Han You quickly crawled through the small hole in the wall below. Despite being someone who usually maintained a ladylike demeanor, she crawled surprisingly fast, which made Ren Yaoqi feel a bit amused.
The hole wasn’t very large, likely because the playful young master who had originally made it was also a small and slender child. An adult man would undoubtedly have gotten stuck trying to squeeze through.
Ren Yaoqi suddenly realized: Had she been too trusting of Han You? If it had been any of her sisters from the Ren Family inviting her to come alone, she would never have agreed so readily. Why did she trust that Han You meant her no harm?
She glanced around. The place was extremely secluded and belonged to someone else’s property. If someone harbored ill intentions, she wouldn’t even have a way to call for help.
Han You didn’t stay away for long. After waiting only a moment, Ren Yaoqi heard rustling sounds from the hole in the wall. She didn’t call out but instead stepped back a little.
Soon, Han You’s head reappeared.
Han You quickly crawled out, then turned around to help pull another person out.
Following Han You was indeed Ren Yaoting.
Both of them looked rather disheveled. Their sleeves, knees, and hair were dirty, and Ren Yaoting had a red scratch on her neck from something.
“Fifth Sister, you…” Ren Yaoting exclaimed in surprise as soon as she stood up and saw Ren Yaoqi.
“Shh—” Han You quickly tugged at her sleeve, whispering a warning, “Sister Ting, keep your voice down. Don’t let anyone hear. We can talk about everything later.”
Han You took the clothes she had previously taken off from Ren Yaoqi’s hands and swiftly put them back on. As expected, most of the dirty and messy parts of her body were now covered, though her hair remained somewhat disheveled.
“What about me?” Ren Yaoting finally noticed how dirty she was and grew anxious. If she had to meet anyone looking like this, she’d rather have stepped forward earlier and admitted her mistake in front of Old Master Han!
After putting on her clothes, Han You crouched down to move the bricks back and block the hole. Ren Yaoqi stepped forward to help.
Once the two of them finished the task together, Han You signaled for Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaoting to follow her.
“Let’s get out of here first, or go to my courtyard to change into fresh clothes. My clothes should fit you, Sister Ting,” Han You whispered comfortingly to Ren Yaoting.
Ren Yaoting finally fell silent and obediently followed behind Han You.
When all three had made their escape and were far from the courtyard, Han You finally let out a sigh of relief, nearly collapsing to the ground. Ren Yaoqi quickly reached out to steady her. Han You gave Ren Yaoqi a shy smile, reverting to her usual ladylike demeanor.
“We finally made it out. That was close!”
Ren Yaoting, however, complained unhappily, “But my clothes are all dirty.”
If he saw her in this state, she’d rather die.
“Hurry and take me to your courtyard to change.”
Ren Yaoqi glanced at her and frowned. “But if anyone sees you like this, it might cause trouble.” She recalled what Han You had said earlier—that none of the people around her were truly loyal confidants. Anyone with eyes could tell Ren Yaoting had crawled out from somewhere.
Ren Yaoting frowned. “What trouble? I’ll just say I accidentally dirtied my clothes.”Ren Yaoqi knew that Ren Yaoting might not realize how much her actions would provoke the Han Family's displeasure, so she said seriously, "Seventh Sister, do you think everyone else is a fool? You disappeared for so long and suddenly reappeared like this—people are bound to wonder what you were doing. Just now, You Jie'er risked being discovered to look for you. If anyone found out, she would be scolded by the elders. Moreover... I've heard that Old Master Han despises anyone who ignores his orders and trespasses into places he has forbidden! Your behavior will only earn the displeasure of the Han Family elders."
"What should I do then?" Recalling Old Master Han's stern demeanor earlier, Ren Yaoting grew worried. She didn’t want to be disliked by the Han Family elders over this matter; otherwise, she wouldn’t have stooped to crawling through a dog hole earlier.
Han You suggested, "How about this: you can pretend you really fell and sprained your ankle. That would explain why you were missing for so long. Since your clothes are dirty and walking is difficult, and you were too embarrassed to call out loudly and let the Han Family maids see you in such a state, you had no choice but to wait where you were for someone from your own household to find you. Then Sister Yaoqi and I found you."
Ren Yaoting couldn’t argue with Han You’s idea and reluctantly nodded. "That could work."
Ren Yaoqi didn’t say anything more. For now, the priority was to cover up the incident and leave the Han Family as soon as possible.
In the end, Han You and Ren Yaoqi supported Ren Yaoting, who was pretending to have injured her foot, as they made their way out of the garden.
Ren Yaoqi’s maid, Pingguo, who had been keeping an eye on the garden, rushed over as soon as she heard the commotion. She was startled to see Ren Yaoting appearing to have injured her right foot.
"Miss, what happened to Seventh Miss?"
"She sprained her ankle. Go and inform First Madam Ren that I’ll be accompanying Seventh Sister back first. She recently took some medicine for a cold, so if she needs any treatment, it’s better to consult the doctor she’s used to. Also, bring my thin silk cloak."
When she went out, Granny Xu had prepared a cloak for her, which could now be lent to Ren Yaoting to cover up her disheveled appearance and avoid having to change clothes in Han You’s courtyard.
Unexpectedly, First Madam Ren had already finished tea with Old Madam Ren and was about to call Ren Yaoqi and the others to return home. So, by the time Pingguo hurriedly brought the cloak, First Madam Ren had also arrived, accompanied by Old Madam Ren.
Both women were startled to see Ren Yaoting being supported by Ren Yaoqi and Han You.
First Madam Ren quickly stepped forward to examine Ren Yaoting. "How did you fall out of nowhere? How is your foot? Is it serious?" Regardless of whether she liked this niece or not, Ren Yaoting had come with her, and if anything happened, she wouldn’t be able to explain it to the East Mansion.
Old Madam Ren also scrutinized Ren Yaoting. Fortunately, Ren Yaoqi and Han You had tidied her up earlier to make the story of her fall seem more believable.
"Fifth Sister and You Jie'er checked it just now. It’s only a bit red and not swollen. It’s probably just a sprain and not a bone injury. I was too scared to walk on my own, so I waited for You Jie'er to come find me," Ren Yaoting explained, sticking to the story they had prepared.
It must be said that Ren Yaoting had a natural talent for lying. Her words flowed smoothly without a hint of nervousness.First Madam Ren was still somewhat uneasy and insisted on having her own maidservant examine Ren Yaoting: "If a bone is injured, it's not advisable to move her. We must wait for the doctor to come and see her first. Only if it's truly nothing serious can she get into the carriage." First Madam Ren was afraid of taking responsibility.
Ren Yaoting agreed, and First Madam called over one of her trusted matrons to examine Ren Yaoting.
Out of consideration for Ren Yaoting being an unmarried young woman, the matron carefully found a secluded spot where others couldn't see to examine her.
However, Ren Yaoting wasn't actually injured. She only pretended to cry out in pain a few times when the matron pressed on her.
The matron privately thought the seventh young miss was being overly delicate, but when reporting back, she still said respectfully, "Madam, the seventh young miss only sprained a tendon. No bones were injured."
First Madam let out a sigh of relief and then took her leave from Old Madam Han.
Old Madam Han said apologetically, "We didn't take good care of our guests. Please forgive us."
Shan'er, who had been guarding the courtyard gate, heard the news and rushed over. Seeing Ren Yaoting, she finally truly relaxed.
Because she had been guarding the gate and had only seen the Han family members coming and going, with no one else, she believed Ren Yaoting had indeed fallen. When Old Madam Han glanced at her, Shan'er subtly nodded.
Ren Yaoqi helped Ren Yaoting into the carriage and said, "Seventh Sister, let me ride with you so I can take care of you on the way."
Ren Yaoting, who had recently grown much fonder of Ren Yaoqi, naturally didn't object. Ren Yaoqi had a maid inform Ren Yaohua, who said nothing.
Thus, on the return journey, Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaoting shared a carriage.
Ren Yaoting also had things she wanted to say to Ren Yaoqi, so she sent her own maid to sit outside.
When only the two of them remained in the carriage, Ren Yaoting finally didn't have to pretend to be injured anymore. She relaxed and leaned back in the carriage.
"Seventh Sister, when you went into that courtyard earlier, no one stopped you because the old woman guarding the courtyard was burning incense in the backyard, right?" Ren Yaoqi poured Ren Yaoting a cup of warm tea and asked quietly.
Ren Yaoting took a big sip from the cup before replying, "How did you know?"
Ren Yaoqi smiled thoughtfully and said, "I heard that courtyard seems to enshrine some..."
Ren Yaoting patted her chest with lingering fear. "So you knew! If I had known earlier it was an ancestral hall enshrining tablets, I wouldn't have gone in. It was eerie and scary! How did you find out? Did You Jie'er tell you? Why didn't she tell me when I asked her..."
Ignoring Ren Yaoting's slightly jealous muttering, Ren Yaoqi's mind raced.
It really was an ancestral hall?
"But the Han Family's ancestral hall is in Jizhou, isn't it? Why would there be one here?"
People of that time held ancestral tablets in great reverence and respect. When moving to a new residence and inviting ancestral tablets, it was customary to invite monks and Taoist priests to perform ceremonies and make a grand occasion, essentially informing the neighboring spirits. The more prominent the family, the more elaborate the ceremony.
Han Dongshan was a live-in son-in-law. His father-in-law, Han Jianping, only had one daughter and no male heir to continue the family line. Logically, his tablet should still be in the Han Family ancestral hall in Jizhou. To invite it back, one would have to wait until his son, Han Yunqian, took charge of the household and, after consulting the clan elders, hold a grand ceremony to bring it over.So the memorial tablets carefully enshrined by the Han Family probably aren’t their ancestors.
“I was just startled at the time and didn’t pay much attention, but now that I think about it, it does seem a bit odd.” Ren Yaoting tilted her head in thought. “And those rows of memorial tablets don’t seem to belong to the Han Family.”
“Rows?” Ren Yaoqi was slightly taken aback. “You mean there’s more than one tablet enshrined there?”
It’s the beginning of the month, hoping for some good luck～
Votes, come to my bowl～^^
(To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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