Chapter 2

Ding Yi hesitated for a moment, then, following the knowledge he had learned from martial arts novels, he added, "Forget it, we've been master and servant for so long, and part of the same family. Give them ten taels of silver as severance pay so they won't be left without a means of livelihood if they can't find a new master."

"This..." Uncle Zhong, the steward, was taken aback, his face clearly showing his hesitation.

Before he could speak, the servants had already "thud," "thud," knelt all over the ground, bowing their heads to the blue stone floor, blood and tears streaming down their faces, "Young Master, your great kindness, we, we can never repay in this life, even if we become oxen or horses in the next..."

"Alright, live well, sigh, but don't spend all the money before finding a new master, and end up selling your children, then I'll have to talk to you." The servants wiped away their tears and nodded repeatedly.

After saying this, Ding Yi turned to the old steward and said, "Uncle Zhong, after you settle their accounts, come to my study." No one is omniscient; if Marie Curie were to compete with a Chinese village grandmother in knitting sweaters, the grandmother would surely outperform the great scientist by a mile. After all, Ding Yi was neither an economist nor a historian, and he felt that giving ten taels of silver to each family, totaling thirty to fifty taels, was not enough for Guo Jing to order a dish for Huang Rong. Was it really that serious?

With a sense of self-satisfaction from his generous act, he turned and walked toward his study. The impact of the scholars on Ding Yi was still very strong, so he planned to search through the study to see if he could find more relics related to the cause of death of this body, and to understand how the scholar hanged himself and why the scholars staged this drama.

As he hurriedly flipped through the books, the door creaked open.

A large copper basin entered first, followed by a pair of white, slightly rough hands, which exuded a healthy vitality despite the labor. Then he saw a porcelain-like face, about thirteen or fourteen years old, quite delicate. The basin was too heavy for her, and to prevent it from spilling, she pursed her lips and moved carefully, making her look extremely adorable.

She had just turned to face him when she saw Ding Yi looking at her with a surprised expression. Her already pale face turned almost bloodless, and her hands trembled, spilling the basin of water on the ground. Before Ding Yi could speak, she "thud" knelt in the puddle, pulled out a pair of scissors from her sleeve, and pressed it against her own throat.

"Young Master, don't send Yu'er away, please don't send Ruyu away! Yu'er doesn't want the silver... Yu'er has been your personal maid since childhood, ever since Master saved me from the human traffickers, I never planned to leave. If Young Master insists on sending Yu'er away, I don't know where to go, so..."

As she spoke, she pressed the scissors against her white neck.

"Stop!" Ding Yi's voice rang out as his hand cut into the wrist joint of the little girl. Though this body was weak, Ding Yi's consciousness was still there, and he wouldn't let a minor girl slit her throat in front of him.

"Ah!" The little girl screamed, the scissors flew out of her hand and stuck in the window frame.

The little girl was pulled into Ding Yi's arms, held under his armpit, unable to move, her face flushed with embarrassment and fear.

Looking at the pure face that should have been in junior high school, Ding Yi couldn't bear to scare her any longer.

Loosening his arm a bit, he frowned and asked, "You are Ruyu? My personal maid? Who said to send you away? When did I ever mention sending you away?"

"Young Master! What's wrong with you, you don't even remember Yu'er? Yu'er's name was taken from the 'White Horse' in the Book of Songs! Young Master, the order to disperse the family wealth just now, was it a rash command? I'll go tell Uncle Zhong, let him..."

The little girl, calling herself Ruyu, clearly didn't know that this Ding Yi was not the original young master. She was both shy and happy, and her words were hard for Ding Yi to understand.

Someone like her, with no family, raised in the Ding family, and assigned to serve the young master from a young age, should have been taken in long ago. But the young master always had something on his mind, something he couldn't let go of...

Just as she was blushing and feeling weak all over, she suddenly heard a very deliberate cough from outside the room, "Ahem!"

Ruyu, like a startled magpie, darted out from under Ding Yi's arm, grabbed a cloth, and mopped up the water on the ground, then wrung it into the copper basin, saying, "Young Master, calm down, calm down! I'll clean up and fetch new water to wash your feet..."

The person coughing at the door pretended to know nothing and loudly reported, "Young Master, the old servant has prepared the accounts, and needs you to review them."

Ding Yi didn't know why Uncle Zhong had come, but this old steward was clearly a loyal servant, so he said, "Uncle Zhong? Come in."

Uncle Zhong, holding a thick ledger, walked in, his face so tense it could have squeezed out water, "Young Master, the rewards have been ordered as you said, but the family can't raise that much silver at once. We need to pawn some items for a few days. When the autumn rent is collected..."

"Pawn items?" Ding Yi's brows furrowed. How could a seemingly prosperous family be short of thirty to fifty taels of silver?

It seemed that thirty to fifty taels of silver was not as insignificant as he thought.

"When I promised the rewards, there were only fifteen or sixteen people, about three or four families. Ten taels per family, and we need to pawn items?"

Uncle Zhong sighed, his wrinkles deepening, "Young Master, there are four families, totaling forty taels... In recent years, the annual rent has been about fifty taels... By pawning some items, we should be able to raise the money. As for the silver your father left for your studies, it must not be touched!"

"Young Master was confused and spoke rashly just now!" Ruyu suddenly raised her head from the ground and interjected.

"That's fine, I'll tell them to reduce it to two taels. Two taels should be enough to support them for half a year!" Uncle Zhong's face relaxed, put down the ledger, and was about to leave.

"Wait!" Ding Yi quickly stopped him. This needed to be clarified. No one is a god, and making mistakes is not scary; what's scary is pretending to know and muddling through, only to make the same mistake again. So Ding Yi sincerely asked Uncle Zhong, "Ten taels per family, is that a lot? Uncle Zhong, I've had a lot on my mind lately, and my mind isn't very clear. Tell me, how much rice can ten taels of silver buy? What is their monthly salary, or monthly wage, roughly?"

"Old servant thought Young Master usually doesn't care about these things and was just angry, so he spoke harshly to shame them. Who would have thought these ungrateful fellows would take advantage of the situation!" Uncle Zhong first scolded the servants outside, then began to answer Ding Yi's question, "How much rice ten taels of silver can buy depends on the year and the price of rice, but at the very least, it should be fifty shi." [Note]

"What? Fifty shi!" Ding Yi couldn't help but widen his eyes. This was too bizarre! A casual reward turned into two hundred shi? This wasn't a few bags of rice, but tens of thousands of pounds! He looked at the old steward, incredulous, "Uncle Zhong, Uncle Zhong, is this correct? Ten taels of silver can buy so much rice?"

"Ten taels of silver, if used to buy a house, the house on our left, which was sold last year, cost 140 taels of silver. I was the intermediary and remember it clearly!"

Even with his strong mental fortitude, Ding Yi felt dizzy. In the courtyard, there were sixteen people from four families, and he had given ten taels to each family, totaling forty taels. This was equivalent to giving away a quarter of the ancestral home, including the furniture, and possibly some calligraphy and antiques to make up the amount.

Oh no, oh no! Being generous shouldn't be this excessive! No wonder Ruyu said he was dispersing the family wealth; he was truly ruined by Jin Yong!

Just as he was regretting it and thinking of banging his head against the wall, he heard someone call from the door, "Brother Rujin, I, Peng Zhang, have come to visit!"

"Peng Zhang?!" This name was vaguely familiar to Ding Yi, but very blurry. He couldn't help but feel nervous. In his fragmented memory, Peng Zhang, Peng Jingxian, was a close friend. The newly possessed Ding Yi wasn't afraid of old friends cutting ties or servants leaving, but he was most afraid of meeting his former friends!

Because these scholars, if they started reciting poetry and engaging in literary exchanges, it wasn't something a literary copycat could handle—like the little girl's name, Ruyu, with her porcelain-like white skin, the name was fitting, indeed, she was as pure as jade. But how did it come from the 'White Horse' in the Book of Songs? How would Ding Yi know? And the courtesy name of this body, Rujin, who knew what literary reference it came from...

But with the person at the door, Ding Yi had no choice but to grit his teeth and go out to greet him, forcing a smile and bowing, "Brother..." Before he could finish, a carriage came rushing down the street, stopping at the door. The curtain was lifted, and a delicate face, streaked with tears, appeared, and soft lips parted, "Ding Lang..."

Ding Yi felt his head spin. Fortunately, the old steward, Uncle Zhong, had somehow negotiated with the servants, probably persuading them to stay until the end of the day. He led the servants out to help the woman off the carriage, rewarded the driver, and had someone take care of the horse.

"Ding Lang, my father will soon come to break off the engagement!" The woman, once seated, tears streaming down her face, said, "I am a member of the Ding family, alive or dead! If things get out of hand, I would rather..."

[Note]: According to "A History of Chinese Currency" published in 1958, page 464: "During the Zhengtong period... the price of rice was 100 guan per shi... In the third year of the Jingtai period... 500 guan of paper money was equivalent to one tael of silver..."

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