"I am your legitimate elder sister, and your concubine's mistress! You ask what I am? Has all the etiquette you learned over the past year gone to the dogs? Concubine Fang, is this the result of your upbringing?" Ren Yaohua sneered coldly.
"Third Miss, please forgive me. It is this servant's fault for failing in discipline," Concubine Fang's voice was soft and low, her posture extremely humble. "Ninth Miss, quickly apologize to Third Miss."
Ren Yaoying jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "I refuse to apologize to such a vicious person! She wants to harm Sixth Brother and has been beating and scolding us. Concubine, let's go!"
"Ren Yaoying, repeat what you just said," Ren Yaohua said coldly.
"Say it again, then! You... mmm... mmm..."
"Third Miss, I beg you to forgive Ninth Miss for her thoughtless words. She is still young and doesn't understand. It is all this servant's fault. I will kneel before you," Concubine Fang pleaded urgently, covering Ren Yaoying's mouth to prevent her from further provoking Ren Yaohua.
"Concubine—" Ren Yaoying cried out, the scene sounding rather pitiful.
Ren Yaoqi glanced outside the door. The maids and old women brought by Concubine Fang were likely still standing outside. She felt a headache coming on.
After a moment's thought, she lifted the curtain.
In the eastern side room, Concubine Fang knelt stiffly before Ren Yaohua with her head bowed low. Ren Yaoying was beside her, desperately trying to pull Concubine Fang up, but was pushed away.
Ren Yaohua stood coldly in front of the kang, watching. Nanny Zhou looked at Concubine Fang, then at Ren Yaohua, seeming hesitant to speak.
Sixth Young Master Ren Yihong stood frowning by the curtain, as if wanting to step forward but unsure what to do, appearing troubled.
The others also noticed Ren Yaoqi entering.
"Fifth Miss, your face—" Concubine Fang immediately noticed the injury on Ren Yaoqi's face and couldn't help gasping softly in surprise.
Ren Yaoying also stared in shock at the five-finger mark on Ren Yaoqi's left cheek, then glanced at Ren Yaohua before saying to Concubine Fang, "Fifth Sister must have been hit by Third Sister!"
Her tone was certain, and it carried a hint of schadenfreude.
"What are you doing here?" Ren Yaohua asked coldly.
Ren Yaoqi glanced at Ren Yaohua, walked over, and helped Concubine Fang to her feet. "Mother asked me to tell Concubine Fang that she has just taken her medicine and is too tired to see you all. She already knows and appreciates Sixth Brother and Ninth Sister's filial intentions. Today, the snow is heavy, the wind is cold, and the roads are slippery. She asks that Concubine Fang take Sixth Brother and Ninth Sister back to rest early. Otherwise, if they catch a cold, even if Concubine Fang doesn't feel distressed, she, as their mother, will."
Concubine Fang stiffened, quickly glanced at Ren Yaoqi, then looked at Ren Yaohua.
Ren Yaoqi followed Concubine Fang's gaze to Ren Yaohua, who stood there with a cold sneer. She continued, "I didn't expect Concubine Fang to be so sincere as to kneel and kowtow here for Mother. I will be sure to convey this to her."
Ren Yaoying exclaimed, "My concubine wasn't kneeling to—"
Ren Yaoqi swiftly cut her off. "If Concubine Fang wasn't kneeling to Mother, then to whom? Only Third Sister, Sixth Brother, Ninth Sister, and Nanny Zhou are here. Although you, Third Sister, Sixth Brother, and Ninth Sister are nominally Concubine Fang's masters, she is, after all, a proper concubine Father brought into the household and has contributed by bearing children. She is half an elder. Kneeling to any of you would be neither reasonable nor appropriate. If outsiders were to find out, wouldn't they say you are arrogant?"
Everyone present changed expressions.Concubine Fang seemed about to speak, but Ren Yaoqi gave her no opportunity: "Moreover, even if we are all children who don't understand these principles, you have always been praised by Grandmother as well-educated, intelligent, and virtuous. Could it be that you don't understand this principle either? If she were kneeling to you, wouldn't that deliberately place you in an unjust position? I don't believe you would do such a thing, right, Concubine?"
Ren Yaoqi released her hand from supporting Concubine Fang, stood up, tilted her head and smiled at her, appearing completely trusting.
Concubine Fang lowered her head, slowly turned on her knees, and faced the direction of Madam Li's bedroom in the western chamber, respectfully kowtowing three times.
After finishing her kowtows, Concubine Fang rose by herself, gently brushed the dust from her pale yellow satin fur-lined skirt, then looked up at Ren Yaoqi and said softly, "Fifth Miss is right. This servant was kneeling to the Madam, not to others."
Concubine Fang concealed her probing gaze toward Ren Yaoqi very well, and Ren Yaoqi pretended not to notice, still maintaining a familiar and cheerful manner: "Since that's the case, Concubine, please return with Sixth Young Master and Ninth Younger Sister. Nanny Zhou, quickly send some maids to carry lanterns for Concubine Fang and her children. The path outside is slippery—have them support them carefully."
Nanny Zhou was momentarily stunned. She glanced at Ren Yaoqi, then looked at Ren Yaohua, who remained cold-faced and silent. Finally, she lowered her head and acknowledged, then bowed to Concubine Fang: "Concubine, Sixth Young Master, Ninth Miss, please. This servant will have someone escort you back."
Concubine Fang nodded to Nanny Zhou and said to Ren Yaohua, "Third Miss, this servant will come first thing tomorrow morning to attend to the Madam." After speaking, she left without delay, taking her two children with her.
Nanny Zhou also followed them out.
Ren Yaoqi watched as Concubine Fang's graceful yet straight-backed figure exited the main room. Her pitch-black eyes still held a smile, but they were as calm and deep as a winter lake, without a ripple.
Ren Yaohua's gaze had been fixed on Ren Yaoqi's face from the beginning, as if trying to discern something extraordinary from it.
"Ren Yaoqi, what do you mean by this?"
Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment, then looked at Ren Yaohua seriously: "Third Sister, what do you think I could mean? If I had allowed Concubine Fang to continue kneeling just now, and let Seventh Younger Sister continue making a scene, disturbing others in the mansion, who do you think would have suffered?"
Ren Yaohua stared at Ren Yaoqi with an inscrutable expression for a long while, then curled her lips in a somewhat sarcastic smile: "I thought you were very close to Concubine Fang and deeply affectionate with Sixth Brother and the others, so you couldn't bear to see them suffer injustice here. Have you forgotten who insisted before Grandfather and Grandmother that I pushed Sixth Brother into the water?"
Ren Yaoqi lowered her eyes and remained silent. This was the irreconcilable conflict between her and Ren Yaohua—explaining would be futile.
Moreover, Rome wasn't built in a day. She didn't expect to change their relationship in a single day.
"Consider it as me not wanting Mother to be implicated again."
At that moment, Nanny Zhou entered with four maids carrying a copper kettle, copper basin, face towels, and a medicine chest. She bowed to the two and reported: "Third Miss, Fifth Miss, this servant has already dispatched four maids to escort Concubine Fang back to Fangfei Courtyard."
Although Concubine Fang was their father's concubine, she did not reside in Purple Magnolia Courtyard. Instead, she lived separately with her two children in her own small courtyard. Though it was only a single-courtyard residence, it was considered an extraordinary honor.Ren Yaoqi nodded. Nanny Zhou directed the maids to place the copper kettle, basin, and other items on the small plum blossom side table. Two young maids bowed and withdrew, leaving only Madam Li’s two senior maids in the room. "Fifth Miss, let this servant apply a warm compress to your face. Otherwise, if you go out and catch the wind later, you’ll feel uncomfortable tonight."
Ren Yaoqi nodded and walked back to sit on the kang.
The senior maid Xier soaked a face towel, wrung it dry, and handed it to Nanny Zhou, who gently pressed it against Ren Yaoqi’s face. The scalding heat of the towel made Ren Yaoqi instinctively turn her head aside. Nanny Zhou quickly said, "Fifth Miss, just bear with it for a moment. Please don’t move."
Ren Yaoqi sat still without moving. After all, she was no longer a willful ten-year-old child—a little pain was something she could endure.
The two senior maids, Xier and Que’er, exchanged a glance before lowering their heads again. One held a medicine bottle, waiting, while the other wrung out another face towel, ready for Nanny Zhou to replace the current one.
Ren Yaohua had not left either. Sitting on the other side of the kang, she spoke softly with Nanny Zhou about Madam Li’s illness.
Ren Yaoqi listened silently and only then learned that Madam Li had caught a chill on the road. Unfortunately, upon returning, she had knelt outside Old Madam Ren’s courtyard for a long time, which worsened her condition. A physician had been summoned and prescribed a formula to dispel the cold.
In her previous life, Ren Yaoqi had fallen ill herself, so she had been unaware of Madam Li’s sickness, and no one had informed her. After recovering, she went to pay respects to her mother but was driven out by Ren Yaohua with two slaps.
Back then, she had been ill for four or five days. By the time she recovered, Madam Li had also regained her health, indicating that Madam Li’s illness likely wasn’t serious.
Ren Yaoqi thought she would ask Nanny Zhou tomorrow for the prescription the physician had given Madam Li.
Nanny Zhou applied warm compresses to Ren Yaoqi several times before taking the ointment from Que’er and gently spreading a thin layer on her face. Ren Yaoqi sat motionless, allowing her to proceed.
"Fifth Miss, are you unwell?" Nanny Zhou observed Ren Yaoqi’s complexion, noticing slight puffiness under her eyes and lips less moist than usual. Recalling that Ren Yaoqi had not come out to greet Madam Li upon her return, she asked.
Ren Yaoqi paused, then nodded. "I’ve been ill for some time, but I’ve been improving these past few days. I’ll likely recover after taking two more doses of medicine."
Nanny Zhou was both angry and anxious. "Fifth Miss, how could you go out in the wind while ill? Didn’t the matrons and maids around you try to stop you?"
At this, Nanny Zhou’s expression changed again. "You said you’ve been ill for some time?" They had been completely unaware at the estate, and those left behind in the Ren residence had not sent them any message.
"Yes, I fell ill last month when the weather fluctuated between cold and hot." After the autumn heat, temperatures in the north dropped sharply, and the alternating cold and warmth made people prone to illness.
Nanny Zhou frowned and looked at Ren Yaohua, whose face was already icy. "It seems everyone in Purple Magnolia Courtyard has forgotten their place!"
Nanny Zhou sighed. "We’ve been away for a year, and Old Madam Ren entrusted Purple Magnolia Courtyard to her care. Naturally, times have changed. We initially thought Ying’er and Zhu’er, both steady and having served Madam for many years, would be best suited to stay and watch over the courtyard. If anything happened in the residence, they could promptly send word to the estate. Little did we expect Old Madam Ren would arrange marriages for them. Now they can hardly even enter the inner courtyard—what a pity."
Completed works by Meinan:[bookid=2288861,bookname="The Noble Daughter's Revenge"]
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