Ren Shimin went to the Ren Family Villa alone, returning just over an hour later.
Ren Yaoqi had been waiting in the study all along. The moment she saw Ren Shimin’s expression, she knew Ren Shimiao must have uncovered something this time.
"Father, what news is there from Fifth Uncle?" Ren Yaoqi stood up and asked.
Seeing Ren Yaoqi waiting in his study, Ren Shimin was not surprised. There was not a trace of a smile on his face, and his serious, silent demeanor was something Ren Yaoqi had never seen before.
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but feel somewhat astonished.
Ren Shimin heavily sat back down in his chair without saying a word. Just as Ren Yaoqi was about to speak again, Ren Shimin raised his hand and slammed his fist hard onto his desk.
Ren Yaoqi was startled and hurried forward to check if Ren Shimin’s hand was injured.
The knuckles of Ren Shimin’s hand were slightly red. He waved it off and said, "It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt."
Ren Yaoqi sighed. "Father, what are you doing?"
Ren Shimin let out a weary sigh and suddenly asked, "Yao Yao, is your father very foolish?"
Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi was taken aback, wondering what had provoked such a question.
Ren Shimin continued, "Is that what everyone thinks, so they feel they can deceive me however they please?" He looked up at Ren Yaoqi with a faint, bitter smile. "Yao Yao, is it very difficult for you to have a father like me? Sometimes, seeing your father being schemed against but unable to speak up openly to spare his dignity, you can only secretly help shield him from disaster."
Ren Yaoqi was left momentarily speechless.
Ren Shimin didn’t wait for her response. He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "I truly am…"
Ren Yaoqi interrupted him. "Father, what exactly happened?"
Ren Shimin said, "Do you remember that Sun Shiyi Niang?"
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but be surprised. "Sun Shiyi Niang? Could this matter be related to her?"
Ren Shimin nodded. "Your Fifth Uncle used some methods on those maidservants…"
At this point, Ren Shimin’s words became somewhat vague. Ren Yaoqi understood in her heart that Ren Shimiao must have been driven to desperation this time and resorted to harsh measures. The maidservant who was the inside informant eventually couldn’t hold out and told the truth.
Ren Shimiao had indeed employed extreme methods. He spent a large sum of money to hire a former prison guard who specialized in extracting confessions through torture. The four suspected maidservants were separated and subjected to interrogation under his hands. This guard had a notorious reputation even when he was in official service. Later, he lost his position due to some incident, and there were rumors that he had once dug out and eaten a prisoner’s internal organs, though it was unclear whether this was true.
Ren Shimiao, driven to desperation this time, didn’t care what kind of person the guard was. He only wanted to uncover the truth, which was why he sought out such an individual. After losing his official position, the guard had actually prospered, as many people valued his interrogation methods and paid him handsomely for his services. He had thus made a living out of it.
Logically, three of the four maidservants should have been innocent, but Fifth Master Ren could no longer afford to care about that. Regardless of whether there would be retribution, he ordered the guard to extract the truth by any means necessary.In the end, out of the four maidservants, three were nearly driven mad by the torture and claimed they would confess, while one attempted to bite off her tongue but failed. Based on his experience, the former jailer determined that one of the maidservants who offered to confess was genuine—she was the culprit.
As it turned out, Ren Shimiao’s silver was not spent in vain; this former jailer truly had some skill.
Later, it was also this person who took charge of extracting the full story of the incident for Ren Shimiao.
The maidservant said that someone had indeed arranged for her to find an opportunity to replace Fifth Madam and Eighth Miss’s pearl peach blossom powder, but she was not the one who poisoned the cosmetics.
Fifth Madam Ren’s powder had already been tampered with when it was brought back.
“What does this have to do with Sun Shiyi Niang?” Ren Yaoqi asked.
Ren Shimin said, “Do you remember that Sun Shiyi Niang has a daughter?”
Ren Yaoqi nodded. Of course she remembered, and the memory was vivid!
“Sun Shiyi Niang’s daughter is now an apprentice at the Hua Xiangrong Rouge Shop. The maidservant said that the untampered cosmetics she had were obtained from this girl named Qing’er.”
“So that’s how it is!” Ren Yaoqi nodded.
The Hua Xiangrong Rouge Shop could be considered the most famous cosmetics shop in Yanbei. Whenever the Yanbei Prince’s Mansion sent tribute to the imperial court, if there were rouge or powder included, it was always from Hua Xiangrong.
The pearl peach blossom powder was Hua Xiangrong’s signature product. Due to its precious ingredients, the number of boxes sold each year was limited, and the shop kept a record of who purchased them.
If someone deliberately bought six boxes of pearl peach blossom powder to replace Madam Lin’s six boxes, Hua Xiangrong would certainly be able to trace it. However, Ren Shimiao had previously been unable to uncover the origin of those six boxes. Now it seemed that Qing’er had played a role in this.
Ren Yaoqi was not surprised by Qing’er’s appearance in this matter.
Ever since Zeng Kui appeared, she had a premonition. Some people are unavoidable no matter how hard you try to escape—this is what is called a karmic entanglement.
In this life, because Sun Shiyi Niang did not die, Qing’er did not appear in Ren Yaohua’s life. Unexpectedly, she was waiting here instead.
Ren Shimin said, “Fifth Brother has already sent someone to Hua Xiangrong to find Yu Qingniang. I heard she is about your age—how could she do such a thing! Since she is not a maidservant of our household, we cannot subject her to torture, but Fifth Brother insists on sending her to the authorities.”
Ren Yaoqi nodded and asked, “What about the mastermind behind this?”
Ren Shimin said coldly, “Is there any need to ask? I will immediately send someone to White Crane Town to fetch Concubine Fang. This time, even if Father tries to stop me, I will put an end to this venomous woman! Otherwise, who knows who her next victim might be?” Remembering that he had not yet attended to the urgent matter he had rushed back for, Ren Shimin immediately stood up, intending to send someone to Madam Li’s side with instructions.
Ren Yaoqi asked, “What reason will Father use to summon Concubine Fang?”
Ren Shimin replied, “We’ll say that Yaoying is ill and wants to see her.” Concubine Fang might not believe other excuses. Ren Shimin had already thought it through on the way—only the pretext of Ren Yaoying’s illness would work.
At this thought, Ren Shimin couldn’t help but feel frustrated. Concubine Fang was merely his concubine, yet now, to deal with his own concubine, he had to resort to lies to lure her over.Ren Yaoqi did not share Fifth Master Ren's sentiment; she found this excuse quite plausible. Concubine Fang's humanity only surfaced when she faced her own children.
However, Ren Yaoqi harbored some doubts about whether Ren Shimin and Ren Shimiao could smoothly deal with Concubine Fang behind Old Master Ren's back.
Thus, she had her own plans in mind.
Unaware that Ren Yaoqi was thinking of other matters, Ren Shimin asked hesitantly, "Yao Yao, back then, did you sense something was off about Sun Shiyi Niang, which is why you had her moved out of the inner courtyard? And later refused to let her husband work for the Ren Family?"
In response, Ren Yaoqi countered, "Father, does Sun Shiyi Niang resemble Cousin Aunt?"
Ren Shimin was taken aback, confused. "Which cousin aunt?"
"Cousin Fang Yahui from the Fang family," Ren Yaoqi said, looking at Ren Shimin.
Ren Shimin was stunned again. It had been a long time since he last heard the name Fang Yahui, and he never expected to hear it from his daughter today.
Though Ren Shimin didn't understand why Ren Yaoqi suddenly mentioned Fang Yahui, he still thought about it carefully.
Ren Yaoqi, however, smiled first and said, "Father, aren't you planning to send someone back to White Crane Town to fetch Concubine Fang? Let's discuss this matter later."
Ren Shimin nodded. Ren Shimiao had advised him to fetch Concubine Fang when Old Master Ren was not at home. Since deciding to secretly deal with Concubine Fang behind Old Master Ren's back, Ren Shimiao had been keeping an eye on Old Master Ren's whereabouts. He learned that Old Master Ren would be dining with a few business associates at noon and then heading to Jizhou, not returning until the next day.
It was still the hour of Si, but Yunyang City was about two hours away from White Crane Town. Sending someone now would be just about right, as Old Master Ren always planned his schedule in advance.
So, Ren Shimin went to find Madam Li, asking her to first keep an eye on Ren Yaoying and then send someone to fetch Concubine Fang, using the excuse that Ren Yaoying was ill.
While Ren Shimin was instructing Madam Li, Ren Yaoqi also called for Pingguo and whispered some instructions to her.
In the end, the person Madam Li sent to fetch Concubine Fang and Pingguo left the mansion at almost the same time.
When Ren Shimin came out of Madam Li's room, he ran into Ren Yaoqi under the eaves. Remembering their unfinished conversation, he continued, "Earlier, you said Sun Shiyi Niang resembles Fang Yahui?"
Ren Yaoqi had only brought this up to divert Ren Shimin's attention, not wanting him to dwell too much on Sun Shiyi Niang's matter. She hadn't expected him to remember.
She could only sigh inwardly in resignation and nodded. "I heard someone mention it." Truthfully, she wasn't too keen on learning about her father's romantic affairs from his youth!
Ren Shimin actually tilted his head and thought carefully.
After a while, he stroked his chin and said uncertainly, "Not very similar, right? I can't quite remember."
After all these years, Ren Shimin seemed to still have some impression of Fang Yahui's rather ungraceful nose, but as for her overall appearance, he truly couldn't recall.
However, Sun Shiyi Niang's nose seemed somewhat better than Fang Yahui's, so Ren Shimin genuinely didn't see any resemblance between Fang Yahui and Sun Shiyi Niang.
Ren Yaoqi was left speechless by Ren Shimin's response.She thought, if Concubine Fang had brought Sun Shiyi Niang before Ren Shimin truly because she resembled Fang Yahui, then Concubine Fang must have misunderstood something, or perhaps Fang Yahui had said something in front of Concubine Fang that led to this misconception.
"You don’t need to worry about Sun Shiyi Niang anymore either. Fifth Brother has already sent someone to find her. If she is also involved in this matter, she won’t be able to escape either!" Seeing that Ren Yaoqi remained silent, Ren Shimin thought she was still concerned about Sun Shiyi Niang causing trouble, so he patted her head reassuringly.
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