Yu Xin and Yu Yue, anxious throughout their tumultuous year, couldn’t help but hold Yu Yi tightly and cry.
Yu Yi gently patted her sisters’ shoulders to comfort them, then turned to the woman.
The woman smiled, “You must be Miss Yu. Early this morning, Chen Daren wrote a letter asking me to go to Lord Lei’s mansion to collect them and remove their slave status, and now I’ve brought them to you.”
Yu Yi said, “Thank you, sister-in-law.”
I wonder how much silver was spent on their redemption…”
The woman waved her hand, “Chen Daren wrote a letter. How could Lord Lei still charge redemption fees? Wouldn’t that mean he no longer wants to be an official?”
Yu Yi naturally understood this, but she couldn’t accept such a favor silently. She took out a small piece of silver to thank the woman and asked her to convey her gratitude to Chen Daren, promising to personally thank him later.
After the woman left, Yu Yi rented an additional room next to her original one, took Yu Xin and Yu Yue upstairs, and helped them bathe and eat. She then went out to find her mother, Yu Song-shi, hoping they could reunite as a family that very night.
The Song-surnamed merchant who had employed Yu Song-shi was quite reluctant to let her go. However, the merchant didn’t make things difficult for them. After learning they would still be in the capital, he proposed hiring Yu Song-shi as a female tutor to continue teaching his daughters.
Yu Yi, not wanting her mother to work too hard, was about to politely decline when Yu Song-shi agreed first, saying she would come once every other day, for half a day each time.
Leaving the family, Yu Yi walked arm-in-arm with her mother down the street, advising, “Mother, I now have some silver, which can help you and my sisters live comfortably. You don’t need to rush about earning money anymore. Why not find an excuse to resign? We’ll stay in the inn for now, and once we find an empty house to buy, we can move in. The sisters still need your care.”
Yu Song-shi was shocked, “Buy a house? Hui’er, how much silver do you have?”
“Several hundred taels,” Yu Yi said vaguely.
“Several hundred taels? How is that possible?”
