CH 88

Chapter 88: Is There An End to It?

The next morning, Ren Yaoqi was reading in her study in the west courtyard when Ren Yaohua’s maid, Xiangqin, asked to see her.

As Ren Shimin’s study forbade maids to enter at will, Ren Yaoqi went out to see her.

“Fifth Miss, that little accountant named Yuan came to see you just now, but Madam sent Matron Zhou to see him. Seeing that he had only come to bring you shoes from Little Miss Zhu, she took the things for you and dismissed him.” Xiangqin came closer and whispered in Ren Yaosi’s ear.

Ren Yaoqi was startled and asked, “Where is he? Has he left already? How long has he been gone?”

She nodded and shook her head, “This servant just went out on an errand and met him in the outer courtyard when returned. He recognized me and thought I was your maid, so he stopped me and asked me to come and tell you. I told him to send a woman in if he had something to report. Madam doesn’t like if a man from outer courtyard keeps asking to see a lady from the inner courtyard. He then went and get his mother to come in and answer you.”

Ren Yaoqi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Xiangqin, “Good maid, thank you so much.”

Xiangqin grinned, revealing two dimples, “This servant will go back first, in case later Third Miss is looking for this servant.”

Ren Yaoqi nodded and let her go.

After thinking about it, she immediately called her maid, Pingguo, over and instructed her, “Go stand guard near the second gate. If you see Mrs. Yuan coming, bring her to me.”

Pingguo answered and went away.

Ren Yaoqi was thinking about the news from Yuan Dayong’s side, so she tidied up her study and went back to her west wing.

In the inner room, Matron Xu was cleaning the boxes with Xueli and Sangshen.

When Ren Yaoqi entered, she heard Matron Xu say, “The Fifth Miss’ clothes are rarely in the color red or purple.”

Sangshen said, “Third Miss likes to wear red, but our Miss rarely wears it. It’s okay, our Miss looks good in anything.”

Matron Xu said, “The Fifth Miss has a clear complexion, so she looks good in everything.”

Matron Xu was new and it was only natural for her to want to know her master’s preferences, so Ren Yaoqi only paused for a moment before entering the room.

Matron Xu and the two maids were busy curtsying and bowing.

Ren Yaoqi nodded and instructed: “I still have some things in the east courtyard storehouse, so if Matron Xu has time, she should take care of them as well. If Matron Xu has time, she can sort it out as well, so that when the house is changed in the future, there will only be little things left to do. The list is with Matron Zhou, so just tell her when the time comes.”

Sister Xu said, “Is Miss coming back to rest? Should this servant wait until later to count the things in the house? The servant would like to go to Madam Zhou to ask for the list.”

Ren Yaoqi smiled and agreed, “That’s fine, go ahead.”

Matron Xu then took Xueli and Sangshen, bowed, and withdrew. Before she went out, she also gently instructed the two little maids to stay outside and wait on her.

Ren Yaoqi casually took a book of travel notes and sat leaning under the south window, flipping through it while waiting for Pingguo to bring Mrs. Yuan in.

She waited for a long time before Pingguo finally came back.

“Miss, this servant has brought Mrs. Yuan. She is waiting outside, do you want to see her now?”

Ren Yaoqi slowly sat up straight: “Let her in, you go outside and keep watch. If anyone comes, remember to inform me earlier, no matter who it is.”

Pingguo nodded solemnly, “This servant knows, don’t worry about it, Miss.”

Soon Pingguo brought Mrs. Yuan in, and gingerly retreated.

Mrs. Yuan bowed and wiped the sweat from the corner of her forehead. It must be because she had just rushed a little.

“Fifth Miss, I’ve kept you waiting.”

Ren Yaoqi said with an apology, “I am the one who has bothered you.”

Mrs. Yuan smiled, “This servant knows that it is you who are kind-hearted, otherwise she wouldn’t bother with these things.”

Ren Yaoqi shook her head and said nothing more, only asking directly, “Has Yuan Dayong found Zhu Ruomei at Baiyun Temple?”

Mrs. Yuan gave a soft sigh and shook her head, “No.”

Ren Yaoqi could not help but frown, could it be that she had guessed wrong? Did the poem not imply the Bailong Temple?

Mrs. Yuan continued, “Dayong said he had searched inside and outside the Bailong Temple and didn’t find anything wrong. But when he was about to leave, someone threw a note at his feet.”

Said Mrs. Yuan, taking out from her sleeve pocket an object similar to the one Yuan Dayong had shown her last time, a rolled note tied up by a black and brown hairband.

Mrs. Yuan was afraid that that thing was not clean. She took the initiative to help Ren Yaoqi unwrap and unfold it then put it on the kang table in front of Ren Yaoqi.

It was indeed the same handwriting as last time, still written in neat regular script. Only this time there was only one word on this piece of paper: “哓 (xiāo).”

It meant querulous.

>> Querulous

Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but laugh bitterly, this person was not finished! How could he be addicted to guessing riddles?

Seeing Ren Yaoqi’s helpless expression, Mrs Yuan couldn’t help but look the word up and down, while curiously saying, “Dayong opened the note when he found it and read it first, but he didn’t know what the word ‘querulous‘ meant. He could only bring it back for Fifth Miss to see. Dayong said that your last guess of ‘white dragon in a fish suit‘ should be right and that you might be able to guess it this time too.”

Yes, it is indeed not difficult for her to guess the answer, but it is a bit difficult for her to do what the man said.

Ren Yaoqi was silent for a moment and sighed, “I know. Mrs. Yuan, go back first. I will send you a message later.”

When Mrs. Yuan saw Ren Yaoqi say this, she didn’t know whether she had guessed or not. But she couldn’t ask, so she could only get up and salute, “Then I will go out first. If you have any orders, please send someone to the outer courtyard to tell my family.”

Ren Yaoqi nodded, served tea, and asked Mrs. Yuan to retire.

It was only when Mrs. Yuan reached the door that Ren Yaoqi heard the sound of Pingguo talking outside: “What are you doing? Miss has said she doesn’t want anyone to serve.”

“Matron had taught you that tea should be served when guests arrive. I’m just going in to serve tea and I’ll be out in a minute, what are you yelling about?” It was Qingmei’s voice.

Mrs. Yuan stood at the doorway neither going out nor coming in.

Ren Yaoqi frowned slightly.

At this time, another voice lowered its voice and scolded, “What are you yelling about here? What if you disturb Miss?” It was Matron Xu who had returned.

Ren Yaoqi waved her hand at Mrs. Yuan, indicating that she did not need to care. Only then Mrs. Yuan pulled the door open with a creak.

All the talking outside stopped at once.

Mrs. Yuan greeted them and left.

Not long after, Matron Xu came in with Pingguo and Qingmei. When she saw Ren Yaoqi sitting on the bed reading a book, Matron Xu quickly apologized, “Fifth Miss, I’m sorry. It’s because of this servant’s lax discipline that I’ve disturbed Miss.”

Ren Yaoqi raised her head and swept Qingmei away with a faint glance, “Do what you need to do.”

“Miss, this servant is only here to serve tea…” Qingmei heard the displeasure in Ren Yaoqi’s tone and bit her lip to defend herself. But when she looked up and met Ren Yaoqi’s eyes, she was so frightened that she immediately lowered her head again, not daring to say anything.

Matron Xu was also startled by the flash of sharpness in Ren Yaoqi’s eyes and lowered her head, standing with her hands down.

She had thought that Ren Yaoqi was a spoilt child who was a bit capricious when she made a joke and switched her with Matron Gao in the main room.

However, after a day of serving at Ren Yaoqi’s side, she found that this Fifth Miss did not have the slightest bit of coquettish habits. She was very gentle and courteous in her treatment of others, and apart from Qingmei, the maid sent by her aunt, all the other maids said that Ren Yaoqi was a good master with a nice temper and easy to serve.

But that look in Ren Yaoqi’s eyes… although it wasn’t vicious and didn’t reveal any emotion, it made her, an adult woman who had experienced a lot, a little scared.

Matron Xu couldn’t help but secretly remind herself that she must act more steadily and rigorously in the future.

After Pingguo and Qingmei had withdrawn, Matron Xu poured a cup of tea for Ren Yaoqi and placed it on the small table in front of her.

“Did Matron has something to say?” Ren Yaoqi flipped through the pages of a book without looking up and said casually.

Matron Xu thought for a moment, “Miss, isn’t this Qingmei maid not suitable to stay by your side anymore?”

Ren Yaoqi heard this and gave Matron Xu a look with a raised eyebrow and a gentle smile in her eyes, “What does Matron Xu mean?”

Matron Xu didn’t know why, but she felt a little suffocated. She collected herself before saying: “This servant has only been at Ziwei Courtyard for a day,  so she shouldn’t have said this. However, since Matron Xu is already Miss’s housekeeper, it is her duty to teach the maids around her. I see that this Qingmei does not seem to have her heart set on the Ziwei Courtyard. If we keep her, I’m afraid that one day something will happen.”

In just one day, she had figured out the details of the maids… This Matron Xu was not a mediocre person. Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but smile.

“Then what should we do according to Matron’s opinion?” Ren Yaoqi asked with a smile, “It was my concubine-mother gave me both Qingmei and Xueli when she took over the Ziwei Courtyard. There were numerous additional maidservants besides them. But I wasn’t happy with a handful of them, so Matron Zhou expelled them. However, it would be unfair to discard all of them, so I retained two. Xueli is a consistent and proper worker, and while Qingmei is unpredictable, she has not made any major blunders.”

Matron Xu thought for a moment, “Xueli looks good to me, so if you want to keep her, it’s not a bad idea, but I’m afraid Qingmei is not the right person.”

Ren Yaoqi nodded, “Since the house has been handed over to you, then just do as you see fit. Just don’t make an ugly scene.”

“Yes, this servant understands.” Matron Xu replied in a low voice.

Ren Yaoqi then lowered her head and went back to her book.

Matron Xu quietly retreated.

As soon as Matron Xu left, Ren Yaoqi put down the book in her hands, her eyes full of contemplation.

The word ‘哓 (xiāo)’ or ‘querulous‘ just now was a puzzle. If that word was combined with word ‘one‘, which is ‘一 (yī)’, it became “晓 (xiǎo)” means ‘to know‘. So the answer to the riddle was ‘one look and you’ll understand‘.

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…yeah I took a looott of liberty translating this