Chapter 293 Things are changing

Ye Jinrong's disaster had just begun. The next day, the government came to search their house and drove Wei Qi and Ye Jinrong out into the street. Maids, servants, grooms, etc., as long as they had indentures, were considered family property and all were confiscated.

Ye Jinrong was holding a child in her arms. The two of them were penniless and had nowhere to stay. Wei Qi wanted to go to her sister for help, so she took a pair of gold earrings that she had secretly hidden and pawned them in a pawnshop for a few silver ingots. She then called two horse carriages and headed straight to the countryside.

When Mu Qi saw her down-and-out elder sister coming to her for help, she laughed so hard that she couldn't straighten her back.

"Big sister, this is really a changing world!"

Wei Qi was embarrassed and said, "Sister, why do you say that? When you were in trouble, I took good care of you."

Mu Qi laughed angrily: "Yes, I took good care of you. It was because of you that I fell into this state. Now you still have the nerve to say that you took good care of me?"

"How can you blame us for what happened to my brother-in-law? He was the one who embezzled public funds and accepted bribes. Did we ask him to do these things?" Wei Qi argued.

Mu Qi sneered twice: "Well, we were blind and misjudged you. Now you have received retribution. This account is settled. No one owes anyone anything. From now on, we will have nothing to do with each other until we die!"

Wei Qi was panicking. She had nowhere to go. If her sister didn't take her in, she would have to live on the streets. She was poor and had low aspirations. Now was not the time to argue. She could only compromise and said pitifully, "Sister, you and I are both in trouble. Why should we make things difficult for each other? To be honest, if I had somewhere else to go, I wouldn't come to disturb you..."

Mu Qi raised her hand and interrupted her: "Big sister, you also know that I am a person in trouble. How can I be better than you? I should go out to beg for food, how can I take care of you? I'm sorry, you should go somewhere else! My brother-in-law has many friends in Jinling City, you can go find them!"

Wei Qi was so angry that she almost vomited blood. A rich man in a remote mountain area has distant relatives, while a poor man in a busy city has no one to care about him. Moreover, they are in trouble now, who will come to help them in their time of need? It would be better if they didn't add insult to injury.

"Sister, are you really so cruel? When you came to us for help, we always responded to your requests." Wei Qi said unwillingly.

Mu Qi sneered and said, "You always respond to requests? Big sister, you sound really nice. I was sick in bed and didn't even have money to buy medicine. Qin Chu went to ask you to borrow money, but you sent us away like beggars."

"We do have difficulties..." Wei Qi said guiltily.

Mu Qi turned around and told Mu Qinchu, "Qinchu, go get the twenty taels of silver and return it to your aunt."

Mu Qinchu glanced at his aunt coldly, turned back into the house, and took out twenty taels of silver in a moment: "Yes, not a cent less, not a cent more, twenty taels, I'll return it to you?"

Wei Qi asked anxiously, "What use should I have for these twenty taels?"

Mu Qi sneered and said, "Sister, you are asking me what the twenty taels of silver are for. I have always wanted to ask you this. It is up to you to take it or not. If you had been more generous at the beginning, I could have paid you back a little more. Now, there is nothing I can do."

Seeing that Mu Qi refused to take her in, Ye Jinrong felt sad. It didn't matter if she had to suffer, but how could she bear to let her child, who was still so young, suffer with her?
"Aunt, please, for the sake of the child..." Ye Jinrong begged.

Mu Qi looked at the baby, and a trace of pity flashed in her eyes. This child was born in the wrong womb! She had such a confused mother, and today's disaster was all her own fault.

Mu Qi hesitated for a moment, then said cruelly, "I'm sorry, I can't do anything. Qin Chu, please send the guest away."

If the younger one is left behind, the older one must be left behind. She has completely seen through their true colors and will never have anything to do with them again.

Mu Qinchu stepped forward and said coldly: "Please go ahead, my mother is still sick!"

After coming all the way here, but being turned away, Wei Qi cried again in frustration, cursing as she cried. Suddenly, she remembered, "The only solution now is to go to Yangzhou. Your father cannot ignore the affairs of the Wei family."

Ye Jinrong thought, now that her father still had to rely on her eldest brother-in-law and act according to her eldest sister's mood, how could he be willing to take care of the Wei family's affairs? Even if her father took her in, her life at home would not be easy. But what if her mother-in-law went with her? No, she had to get rid of this burden.

"Mom, are we just going to ignore Dad and Liu Jiang?" Ye Jinrong said sadly.

Wei Qi said: "We can't even take care of ourselves, how can we take care of them?"

Ye Jinrong thought to herself, her mother-in-law is so cruel. It is said that husband and wife are birds of the same forest, but they fly away separately when disaster strikes. It is absolutely true. She is not so cruel. She still can't let go of Liu Jiang. She thought about it and said, "Mother, the court should not have sent people to Jinan Prefecture to search and confiscate the property yet. We should return to Jinan immediately. The family property should be transferred and hidden. The more we can save, the better!"

When Wei Qi heard this, it was as if she had been enlightened. She was so frightened and angry that she forgot that she had a large family and abundant property in Jinan. If she could save a part of it, at least she would not have to starve or freeze.

"That's what you said. Let's go back to Jinan as soon as possible."

Ye Jinrong said, "Mother, we can't be without someone here! Someone has to be here to get the news. Why don't you go back to Jinan and I stay here? You can take all this money with you. It should be enough for the journey."

Wei Qi was worried. She had never traveled such a long distance alone. Every time she traveled, her master or the servants would take care of everything for her and she only needed to take a carriage or a boat. Now she had to go to Jinan alone. It was a long journey and she had no idea what to do!

Ye Jinrong knew her mother-in-law was useless, so she coaxed her: "I will help you rent a boat, and then go to the post station to send a letter to my second brother, asking him to pick you up in Jining. That will be fine. Mom, you must act quickly. If you are late, you will be at the end of your rope. As soon as I have any news, I will tell the family right away. Maybe Dad and Liu Jiang are fine."

Wei Qi was moved. Thinking that she might lose everything, she suddenly gained some courage. "Okay, then I'll go back to Jinan and you stay."

Ye Jinrong sent Wei Qi to the dock. There was a merchant ship about to depart for Jining. Ye Jinrong went to negotiate the price and sent Wei Qi on board.

Watching the boat go away, finally sending a big trouble away, Ye Jinrong looked at Bao'er in her arms, whose face was red without crying or making a fuss, and felt sad. Poor Bao'er, it's all mother's fault. I made you suffer with me...

Ye Jinrong put her hand to the child's tender face with heartache, but was shocked. It was so hot. The child had a fever. No wonder he didn't cry or make a fuss.

Ye Jinrong felt so distressed that it felt like she was being pricked by a needle, and she hurriedly took the child to see a doctor.

The doctor said that the child caught a cold and would be fine after taking some medicine.

Ye Jinrong asked how much the medicine cost.

The doctor said it was not expensive, two taels of silver would be enough.

Ye Jinrong reached for her purse out of habit, only to remember that all her money was with Wei Qi and had been taken away. She was truly penniless.

There was a day when even my child was sick and I couldn’t afford medicine.

Surprisingly, one day, she had to worry about two taels of silver.

One day, she would be poorer than the beggars on the street.

Ye Jinxuan wanted to cry but had no tears. She was so desperate that she wanted to die.

She begged the doctor to give her some medicine to save the child. The doctor saw that the clothes she wore were not made of materials that ordinary people could afford, so he thought she was not credible. He also thought she was a miser who was reluctant to spend money on her own child's medical treatment. He said contemptuously, "Then there is nothing we can do. If the child's illness is not treated early, it will become serious and fatal. After all, the child is still so young, she won't be able to hold on for long."

Ye Jinxuan was driven out of the pharmacy. She walked numbly on the street, holding her red-faced child. The streets of Jinling City were still prosperous, but the bustling crowds made her lonely figure look even more miserable. Her heart was clenched, so painful, like being stabbed by a knife, boiling in boiling oil. She had reached a point where there was no way out. What should she do? What should she do?
Just the day before yesterday, she and Liu Jiang were still planning what to do after returning to Jinan. Liu Jiang was full of confidence, saying that if they sold the house, they would have enough capital to start a small business even without their parents' subsidy. Besides, their parents couldn't bear to see them suffer...

As a result, the promised buyer did not show up.

As a result, Liu Jiang was arrested the next morning.

Could life be more ironic?
She never knew that heaven and hell were only one step away.

She sat dejectedly on the street, hugging Baoer tightly, tears streaming down her face.

Passersby cast curious glances at her, and a kind-hearted person even threw two copper coins at her feet. She reacted slowly, but suddenly remembered that she really needed the money. Just as she was about to reach out to pick it up, a pair of black hands reached out and picked up the copper coins before she could.

It was a middle-aged man with messy hair, a foul odor, and one arm missing. He said to her fiercely: "This is my territory. You look well-dressed, but you actually come to steal my job. Get out..."

Ye Jinrong was frightened and quickly hid away.

She was so sad that she didn't even have the qualifications to be a beggar!
She continued walking aimlessly, and finally came to the Qinhuai River. Looking at the rippling river surface illuminated by the setting sun, an idea came to her mind.

Jump, jump...jump and all will be over.

She took two steps forward as if possessed by a demon. If she took one more step, she would be free.

At this moment, Baoer in his arms suddenly burst into tears.

Suddenly she woke up. She was dead, but was Bao'er innocent? Bao'er was still so young, so pitiful and helpless. She should have had a brilliant life. She shouldn't have jumped into the river with her useless mother...

She opened her tearful eyes and looked around helplessly, with only three words echoing in her heart.

How to do?
Not far away, a three-story building with steep eaves stands majestically on the bank of the Qinhuai River.

She recognized that place; that was the Heavenly Residence.

She struggled for a moment, gritted her teeth, wiped away her tears, and walked towards Tianshangju resolutely.

(End of this chapter)