, having walked out of this family’s gates, except for unavoidable occasions like New Year festivals, if she could avoid returning, she would never come back again.

Li Shi also seemed very happy today. Since marrying into the Ren family, apart from the first year or two, she had rarely gone out. The longest time she had left the Ren family was that time when she accompanied Ren Yaohua to stay at the estate. This time, being able to go to Yunyang City, if nothing else, at least brought her closer to Prince Xian’s mansion. Although given Li Shi’s temperament, even living nearby, she wouldn’t run to her maternal home without reason, being close to her own family would make her feel more at ease.

Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua, sisters, rode in the same horse carriage. Throughout the journey, Ren Yaohua seemed to be thinking about something and spoke very little. Even when Xiangqin was teasing Pingguo by telling her ghost stories, Ren Yaohua didn’t bother to manage her.

When they had traveled halfway, Ren Yaoqi smiled and asked, “Third Sister, what have you been thinking about this whole journey?”

Xiangqin, who had been showing off on the side, finally sat down quietly and behaved herself when she saw the young mistresses talking.

Ren Yaohua glanced at Ren Yaoqi and said without reservation in a light voice, “Nothing much. Just wondering what kind of person that young master from the Zeng family is.”

Ren Yaoqi frowned upon hearing this, “In any case, he’s not a good person.”

Ren Yaohua seemed to suddenly remember something and laughed, “How is it that in your opinion, there’s never a single good person? You haven’t even seen this Young Master Zeng yet.”

Ren Yaoqi recalled that from Han Yunqian to Qiu Yun to Zeng Pu, she seemed to disapprove of every one of Ren Yaohua’s potential marriage partners. She also wanted to ask which deity Ren Yaohua had offended that she couldn’t encounter a single good one.

“Didn’t I tell you before? Zeng Kui has some bad rumors in the capital, it’s just that he’s newly arrived in Yanbei, so those rumors haven’t spread out yet. I’m not disgusted with him because of his ugly appearance,” Ren Yaoqi explained patiently.

Ren Yaohua looked thoughtful, “That’s exactly why I’m wondering what kind of person he is. And why would the Zeng family suddenly propose marriage to me? Logically speaking, I’ve only seen him once, and I wasn’t the only one present at that time. If it’s as you say, just because I didn’t pay too much attention to his appearance, that reason would be too ridiculous.” Ren Yaohua paused. “Looking at grandfather’s attitude, he doesn’t seem very opposed to this marriage alliance.”

Ren Yaoqi thought that since they had already left the Ren family, no matter what price she had to pay, she would not let Ren Yaohua obey the Ren family’s arrangements and marry into the Zeng family. At worst, it would be a fight to the death. However, Ren Yaoqi didn’t voice these thoughts in front of Ren Yaohua, because these words would sound quite rebellious to others.

Because they had left early in the morning, the Ren family’s horse carriages arrived at Yunyang City before noon.

After Ren Shimin bought this three-courtyard residence, he reorganized the courtyard’s layout. Knowing that Third Master Ren’s pickiness was famous, the steward was meticulous when renovating the courtyard, so when Ren Yaoqi and the others entered, they saw a completely renewed courtyard.

The residence had three courtyards. Ren Shimin and his wife brought Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua sisters, to live in the second courtyard. Ren Shimin and Li Shi lived in the main house of the second courtyard, Ren Yaoqi still lived in the west wing, and Ren Yaohua lived in the east wing.

Ren Yaoying was arranged in the small west wing of the third courtyard, while Ren Yihong was moved to a side courtyard in the outer courtyard of the first entrance.

Except for Ren Yaoying, everyone else was satisfied with Nanny Zhou’s housing arrangements.

Although Ren Yaoying’s third courtyard was also a wing room, compared to Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua sisters, who each occupied three rooms in the east and west wings, Ren Yaoying’s rear west wing only had two rooms. Moreover, besides her as the only master in the third courtyard, some prominent steward women and maids also lived there.

When going to pay respects to Li Shi in the evening, Ren Yaoying tactfully expressed her willingness to give up the rear west wing and share quarters with either Ren Yaohua or Ren Yaoqi.

Nanny Zhou frowned and said, “Ninth Young Miss, you’re willing to squeeze together and wrong yourself, but Third Young Miss and Fifth Young Miss may not be willing. Our Third Young Miss and Fifth Young Miss each need a study room and a small parlor for receiving guests. You are a concubine’s daughter, and according to the rules, your allowances should be halved, but this servant thought to still arrange two rooms for you. This is Yunyang City, not Baihe Town. Since we’ve come here, we must consider Third Master’s face and uphold certain rules, otherwise we’ll be laughed at by the rule-conscious families in Yunyang City. Ninth Young Miss, don’t you think this makes sense?”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoying’s face paled. She glanced at Ren Shimin, but Ren Shimin showed no displeasure at Nanny Zhou’s words. Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi were sitting aside, talking and didn’t even glance at her.

Ren Yaoying now understood that this was Yunyang City. Her mother hadn’t come, and there were no grandfather and grandmother here to pressure Li Shi. This was Li Shi and her daughters’ domain, where even a lowly slave like Nanny Zhou could speak insultingly to her.

Ren Yaoying felt very humiliated and couldn’t help but redden her eyes, but here, when she suffered grievances, no one took her seriously. For Ren Yaoying, the joy of being able to come to Yunyang City had been completely crushed at this moment, because she understood that if Li Shi wanted to mistreat her, this concubine’s daughter, this was just the beginning.

Ren Yaoying couldn’t help but think how good it would have been if her mother’s face hadn’t been injured. With her grandmother’s protection, her mother would certainly have been able to replace Li Shi in coming to Yunyang City, and this place would have been their territory.

After coming out of paying respects in the main house, Ren Yaoying called out to Ren Yihong, who was heading to the outer courtyard. Ren Yaoying forgot her mother’s instructions not to let Ren Yihong get involved in inner courtyard matters. With reddened eyes, she said grievously, “Brother, with mother not here, in the future it’s just the two of us depending on each other. We must help each other.”

Ren Yihong frowned, somewhat baffled, “Aren’t Father, Mother, Third Sister, and Fifth Sister still here? How is it just us depending on each other?”

Nanny Zhou hadn’t mistreated Ren Yihong. After all, Third Master Ren only had Ren Yihong as his son. Although he was born of a concubine, Nanny Zhou had arranged good lodging and allowances for him. The side courtyard where he lived outside was quite spacious, with a small study room and a small parlor for receiving guests, so he couldn’t understand Ren Yaoying’s grievance and indignation.

Ren Yaoying was so angry at his words that she almost couldn’t speak. Looking around, she whispered angrily, “You fool! Third Sister and Fifth Sister are both raised by the legitimate wife. They’re one group, and we’re one group!”

Ren Yihong frowned even more deeply. “Where did you hear such talk? If Father heard this, he would scold you for not understanding propriety. Mother has never mistreated us.”

In Ren Yihong’s education, one should respect and honor one’s legitimate mother and not speak ill of her, otherwise, it would be unfilial. Moreover, although Li Shi, as his legitimate mother, hadn’t given him much guidance, she truly had never mistreated him.

Ren Yaoying sneered, “She hasn’t mistreated you, so you’ve forgotten our birth mother. But she has mistreated me!” After saying this, Ren Yaoying stamped her foot and walked away.

Ren Yihong looked at his sister’s back as she suddenly flew into a rage and ran off, shook his head, and quietly sighed, “Only women and petty people are difficult to nurture!”

Ren Yihong, who never interfered with inner courtyard matters, didn’t bother with Ren Yaoying and returned to the outer courtyard to review his studies. Ren Shimin was going to teach at Yunyang Academy, and he would also attend Yunyang Academy. This was also the reason Ren Shimin brought him to Yunyang City. However, compared to those prodigies at Yunyang Academy, if Ren Yihong didn’t work harder now, he would only be at the bottom when he went to the academy, bringing shame to Ren Shimin.