CH 36

February 10, 2023

Those momos were worried at first, but when Momo Zhou went to tell them Ren Yaoqi's words, they were all pleasantly surprised, and were even more grateful to née Li, praising her for being generous and having the heart of a Bodhisattva.

Everyone knows that among the servants inside the estate, apart from the momos in charge, the maids who serve closely by the masters are the most valuable.

The two ladies in Ziwei Courtyard are both legitimate daughters. If a young maid selected at this time is outstanding, she will be kept as a dowry maid1. Even if they can’t be a dowry maid in the end, when talking about marriage, they will be more honorable than ordinary maids, and the master will give them a lot of adornment and money.

Moreover, it would be disgraceful for them to return. If someone from the family enters the estate again, it means that they have hope to stand up in the future, and other servants will not trample on them.

As for why Momo Guan didn’t have this grace, the few of them understood after a little thought, and couldn’t help thinking that they must advise their girl well when they go back.

Because of this, when they were sent away the next day, none of them held any resentment against née Li, and begged Momo Zhou to kowtow in front of née Li.

Ren Yaoqi did not intervene in this matter anymore, she did not need to worry about choosing and training the maids, and Momo Zhou became busy.

Concubine Fang was ill again, and née Li excused her from paying her respects, so she began to stay behind closed doors.

Rather, Ren Shimin began to get busy, he started writing Spring Festival couplets and making peach charms. Of course, Third Master Ren’s couplets and peach charms are extremely particular, from the selection of paper to the engraving of the charms without the hands of others. The output is not high, so it is difficult to seek even with a thousand gold.

This morning, Ren Yaoqi came back from Ren Yijun’s place.

Ren Yaoqi was thinking about the things from her previous life, thus she was a little more tolerant of Ren Yijun’s weird temper. Every few days, she took the initiative to visit him to have a discussion, as to save him from going to Ziwei Courtyard in the wind and snow.

Walking slowly on the nine-turn corridor, Ren Yaoqi held a small Hetian jade hand stove with blue and white patterns in her hand4.

It’s just a hand warmer the size of a palm that Ren Yijun stuffed for her before she left.

Seeing that it was a valuable item so she didn’t want it, Ren Yijun took the hand stove with a gloomy face and was about to throw it on the ground, she was so scared that she rushed to snatch it.

It was also the first time she knew that someone could express their kindness so… awkwardly.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but curl her lips slightly.

When she looked up, she saw Yang Cheng, the chief steward of the outer courtyard, bowing sideways and respectfully leading two people in this direction. Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but pause.

Walking behind Yang Cheng were two teenagers about twelve to thirteen years old, the one on the right was wearing a red fox cloak with a dark blue baoxiang5 pattern outside, his appearance was considered to be handsome and upright, and he looked like a well-educated son of a wealthy family.

The boy on the left is wearing a narrow-sleeved sable fur robe with a purple fur edge and holds a horsewhip in his right hand. He is slender, with sword eyebrows and bright eyes, and his facial features are extremely distinct and handsome. When he smiled, the corners of his mouth were slightly drawn to one side. This expression seemed a bit malicious when put to others, but it was pleasing to the eye on his face.

The two teenagers who were chatting and laughing leisurely were also taken aback when they saw Ren Yaoqi approaching.

When Ren Yaoqi came to her senses, she hurriedly withdrew the complicated look in her eyes.

”Fifth Young Lady.” Seeing Ren Yaoqi, the chief steward crossed his hands and bowed, seeing that Ren Yaoqi hadn’t moved, he turned his head to look at the two teenagers, and hurriedly said, “Fifth Young Lady, the cousin Young Master from the Qiu family came. The other is his classmate Young Master Wen.”

Ren Yaoqi lowered her head slightly when she heard the words, and slowly saluted them.

She remembered them, and had a deep memory.

The young master of the Qiu family, Qiu Yun, is the grandson of her grandmother, Old Madam Ren’s elder brother, and now he is studying in the academy in Yunyang City. Because the Qiu family in Jizhou needs to pass through Baihe Town from Yunyang City, Qiu Yun can be regarded as a frequent visitor to the Ren family.

And the one next to him was not some Young Master Wen, but Yun Wenfang, the Second Young Master of the Yun Family in Yunyang City.

The reason why she remembered Yun Wenfang, an irrelevant outsider, was because they used to be each other's nemesis.

She heard that some people are born with incompatibility, and she and Yun Wenfang must be in this category. The two started to fight each other the first time they met. In the end, he gave her a hard slap when she left the Ren Estate, which left a profound memory, and it was hard to forget.

She can’t remember the exact time when she first met him in the last life, it seems to be in this corridor. She ran out of the Ronghua Courtyard angrily because of a quarrel with Ren Yaohua. Because she ran in a hurry, she accidentally bumped into Yun Wenfang.

Then Yun Wenfang whistled frivolously in front of everyone.

This whistle made everyone present laughed “puchi”, and it also made her lose face.

She was so wronged at the time, she raised her hand and slapped him loudly, then left everyone, crying, and ran away.

At that time, she was young, willful, and impulsive, and didn’t think about the consequences.

As a result, she was imprisoned in the ancestral hall for half a month by Old Madam Ren, and she also spent the new year in that cold ancestral hall.

On the eve of the new year, there was a lot of cheerful talk and laughter outside, she was not even allowed to be visited. Because the woman outside forgot to bring her food, she was cold, hungry, and scared, so she huddled under the altar and cried.

He came in from nowhere, pulled her braids, raised one corner of his mouth, and smiled viciously like a devil: “Kowtow three times to me, call ‘good brother’ three times, then Qiu Yun and I will go intercede for you and let you out?”

At that time, she hated him so much that she wanted him dead. She jumped up and scratched his face without even thinking about it. As a result, she scratched four strips of blood on his neck.

In the end, he was enraged while being pulled away by Qiu Yun.

That’s when she felt scared, thinking that she was going to be punished again. Fortunately, her father begged Old Madam Ren to take her out that night.

A few days later, she occasionally heard from Qiu Yun’s servants that the reason why the Second Young Master of the Yun family had lived in Baihe Town under an alias for so long and hadn’t returned home during the Spring Festival was that he caused a catastrophe in Yunyang City. He beat up a court official's brother-in-law into a fool and was secretly hidden by Old Madam Yun.

The Old Madam of the Yun family and Old Madam Ren are distant cousins. Old Madam Yun’s father was originally the head of the Qiu clan.

Because the old patriarch Qiu had only one daughter and no son, he finally adopted Old Madam Ren's elder brother.

After the old patriarch of the Qiu family passed away, Old Madam Ren’s elder brother Qiu Xinmin took over the position of patriarch.

Qiu Xinmin was adopted by the old patriarch when he was almost twenty years old. At that time, Old Madam Yun had already married to Yunyang City. Old Madam Ren’s house was originally a side branch of the Qiu family, so the relationship between the two parties was only superficial. The relationship between Old Madam Ren and Old Madam Yun is even further away, and they normally almost have no contact. So it was unexpected that the Second Young Master of the Yun family would come to the Ren family to avoid the limelight.

After she knew the news, she quietly revealed Yun Wenfang’s position in the Ren Estate.

After a few days, the Eldest Young Master of the Yun family came and took Yun Wenfang away.

She thought she was doing it carefully and no one would know. Before he left, he suddenly leaned into her ear and sneered, “Ren Yaoqi, you will regret it! Let’s wait and see!”

She was ordered by Old Madam Ren to be grounded, and she was not allowed to leave Ziwei Courtyard for half a step.

In the next few years, she hardly ever went out, so she lived in peace with Yun Wenfang.

Later, when her father passed away, the Ren family wanted to send her to Military Supervisor Lu. When her mother was seriously ill, she asked Momo Zhou to pack up her clothes and secretly helped her escape from the Ren Estate to find her maternal grandfather’s family in Yunyang City.

When fleeing halfway, not thinking she'll met Yun Wenfang who was riding on a horse out of the city. She knelt down and begged him to let her off, but she was knocked unconscious and was thrown on the horse.

After a long time, when she woke up again, she was already lying on the carriage sent by the Ren family to find her, and Yun Wenfang had disappeared.

At that time, all thoughts were lost, and there was only one thought in her mind: If she met Yun Wenfang again in her lifetime, she would definitely make him die!

Now the time has passed, and he is standing in front of her again.

Still the same handsome facial features, wicked smile, and jet-black eyes as bright as summer night stars.

But it couldn’t arouse her emotions anymore.

The hatred when she was young, in her view now, is extremely naive.

In this life, she doesn’t want to have anything to do with Yun Wenfang.