CH 29

December 10, 2022

“Fifth Young Lady…”

Ren Yaoqi stopped and looked back.

Momo Zhou stood at the door between the open room and the secondary room and called her softly.1

Glancing at the inner room of the eastern secondary room, Ren Yaoqi gestured towards Momo Zhou, who understood, and followed Ren Yaoqi lightly to the western secondary room.

”Mother has always been a light sleeper, once she wakes up, she can hardly fall asleep again. Momo, if you have something to say, you may as well speak here.” Ren Yaoqi.

Momo Zhou looked at Ren Yaoqi and smiled sighingly: “Fifth Young Lady, you… have really changed a lot. Madam is very happy, and so is this slave.”

Ren Yaoqi smiled, does this show how headache-inducing she was as a child? The memory of her childhood is already blurred, because she has carried too much pain, she constantly avoids reminding herself.

”Momo, what do you want to say to me?” Ren Yaohua had already gone back first, and Ren Yaoqi thought that Momo Zhou might have something to say to her alone. This was unprecedented.

Momo Zhou thought for a while and said, “This slave, when checking the lavatory, found a few lines of footprints on the snow outside.”

”Can Momo tell whose footprints it is? I remember my mother asked for hot water twice at noon.” Ren Yaoqi asked.

Momo Zhou nodded: “Originally it was hard to tell. The women in the backyard use thick-soled cotton shoes to keep warm, and the size is relatively large. The majority of the maids dislike the clumsy thick-soled cotton shoes when serving inside the room. Therefore, they would rather suffer from the cold and wear embroidered cotton shoes. But just now, this slave saw a pair of boots in those tracks.”

Ren Yaoqi smiled with interest when she heard the words: “Momo had scrutinized carefully, then do you know the owner of that boots?”

Momo Zhou nodded affirmatively: “Mrs. Guan, who is in charge of the firewood, is wearing a pair of small deerskin boots today. Because the boots are too small and doesn’t fit her feet, this slave had heard of it.”

”Mrs. Guan?” Ren Yaoqi tilted her head and thought for a while, vaguely remembering that she was a tall and strong woman who normally had some contact with Momo Zhu from her room.

”Her daughter is a second-class maid2 in Ninth Young Lady's room.” After being reminded by Momo Zhou, Ren Yaoqi quickly recalled the details of each person in the backyard.

”Ninth Sister?” Ren Yaoqi pondered.

Originally, she guessed that the person who came to eavesdrop today must have something to do with Concubine Fang. After all, people in other houses would not be interested in the chat between them, mother and daughters. But based on what she knew about Concubine Fang, she probably wouldn’t send such a careless woman over to listen to someone’s corner blatantly. It’s probably because this woman wanted to curry favor with her.

”Why didn’t Momo say it before?” Ren Yaoqi asked.

Momo Zhou hesitated for a moment when she heard the words, and then sighed: “Fifth Young Lady, you know Third Young Lady’s temper. If you let her know who the eavesdropper is, she will definitely make a commotion. This slave... this slave is afraid of her falling into someone else’s trap, and decided to keep a closed mouth for the time being. Although you are young, Fifth Young Lady, you know the importance and priorities of things. In addition, you just said that you will start handling those people, thus, this slave wants to tell you. It will be convenient for you to act in the future.”

Ren Yaoqi nodded: “I see, let’s not talk about it for now.” Then she asked, “Do you know who this Mrs. Guan is usually not compatible with?”

Momo Zhou glanced at Ren Yaoqi in surprise and saw that she was only smiling lightly, and couldn’t see any other meaning, so she did not anxiously ask more questions. After thinking for a while, she nodded and said: “There is one, Mrs. Liu who manages hot water from the backyard.”

Ren Yaoqi originally just asked casually, after all, Momo Zhou had only been back with née Li for a few days, so she might not know what she was asking, but it seemed that she had underestimated Momo Zhou.

”Is it Mrs. Liu whose niece is in charge of Fifth Madam’s accounts?”

”Yes, it’s her. This woman in charge of hot water can usually exchange some money from generous maids for hot water. The woman in charge of firewood and charcoal, because the estate has enough supply of ordinary firewood and charcoal, the high-quality silver silk charcoal is extremely strict, and open flames are forbidden in the servants’ rooms, so she cannot get many benefits. Mrs. Guan was extremely dissatisfied with Mrs. Liu, who was transferred from the outer courtyard but got a better job than her. She often made it difficult when Mrs. Liu asked her for firewood. The two dislike each other. Although they hadn’t had a big fight, everyone in the yard knew that they were at odds. “

Ren Yaoqi pondered for a moment, then nodded to Momo Zhou and said, “I see, thank you Momo for telling me this.”

The time she ‘woke up’ was still short, although she secretly inquired about the people in the yard, it was impossible for her to inquire as clearly and meticulously as Momo Zhou.

Seeing that Ren Yaoqi had stood up while she was talking, Momo Zhou couldn’t help asking: “Fifth Young Lady, the end of the year is coming soon, have you thought of a way? If you let Third Young Lady make trouble at that time, I’m afraid our Ziwei Courtyard will suffer a lot.” Momo Zhou always remembered what Ren Yaoqi analyzed last time, otherwise, she wouldn’t let those people stick around in Ziwei Courtyard.

Ren Yaoqi smiled at Momo Zhou: “Don’t worry, Momo, I might need your help soon.“

Momo Zhou immediately said: “What is Young Lady saying? If there is anything that needs this slave, Young Lady just give orders.”

Ren Yaoqi came out of née Li’s main room, and when she passed by Xikua Courtyard, she heard the sound of dancing swords breaking through the wind as well as light cheering.

Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but halt, she stood outside the gate of Xikua Courtyard for a long time, and didn’t come back to herself until the maid behind her sneezed coldly.

”I’m going to see Daddy.” She spoke softly, as if talking to herself.

As soon as she entered Xikua Courtyard, Ren Yaoqi saw Ren Shimin holding a three-foot-long sword in the snow in the courtyard, dancing with the sound of the sword, seemingly like a dragon. The pure white wide-sleeved robe fluttered with his posture, and the blade occasionally reflected a dazzling glare of light. Domineering and pretentious.

Seeing Ren Yaoqi walking in, Ren Shimin pulled a scabbard and withdraw his momentum, and conveyed to Ren Yaoqi with some complacency: “Yaoyao, has Daddy’s swordsmanship improved again?”

If it was before, Ren Yaoqi would definitely praise him according to his wishes.

But Ren Yaoqi just looked at the sword in his hand expressionlessly, and said softly: “It’s very beautiful, but it’s a pity that it’s all ostentatious.”

Ren Shimin didn’t take it seriously: “What does a little child understand? When I came to the capital this time, even those bodyguards could only praise my swordsmanship. They played against me a few times, but they were all defeated by me.”

Ren Yaoqi looked at her father, closed her eyes, and said certainly: “Daddy, this daughter is not lying to you. Your swordsmanship is merely just a flower stand3, and it will be vulnerable in front of a genuine martial artist.“