Chapter 52 Intersecting

  Intersection

  Having solved the elder sister's worries, Yin Ruofei thought of the second sister's pressing matter.

  The second sister has a straightforward and cheerful personality, and also gained her father's favor. With her elegant appearance and temperament, she was betrothed to a family of military officials.

  It's just that Yin Haicheng didn't investigate this marriage well, and the other party intentionally deceived him, which really misled people.

  Rui Qi's husband is the eldest son of General Gui De, although his official position is not too high, only a third-grade lower rank, and he was also under Yin Hai Cheng's command back then. However, General Gui De Song Zhenwei has a good character, steady and serious, and has a very good relationship with Yin Hai Cheng, who also intends to let his second daughter not join those literary officials' families, being bound by their complex rules and etiquette.

  He just didn't think that his kindness wouldn't bring good results.

  Song Zhenwei also had several wives and concubines, but he only had one son, Song Zirong, who was born to his first wife.

  General Song is often away from home, this only son has been spoiled to the extreme, not only did he not inherit his father's bravery and endurance, but instead he is a philanderer, narrow-minded, and spends his days going in and out of brothels and dance halls.

  At first, Mrs. Song was delighted to hear that she was the legitimate second daughter of the Hou family and felt that she had climbed high. As a result, Ruiqi married into the family, and Mrs. Song also wanted her son to take advantage of the Hou family's power to get a high official position, and also wanted to control her daughter-in-law, coveting the thick dowry that came with her marriage.

  Relying on Rui Qi's straightforward personality, if the Song family had difficulties, Mrs. Song came to ask her for help, that would be absolutely no problem. Unfortunately, Mrs. Song miscalculated and wanted to use the few maids who were originally in her house to coerce her into becoming a concubine.

  How could Rui Qi bear it, especially when he saw Song Zirong's embroidered pillowcase? He was neither good at literature nor martial arts, and from a young age, he had never held a knife or read books. He was truly incompetent. Yet, there were several concubines in the house who had been favored by him, and even more maidservants who had been touched but not acknowledged. This had long made Rui Qi feel stifled with anger.

  Song used this trick again, how could Rui Qi be convinced, and the whole family was in an uproar. Later, Yin Ruofei got into trouble, and Rui Qi went out of the house several times. Originally not liking her, coupled with Xiao Lin's deliberate hints, finally gave Song Furen the courage to put her under house arrest.

  Yin Ruofei didn't know about the twists and turns, but Mrs. Song's eyelids were shallow, and Song Zirong was a complete incompetent, and he was even worse to his second sister, which he knew very well. This life, Yin Ruofei had already made up her mind to let the Song family have a futile joy.

  These days, the Empress Dowager's body is not good, and she summoned Zewang to enter the palace. Because there was no declaration, Zewang did not want him to go either, so he continued to attend classes at Guozijian. Without Zewang, he can actually spend a whole day here.

  It's been over a month since Guozi supervised, but due to Rong Jingze's identity, no one has really talked to Yin Ruofei. The only people Yin Ruofei is familiar with are his three senior brothers.

  Seeing Zewang didn't come today, everyone couldn't help but get restless.

  Yin Ruofei inherited his parents' good looks, with red lips and white teeth that were very likable. Moreover, he was still young, only nine years old now, and in the Imperial Academy, he was considered one of the youngest.

  The crowd whispered among themselves and finally pushed forward a young man.

  The Imperial Academy is an official school, and although the majority of students are commoners, there are also a considerable number of children of imperial relatives and high-ranking officials. As for the identities of these people, Rong Xi had already informed Yin Ruofei about all of them early on.

  As she saw the young man approaching, Yin Ruofei also lifted her head.

  "Little brother Yin?" The young man had a handsome face, but his whole body exuded an air of being playful and irreverent, smiling and greeting Yin Ruofei with a mischievous grin.

  "Brother Xi Ling." Yin Ruofei nodded and smiled.

  In this national academy, basically being a student is older than him, and it's not excessive to call him "brother". Especially the young man in front of me, he is the eldest grandson of Xiling House of Yu State, with a very noble status, comparable to those princes and princesses.

  The Xiling family was a meritorious minister, assisting the emperor in gaining the world and having the merit of establishing the capital. Along with three other families, they were granted the title of Duke. After five generations, their rank was reduced to inherited titles. Now, this young master of the Xiling family is exactly the fifth generation. Of course, among the four major ducal families, only three remain today.

  In that year, he enfeoffed several dukes and marquises, including the House of Yin, who were all demoted to lower ranks after the Five Dynasties period. However, they were only nominal titles with no corresponding fiefs, and they only received salaries in silver.

  The four princes are doing well, apart from their own salary, the emperor bestows many riches every year, plus the silver and grain of the title, life is very easy.

  Other families are also barely passable, but the previous generation of the Marquis of Zhenjiang had few people, and the old marquis had no official position or great abilities. They almost relied on their title and stipend to make a living, and their days were spent in poverty. If it weren't for the efforts of the current dowager marchioness, who was the marchioness back then, they would have used up her entire dowry, and it's unlikely that they could have raised someone like Yin Haicheng to turn the family's fortunes around.

  Compared to other hereditary marquises, the Xiling family seems to be wandering outside, serving as officials in the court, but adhering to the doctrine of mediocrity. Everyone in the imperial court knows that the old master of the Xiling family is a kind-hearted person who smiles all day long.

  Rong Jingze had discussed it with him several times, Yin Ruofei didn't think so at first, but after listening to Rong Jingze's analysis, he realized that the old master of Xiling was actually a cunning and treacherous person.

  Not taking sides, not forming cliques, loyalty only to the Emperor, this is the true way of being a minister. The status and position of the Xiling House are already above those of other ministers, there is no need to do that kind of supporting work. With the power of the Xiling House, whoever among the princes succeeds to the throne will have to win them over, why bother making unnecessary sacrifices? Moreover, even if they support a new Emperor to take the throne, what more can be conferred on this dukal house, could it be that they would still confer an alien surname king?!

  It turns out that the royal family of Lu State was annihilated back then because they failed to support the son of Liu Fei, and were exterminated by the current emperor for the crime of treason.

  Thinking of this, Yin Ruofei didn't dare to clearly look at this young master of the Xi Ling family. With a grandfather like Xi Ling Shou, who knows what kind of person Xi Ling Hao is?

  "Does Young Master Yin know me?" Xiling Hao smiled and sat down beside Yin Ruofei, his face full of smiles, making people feel that this young man had probably never had any worries.

  "Your great reputation has long been admired by me."

  Xiling Hao is actually not very old either, he's only twelve years old this year. Before Yin Ruofei came, he was also one of the younger ones here.

  "Oh?" Xiling's smile became even more radiant. "So I'm that famous."

  Yin Ruofei smiled but didn't speak, this young master indeed had a reputation, unfortunately it wasn't a good one. Being mischievous and troublesome was top-notch, as for studying, forget about it.

  He is not like Rong Jingze, Rong Jingze's status is more noble than his, and he himself does not do anything, but only lets the people around him do it, which led to the two companions' previous actions.

  And this Xi Ling Hao is a master of framing his own family, climbing trees to catch birds, going up to the house to uncover tiles, tying firecrackers on his father's horse tail, and throwing his father's concubine's clothes all over the streets... He made even the current emperor unable to help but feel a chill for Xi Ling Dao.

  However, his father Xi Lingdao was also helpless. He was just the son of a national duke, and above him were still the old duke and the old lady. In the family, there was only one legitimate son, who was truly loved like an eyeball.

  Xiling Hao saw Yin Ruofei and began to proudly tell his heroic stories, speaking fluently and interestingly. Yin Ruofei listened intently, not knowing that someone could be so boastful.

  Seeing Yin Ruofei's interest, Xi Linghao became even more pleased with himself and leaned in close to him, telling him all about his affairs in great detail. Yin Ruofei's face showed surprise, but inside he was thinking of laughing.

  This young master is too funny, he's telling everything that happens at home, like which of his father's concubines is the most charming, which one cries the most, and what his sisters are like...

  Yin Ruofei sighed inwardly, wondering if this young master was truly so innocent or just putting on an act. Taking a closer look at his eyes, they were clear and transparent, without any hint of pretence; if he was indeed pretending, then Xiling Hao's age was not to be underestimated.

  But if this is true love...

  Yin Ruofei was not only worried about the West Hill Dao Ren, but also for the old master of West Hill. How did he raise such an unruly grandson?

  Before long, Mr. Sun arrived, and everyone picked up their books. Xiling sat down next to Yin Ruofei with a thick face. Yin Ruofei glanced at him but didn't say anything. Knowing more friends isn't a bad thing, who knows when you'll need them in the future.

  Unfortunately, once class started, Yin Ruofei regretted it. This guy simply wasn't here to study, his frequent small movements, plus occasionally pulling on his sleeves, made it almost impossible for him to focus on reading. Fortunately, now that Yin Ruofei's temper had been tempered by Rong Jingze, he didn't lose his cool, but only thought to himself, next time he would absolutely not let him sit beside him.

  Mr. Sun also saw that the little brother was disturbed, but he just smiled slightly and didn't say anything. In his opinion, it's a good thing for his disciple to be calm, but this child is too calm, lacking the liveliness that should be at this age, making him somewhat worried.

  The young master of the Xi Ling family, Mr. Sun also knew that he was mischievous and had a reputation all the way to the emperor. However, in Mr. Sun's opinion, although Xi Ling Hao was mischievous, he was straightforward and sincere in his emotions, and could be considered a friend.

  As expected, after school, Xiling's attitude became more intimate. Unlike before, it was no longer enthusiastic, but more normal.

  Yin Ruofei looked at him with some confusion, and Xiling Hao also seemed to have felt it, still smiling and turning his head to greet his friends.

  The crowd gathered around and spoke with Yin Ruofei, asking if he knew who they were.

  This was no difficulty for Yin Ruofei, who called out their names one by one.

  Those who were familiar with Xi Linghao were not very old, and a group of people listened with excitement as this beautiful child called out their names, also feeling quite proud. They were all friends of Xi Linghao's, naturally having similar temperaments, and many were notorious little tyrants, who could fight eight times in one day without getting tired before nightfall.

  After school was over for the day, Xi Ling Hao pulled Yin Ruo Fei along with them to go have some fun. Yin Ruo Fei thought about it for a moment, he wasn't really interested in playing around, but following Xi Ling Hao would also give him an opportunity to head back to the Hou Fu and take a look, so he nodded his head in agreement. He instructed the small servant waiting outside to go back to the Wang Fu and report that he would be returning in the evening.

  Under Yin Ruofei's request, several young men passed through the specialized market. Yin Ruofei thought of his grandmother and sister, thinking that when they passed by, he would give them some small things.

  "Yuerong, why are you still buying hair oil and pearl powder?" Xiling Hao looked at Yin Yuerong's large and small bags filled with purchases, somewhat perplexed. If they were all pastries, that would be fine, but why so many things used by girls?

  "There are many sisters at home." Yin Ruofei didn't explain much either.

  The author has something to say: Thank you, little sisters who voted for me! You are all angels! Because of you, yesterday's dinner evolved from steamed buns to roasted flatbread, haha.

  Fen Shui threw down a landmine

  Another landmine was thrown away

  He laid down a landmine.

  August osmanthus fragrance threw an earth mine

  The vast cold smoke threw down a landmine

  A small pond, two fish threw an earthmine