Cherish...this blessing.
Zheng Ruqian smiled gently, the knots in his heart somehow unraveling. He looked up at Ren Lord, "Do you think so too?"
Ren Lord hesitated for a moment without denying it.
No matter how luxurious the silk and satin Zheng Ruqian wore, they were still just silk and satin. There was also gauze, lace, brocade, silk, and countless other precious and rare fabrics above them.
Money could buy silk and satin, but it could not buy power or connections.
"My child," Ren Lord earnestly advised, "I know you've been resentful all these years, but as long as you are a child of the Ren Family, you will get your fair share."
Even now, the most critical thing was still bloodline.
If even the Jiang family could not find a way to identify Jiang Sheng, how could the Ren Family identify Zheng Ruqian?
A blood test was not an option, dates could be faked, even looks and build could find replacements in the vast sea of people. In the end, it came down to that yearning for one's kin, and being full of love and care.
Not just simply preserving the bloodline and descendants.
Zheng Ruqian touched the ugly mesh bag his sister had made and lost the resentment from earlier. He no longer cared about being related by blood or not. Instead, he was rather interested as he asked, "Dare I ask, Ren Lord, how will you treat me after recognizing me back?"
"Of course to restore you as the second young master of the Ren Family. To arrange tutors for you, and find a wife for you when you come of age." Ren Lord looked delighted. "As long as you are a child of the Ren Family, how can we mistreat you?"
"Oh." Zheng Ruqian looked thoughtful. "Then may I ask, how would that compare to the eldest young master?"
Ren Lord was stunned again.
Unable to restrain himself, the steward behind spoke up, "How dare you compare yourself to the eldest young master? The eldest young master is the legitimate heir, while you are just the son of a courtesan. Our lord is being gracious to you, so you should be grateful. How can you compare yourself to the legitimate heir?"
The difference between legitimate and illegitimate was as great as that between heaven and earth.
The Ren Family’s heir could be matched to the daughter of a third-rank senior official, while an illegitimate son usually matched with a merchant's daughter.
The Ren Family’s heir would get the full support of the whole family, while an illegitimate son only received occasional favor.
It made no sense to sire illegitimate children, then tell them that their birth decided everything, that they could never be as noble as the legitimate heirs.
In that moment, Zheng Ruqian understood Zhu Changyu's resentment.
He also understood that in the Ren Family's eyes, he was just a stray bloodline.
Nothing more.
He no longer felt disappointed or knotted up inside. He lifted his head, his square face full of sincerity.
"I cannot shoulder the Ren Family's good fortune, nor am I related to them. I came this time purely for the two Eastern Pearls. Ren Lord, if you can bear to part with them, I am willing to pay double the silver. If it's too hard for you to part with them, then I am unwilling to delay time pointlessly."
He cupped his fists, every move carrying the shrewdness and efficiency of a businessman.
The steward's brows furrowed, filled with shock and suspicion.
Ren Lord sighed. "My child, what's the point of comparing yourself to the heir? Coming back to the Ren Family would only benefit you in terms of power, connections, money..."
At this, Zheng Ruqian threw his head back and laughed loudly three times.
The Ren Family was indeed a prominent household, and the Ren Family eldest young master did indeed have boundless prospects, but what did that have to do with him?
Did he lack for power?
Connections?
Money?
Wearing silk was just having more colorful options, not that he couldn't afford gauze, brocade, or silk. He was no longer that little young master bawling behind the doors of a brothel. He was Merchant Prince Zheng the Second.
"It appears Ren Lord is unwilling to sell the pearls." Zheng Ruqian cupped his fists. "Since that is the case, I shall take my leave."
The two turned to go, not dragging things out.
Ren Lord was shocked again, seemingly not having expected that someone would be unmoved by the Ren Family's power.
If those words came from the steward's mouth, it was because he felt guilty for neglecting this child for eighteen years. As long as the child was willing to return to the Ren Family and be an illegitimate son, he would definitely be able to enjoy wealth and comfort for life.
But what if the child was unwilling?
Ren Lord lightly stroked his chest, his fingertips touching something hard. Hurriedly taking it out, he called out with all his strength, "Wait...the pearls, they're yours."
Some fatherly love, though meager, still existed.
So meager that two Eastern pearls could make up for it, so meager that two days would be enough to get over it.
Zheng Ruqian halted his steps and pondered briefly before turning back to take the two pearls from Ren Lord's hands. Seeing the hopeful look in Ren Lord's eyes, he put two ingots of gold on the table.
The fatherly love you imagined, in the child's eyes, was merely an equal transaction.
Having examined the pearls, Zheng Ruqian put them back inside his clothes. He did not even glance at the magnificent Ren manor as he turned and strode away.
He seemed to be venting some emotions, his strides growing bigger and faster, as if competing in a race.
Wang Xiaosong had no choice but to scramble to keep up. When Zheng Ruqian's pace slowed, he softly asked, "Master, are you upset?"
"No, I'm not." Zheng Ruqian wiped the corners of his eyes. "If I were eight years old today, I surely would be heartbroken, but I'm already eighteen. How could I possibly still feel sad?"
"Then just now, why were you..." Wang Xiaosong trailed off hesitantly, unsure if he should ask.
Zheng Ruqian turned his head. He still had that square face and thick brows, large eyes. "I was just thinking, the eighteen-year-old Merchant Prince Zheng who resisted the temptation to return to the Ren Family, if I hadn't met my sister when I was nine, if I weren't a royal merchant, an imperial brother-in-law, prefectural elder brother, would I have obediently gone back to be an illegitimate son?"
Perhaps he might have.
In some parallel world, little Ruqian was brought back to the unfamiliar Ren Family manor, met an unfamiliar legal wife, surrounded by unfamiliar servant girls and errand boys. How difficult would those days have been?
The initial unfamiliar guilt, under days and days of disappointment, how would it have sharpened into blades, cutting that nine-year-old abandoned child?
He had once envied his third and fifth brothers’ distinguished backgrounds, had once yearned for wealthy and powerful parents. Only at the moment when his dream came true did he realize that prominent families were not necessarily a good thing, and wealthy powerful parents did not necessarily favor him.
External money and power were ultimately just external forces. True backbone came from oneself, from endless striving night and day.
He was Merchant Prince Zheng the Second. He had brothers and a sister, and countless businesses, countless long-term and short-term workers, countless silver and money.
Whether it was father or mother, let them go with the wind!
The two reached Treasure Street. The horse was still neighing in place. Wang Xiaosong untied the reins as the master and servant pair prepared to return to Anshui Prefecture.
But they had not taken two steps before a young girl with a square face blocked their way, yelling hoarsely, "Are you a child of the Ren Family? Are you my elder brother? I'm called Ren Jiaojiao. I want to see my second elder brother!"
Zheng Ruqian rubbed the smooth, lustrous pearls in his palm and lifted the curtain. "No, I have a younger sister. She's waiting for me to go home to Anshui."
Then he held up the pearls and inspected them, determining they would look very beautiful inset upon the embroidered shoes. Satisfied, he dropped the curtain.
"Xiaosong, let's go home."
"To inset the shoes for my sister."
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