Upon hearing this, the maid's face flushed red, standing stiffly in place.
Ren Yaoqi smiled and said to Ren Yaohua, "She's not from our White Crane Town, so she probably doesn't know the rules of the ice skating competition. Third Sister, could you lend me a silver coin? Let's consider it a token of good luck."
Ren Yaohua glared coldly at the maid for a long moment before finally instructing Xiangqin to take out a silver coin and give it to the maid. The maid bowed gratefully as if pardoned from a death sentence and retreated.
"Xiangqin, stay. The rest of you, go play over there." After dismissing everyone behind her, Ren Yaohua sized up Ren Yaoqi a few times and frowned, "Do you know that Young Master Wen?"
Ren Yaoqi shook her head, "I only saw him once when he entered the mansion with our cousin in the corridor. I greeted them and went together to pay respects to Grandmother. After that, I rarely left the courtyard. Even if I saw him from afar, I never spoke to him again."
Ren Yaohua looked at Ren Yaoqi, as if judging the truth of her words, "I noticed him glancing in your direction several times earlier, but I didn’t know who he was looking at."
Ren Yaoqi was slightly surprised; she hadn’t expected Ren Yaohua to be so observant.
She had sensed Yun Wenfang’s gaze earlier and found it strange, though she wasn’t entirely sure who he was looking at. In this life, she hadn’t provoked him at all and hadn’t even deliberately avoided occasions where he was present. She believed she had acted perfectly naturally and couldn’t understand what had drawn his attention.
"Stay away from him from now on!" Ren Yaohua said sternly.
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but smile wryly; she also wished to stay as far away from him as possible.
Ren Yaohua, however, mistook Ren Yaoqi’s expression for indifference and sneered, "He’s not some Young Master Wen; he’s the Yun family’s second young master. I only had someone inquire about him after hearing a few words from Eighth Sister earlier. Many in this mansion know his identity. Didn’t you notice Fifth Aunt’s attitude toward him? Everyone knows what she’s scheming. Besides Fifth Aunt, many others are also eyeing this Young Master Yun. Fifth Aunt’s maternal family, the Lin Family, and Second Aunt’s maternal family, the Su Family, are both in Yunyang City with the Yun Family. The Su Family and the Yun Family are even connected by marriage."
Ren Yaoqi nodded, "Yes, I understand."
Ren Yaohua still felt somewhat unaccustomed to Ren Yaoqi’s obedience and continued lecturing, "You know what kind of family the Yun Family is. The Yanbei Prince’s Mansion still has a Commandery Princess who is unmarried. This Young Master Yun may not even have the final say in his own affairs."
Ren Yaoqi smiled sincerely at Ren Yaohua, "I understand, Third Sister. Thank you."
Ren Yaohua was taken aback, then turned her face away uncomfortably and snorted, "I don’t want Mother to worry or be sad over your foolishness in the future."
At that moment, the deafening sound of gongs and drums erupted outside again. Xueli and Wujing ran over, their expressions somewhat dejected, "That Young Master Wen won. Fifth Young Master placed fifth."
Ren Yaoqi was surprised, "How is it fifth? Shouldn’t it be fourth?"
Which of the Ren Family’s attendants would dare compete for ranking with their masters? The top four should have been the young masters.
Wujing seemed to recall something amusing, "A big, burly guy was running very fast and was leading the pack alongside Young Master Wen earlier. When he reached the opposite shore, somehow he was tripped, fell, and slid far away. Unexpectedly, after getting up, he caught up again and even finished second in the end."
Ren Yaoqi smiled faintly, not paying it much mind."Next up is the ice ball competition, Third Miss, Fifth Miss, which team should we choose this time?" Wujing asked eagerly.
The ice ball competition involved several teams competing for a colored ball, with the team that secured it emerging victorious. There would be several rounds, making it the climax of the ice games, while the earlier races served as a warm-up.
Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment and discussed with Ren Yaohua, "Third Sister, should we still choose Fifth Brother's team?"
Upon hearing this, the maidservants looked somewhat disappointed, clearly believing Ren Yijian had little chance of winning.
Qingmei, who had returned with the others, quickly said to Ren Yaoqi, "Miss, Eighth Miss gave a gold ingot to Young Master Wen's team. From what I saw, it must weigh at least three taels. Ninth Miss also gave five-tael silver ingots to Young Master Wen and Young Master Qiu's teams."
It was evident she was dissatisfied with her own mistress giving only a small silver coin as a prize and betting on Fifth Young Master's team, which seemed unlikely to win.
Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment and asked Xueli, "How much did the others give?"
"Aside from Third Miss, who gave the same as you, Eldest Young Madam gave five taels of silver to each team. Fourth Miss gave one tael to each team. Seventh Miss gave two taels to Young Master Han's team. Miss Han gave one tael to each team. Among the young masters, Eldest Young Master gave twenty taels in Fifth Master's name to Fifth Young Master's team, while he himself gave fifteen taels to Young Master Qiu's team. Third Young Master... only Third Young Master gave no silver, and the other young masters gave less than Eldest Young Master."
Ren Yaoqi nodded and asked Ren Yaohua, "In that case, our small silver coin is indeed too little. Third Sister, how much do you think we should give for this round?"
Ren Yaohua thought for a moment and instructed Wujing, "Then let's follow Fourth Sister's example and give one tael to each team."
Ren Yaoqi nodded to Xueli, signaling her to follow suit.
Ren Yaohua glanced at Ren Yaoqi and stood up, saying, "I'll go take a look."
In the past, when the elders were present, the amounts given followed seniority. The elders gave large sums, while the younger generation gave small amounts for the occasion. Generally, the amounts didn't differ too much, so Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi hadn't paid much attention before. Unexpectedly, with the elders absent today, some had disrupted the usual order.
Ren Yaoqi knew that although Ren Yaohua didn't want to stand out in such a situation today, her strong-willed nature made her unwilling to lose face. Recalling her earlier admonishments, Ren Yaoqi understood she had a good sense of propriety and wouldn't act recklessly. She nodded and said, "Third Sister, go ahead. I'll go change."
The Ren Family's temporary changing area was a thatched hut not far from the riverbank. It had been tidied up neatly, scented with incense, and covered with a carpet.
When Ren Yaoqi finished changing and stepped out, she saw dozens of people battling fiercely on the ice. Outside the colorful flags, spectators cheered with all their might, creating a lively and enthusiastic atmosphere.
Ren Yaoqi stood on the high ground of the riverbank and watched for a while. She could roughly make out the few individuals in the center of the field who were fiercely competing for the ball. She also saw Ren Yijian, unable to squeeze into the center, fall flat on his back.
Accompanied by several robust women arranged by Nanny Zhou and Xueli, Ren Yaoqi walked along the riverbank for a while. Just as she was about to circle behind the warm pavilion, she suddenly heard faint rustling sounds from somewhere, followed by someone cursing in a low voice, "...Damn it! Zhu Ruomei! If you don't let go, my arm is going to break!"The maidservants behind Ren Yaoqi were greatly alarmed, but she immediately raised her hand to stop their exclamations.
"Yuan Dayong, you bastard! If you hadn't tripped me, I could've won the race. Do you know how much silver was in those prizes?" a man panted angrily.
Yuan Dayong grimaced in pain. "If I hadn't tripped you, you'd have been thrown out of the coal mine by the foreman as soon as you returned today! Did you think that silver would actually end up in your hands?"
"Why shouldn't the prize I won go to me? Let anyone try to take it!"
"Yeah, you're tough! But what about your mother and your sister? Will they have to pack up and run away with you? Your mother is already too sick to get out of bed!"
"You know about my mother... how sick she is... Do you think I'm risking everything for nothing?" Zhu Ruomei's hoarse voice choked with emotion.
Yuan Dayong sighed and spoke softly to console him. "That's exactly why I begged my father to let you take someone else's place. You know that because the rewards for winning the competition are so generous, many people would beg for the chance but can't get it. The workers from your coal mine are only allowed to guard the perimeter; most of those who can enter are servants of the Ren Family. So everyone knows the rules—when the masters are present, you can't win the race. But you, you reckless fool... Ah! If it weren't for my father's familiarity with the chief steward, we wouldn't just be thrown out; it would be much worse."
As the two spoke, they climbed up from the bushes along the riverbank. Before they could stand up, they saw Ren Yaoqi and her group standing not far away.
Ren Yaoqi also saw them—two men dressed in the Ren Family's servant uniforms, one wearing a red sash around his waist and the other a yellow sash.
The man with the red sash had a fair and clean appearance, looking quite refined. The one with the yellow sash was tall and powerfully built, with a dark complexion but strikingly handsome features.
The fair-skinned man was clearly startled, his face paling as he quickly pulled the man beside him to kneel on the ground. He lowered his head, not daring to look in their direction.
The tall, sturdy man obediently knelt beside the fair-skinned one.
"Fifth Miss, what do you think..." The maidservant standing in front of Ren Yaoqi turned her head and asked softly, hinting whether they should call someone to drag away these two who had broken the rules by trespassing into an area marked "No Unauthorized Entry" and punish them.
Ren Yaoqi shook her head. "Let them leave quickly, before anyone else sees them." With that, she stepped forward.
The maidservant hurried over to the two men and sent them away.
It was then that Ren Yaoqi remembered why the name "Zhu Ruomei" had sounded familiar.
Three years ago, she had heard of this person, and because the name "Zhu Ruomei" was somewhat unusual, she had remembered it.
Thank you, Xuanyang, for the PK votes. Although I mentioned earlier that Di Mou wouldn't participate in PK, I still want to thank you for your support~ ^^
Everyone, please don't waste your coins on PK votes anymore~ ^^
Just vote with the free recommendation tickets~ Earlier, Meinan had already organized the character relationships of the Ren Family and posted them in the pinned thread in the review section. If there's anything else you're unclear about and need me to list, feel free to leave a comment. Once I've sorted it out, I'll post it in the public chapters~ ^^
[bookid=2288861,bookname=Mingmen Guisha]
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