CH 11

She had just recovered from her illness at that time when she overheard Momo1 Zhu talking with Jin Ju—the side maid of Concubine Fang—that Ren Yaoyu’s two maids had been sold from the estate, and that their old mother and sister-in-law came to ask the household servants to help them bring out the private savings that these two maids have collected over the years. They even promised to give some money to those who were willing to lend a hand. 

However, the two maids’ private rooms had long been swept clean by the old maids of Old Madam’s courtyard who took advantage of the situation when they searched for evidence in their room, and now, not even a copper had been left behind. 

Right away, the people in the estate gossiped that the two maids serving beside Ren Yaoyu were sold because they stole valuables from the Old Madam’s inner room. Momo Zhu also lamented that she didn’t know just how many good things those old maids of Ronghua Courtyard snatched up in the dark after that search. 

Jin Ju on the other hand, sneered at the actual reason. Those two maids were not driven out of the house for stealing, but because they dared conduct such dirty dealings in the Old Madam’s house which violated the Master’s taboo. 

Momo Zhu was just about to ask another question when someone outside of the room reported that Ren Yaohua had been driven out of the west wing for angering Old Madam. 

At that time, Ren Yaoqi lost face due to the incident wherein Ren Yaohua slapped her twice on the cheek, so she was pretending to be ill because she felt ashamed. When she heard this news at that moment, she was even secretly happy. 

After that, Momo Zhu helped her find out the reason why Ren Yaohua angered the Old Madam Ren, and it was due to the matter of her framing Ren Yaoyu having been exposed by the Fifth Madam. 

It’s just that Ren Yaoyu was not given redress for this in the end. Old Madam was always indifferent to this granddaughter even until the day she left the Ren residence. 

Now that she thought about it, what she accidentally overheard in the past may not necessarily be the truth. Concubine Fang’s maid, Jin Ju, had an older sister named Jin Lian, who was a first-class maid serving in the Old Madam’s inner room. 

This matter may not have been the work of Ren Yaohua, but was very likely that she had been used as a pawn. 

The only person that she could think of who would profit in this incident at a later time…

Ren Yaoqi had thought all of this through when Old Madam Ren’s voice rang above her head, “Go and get the two maids from outside to come in, and also call over that servant to get in here.” 

Momo Gui, who was next to Old Madam, hurriedly followed through. 

In a short while, the two maids who had been kneeling outside were roughly brought in by four old maids. 

Perhaps because the two maids had been kneeling outside for quite a long time, as shown by their faces which were black and blue from the cold. They could not stand up properly, and as soon as the old maids let go, the two fell to the ground. 

“When Momo Gui asked you before, you were not willing to speak. After having knelt for so long, you must have cleared your minds up a bit.” Old Madam Ren compassionately looked at the two maids and spoke. 

Fifth Madam continued with a chastising voice and a stern face, “Someone said that they saw you sneaking out of Ronghua Courtyard this morning. Now that you’re in the presence of Old Madam, tell the truth. Don’t let the blame ultimately fall upon your Eighth Miss. You know my temperament. The thing I hate the most is a servant who deceives and betrays their master! If you take for granted the benevolence of the Old Madam and still obstinately persist in going down the wrong path, then I won’t let you off lightly once you got out of Ronghua Courtyard!” 

Lin-shi’s words were very righteous, but the two maids actually hid their heads even more when they heard it while their knees unconsciously trembled. 

Ren Yaoqi glanced at Fifth Madam. Could it be that Ren Yaoyu really did something that would infuriate Old Madam Ren? Lin-shi’s words were clearly laced with a hidden warning to the two maids to weigh their words before they speak. That if they dare to implicate Ren Yaoyu then she would never let them get away with it.

Old Madam Ren lifted her eyelids to glanced at Lin-shi then looked at the two maids, “I’ll give you one more chance.” 

“Res-responding to Old Madam, this slave did not, we didn’t take anything out of Ronghua Courtyard.” One of the maids said honestly while stammering. 

Old Madam Ren did not look at them again. 

The atmosphere in the inner room turned somewhat strange. The two maids kneeling on the ground kept on trembling, and from their stiff posture you could see that they were terrified. Ren Yaoyu also kept tugging on her sleeves due to her overwhelming anxiety. 

While everyone there perceived Old Madam’s displeasure at that moment, they dared not speak. 

Fifth Madam glanced at her daughter and had to take the lead, “Mother…” 

At that very moment, Momo Gui lifted the curtain and came in, followed by an old woman attired in a worn dark cyan kapok jacket. 

“Reporting back to the Old Madam, Liu An Old Wife2 is here.” Momo Gui stood by the side of the Luohan bed with her arms folded in salute.3Everyone’s eyes turned to the Old Wife who was kowtowing somewhat cautiously. 

Ren Yaoqi waited for her to get up and took a closer look at her, and sure enough, she didn’t have any recollection at all. 

Fifth Madam looked at Liu An Old Wife with a very critical gaze and asked, “Where are you from? Why do you look so unfamiliar?” 

Having heard this, Liu An pulled her head in closer to her body and fiddled her fingers before glancing at Momo Gui. 

Momo Gui hurriedly explained, “She was originally in charge of the tea in the outer courtyard. The two old maids who sweep the yard broke their lower backs while cleaning the frozen snow on Ronghua Courtyard yesterday, so Old Madam had the outer Steward transfer someone to temporarily take over the work of these two old maids.” 

“It turned out to be from the outer courtyard.” Fifth Madam Lin smiled and said to Old Madam, “Mother, this is the first time this old wife of the outer courtyard entered the flower-hung gate, so she naturally can’t tell the difference between ‘east and west, north and south’.4 Besides, these little maids are all wearing the same type of indigo cotton-padded jacket. It’s only normal to misinterpret what one sees.” ‘

Old Madam waved her hand to stop Lin-shi from speaking any more, and asked Liu An old wife, “Are the two people you saw this morning here?” 

Liu An Old Wife looked around and fixed her eyes on the two maids who were kneeling not far to her right. She pointed at them with a stubby finger and said, “Replying to Old Madam, yes. It’s these two girls.” 

“Did you see them clearly? They are the maids serving beside the Eight Miss,” Lin-shi said, frowning. 

Liu An Old Wife shuddered when her eyes met Lin-shi’s, then once again looked over to the two maids while shifting closer to critically observe them and nodded her head to Old Madam, “This servant is certain these two girls were the ones this slave saw while knocking over the snow on the corridor eaves5with a stick at that time. The snow on the square beam6 scattered down and fell on her neck so this servant noticed, then hid in the tea room beside it to expel the cold and to tidy up. It just so happens that they walked by the door of the tea room,7 and this servant saw one of the girls had a mole the size of a soybean on her right cheek.” 

One of the two maids that knelt on the ground indeed had a mole on her face. 

“Did you see clearly what they were holding?” Old Madam Ren said with a cold face. 

Liu An old wife fiddled with her hands and shook her head embarrassedly, “They were carefully holding in their bosom an autumn-scented satin bundle. This servant didn’t see what was inside it but only heard that girl with a mole on her face ask the other to go forward to the old maid gatekeeper. This servant felt something seems to be wrong so at once quietly followed them. Later, the two girls had already brought the bundle into the garden. This servant also heard them discuss that the Masters were about to get up, that they should hide the things first, and wait until their morning break to deal with it.” 

Folded her arms in salute:

Corridor eaves: