Meanwhile, in the rear courtyard, Ren Yaoying also caught wind of some rumors.
Although Nanny Zhou had imposed a gag order, Ren Yaohua and Madam Li had returned from outside one after another earlier, and a dispute had ensued between them. Ren Yaoying happened to be passing by the corridor and overheard some commotion.
Though she was quickly spotted by Ren Yaohua’s maid and politely asked to leave, Ren Yaoying remained vigilant, wanting to find out what Madam Li and Ren Yaohua had discussed. She kept a close watch on the movements of Ren Yaohua and Madam Li. Later, when Ren Yaohua left the residence, and soon after, Ren Yaoqi returned and went to look for Ren Yaohua, Ren Yaoying observed Madam Li sending out several groups of people one after another, seemingly trying to locate someone.
After secretly observing the situation, Ren Yaoying gradually came to a surprising conclusion—it seemed Ren Yaohua had disappeared?
To confirm her suspicion, Ren Yaoying deliberately found an excuse to visit Madam Li. However, she was met by Madam Li’s senior maid, Xier, who informed her that Madam Li was feeling unwell and asked her to return the next day.
Ren Yaoying smiled and said, “Then I’ll go find Third Sister instead. It’s the same if I discuss this matter with her.”
Xier frowned and quickly stopped her, saying, “Ninth Miss, Fifth Miss has gone to her maternal grandparents’ home and hasn’t returned yet. If you have any matters, you may tell me, and I will relay them to Madam.”
Gone to the abandoned Xianwang Residence again?
Ren Yaoying was skeptical of Xier’s explanation. It was no secret in the Ren Family that Ren Yaohua disliked her maternal relatives, so how could she have gone back there so soon after returning, especially alone? Moreover, judging from the earlier situation, Ren Yaohua had not seemed pleased when she returned from outside.
At that moment, Que’er also lifted the curtain and came out, telling Xier that Nanny Zhou was looking for them.
Seeing both maids glancing at her, Ren Yaoying realized that staying any longer would arouse suspicion about her motives. She smiled and took her leave.
When Ren Yaoqi learned that Ren Yaoying had just gone to the main house to look for Madam Li, she couldn’t help but frown. Ren Yaoying was her half-sister, and if Ren Yaoying could behave sensibly from now on and stop stirring up trouble, Ren Yaoqi would be willing to coexist peacefully with her for their father’s sake.
But it seemed Ren Yaoying had other ideas?
Ren Yaoqi was currently worried about Ren Yaohua and had no time to deal with Ren Yaoying. She simply ordered that Ren Yaoying and the maids and servants around her be closely watched and not allowed to leave the residence.
Not long after, someone reported from outside that one of Ren Yaoying’s maids had tried to go out to buy sewing supplies but had been stopped by the gatekeeper.
Ren Yaoqi knew that, no matter what, it would be best for Ren Yaohua to return quickly. If too much time passed and rumors began to spread, it would be very damaging for Ren Yaohua.
Meanwhile, after regaining consciousness, Ren Yaohua found herself bound hand and foot, gagged, and lying in an unfamiliar carriage. Xiangqin, who had been in the same carriage with her earlier, was nowhere to be seen.
It turned out that shortly after leaving the city, the group had split into two. Ren Yaohua’s maids and servants were thrown into the two Ren Family carriages and taken toward Jizhou, with Xiangqin in one of them.
Ren Yaohua, however, was transferred to a plain carriage that had been prepared in advance and was being taken to Zhuozhou.Ren Yaohua jolted awake, immediately lowering her head to inspect her clothing. Relieved to find her garments still intact, she let out a sigh. Fear crept into her heart as she wondered how Xiangqin and the others were faring and where these people intended to take her.
Initially, she considered banging against the carriage walls to call for help, but after pressing her ear to the side and listening carefully, she realized there were no other people or vehicles nearby—only the sound of her own carriage racing forward. Were they traveling along a secluded path?
Ren Yaohua dared not act rashly, fearing that any attempt to seek help might provoke her captors and bring greater harm. If she were to save herself, she would need to wait for the right moment.
After what felt like an eternity, the carriage finally slowed down and came to a halt somewhere.
The man driving outside spoke up, “Go to the village ahead and buy some provisions from the villagers. We’ll be traveling nonstop for the next two days, so we won’t have time to stop at inns or light fires.”
The driver seemed to be the one giving orders. Ren Yaohua heard someone acknowledge his command before riding away on horseback.
Another man dismounted and approached, chuckling, “Hey, brother. Do you know who our employer is? Going to such lengths to capture so many people? But the pay is generous—fifty taels each! And the money from selling those women and girls my brothers took to Ji Prefecture all goes to us.”
The driver outside seemed unwilling to answer. Instead, he lifted the carriage curtain to check whether Ren Yaohua was awake. Since the carriage had stopped, Ren Yaohua had closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, pretending to still be unconscious, hoping to glean some clues from the conversation outside.
After a quick glance inside, the driver let the curtain fall back into place.
“Hey, I didn’t get a good look earlier, but this girl is quite a beauty. No wonder they told us to sell the others but keep this one—she’d fetch a high price if sold. But then again, a girl this pretty can’t be from an ordinary family, right? My brothers and I aren’t locals of Yan Prefecture, so we don’t know the details, but we’re all in this together. You can’t let the employer deceive us! If she’s someone of importance, the risks are higher, and we deserve more silver.” The man who had spoken earlier, after sneaking a peek into the carriage, voiced his suspicions.
The driver replied impatiently, “She’s just a merchant’s daughter! If you’re so scared, why did you even come along? You could’ve gone to Ji Prefecture with your brothers.”
“Hey, that’s not how it works. We only received half the payment upfront. Now that the job’s done, you’re going to meet the employer and claim the reward. If I don’t follow, won’t I be at a disadvantage? I’ve got a whole crew of brothers to feed—it’s not easy for us either.”
The driver snorted coldly, “Suit yourself!”
Listening to this, Ren Yaohua realized that her kidnappers weren’t a single group. The two men speaking outside weren’t from the same faction. The driver and his group were the ones directly connected to the employer, while the other man and those who had taken Xiangqin and the others were a separate crew. They seemed to have been hired as temporary help along the way—not locals of Yan Prefecture and unaware of the employer’s identity or her own.Ren Yaohua heard what seemed to be the sound of cattle lowing not far away, along with the shouts of a cattle driver. There must be people nearby. As she was considering using all her strength to bang against the carriage walls to attract attention, she suddenly heard a muffled groan from outside, followed by the heavy thud of someone collapsing to the ground.
Ren Yaohua’s heart skipped a beat, but then she heard the carriage driver say, “What took you so long? I just told you to put on a show and find a chance to finish him off. These martial artists may be thick-headed, but their skills are impressive. He’s been following us all this way, and we couldn’t shake him off. Check his pulse and see if he’s dead.”
After a moment, the man who had been sent to buy provisions earlier replied, “He’s dead for sure. Don’t worry—my dagger was poisoned.”
The carriage driver said, “Move the body onto the carriage first. We’ll find a suitable place to bury it later. That fool’s people took the carriage and all those maids and servants to Jizhou. If anyone from the Ren Family tracks us, they’ll head to Jizhou, drawing the pursuers away. We can take her to the employer and collect our payment.”
“You’re clever—saving money and avoiding trouble.”
Hearing that they planned to bring the body into the carriage, Ren Yaohua felt a wave of nausea and terror. Despite her usual toughness, she was just a young girl who had only recently come of age, and she instinctively feared the dead.
However, the next words from the man carrying the body surprised her, and this surprise even temporarily suppressed her fear of the corpse.
The man muttered, “I wonder what the employer is thinking. She’s a young lady herself—why go to such lengths to kidnap another girl from so far away?”
“Enough with the nonsense! She pays, you work—that’s all there is to it!”
The person who kidnapped her was a girl?
Ren Yaohua had previously speculated about who might have captured her. She thought the most likely suspects were Eunuch Lu, whom she had offended at the Commandery Princess’s coming-of-age banquet, or perhaps Young Master Zeng Kui from the Zeng Family. But how could it be a girl?
There weren’t many girls she had conflicts with. Ren Yaoyin was one, but she had already gone to Jiangnan, and Ren Yaohua didn’t think Ren Yaoyin had the means to hire desperate criminals. Ren Yaoying was another, but the phrase “from so far away” clearly didn’t refer to Ren Yaoying, who lived under the same roof. As for Concubine Fang, who had gone missing, she was a married woman, not a girl.
Besides these people, she couldn’t recall offending any other girl who would go to such lengths to target her.
Someone lifted the carriage curtain and threw a man’s body inside. The carriage was already cramped, and Ren Yaohua could even feel the dead man’s hand brush against her sleeve. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming.
After tossing the body in, the man suspiciously remarked, “Why hasn’t she woken up yet? Could she be pretending to be asleep?” He seemed about to climb in to check.
Ren Yaohua’s heart raced.
But the carriage driver scoffed, “If you throw a dead body next to a girl and she’s awake, wouldn’t she make any noise? Those people just hit her a bit too hard.”
“You’re right. Even if she were awake, she’d probably faint from fright.”"Alright, it's getting late, let's get moving! We're still within Yan Prefecture's borders, and I can't shake this uneasy feeling. We need to reach Zhuozhou as soon as possible."
"What's there to worry about? Once we pull off this job, we'll head south and never come back. Then we can marry, take concubines, have children—life will be nothing but joy!" The man laughed as he spoke.
"Let's hope so!" sighed the driver.
Apologies for the recent unstable updates (┬＿┬).
The author will likely return home around the 21st, after which updates should become more regular...
Also, I just noticed we have a new alliance leader—thank you, aki10086~o(∩_∩)o.
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