After that, Song Yifeng would repeatedly decline, putting on an appearance of great integrity. Finally, “unable to refuse such earnest kindness,” he would accept the money.

Now Madam Yu was planning to use this tactic again.

Though Xiao Xiang despised this in her heart, she had no choice. Besides Nanny Xia, she dared not speak her grievances to anyone else, fearing that if Madam Yu and Song Yifeng found out, they would sell her to a brothel.

Madam Yu had just finished a cup of tea and was about to go to the kitchen to check on the cook’s dinner preparations when she heard the door open, and Guizi’s voice came from outside. She quickly called Xiao Xiang to open the door.

Soon after, Song Yifeng entered with Guizi.

“All of you, get out,” Song Yifeng barked at Xiao Xiang and Guizi.

Seeing her son’s unusual expression, Madam Yu anxiously asked once the servants had left: “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Song Yifeng walked to the doorway and looked outside. He saw Xiao Xiang walking toward the kitchen, while Guizi was carrying his book bag to the study.

Only then did he lower his voice and say to Madam Yu: “Mother, on my way back, I encountered two men who looked like tea merchants. They said the Ye family is selling private tea.”

Madam Yu was startled.

Though she wasn’t a merchant and didn’t understand the Jin Dynasty laws well, because the Ye family was in the tea business, she knew that smuggling tea was a serious crime—one that could even affect her son’s future career prospects.

“How could that be? Isn’t Old Master Ye known for always abiding by the law, being kind and generous? He’s even the head of the guild. How could he be selling private tea?” she asked nervously.

Song Yifeng shook his head: “We don’t have people working for us, so it’s impossible to verify. However, I heard those two men speak with absolute certainty, saying that the Fourth Master Ye obtained private tea through that Meng Chengwei. They mentioned the name so clearly—could it not be true?”

“What should we do?” Madam Yu panicked. “Why don’t we break off the engagement? We were going to break it off sooner or later anyway, so we shouldn’t delay any longer.”

Song Yifeng remained silent for a moment.

Madam Yu knew her son was hesitating and tried to persuade him: “Before, we had no excuse, but now the Ye family has handed us leverage. If we don’t use this opportunity to break off the engagement, what are we waiting for?”

Song Yifeng wasn’t reluctant to break the engagement; he was contemplating the feasibility of this plan.

Hearing his mother’s persuasion, he nodded: “Fine, I’ll find a way to break off the engagement tomorrow.”

“But after breaking the engagement, we’ll have to endure some hard days,” Madam Yu sighed. “Fortunately, over these years, we’ve acquired some fields and have rent income, so we can manage even if money is tight. What I fear is that the Ye family won’t let us off and will demand we return all the money they’ve given us over the years.”

On this matter, Song Yifeng wasn’t worried.

He had thought about this problem long ago.

He snorted coldly: “The Ye family is are mere merchant. Do they dare to go against me? Aren’t they afraid that if I pass the imperial examination and become an official, I could make things difficult for them? Even if I can’t serve as an official in Lin’an, my classmates, colleagues in the government, and officials like Lord Wang—making life difficult for the Ye family would be too easy. The Ye family will see this clearly and won’t force us to return the money.”

Hearing this, Madam Yu’s furrowed brow did not relax.

All these years, they had relied on the Ye family’s money to live comfortably. Not only did they eat chicken, duck, fish, and meat daily, wear fine silks and satins, command servants, and live in a large house, but they also saved a considerable amount each year, acquiring ten to twenty mu of land.

Though they acquired little land each year, it accumulated, and now they owned about a hundred mu of land.

Thinking about not having the Ye family’s money in the future, with only expenses and no income, Madam Yu felt distressed.

When she had first brought her son to Lin’an to make a living, the hardship she experienced made her fear living without money. Having money gave her a sense of security.

Song Yifeng noticed his mother’s anxiety and comforted her: “Mother, don’t worry. After I passed the provincial examination, didn’t many people want to register their land under my name to avoid taxes? They give us twenty percent of the harvest as rent every year. These rents altogether amount to several hundred taels. Also, now that I’ve passed the provincial examination, my paintings fetch higher prices than before.”

“If Lord Wang intends to take me as his son-in-law, I won’t need to spend money attending poetry gatherings anymore, which would save a substantial amount. I’m already eighteen, and after breaking this engagement, I can immediately get engaged again. Whether I marry Lord Wang’s daughter or another official’s daughter, they will certainly have dowries. The difficulties are only temporary and are for our future prosperity and wealth. Mother, please bear with it for a while.”

These provincial examination graduates would occasionally hold poetry and literary gatherings, intending to spread their poetic and literary fame, hoping officials in the capital would learn of and appreciate their works. They would also invite officials like Wang Wenzhi to attend these gatherings to elevate their status.

These poetry and literary gatherings required money. It was acceptable to let wealthy classmates cover the expenses once or twice. But with frequent gatherings, at least once a month, it became inappropriate to ask others to pay, so the costs were shared among the attending scholars.

To attend poetry and literary gatherings, one had to wear clothes no less fine than others and carry a jade pendant of comparable value.

These were all substantial expenses.

And previously, all this money came from the Ye family.

Now that Song Yifeng had explained, regardless of what Madam Yu truly felt inside, on the surface, she appeared comforted by her son’s words.

She smiled and said: “I didn’t say anything. No matter how difficult it gets, I support you in breaking off the engagement with the Ye family. One must look far ahead and not be fixated on immediate small gains.”

Song Yifeng nodded with satisfaction: “Then I’ll use this matter to break off the engagement.”

Outside the back window, a thin vagrant was quietly crouching at the base of the wall, listening. Seeing that the mother and son inside had stopped talking, with Madam Yu going to the kitchen and Song Yifeng returning to his study, the vagrant quietly retreated.

When they had bought this residence, Madam Yu, under the pretext of making it convenient for Ye Yaming to accommodate her attendants after marriage, had planned to buy this fairly large two-courtyard compound and pretended to borrow money everywhere.

She knew the Ye family wouldn’t let them borrow money; it was just a roundabout way to make the Ye family pay.

Since they had contributed some money to buy the house, albeit a very small portion, the Ye family couldn’t comfortably put the house in Ye Yaming’s name as her dowry, so it was registered under Song Yifeng’s name.

Using the Ye family’s silver to buy the house, if Ye Yaming didn’t obey in the future, she could tell Ye Yaming to get out, and Ye Yaming would have to leave. Wasn’t this better than living in a residence that was part of her daughter-in-law’s dowry, where she couldn’t assert her authority as a mother-in-law?

Madam Yu had calculated well.

And things indeed developed as Madam Yu had anticipated. The Ye family didn’t let them borrow money, but directly sent silver over.

Greedily buying this two-courtyard compound, the Song family had only two masters and three servants. Determined to save money to acquire more land, Madam Yu was unwilling to hire more servants as guards, which now made it convenient for the vagrants and ruffians hired by Zhou Xiang.