Ruan Ning was awakened from her dream, yawning. “Dad, don’t worry. I took advantage of him. If anyone’s going to be upset, it’ll be him, not me.”
Ruan Shi Xin was both relieved and worried, crouching outside her door until dawn, then tiptoeing back to bed beside Chen Shi.
The next morning, Ruan Shi Xin set out to find Ji Mingshao but found no trace. Passing through a forest, he saw constables coming and going. Upon inquiry, he learned they had found several burned, unidentifiable corpses with no known victims.
When he returned home, Ruan Shi Ming was waiting at the door. “Second Brother, County Magistrate Li’s sedan chair for your niece hasn’t left yet. Hurry and go, you can still give a wedding gift.”
Ruan Shi Xin’s face darkened. “I already gave two hundred taels.”
“That was the dowry money. Today is the gift money. They’re different,” Ruan Shi Ming insisted. “What, you think you can skip your big brother’s wedding now?”
Ruan Shi Xin shook him off and quickly entered, shutting the door. “I told you, we’re no longer brothers. Don’t come to my door again.”
Ruan Shi Ming cursed for a long time with no response. Seeing the time was late, he reluctantly went to send Ruan Qing off in the sedan chair. Before leaving, Ruan Qing lifted the curtain and coldly laughed: “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll definitely avenge this!
My second uncle, second aunt, and cousin have cursed you for marrying a young wife at your age. They scolded me for being shameless, becoming someone’s concubine, making them unable to hold their heads up in public.”
Magistrate Li, who had met Ruan Shixin before, recalled him as a local gentry who had welcomed him when he first took office and sent gifts during festivals. He frowned and said, “Your second uncle is Ruan Shixin? That doesn’t sound right. I thought he was quite reasonable.”
