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Chapter 43: Reward
Three years ago, Teacher Pei had just been relegated to Wuzhou by the imperial court, and she was by his side.
Teacher Pei had the habit of reading the newspaper every day, even though it was mostly a few days old when it reached him.
The first time she saw the name Zhu Ruomei was in a few of the newspaper that had been delayed for several days.
In that year, the Empress Dowager Qianqiu, Xiao Jingxi, the second son of the Yanbei Palace, went to Beijing to celebrate the Queen Mother’s birthday on behalf of the Yanbei Palace.
It is rumored that the second son of Prince Yanbei is not only picturesque, but also extremely intelligent.
Teacher Pei commented on the second son of the Xiao family who had met once, and used four words: Beautiful, amazing talent, and peerless.
Ren Yaoqi was amazed to hear such a high opinion of others from Teacher Pei who thought highly of himself. After all, she has lived in Yanbei for 16 years, so she doesn’t know much about the Second Young Master Xiao. His elder brother, Prince Yanbei’s heir who is the hostage in capital, has heard her father mention it several times, because the son’s paintings are not bad.
It’s a pity that Second Young Master Xiao is seriously ill. It is said that he will cough up blood even if he walks a few more steps. His health is worse than that of her Third Brother Ren Yijun, who has been weak since childhood.
Second Young Master Xiao’s southward trip made everyone worry, fearing that his carriage bumped on the road and he would be sent to meet the King of Hell. Fortunately, Second Young Master Xiao arrived in capital safely in the end.
Empress Dowager Yan liked Xiao Jingxi very much. Empress Dowager Yan’s niece, Miss Yan’s family fell in love with him at first sight, and vowed not to marry unless with him. In the end, the queen mother decreed that Miss Yan would be married to the second son Xiao who had never married a wife because of his poor health.
Originally, it was also a beautiful thing, but God doesn’t like beauty.
Xiao Jingkang, the eldest son of Prince Yanbei, was shot to death at this time. At the same time, Xingzhou, Xiangzhou and Xuzhou suddenly had a large-scale bandit rebellion, which shocked the government and the public.
It was at this time that the name “Zhu Ruomei” frequently appeared in the newspapers of various states and counties. He was the leader of this bandit rebellion.
When the imperial court resolutely suppressed the rebellion and was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the second son of the Xiao family who was supposed to stay in capital instead of the late eldest son and marry Miss Yan suddenly disappeared in the capital.
There were rumors that the Second Young Master Xiao was afraid of ending up like Xiao’s heir, so he took advantage of the chaos and secretly returned to Yanbei.
Some people also said that the gangster “Zhu Ruomei” was actually a miner in the Yanbei Coal Mine, and because he was appreciated by the discerning eyes of Second Young Master Xiao, he became a fierce general in the Yanbei Palace. The Yanbei Prince’s Mansion has long had the intention of rebelling, and the Xiao family’s intentions can be punished.
Anyway, after Xiao Jingxi got away, Zhu Ruomei also disappeared.
After that, Yan Family Eldest Miss took her dowry and left Beijing with great fanfare to come to Yanbei to find her husband. As for the result, there were too many rumors, and it was difficult to tell the truth from the false.
Ren Yaoqi didn’t have much interest in inquiring about this kind of thing, because what she saw in her eyes was not a poignant and touching love story, but an obvious political conspiracy.
The Yanbei Palace and the imperial court had an unclear account, and Ren Yaoqi hadn’t settled this account until she woke up and returned to Ren’s house.
But she remembered the name Zhu Ruomei.
Although there is no way to verify whether this Zhu Ruomei is the same Zhu Ruomei during her tenure, she has discussed the rumors with Teacher Pei. It is true that many of them are rumors, but they are not all rumors.
When they got back to the greenhouse, the competition outside was in full swing. Even the normally gentle ladies couldn’t help clenching their fists and cheering.
Ren Yaoqi sent Xue Li to bring money to the maid who went back and forth with a bamboo basket to get a lottery, and let several servants around her go to their own games, only beckoning her mother Li’s beloved servants to stay.
“Fifth Miss, what is your order?” The nanny said respectfully.
In the greenhouse, only Ren Yaoqi was still sitting in the corner. Everyone was paying attention to the competition outside, but did not notice her. Ren Yaoqi took out a silver note worth 100 taels that Ren Shimin had given her earlier from her waist purse and handed it to the nanny.
“Before going out, Daddy asked me to give him a reward. You send this to that miner named ‘Zhu Ruomei’ you met earlier, and tell him that he has good skills. This is what the third master rewarded him.”
Nanny looked down at the bank note, her face was startled: “Fifth Miss, is this…too much?”
Ren Yaoqi looked helpless: “I also think it’s too much, but this is father’s intention, saying that I should find someone who has real ability to reward. I can’t secretly hide the reward he gave me, right?”
The nanny heard this and immediately had nothing to say. The third master has always been unpredictable, and they have no guts to disobey.
“By the way, send it quietly, and ask Zhu Ruomei to keep silent, otherwise he will hand over most of the money.”
Nanny also heard the conversation between Zhu Ruomei and Yuan Dayong before, and she immediately said: “Fifth Miss, please don’t worry, leave it to this slave.”
Ren Yaoqi nodded, and the nanny bowed and stepped back.
The nanny came back before the ice hockey game outside ended.
“Miss, he was very grateful for taking your money, and said he would set up longevity tablets for you and the third master.” Everyone likes to do good deeds, and the nanny replied very happily.
Ren Yaoqi was taken aback for a moment, and said with a wry smile: “What tablet do I want him to set up? Nonsense!”
The nanny covered her mouth and smiled: “There is such a custom in the countryside that a long-lived tablet should be set up for the benefactor who saves lives. However, this servant also felt that this was inappropriate. After all, you are still a girl, and we don’t like this, so we rejected it for you. He insisted on kneeling down and kowtowed to you and the master a few times. This person is very real, and he kowtowed really loudly. It’s just…it’s just that the man named Yuan Dayong seems to have heard the conversation between the slave and Zhu Ruomei.” Nanny looked at Ren Yaoqi with some anxiety.
Ren Yaoqi thought for a while, then shook her head and said, “It’s okay. Do you know who this Yuan Dayong is? It sounds like his father is the steward of our house?”
The nanny hurriedly said: “My servant just went to inquire. Yuan Dayong is the son of a steward of the outer court of our Renfu. Steward Yuan is mainly in charge of the affairs of some people in the outer court. Because steward Yuan is literate, Yuan Dayong also followed him. His father has learned to read and write, and now works as an accountant in a coal warehouse in Yunyang City.”
Sure enough, it was the nanny who was needed by Mrs. Li’s side, she can find out the situation clearly without explaining. Ren Yaoqi smiled and said, “Thank you for your hard work, nanny.”
Nanny hurriedly said that she didn’t dare.
At this time, the cheers outside were loud, and Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but look up at the door.
Ren Yaoyu was overjoyed, she clapped her hands and said, “We won, we won, we won!”
Ren Yaoying chuckled lightly and said, “Eighth Sister, who are you referring to as ‘we’? We haven’t seen you in the game.”
Ren Yaoyu looked at the contemptuous gazes cast towards her, her face turned red, she gritted her teeth and said in a low voice: “Ren Yaoying, didn’t you also bet on the Qing team! Humph! You are just a concubine’s bitch, just delusional!”
Ren Yaoying looked at Ren Yaoyu in shock when she heard the words, tears welled up in her eyes, and then turned her head to look at Ren Yaohua: “Third Sister! Do you hear what kind of words is Eighth Sister saying? She scolded me, scolded my birth!”
Ren Yaohua sank her face and interrupted with disgust: “Shut up! Are you trying to embarrass yourself!”
Seeing that something was wrong, the Eldest Young Madam also came to intervene.
Fortunately, the loud cheers outside suppressed their relatively modest quarrel. In addition, they were surrounded by other masters and their personal attendants, so they did not attract attention.