However, Li Jun knew these words were no longer his to say to Yu Tang.

“I know!” He nodded dejectedly and left the Yu residence.

Yu Tang breathed a sigh of relief.

In her previous life, Li Jun had fallen from his horse during these few days. Now that so many changes had occurred, he shouldn’t be in the mood to go riding and playing with friends, which counted as indirectly saving his own life.

However, Yu Tang was still somewhat afraid the events of her previous life would occur. She spent silver to hire A’Liu, who sold water pears, to watch Li Jun. If Li Jun rode out on horseback, he should immediately intercept Li Jun and say she was looking for him about something.

As for what that something was, Yu Tang hadn’t found an excuse yet.

As it turned out, on the day the incident was supposed to happen, Li Jun still went out—Fu Xiaowan and a few others, seeing that one bad thing after another had befallen him these past days, invited him to go riding for recreation.

Li Jun wasn’t in the mood.

Yesterday his mother had received his father’s reply, telling Lin Shi to choose a date to send him to Rizhao, where his father would personally oversee his studies.

If it had been in the past when Fu Xiaowan came to invite him out, even if he felt uncomfortable inside, he would have endured his displeasure and gone out. But now, what he wanted more was to chat with Fu Xiaowan and the others.

Once he left, who knew when he’d be able to return?

They didn’t go riding for recreation. Instead, they went to Shen Fang’s residence to drink tea, listen to music, and chat idly until the moon rose above the willow branches before returning home.

When Yu Tang received this news, her anxious heart finally settled completely.

With this, she had done everything she could. Li Jun’s life was preserved. From now on, she and the Li family had no more entanglements. In the future, when seeking revenge for grievances and settling scores, she no longer needed to worry about anything.

On the fourth day of the tenth month, Li Jun departed from Lin’an City.

Yu Tang didn’t know.

She was accompanying her family elders and brother to worship ancestors at the old residence.

Just as they had sat down after arriving at the Yu family’s old residence, Fifth Great-Uncle limped in, saying someone wanted to visit them and asking whether they would receive them or not.

Ever since Seventh Uncle’s incident, even though Yu Wen had promised to care for Fifth Great-Uncle in his old age and final years, Fifth Great-Uncle seemed to have had his vitality drained overnight. He did everything listlessly, only squatting at the gate each day smoking the tobacco he grew himself. A few days ago he’d even sprained his ankle. Yu Wen had hired a physician for him, but he wouldn’t properly take his medicine, just dragging on day by day. No one’s advice could persuade him.

Yu Wen couldn’t help but sigh seeing this. He said gently to Fifth Great-Uncle: “Your foot isn’t well—you shouldn’t be bustling about. Who wants to see me? I’ll go take a look myself.”

Fifth Great-Uncle felt he had wronged Yu Wen and Yu Tang. Hearing this, he smiled somewhat bitterly and said: “Don’t worry about me. It’s my own foot—I know my own condition. The ones who want to see you are people from the Lu family main branch—that Lu Xin whose funeral you arranged generously after his death, people from that Lu family.” Reaching this point, Fifth Great-Uncle couldn’t help but add: “I see they also brought a child. I figured the Lu family main branch might want to have this child adopted as Lu Xin’s heir, so they’ve come to discuss this matter with you.”

This originally had nothing to do with the Yu family, but since the Yu family had helped arrange Lu Xin’s funeral, if the Lu family main branch wanted to adopt an heir for Lu Xin, both emotionally and logically they should come greet the Yu family and acknowledge this favor from the Yu family.

Yu Wen didn’t take it to heart. After giving Fifth Great-Uncle a few more concerned instructions, he went to see the Lu family people.

Fifth Great-Uncle had guessed correctly. Wasn’t it the first day of the tenth month again, the time for the annual grand ancestor worship? The Lu family main branch had discussed that they needed to adopt an heir for Lu Xin to maintain his ancestral offerings. They told Yu Wen: “Previously we were angry that their household didn’t put the main branch in their eyes, but when a person dies, it’s like a lamp going out—some matters should be let go, lest future descendants speak of it and think my heart too petty. As a descendant of the Lu family, it’s not proper to have your Yu family help with his worship. So, after we several clan elders discussed it, we adopted this lad as Lu Xin’s heir. However, the child will still live with his own biological parents, and during festivals he’ll just go burn a stick of incense for Lu Xin.”

Yu Wen felt this was good too.

His friendship with Lu Xin was a matter of his own generation—he couldn’t burden future descendants with worshipping Lu Xin every year, could he? Moreover, Yu Tang didn’t like Lu Xin.

“You’re very thoughtful!” Yu Wen thanked the Lu family main branch on Lu Xin’s behalf.

Only then did the Lu family main branch reveal their true purpose: “So you see, Lu Xin didn’t leave much of anything. He even sold that broken residence to outsiders. We can’t let this child have nothing to remember him by, can we? I heard that when you returned from Hangzhou City, you brought back a few items Lu Xin used during his lifetime. Could you, could you perhaps give them to this child? After all, it would count as proof of this child being adopted as Lu Xin’s heir…”

Yu Wen was stunned.

He and Yu Tang had made many speculations before.

They’d thought the Li family might send people to steal again, thought someone might come to rob them. After the Li family and Yu family had their confrontation, he’d even wondered whether the Li family might back down in the face of difficulty and stop targeting the Yu family from then on.

What he hadn’t expected was that the Lu family would come asking for Lu Xin’s so-called relics at this time.

Yu Wen hesitated for an instant.

These relics had originally been prepared to lure the Li family. If he gave them to the Lu family, would the Lu family also be implicated in this matter?

The maritime charts represented enormous benefits. Who knew if there were others behind the Li family? Who knew what the background of these people behind the scenes was? What their methods were?

A trace of greed flashed across the face of the Lu family main branch.

They originally hadn’t wanted Lu Xin’s relics either, but some days ago he’d inadvertently learned that a painting Lu Xin left behind was a genuine work from the previous dynasty and could sell for at least three to five hundred taels of silver on the market. This made people envious.

Yu Wen had buried Lu Xin, spending at most twenty-some taels of silver. Why should he get this painting for nothing?

By rights, this painting should fall into the Lu family’s hands.

Thinking this way, the Lu family main branch couldn’t help but grow anxious, saying: “Master Yu, I know you gave Lu Xin a generous burial. By rights, we shouldn’t ask for the items back. But I’m the Lu family’s main branch—I can’t just ignore Lu Xin’s heir like this. This is also a matter of my position—there’s no helping it. Please, Master Yu, finish your good deed and return Lu Xin’s relics to our Lu family. We’ll be eternally grateful!”

After speaking, he stood and bowed to Yu Wen.

Yu Wen did want to return the items to the Lu family, but he was somewhat uncertain how to handle it. He simply used words to stall the Lu family main branch, saying: “He didn’t leave much behind. I haven’t had time to sort through it properly yet. How about this—after these days of ancestral worship are over, come to my home again and we’ll discuss how to handle this matter!”

The Lu family main branch was afraid Yu Wen would go back on his word, but it wouldn’t do to press too urgently for fear of arousing Yu Wen’s suspicion. He hastily said: “That’s fine! When will you return to Lin’an City? I’ll bring this child to visit you then.”

Yu Wen demurred: “We won’t return until the day after tomorrow. Why don’t we say five days from now!”

The Lu family main branch haggled. After Yu Wen talked for quite a while, they settled on coming to the Yu residence to collect the items in three days.

Yu Wen nodded helplessly. After seeing off the Lu family people, he quietly pulled Yu Tang aside from Chen Shi and the others to talk under the camphor tree in the front courtyard.

He told Yu Tang everything that had just happened in detail, saying: “What do you think we should do?”

Unconsciously, he had already made his daughter his mainstay.

They had long spread word about Lu Xin’s relics, but whether it was the Lu family or the Li family, there had been no movement all this time. Yet just as they’d finished their dispute with the Li family, the Lu family thought of adopting an heir and came to collect the relics. If there wasn’t something fishy behind this matter, Yu Tang was the first who wouldn’t believe it.

However, her thinking had undergone a fundamental change.

Previously she’d only wanted to toss away this hot potato. Now, she wanted to exert all her strength to scald the hands of whoever was behind this until their fingers blistered—only then could the resentment in her heart be somewhat relieved.

“Then give it to them,” Yu Tang said coldly. “However, we spent quite a bit of silver collecting and burying Uncle Lu. If their family wants to take the items back, they should at least compensate us for our losses, shouldn’t they?”

“That’s not quite appropriate!” Yu Wen objected without much thought. “Perhaps they’re also being manipulated.”

“If they didn’t harbor greedy thoughts, would they be manipulated?” Yu Tang remained unmoved, saying disdainfully: “Even if this is a huge pit, they’re the ones choosing to jump in. Should we be blamed for not warning them? Even a three-year-old child knows there’s no such thing as a pie falling from the sky. As a main branch elder, he actually believes such good fortune exists—must we hold his hand and teach him the principle that ill-gotten gains shouldn’t be coveted?”

Yu Wen was persuaded by his daughter, saying: “So when they come, what should we say? Should we directly ask them for silver? How much would be appropriate?”

Yu Tang said: “With people like them, the more directly you ask for silver, the less suspicious they’ll be. Didn’t Uncle Lu originally sell that painting to you for two hundred taels of silver? We won’t ask for more—just two hundred taels of silver will do.”

“So much!” Yu Wen was greatly startled.

Yu Tang, however, was confident, saying: “Listen to me—you won’t go wrong. They could commit murder and force marriage over a painting—matters that can be resolved with silver are not matters at all.”

Yu Wen agreed somewhat uneasily.

Yu Tang asked the Qu family brothers to investigate.

Sure enough, someone had instigated the Lu family main branch by saying Lu Xin’s relics contained a painting worth four to five hundred taels of silver.

Yu Tang pondered for a long time.

When the Lu family main branch came calling with Lu Xin’s so-called heir, Yu Wen didn’t beat around the bush. He proposed two hundred taels of silver, and following what Yu Tang had told him to say, he brazenly stated: “That painting was originally sold to me for two hundred taels of silver. As for burial expenses and such, since he and I were like brothers, I’ll consider it my contribution to him—never mind that.”

The Lu family main branch was shocked, saying: “Why so much silver?”

Yu Wen pretended to be inscrutable as he drank his tea.

The Lu family main branch gritted his teeth.

If that painting could sell for five hundred taels of silver, after giving the Yu family two hundred taels, their family could still get more than half.

That person was still waiting for the painting!

To avoid complications from delay, the Lu family main branch agreed with his heart bleeding. He immediately went back to borrow two hundred taels of silver from the person who’d instigated them to collect the relics, delivered it to the Yu residence, wrote a transfer document, and took away Lu Xin’s “relics.”

Yu Wen looked at the four snow-white large silver ingots placed on the round table in the reception hall, feeling as if he were dreaming. He asked Yu Tang: “We earned two hundred taels of silver this easily?”

Yu Tang also laughed looking at the four snowflake silver ingots, saying: “Perfect—we can use it for Elder Brother’s wedding.” She even joked with her father: “Can I keep the dowry Mother prepared for me before?”