CH 130

Chapter 130: She Has Lost This Round

This farce came to a temporary end after Concubine Kang slammed into the pillar.

There was chaos in the parlor next room. Matron Gui commanded the maidservants in the room to come and clean up the mess. From the movement outside and the suppressed heavy breathing of the maids, it could be inferred that Concubine Kang’s collision was serious.

But when she saw this tragic situation, instead of showing some sympathy, Mrs. Kang muttered angrily, “Here comes this trick again, does she think no one’s ever seen an opera troupe act before? What a disgrace!”

Old Madame Ren had Concubine Kang carried out, and sent Mrs. Kang away, arranging for her to go to the outer courtyard.

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Old Madam Ren’s senior maid, Shanhu, came into the east inner room and said that the Old Madam asked the three sisters to go out.

When the three sisters came, Old Madame Ren was sitting diagonally on the Luohan bed with her eyes closed.  The house had almost finished cleaning up, the pieces of the broken ornaments and vases had already been swept out, leaving only a few vacant places on the Bogu Shelf.

The floor was clean, but there was still some undried wet stain that could be seen. A junior maid was wiping the pillar vigorously with shaking hands. The water in a copper basin at her feet was red, and everyone else was busy with their own things, turning a blind eye.

Old Madam Ren lifted her eyes. She indifferently addressed the three sisters, “Today, go back to your own courtyard first.”

They didn’t say anything, quietly bowed, and retreated.

They did not feel anything initially. But once they came out, the warm wind of the early summer blew slowly, reminding Ren Yaoqi of the sickening smell of blood in the main building earlier. She instinctively frowned.

None of the three sisters spoke. They walked their own path with eyes downcast, each thinking about their own preoccupations or wondering about what just happened.

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After leaving the Ronghua Courtyard, Ren Yaoyin bid farewell to Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi, then walked in separate directions.

Ren Yaohua let out a breath and said in a daze, ”I just saw a few drops of blood splattered on the bamboo curtain. To be able to splash that far, Concubine Kang must have slammed herself pretty hard that time. I don’t know if she can be saved.”

Ren Yaohua was still young and had not experienced much. She had never seen things like life and death.

Ren Yaoqi comforted her, “Don’t worry, her life can yet be saved.”

Compared to Ren Yaohua’s rattled emotions, Ren Yaoqi was much calmer. It’s not that she had no sympathy, but that she knew people like Concubine Kang too well. She also had experienced too much life and death. Whether she likes it or not, her heart was much colder than others.

Ren Yaohua was silent for a moment, “Is it the Lin Family who arranged Kang Family to come today?”

Ren Yaoqi thought about it, “They definitely have a hand on it. As for whether the truth of the matter is really as the Liu Family and the Kang Family said, it is not important anymore.”

Ren Yaohua’s brows furrowed in habit, “What do you mean?”

The two of them had already walked to the corridor outside the garden. Ren Yaoqi stopped in her tracks, turned around, and walked to the edge of the corridor, facing the garden full of colorful greenery, “Because of the situation, Concubine Kang was able to enter the family. In addition to her good timing, our Ren Family is always different from those real notable families. If this happened to a family like the Yun Family, Concubine Kang would not be able to get through the door even if she knelt down and died at the gate.”

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Ren Yaoqi lived in the capital for many years in her last life. Compared to a place like the capital city, Yanbei’s etiquette rules were still more or less influenced by the nomadic people around. Only a truly established family like the Yun Family has its own set of rules.

Take the matter of Concubine Kang as an example. Her status standing and Fifth Master Ren’s were considered to be not compatible. Strictly speaking, she was not even qualified to enter the house as a concubine. The aristocratic family pays great attention to blood, and Concubine Kang got pregnant outside. The lineage wasn’t clear.

“So today when the Kang Family and the Liu Family made such a mess, Concubine Kang will be finished regardless of whether she was wronged or not?” Ren Yaohua finally figured it out.

Ren Yaoqi nodded. No matter how smart Concubine Kang was, she still had a poor family background, and she grew up in Yanbei, so she didn’t know the rules of the notable family at all.  Concubine Fang was from the south. Although the background of the Fang Family was considered deep, it was still not in the ranks of the aristocratic family. It was even more impossible for her concubine-mother to teach Concubine Fang these.

The Ren Family had been focusing more and more on the image of the family over the years to try to get closer to the aristocratic family. According to the nature of the Old Master Ren and the Old Madam Ren, it was not possible to let such a woman with a bad reputation like Concubine Kang enter their family. Old Madam Ren ignored this when she let Concubine Kang in, and now someone had come to wake her up.

“The reason why Concubine Kang and Concubine Fang lost to Old Madam Lin and Su in this round was not that they weren’t smart, alert enough, or ruthless enough. They lost because of their background.” Ren Yaoqi concluded blandly.

It didn’t matter who the child in Concubine Kang’s womb belonged to.

If Concubine Kang really had a secret relationship with the Young Master Liu as Mrs. Kang and the Liu Family said, then the way she schemed of using Ren Yaoyu to kill the fetus in her womb had now instead become proof of her sinister intention.

The child was already gone, no one would know for sure now.

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Ren Yaoqi didn’t need to see what Old Madam Ren would do next to understand what would happen to Concubine Kang. She was more than familiar with the way Ren Family dealt with problems.

“They really… kill without blood.” It was impossible for Ren Yaohua to not be shocked.

She never knew that a trumped-up charge from what might be just a rumor could destroy another person like Concubine Kang.

From what Concubine Kang had done these days in the Ren family, it could be seen that this woman was definitely not a simple person. Not to mention anything else, just from the fact that she dared to plot against the child in her womb, and proved her innocence in such a tragic way today, one could see what kind of person this woman is.

But now, Old Madam Lin may only need to buy off that so-called Young Master Liu’s personal servant, say a few plausible slanderous words, and this powerful woman now was discarded.

In the war between women in the inner house, there might be no smoke of gunpowder, but there is blood at every turn.

This was the first time Ren Yaohua had truly realized this.

Looking at Ren Yaohua’s stunned appearance, Ren Yaoqi let her figure things out on her own without saying anything. Some things can only be understood after experiencing them. She hoped that Ren Yaohua could grow up, mature, and understand the rules of survival in the inner courtyard.

This afternoon, the sun was still shining brightly, but somehow rain started to fall from the clear sky. It poured and stopped, dawdled, continued trickling for one or two hours. On a sunny day, such rains would not have lasted long.

Not long after the rain stopped and before the sky darkened, Ren Yaoqi got news from Ren Yaohua.

Old Madam Ren let Mrs. Kang bring the Master of the Liu Family into the mansion. They were received by the Old Master himself. No one knew what they were talking about, but after discussing for less than an hour, Master Liu led the Liu Family away without any additional words.

With the current status of the Ren Family in Yanbei, it would not take much effort to deal with a small rich family like the Liu Family.

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The next thing is to deal with Concubine Kang’s matter. Old Madam Ren vetoed Mrs. Kang brought Concubine Kang to be dealt with, and sent her away by giving two hundred taels of silver. This money wasn’t easy to get. When Mrs. Kang left, she pressed her handprint on a piece of paper with writing on it, but it was unclear what condition she promised to the Ren Family.

As for Concubine Kang, she was still recuperating in her own small yard in the Ren Family as if nothing had happened. Old Madam Ren also didn’t talk about her handling method. The impression given to outsiders was that the Liu Family and the Kang Family were just poor relatives who came to visit today, and after getting some benefits, they left without a sound.

The Ren Family dealt with this matter decisively and quietly.

Afterward, Ren Yaohua also discussed with Ren Yaoqi about Mrs. Kang.

According to common sense, a family like the Kang Family would definitely want their daughter to come to the Ren Family as a concubine. Ren Yaohua couldn’t figure out why Mrs. Kang insisted on helping outsiders destroy Concubine Kang. It would bring no benefit to her.

In the end, it was Xiangqin who said disdainfully, ”Isn’t Mrs. Kang not getting along with Concubine Kang? Even if Concubine Kang is no longer liked, what does it have to do with her? It would be good if she didn’t take the opportunity to sweep Concubine Kang out of the house. The conflict between daughters and sisters-in-law is also a messy account. It’s easy to say ‘all things prosper in a harmonious family’, but how many people can really do it? Most people aren’t scheming to the death for that little money.”

Although Xiangqin was later coldly reprimanded by Matron Zhou who suddenly came in and heard her, everyone knew that her words were harsh, but not unreasonable.

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Ren Yaohua didn’t mention Concubine Kang again. She also understood that although the Ren Family didn’t make any move now, it didn’t mean that Old Madam Ren would let go of Concubine Kang’s ‘shame’. It was only a matter of time before Concubine Kang was disposed of by the Ren Family.

Concubine Kang’s ‘valiant and fearless’ conduct could not change her fate.

But was Concubine Kang a simple person? Would she sit obediently and wait to die?

Ren Yaoqi said to Ren Yaohua, “Watch, the fun is yet to come.”

Ren Yaoqi continued to draw people’s attention to Concubine Kang.

After Concubine Kang woke up, she sent her maid to secretly go to Concubine Fang’s courtyard in the night. Although she was anxious, she also had scruples and dared not go to someone blatantly.

Concubine Fang had also had a rough few days, she knew she had been schemed.

As for the person who calculate against her, with Concubine Fang’s intelligence, she naturally guessed that it was Old Madam Lin, who had been here only a few days before.

However, she was a careful person, so she dispatched someone to investigate what happened when Old Madam Lin entered the residence. She later learned through a gatekeeper that when the Old Madam Lin left the compound, someone from the East Mansion boarded the Old Madam Lin’s carriage.