Rebirth of the High Family's Beloved

In his previous life, Xie Chengyin would not care at all if Yan Ci did not exist in the Yan family. But this life is different. Xie Chengyin still wants to rely on Yan Ci to solve many of his difficult problems, so naturally he has to protect the Yan family.

When Yan Ci returned to the Yan Mansion, the entire mansion was in a bleak state. Yan Ci went straight to the main courtyard, Zhilan Courtyard.

Yan Tonglin was wearing casual clothes and looked as if he had aged ten years. His usual high spirits had become a little depressed. Fortunately, Jiang Qingqing was sitting next to him, comforting him in a soft voice.

"Father, mother."

After Yan Ci entered the room, he bowed obediently and found a seat to sit aside.

In fact, several concubines were there earlier. After hearing that Yan Tonglin was suspended, they immediately ran to Zhilan Courtyard and asked how they would live in the future, whether they would go to jail, etc.

Yan Tonglin, who was already upset due to his suspension, became even more confused.

Jiang Qingqing then sent everyone away, and Yan Ci came back.

Yan Tonglin's mood, which had just calmed down, became a little angry again when he saw Yan Ci.

Although Yan Ci has become accustomed to calling him father instead of uncle, she and Yan Tonglin don't have much interaction. She respects him for Jiang Qingqing's sake, and Yan Tonglin does not restrict her for Jiang Qingqing's sake.

The biological father and daughter lived in peace with each other.

Yan Tonglin raised his eyes and looked at Yan Ci, suppressed the unhappiness in his heart and stood up, "You two mother and daughter can talk, I'll go lie down in the inner room for a while."

It was obvious that Yan Tonglin didn't like seeing Yan Ci, especially at this time.

Yan Ci didn't say much. After watching Yan Tonglin leave, he took the initiative to sit next to Jiang Qingqing and asked about the inside story.

Speaking of which, although Yan Tonglin and Jiang Qingqing have been married for less than a year, because Jiang Qingqing is considerate, Yan Tonglin will come back and tell Jiang Qingqing about everything that happens outside.

Jiang Qingqing is smart. She knows when to listen, when to comfort, and when to give small suggestions. She has a good grasp of Yan Tonglin, which makes Yan Tonglin trust her very much.

So there is no difference between Yan Ci asking Jiang Qingqing and asking Yan Tonglin.

"What on earth happened?"

Jiang Qingqing frowned. "This morning, a large number of refugees poured in outside the Eastern Capital. Upon investigation, we found out that they were forced to flee from famine by taxes. The emperor heard about this and said that the Ministry of Revenue was not properly managed. He held everyone in the Ministry accountable. Your father was suspended from his post as the main person responsible. The investigation is still ongoing. I don't know if it will get worse."

"But I didn't notice anything unusual when I went out this morning. How come I didn't see the refugees you mentioned?"

"It is said that the city defense soldiers closed the city gates in time, so only a few people poured in. The officials have already settled the large number of refugees. But your father... Alas!"

Jiang Qingqing sighed. She had no family of her own any longer. Now that her husband's family was in trouble, it was very difficult to find anyone to help. She could only rely on the people Yan Tonglin had close ties with in the court to help put in a few words.

This matter concerns the people's livelihood and is what the emperor attaches the most importance to. As the Minister of Revenue, Yan Tonglin cannot escape his responsibility.

At this juncture, His Majesty had just lost his temper. Even if someone in the court wanted to say a few words to help, they did not dare to speak openly at this time.

It seems that Yan Tonglin's suspension from work and stay at home will not be long.

Yan Ci briefly understood the situation and thought about going out to see the refugees.

What you hear may not be as good as what you see. Since the incident has already happened and Yan Tonglin has been suspended from his post, His Majesty's words cannot be changed. All she can do is to see if there is any way to reduce Yan Tonglin's guilt.

Yan Tonglin was an official from Beijing. Although he was responsible for the problems at the local level, he was not primarily responsible. Moreover, Jiang Qingqing had just said that the people fled famine because of taxes, and the root cause was taxes.

But taxes are collected every year, and there haven’t been a large number of refugees. Why did a problem arise this year?

She had to dig deeper and investigate. She would never be able to find out the truth just by listening to what others said.

While thinking about this, Yan Ci returned to Liufangyuan and asked Chunzhi to find the most worn-out clothes.

Chunzhi had some doubts in her heart, but still followed the instructions and took out Yan Ci's old clothes from the bottom of the box.

Yan Ci looked at the clothes that were old but exquisitely designed. He picked up the scissors in the basket and started cutting the exquisitely embroidered parts of the clothes.

Chunzhi opened her mouth in surprise. When she came to her senses and tried to grab the scissors, her beautiful clothes had been cut into several holes.

Chunzhi looked at the clothes with tears in her eyes, her eyes full of heartache, "Girl, what are you doing? Even though the clothes are old, they won't be damaged. You can still make some patterns out of them."

Yan Ci spread out the clothes and looked at them with satisfaction as the beautiful clothes turned into a piece of rag. Without saying a word, he took off his own clothes and put on the torn ones.

Chunzhi pouted, "Girl, why are you wearing this dress when it's so torn?"

Yan Ci turned around happily and asked, "Chunzhi, do I look like a beggar?"

"More than that, beggars don't wear clothes with holes. They all know to make a pudding, otherwise there will be air leaks."

Yan Ci chuckled. Why didn't she think of that? Then he took off his clothes and stuffed them into Chunzhi's arms. "Chunzhi, you are right. Then please mend these holes. I will wear them after you have mended them."

She also reminded Chunzhi, "Make the stitches rougher, don't make them too delicate."

Chunzhi was a little confused about what the girl meant. She cut up the good clothes and then had to mend them before wearing them. What kind of fashionable way of dressing was this?

He sat on a low stool holding the basket, found the holes as big as tea bowls, found some old cloth, and began to mend the holes.

While mending the clothes, he felt heartbroken. The material of the clothes was so good. If it had not been cut to pieces, he could have sold it for two taels of silver.

Chunzhi was a deft hand, and in no time she had patched up all the big holes. Although the stitches were thick as Yan Ci had instructed, it was still much more delicate than the real beggar's pudding sold outside.

Yan Ci looked at the mended clothes, put them on, and smeared some dirt from the flower bed outside on her face. In just a short while, Yan Ci went from being a clean and innocent lady to a poor little beggar.

Chunzhi now finally understood her young lady's behavior.

"Girl, you are pretending to be a refugee!"

Yan Ci pinched Chunzhi's little face with his dirty little hands, "You finally got smarter, help me see if it looks like it?"

Chunzhi nodded, "Yes, but your hair is too neat."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Ci looked up and touched his hair, taking off all the hair accessories and ruffling his hair into a mess.

Now Yan Ci was not only a refugee, but also a refugee who had suffered a great disaster.

After everything was ready, Yan Ci went out.