After Xiao Jinglin returned and saw Hongying, she thought for a moment but ultimately decided not to tell her about Mu Hu’s situation. It wasn’t that Princess Xiao was so bored that she wanted to break up a potential couple or couldn’t bear to see a capable subordinate being lured away by a man. On the contrary, Princess Xiao was quite a reasonable and considerate master who looked after her subordinates.
The reason she had suggested that Nanxing teach Mu Hu a lesson wasn’t because Xiao Jinglin looked down on Mu Hu and wanted to deliberately toy with him. Rather, Xiao Jinglin knew that Hongying probably didn’t even know who Mu Hu was, as Hongying had someone else in her heart.
As for Nanxing, because she had previously worked as a spy, her temperament was too cold and aloof. Xiao Jinglin could see that Xiao Jingxi seemed to intend to keep Nanxing by his side and would probably assign her to serve Ren Yaoqi in the future. Xiao Jinglin thought that if Nanxing were to enter the inner courtyard, it would be better for her to gain some human warmth. So Princess Xiao entrusted this important task to Mu Hu, who appeared foolishly honest and simple but was quite stubborn.
Besides this, Xiao Jinglin had another small consideration. She knew that Nanxing had followed Xiao Jingxi for many years with unwavering loyalty and was one of Xiao Jingxi’s trusted confidants. She feared that Nanxing might harbor some impure feelings toward Xiao Jingxi in her heart. If that were truly the case, Nanxing would very likely become a wasted chess piece in the future, which would be too much of a pity.
If Nanxing could find a suitable match before Xiao Jingxi married, it would not only help moderate Nanxing’s overly cold temperament but would also make it easier for Ren Yaoqi to employ her services in the future. After all, Leshan and Leshui were still young, and a married woman’s status would be more convenient than a young girl’s when going out.
Ren Yaoqi had no idea that Xiao Jinglin had made all these considerations for her sake. The day after returning from Prince Xian’s mansion, she specifically had Pingguo go out to gather information several times. The conclusion was that Yunyang City’s defenses were somewhat stricter than usual, though ordinary citizens couldn’t feel much difference.
As for Li Shi, whether or not she had received a reminder from Rong Shi, after returning from Prince Xian’s mansion, she stayed at home with Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi, rarely going out. Since Ren Yaohua was to be married this year anyway, this provided a ready-made excuse for not leaving the house.
Over the following month, Yunyang City experienced two midnight fires and two thefts, but aside from these incidents, there were no other major disturbances. However, Ren Yaoqi learned from a letter Xiao Jinglin wrote to her that three days after Li Tianyou’s wedding, the southern court had issued an explicit decree ordering Yanbei to arrest everyone in Prince Xian’s mansion and escort them to the capital. Although the interactions between Prince Yanbei’s mansion and Prince Xian’s mansion hadn’t been overly publicized, they hadn’t been carefully concealed either, and the court had finally reached the point where it could no longer stand idly by.
Xiao Jinglin only mentioned this vaguely in her letter without going into detail, as correspondence during this time wasn’t entirely safe, and she feared that someone with ulterior motives might seize upon any careless remarks. No news came from Prince Xian’s mansion either, as the entire household maintained a low profile and rarely ventured out.
However, the Ren family began experiencing turmoil again before the end of March.
Ren Yaoqi had always kept people monitoring the situation in Baihe Town. Although her attention to the Ren family had lessened somewhat due to her connection with Prince Xian’s mansion, she still had a clear understanding of the Ren family’s circumstances.
The Ren family had indeed sent congratulatory gifts when Li Tianyou married, and the eldest master of the Ren family had even attended the wedding feast. However, the relationship between the two families had been rather poor over the years, and Prince Xian had no time to bother with the Ren family. So neither side could warm up to the other. Ren Yaoqi had previously anticipated that the Han family might take action shortly, so when Yuan Dayong sent word that people from the Ren family’s second branch had been in contact with the Han family, she wasn’t particularly surprised. However, she did admire Old Master Han’s tactic of having the Ren family ignite this fire from within their ranks. From the perspective of seeking revenge, it was indeed satisfying.
The second old master of the Ren family made excessive demands of Old Master Ren, proposing that the Ren family hand over one of their coal mines. Old Master Ren naturally ignored such unreasonable demands. However, Ren Yongxiang approached Ren Yonghe for private negotiations, producing evidence of the Ren family’s past disregard for miners’ lives, bribery of Yanbei officials, falsified accounts to evade taxes, and other unsavory practices. This meant Ren Yongxiang was prepared to have a complete falling out with Ren Yonghe. Old Master Ren was so enraged by this ungrateful brother that he spat blood and fainted on the spot.
After making someone faint from anger, the negotiations naturally couldn’t continue, and Ren Yongxiang inevitably felt somewhat guilty. He hadn’t intended to expose the evidence in his hands but had only wanted to threaten Ren Yonghe for benefits.
However, the day after Old Master Ren collapsed from rage, the Ren family’s coal business encountered operational problems.
Someone carried two corpses to make a scene at the Ren family’s coal shop in Jizhou, claiming that the Ren family’s coal was poisonous and had killed a grandfather and grandson. Subsequently, several other families who had bought coal from the Ren family came to their door. Although no more deaths occurred, they also showed symptoms of poisoning, and someone angrily reported the case to the authorities.
After Old Master Ren’s collapse this time, the physician explicitly stated that he couldn’t endure any more shock. So when the coal business encountered major problems, the eldest master didn’t dare bring the matter before Old Master Ren, leaving him frantically busy.
However, before the poisoned coal incident could be resolved, it was subsequently revealed that the Ren family’s coal business had been substituting inferior products for superior ones—using third-grade coal to replace second-grade, and second-grade coal to replace first-grade. This inside information was exposed by a “conscientious” employee of the Ren family. The Ren family faced an unprecedented crisis.
Although everyone in the Ren family unanimously concealed the truth from Old Master Ren, the truth cannot be hidden forever. Old Master Ren eventually learned about it, and though he was nearly driven to ascend to heaven in rage, he ultimately persevered with extraordinary willpower. Despite the attempts of Old Madam Ren and Old Master Ren to stop him, he left home despite his illness to clean up the mess.
Old Madam Ren sent someone to request that Fifth Master Ren Shimao return to help. Ren Shimao had been conducting his own business quite successfully recently and had lost interest in returning to the Ren family. Ordinarily, he certainly wouldn’t have agreed, but this time the Ren family faced such a major crisis, and Old Master Ren was ill. As a descendant of the Ren family, after receiving Old Madam Ren’s letter, Ren Shimao decisively returned to the family. Old Master Ren no longer had the energy to dwell on Ren Shimao’s past disobedience, and besides, the Ren family currently needed manpower. So, father and son tacitly set aside past grievances for the time being.
However, despite Fifth Master Ren’s return to help, the Ren family’s situation continued to deteriorate day by day. Half of the Ren family’s coal shops in Yanbei were forced to close. Especially the shops in Jizhou, where people threw stones, rotten eggs, and spoiled vegetables at their doors daily, making business impossible.
Faced with the increasingly dire situation, Old Master Ren felt somewhat powerless. The Ren family realized that matters had reached a point where they couldn’t extricate themselves entirely through their efforts. The Ren family sought assistance from other clans, and the Lei family, who had just become in-laws with the Ren family, became their most hoped-for source of aid.
The Lei family’s position among Yanbei’s prominent families was second only to the Yun family. Lei Ting, the head of the Lei family, was quite capable, and after several years of management, compared to when they first arrived in Yanbei, the Lei family’s reputation in Yanbei had become well-deserved. Additionally, the Lei family had always maintained good relations with Prince Yanbei’s mansion. If the Lei family were willing to extend a helping hand to the Ren family, the Ren family might not be without a chance of recovery.
With this plan in mind, Old Master Ren had the eldest master personally visit the Lei family to see Lei Ting.
Lei Ting did receive the eldest master personally and didn’t immediately reject his requests. He even promised to help mediate with the authorities to give the Ren family a breathing space. However, Lei Ting also didn’t make sweeping promises that he could get the Ren family completely out of their predicament.
Lei Ting truly hadn’t intended to stand by and watch them perish. After all, he was going to marry Ren Yaohua, and the Ren family would be Ren Yaohua’s natal family. Lei Ting was well aware of what women without family protection would face in the future, so within his capabilities, he was willing to help the Ren family.
However, Lei Ting was also very clear that the Ren family’s troubles weren’t as simple as they appeared on the surface. No matter how capable others might consider the Lei family to be, he understood that the Lei family wasn’t yet strong enough to act with impunity in Yanbei—the Lei family, after all, wasn’t Prince Yanbei’s mansion. Moreover, in Lei Ting’s view, the Ren family did indeed need some lessons, or they would encounter major problems in the future.
Under the Lei family’s intervention, the pressure from the authorities on the Ren family indeed lessened considerably. Those competitors who had tried to take advantage of the Ren family’s troubles were also suppressed by the Lei family. With no one stabbing them in the back, the Ren family finally got a chance to catch their breath.
Old Master Ren couldn’t help but be overjoyed.
However, after doing these things, the Lei family showed no intention of further involvement. Yet Old Master Ren hoped the Lei family would continue their efforts, using their connections to suppress the Ren family’s “poisoned coal” incident entirely. After all, the Ren family still needed to conduct business in the future, and this matter had severely damaged the reputation of the Ren family’s coal business. Since the Lei family had handled this matter with apparent ease, helping a bit more wouldn’t be much trouble.
Although the Lei family didn’t officially engage in commerce, they owned quite a few enterprises, so Lei Ting understood the rules.
This time, the Ren family’s coal business had resulted in fatalities. Although it was highly likely that someone had sabotaged them, the Ren family’s problems were also the root cause of the tragedy. Moreover, he had discovered that the Ren family’s coal business did indeed engage in substituting inferior products for superior ones. It was impossible for the Ren family to completely clear their name—they could only try to make amends and gradually rebuild their reputation. He couldn’t arbitrarily destroy industry standards.
However, Old Master Ren disagreed with Lei Ting on this matter. Old Master Ren hoped the Lei family could help the Ren family completely suppress the incident, shift all of the Ren family’s faults onto the plaintiffs, restore the Ren family’s “innocence,” and the Ren family could push a few people to take the blame.
Lei Ting could accomplish these things, but it went against the Lei family’s principles of conduct. So after receiving Old Master Ren’s letter, Lei Ting frowned and didn’t take a position.
Old Master Ren then sent the eldest master to Lei Mansion again to see Lei Ting personally. Lei Ting didn’t avoid the meeting—he spoke candidly with the eldest master about his views and politely declined the Ren family’s request.
After the eldest master returned and relayed his conversation with Lei Ting to Old Master Ren, Old Master Ren was naturally dissatisfied.