Old Madam Ren was frightened by Ren Shimin’s dramatic display and felt somewhat breathless. Even when Ren Shimin left, she only opened her mouth but couldn’t utter a single word. When Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua also turned to leave, Old Madam Ren finally covered her head and collapsed onto the bed, crying and wailing: “You bunch of ungrateful wretches! Rebelling… all rebelling… Old Master! Open your eyes and look at these unworthy descendants…”

The Eldest Madam glanced at Old Madam Ren, then at Ren Yaoyin. After thinking for a moment, she still followed behind Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua to go outside.

Ren Yaoyin silently watched the figures of Ren Yaoqi, Ren Yaohua, and the Eldest Madam disappear from the main room. After taking several deep breaths, she turned to comfort Old Madam Ren. Her voice was very gentle, but her gaze was extremely cold.

When Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua came out of Old Madam’s room, they discovered there was no one in the courtyard. Even the maids and servants guarding the door had disappeared somewhere. Just as they were feeling puzzled, they saw Third Young Madam Qi Shi secretly peeking out from behind a pillar at the courtyard entrance, waving at them while winking. Ren Yaoqi then understood that Ren Shimin’s ability to stand outside for so long without alerting those inside and hear their entire conversation clearly must be related to Qi Shi.

Ren Yaoqi was about to walk over when she heard the Eldest Madam calling from behind: “Please wait, both young ladies.”

Qi Shi quickly ducked behind the pillar, hiding herself completely.

Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua stopped and turned to look at the Eldest Madam, who had hurried after them.

“Both young ladies, Old Madam, she… please be understanding and don’t take it to heart. We’re already extremely grateful that you could come back today, and we also thank you for being willing to let bygones be bygones and help the Ren family.” The Eldest Madam spoke sincerely.

Ren Yaohua curled her lips: “You’re too kind. Unfortunately, our father has a stubborn nature and looks down on juniors who rush to become concubines, so I’m afraid we can’t help Ren Yaoyin much.”

The Eldest Madam’s expression stiffened slightly, but she still said: “Your uncle and I would never allow our daughter to become someone’s concubine. Just pretend you never heard it and forget about it.”

Ren Yaoqi nodded to the Eldest Madam: “After negotiating with the Yu family, I’ll send someone back to inform you.”

The Eldest Madam saw them to the door while repeatedly thanking them: “Thank you, Fifth Young Lady. We owe you this time.”

Compared to Old Madam Ren, the Eldest Madam was someone who understood the times. When Ren Yaoqi and the others were still in the Ren family, although she turned a blind eye to Concubine Fang bullying Li Shi, she never openly broke relations with Li Shi. She gave them their proper allowances without shortage and always left room for maneuvering in everything.

Ren Yaoqi smiled meaningfully: “Eldest Madam, don’t thank me too early. Whether I can help is still uncertain. I’m afraid if negotiations fail, I’ll become the guilty party instead.”

The Eldest Madam quickly said: “Whether you can help or not, the Ren family thanks Young Madam. Please rest assured, my husband and I will remember your kindness. As for Old Madam… I’ll try to persuade her more, please don’t worry.”

This time, the Eldest Madam even changed how she addressed Ren Yaoqi.

Compared to Old Madam Ren, Ren Yaoqi still preferred dealing with cleverer people like the Eldest Madam. Although she couldn’t say she had good feelings toward the Eldest Madam either, at least the Eldest Madam knew what attitude to take and what to do at what times.

“Speaking of which, Old Madam is getting on in years. In ordinary families, people her age should be enjoying their golden years. Otherwise, worrying about grandchildren’s marriages every day is exhausting… don’t you think so, Eldest Madam?” Ren Yaoqi smiled.

The Eldest Madam’s eyes flashed upon hearing this. After a moment of silence, she lowered her head: “Young Madam is right. I’ve been negligent as a daughter-in-law. Now that Old Master is gone and Old Madam is grieving excessively with poor health, she should rest well for a while.”

Ren Yaoqi glanced at the Eldest Madam, smiled, and said nothing more. She had said everything that needed to be said.

The Eldest Madam personally saw Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua to their carriage. As the carriage was about to leave, the Eldest Madam couldn’t help asking: “Young Madam, about Third Uncle…”

Ren Yaoqi lifted the curtain: “My father already made everything clear earlier. What doesn’t Eldest Madam understand?”

The Eldest Madam looked at Ren Yaoqi and sighed inwardly, knowing it was impossible to win back Ren Shimin’s branch. Not wanting to make herself disagreeable, she immediately said: “I understand everything. The Ren family was in the wrong here, so we can’t blame Third Uncle for being disappointed with the main family and unwilling to return. But forget about the silver matter. I think my husband wouldn’t want to accept Third Uncle’s money either.”

Ren Yaoqi shook her head: “This is Father’s decision. I cannot contradict it, and we do indeed owe the Ren family gratitude for raising us. Since Father wants to give it, Eldest Madam should persuade Eldest Master to accept it, otherwise he’ll feel even more uncomfortable.”

Upon hearing this, the Eldest Madam sighed and said nothing more, watching Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua’s carriage leave before turning back.

She had originally intended to return to Old Madam Ren’s courtyard to check on things, but halfway there, she encountered Third Young Madam Qi Shi. The Eldest Madam stopped and stood there expressionlessly, watching Qi Shi approach and bow to her with lowered eyebrows and submissive eyes.

After Qi Shi bowed, she didn’t hear the Eldest Madam speak for a long time. She couldn’t help stealing a glance, but happened to meet the Eldest Madam’s appraising and evaluating gaze, making her heart jump.

“Mother? Does daughter-in-law have something on her face?” Qi Shi smiled apologetically, touching her face.

The Eldest Madam still looked at her without speaking.

Qi Shi thought she probably couldn’t escape the Eldest Madam’s criticism this time. Just as she was considering whether to steel herself and admit fault proactively, the Eldest Madam sighed.

“Do you think your little tricks can fool everyone? Tell me, how did Old Madam fall so heavily that day? And how did your Third Uncle and Third Aunt enter the courtyard today without alerting Old Madam?”

Qi Shi smiled sheepishly, lowered her head, and played with her sleeve hem, preparing to accept her mother-in-law’s anger with a proper attitude.

But the Eldest Madam looked at Qi Shi with complicated eyes. After a long while, she shook her head and said somewhat wearily: “Never mind. I’ve figured it out after all this time. Those who appear clever aren’t necessarily truly wise, while those who seem foolish might be truly clever. Everyone has their fortune and destiny. You… take care of yourself.”

Qi Shi blinked with a confused expression.

The Eldest Madam glanced at her sideways and left with the parting words: “If you don’t want to understand, then don’t. Consider it a case of fools having fool’s luck!” Then she walked away.

Qi Shi watched the Eldest Madam’s figure disappear through a side gate, blinked, and revealed a somewhat sly smile. Then she hummed a tuneless song and skipped away. After just five or six steps, she remembered that Old Master’s bones weren’t even cold yet. She quickly coughed to restrain her smile and put on a mournful expression, though her steps still looked quite light, no matter how you looked at them.

After Old Master Ren’s funeral, Third Master Ren and Li Shi returned to Yunyang City.

Ren Shimin wasn’t joking about repaying the Ren family’s silver. He was quite serious about certain things. After returning, he began calculating the money he had on hand. Although Master Ren had never worried about money over the years, he didn’t have large amounts of spare cash either. Having the accountant calculate all available ready money, it was at most less than twenty thousand taels of silver, which naturally wasn’t enough to repay what he owed the Ren family.

But for Ren Shimin, words once spoken couldn’t be taken back. Finally, he reluctantly turned his attention to his collection of famous paintings and calligraphy. Master Ren had excellent taste – regardless of what price he paid, everything he bought back was precious and authentic.

However, these were Master Ren’s lifeblood. Touching them hurt him more than touching Master Ren himself. So these days, he spends almost all his time in his study, occasionally taking out those treasures to look at this one and then that one, appearing as if parting with loved ones forever. He was even more heartbroken and sad than when his father, Old Master Ren, passed away.

Then one day, when Master Ren was again sitting at the dining table, unable to taste his food, Li Shi had Nanny Zhou bring out a small camphor wood box and give it to Ren Shimin.

Ren Shimin was stunned when he opened it, because the box contained a full set of bank notes. The large denominations were thirty to fifty thousand, while the small ones were three to five thousand. Adding them all up, there were at least one to two hundred thousand.

Even Master Ren, who never lacked money, was startled and asked Li Shi blankly: “Where did these come from?”

Li Shi smiled gently: “Some of this silver was what you gave me over the years that I saved up. When I took it out to look, the amount was quite substantial. Several tens of thousands more were given to me by my brother when he came recently, saying he was repaying old debts. I knew you never liked him, so I kept quiet about it. But now that the family needs silver, I’m bringing it all out.”

Ren Shimin couldn’t help being surprised: “You saved up all the money I gave you over the years? I thought…”

Ren Shimin paused and swallowed his words. He had thought Li Shi had been giving all the money he gave her to Prince Xian’s Manor as subsidies over the years. He didn’t value money much himself, so he had always turned a blind eye, treating it as buying rouge, powder, hair ornaments, and jewelry for his wife and daughter. He hadn’t expected Li Shi not to take the money out?

After thinking, Ren Shimin felt something was off and frowned: “Wait, when did Li Tianyou owe me silver?”

Li Shi cleared her throat softly: “Have you forgotten how he tricked you out of that painting to sell for money? When he came last time, he wanted to apologize to you, but was afraid you still found him vulgar and wouldn’t want to deal with him.”

Ren Shimin glanced at the box of bank notes and muttered, “He’s not exactly refined now either.”