While Ren Yaoqi and Xiangqin were speaking, they saw Nanny Xin from the Princess Consort's side and an elderly woman who appeared to be in her sixties or seventies, looking quite frail and aged, walking out together from the main gate of the Lei Family residence.
Ren Yaoqi instinctively glanced toward where Xiao Jingxi had been standing, but there was no sign of him anymore. He had already left at some point, making Ren Yaoqi wonder if Xiao Jingxi had truly appeared earlier or if she had imagined it due to her nervousness.
Seeing Ren Yaoqi's dazed expression, Xiangqin thought she was looking at Nanny Xin and the elderly woman and quickly whispered, "Nanny Xin and Nanny Gong from the Prince's residence have come out."
At that moment, Nanny Xin also noticed Ren Yaoqi's carriage. She leaned close to Nanny Gong's ear and said something, but Nanny Gong seemed not to have heard clearly. Nanny Xin repeated it loudly and pointed toward Ren Yaoqi's carriage, prompting Nanny Gong to look over. Ren Yaoqi noticed that Nanny Gong was not only thin and shriveled in appearance but also seemed to have poor eyesight and hearing, making her wonder how Nanny Gong had managed to assist Ren Yaohua with the delivery earlier.
Nanny Xin and Nanny Gong both walked over together.
Ren Yaoqi spoke first, "Thank you both for your hard work today."
Nanny Xin smiled and replied, "We were just following orders, Miss Ren. You are too kind."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Nanny Xin leaned close to Nanny Gong's ear and said loudly, "It's getting late. Let me accompany you back to the residence."
Nanny Gong nodded, "Yes, sweet osmanthus-filled glutinous rice balls are good. I love eating those."
The maids couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this, while Nanny Xin looked helpless as she coaxed, "Alright, I'll have someone prepare them for you as soon as we return."
Nanny Gong seemed somewhat dim-sighted, squinting as she looked at Ren Yaoqi for a while before leaning over to ask Nanny Xin, "Is this the young master's wife? She's very pretty, but among all the babies I've delivered, our young master is still the most handsome." She also seemed hard of hearing, so although she intended to whisper to Nanny Xin, her voice was loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.
Nanny Xin looked both embarrassed and helpless, whispering to Ren Yaoqi, "Miss Ren, please don't mind her. This old woman rarely goes out and has almost forgotten her manners."
Unexpectedly, as soon as she finished speaking, Nanny Gong retorted unhappily, "Who are you saying has no manners? Wasn't it this old woman who taught you manners back in the day?"
Nanny Xin: "..."
Even Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but laugh at this point. She said to Nanny Gong, "My aunt's residence has a chef who makes delicious pastries, especially sweet osmanthus glutinous rice balls and osmanthus cakes. Tomorrow, I'll have someone send some rice balls and osmanthus cakes to you."
Nanny Gong smiled, her face crinkling with wrinkles, "Ah! Thank you, young mistress! This old woman will take good care of you and make sure you have children within three years, each as handsome as our young master."
Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi blushed deeply and couldn't find the words to respond.
Nanny Xin suppressed a laugh as she forcibly pulled Nanny Gong away. Before leaving, she didn't forget to say to Ren Yaoqi, "I'll take her back first, Miss Ren. You should also return for now. The birthing room is still filled with the scent of blood, and Mrs. Lei needs rest. She won't wake up for a while, so you might as well come visit her and the child tomorrow."Ren Yaoqi nodded in agreement. Knowing that Ren Yaohua and the child were both safe put her mind at ease, and she wasn’t in a hurry to visit right away.
Not long after, Ren Shimin also came out of the Lei Family residence. Madam Li was still concerned about Ren Yaohua and the child and planned to stay at the Lei Family to look after them today, so Ren Yaoqi returned home with Third Master Ren.
Third Master Ren seemed to be in a rather good mood. Ren Yaoqi smiled and asked him, “Father, did you see the child? Who does the child resemble? Is it pretty?”
Ren Shimin thought for a moment, then shook his head seriously. “Your mother held the child for me to see and said it looks like your sister did when she was little. But to me, the child looks like a little monkey, all red and wrinkled all over. It’s really not what I’d call pretty.”
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but laugh. “All newborns look like that. They’ll become prettier after a while when they grow into their features. Father, have you forgotten what my sister and I looked like when we were little?”
Hearing this, Ren Shimin rolled his eyes, then coughed lightly and lowered his head to drink his tea.
Truth be told, Third Master Ren was far from being a good father. When Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi were first born, he wasn’t psychologically prepared for fatherhood. He was even afraid of hearing the babies cry and slept in his study every night, let alone taking the initiative to get close to them. So, Third Master Ren had never held a child in his life. Earlier, when Madam Li brought the child to him, he only dared to glance at it a couple of times and didn’t dare to take it in his arms. It wasn’t until Ren Yaoqi was a bit older and began to show signs of intelligence that Third Master Ren noticed her and took her under his wing, personally teaching her music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
Seeing her father’s expression, Ren Yaoqi understood but didn’t press the matter.
After returning home that day, perhaps because she had worried too much during the day, Ren Yaoqi slept very soundly that night. Early the next morning, she sent Pingguo to Ren Shijia’s residence to ask her family’s chef to prepare a box of osmanthus glutinous rice balls and osmanthus cakes, which were then sent to the Yanbei Prince’s Mansion for Nanny Gong.
Although the Yanbei Prince’s Mansion certainly wouldn’t lack such treats—especially since this Nanny Gong seemed to hold quite a high position in the mansion—it was still a gesture of sincerity. Ren Yaoqi genuinely wanted to thank her for saving Ren Yaohua and the child’s lives.
After sending the glutinous rice balls, Ren Yaoqi took a carriage to the Lei Family.
Ren Yaohua was still asleep at the time, while Madam Li and Nanny Zhou were watching over the child. Lei Pan’er was also there.
As soon as Ren Yaoqi entered, she heard Lei Pan’er whispering earnestly to Madam Li, “…When I have time, I’ll ask my wet nurse what I ate when I was little, and I’ll give the same to my little sister. That way, she’ll grow up to be pretty too.”
Madam Li was amused by her words. “Aren’t you afraid your little sister might end up prettier than you?”
Pan’er glanced at the baby sleeping peacefully in the cradle, her face full of sympathy. Her thoughts were obvious, but she still comforted Madam Li, “I’m not afraid. After all, she’s my little sister.”
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but chuckle.
Pan’er turned around and saw Ren Yaoqi, happily rushing over to her. “Auntie, it’s been so long since you came to see Pan’er.”
Ren Yaoqi bent down to hug her, gently pinched her cheeks, and led her to the cradle to look at the sleeping baby. She commented, “Hmm, she really isn’t as pretty as Pan’er.”Pan'er smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners, but after a moment, her expression turned troubled again. "Auntie, please don’t dislike my little sister. Pan'er will think of a way to help her grow up pretty too."
Ren Yaoqi pinched her little nose. "Oh? What ideas do you have?"
Pan'er blinked and whispered, "I just thought of something. I heard that if a child sees someone often, they’ll grow up to look like that person. So Pan'er will come to see my little sister every day, and she’ll grow up to look just like me."
Lei Pan'er’s earnest expression made everyone laugh.
Ren Yaoqi asked Madam Li, "Has my sister not woken up yet?"
"She woke up once early this morning, looked at the baby for a while, and after eating a little something, she fell back asleep. Giving birth takes a lot of energy, so she needs to rest well and recover. With Nanny Zhou and me watching over things in the manor, no one can cause any trouble," Madam Li replied.
Ren Yaoqi raised an eyebrow and glanced at Lei Pan'er but held back her question.
It wasn’t until Pan'er was taken by a maid to the study to practice calligraphy that Ren Yaoqi finally asked Madam Li, "What happened?"
Madam Li sighed and led Ren Yaoqi to another room to talk, so as not to disturb Ren Yaohua, who was resting inside.
"What else could it be? It’s all because of that woman from the estate!" Though Madam Li was usually gentle-tempered, she couldn’t hide her anger when speaking of this.
Ren Yaoqi raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about Pan'er’s aunt? What has she done now?"
Nanny Zhou chimed in indignantly, "If it weren’t for her, the young mistress wouldn’t have given birth to the baby girl a few days early! She truly doesn’t know her place—utterly detestable!"
Madam Li hesitated for a moment before lowering her voice. "You don’t know this, but while your sister was pregnant and unwell, many people tried to push women into the young master’s household."
Ren Yaoqi nodded. Even without witnessing it, she could easily imagine such a situation.
Ever since the Lei Family made a remarkable showing at the dragon boat race, many families in Yanbei had begun to acknowledge the Lei Family’s status in the region. Lei Ting was young and capable, and with only one official wife, no concubines, and no children, it was no surprise that many had their eyes on him.
Madam Li sighed. "Fortunately, the young master is an upright and loyal man. He refused those advances before they could reach your sister’s ears, so she was spared the trouble. But then, on one occasion, the young master passed by that estate while on business. It was raining, so he stopped there to take shelter. Afterward, rumors spread that he had gone to the estate to meet that woman, and some even said the reason he refused to take concubines was because he already had someone outside."
"So my sister got angry because of this and..." Ren Yaoqi frowned.
Madam Li shook her head. "Your sister isn’t that narrow-minded to believe everything she hears. These were just baseless rumors spread by idle people. If ignored, they would have faded away on their own. But then, that woman herself jumped into the fray! Claiming her reputation had been tarnished by the rumors, she made a scene, threatening to take her own life. She even tried to hang herself with a white silk cord but was discovered and saved by a maid, though she was left half-dead. Your sister was due to give birth any day now, and with all the commotion, fright, and anger..."Nanny Zhou said disdainfully, "If she truly wanted to die, why not choose the dead of night instead of the exact moment when a maid was about to deliver a meal? Such a trick isn't particularly clever—it's just meant to disgust people!"
Xiangqin, who had been listening quietly, muttered softly, "Does she think our master will take pity on her and let her into the estate this way? She must be dreaming!"
Even Xiangqin knew that Madam Xiao Qiao had ulterior motives.
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