Watching the three of them leave, Ren Yaoqi turned and returned to her room.
On the way, she couldn't help but recall the appearance of the young man she had seen earlier.
Because of Dongsheng's matter, she could roughly confirm that he was the second young master of the Xiao Family.
For now, there was no way to investigate further, but based on his appearance and demeanor alone, he was indeed an exceptionally outstanding figure.
She wondered if Xiao Jingxi could truly succeed in carrying out her plan. If things developed as she hoped, she didn't know whether Zeng Pu would still be sent by the court to Yanbei.
Thinking this, Ren Yaoqi entered the room she shared with Ren Yaohua. Just then, she heard Xiangqin and Wujing whispering not far from the doorway.
Seeing Ren Yaoqi enter, the two hurriedly bowed.
Ren Yaoqi smiled and asked, "What are you talking about so animatedly? Where's Third Sister?"
Xiangqin, now familiar with Ren Yaoqi and considering her an approachable and good-tempered mistress, was no longer very afraid of her. "Third Miss found the room stuffy and went to ask Eldest Young Madam for embroidery patterns. She left the two of us to tidy the beds. Third Miss disliked the camphor smell of the bedding prepared by the manor and asked us to replace it with the bedding from our own carriage."
Then, leaning closer, she whispered, "We were talking about the Baiyun Nunnery incident. Fifth Miss, I heard that the man was caught this afternoon."
Ren Yaoqi was slightly taken aback. The man Xiangqin mentioned should be the lover of the nun from Baiyun Nunnery, but Li Tianyou should still be safely staying in the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain.
Wujing blushed and pinched Xiangqin's soft waist. "How can you talk about such things with Fifth Miss? Aren't you afraid of polluting the young lady's ears? If Nanny Zhou finds out, she'll skin you alive!"
Xiangqin gasped and immediately hid behind Ren Yaoqi. "But Fifth Miss asked! I couldn't lie, could I? Besides, there's no one else here. How would Nanny Zhou know? If she finds out, it must be because you tattled!"
As Wujing was about to scold her further, Ren Yaoqi smiled and said, "Forget it. Xiangqin is just mischievous by nature. Don't take it to heart."
"Fifth Miss, you always protect her!" Wujing stamped her foot, glared at Xiangqin, and ran off.
Xiangqin made a face at her retreating back, then quickly put on an ingratiating smile when she noticed Ren Yaoqi looking at her.
Seeing her antics, Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but smile.
"Who was caught?" Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment and asked anyway. After all, it was related to Li Tianyou.
Seeing her ask, Xiangqin quickly replied, "I heard it was a tenant farmer who cleans the cesspits for Baiyun Nunnery every day. He lives at the foot of the mountain. He was tied up and brought up by a clan uncle from the nun's former husband's family, causing quite a commotion at Baiyun Nunnery. But I heard from an old woman from the neighboring guest courtyard who went to watch the spectacle that the nun is fair-skinned, graceful, and a rare beauty, while the tenant farmer is already in his forties, with a wrinkled face and quite ugly. Although the nun is a monastic, she's very fierce. She cursed her former husband's relatives vehemently and chased them out with a stick. Those relatives then camped out in a small courtyard next to Baiyun Temple, refusing to leave. They said if Baiyun Temple didn't give them an explanation, they'd report it to the authorities tomorrow. Because it started raining, things quieted down temporarily, but tomorrow will surely bring another uproar."Upon hearing that Li Tianyou was not involved, Ren Yaoqi felt temporarily relieved. Considering the behavior of those women searching all over the monastery earlier, the tenant farmer must have been hastily seized to frame the nun.
She thought to herself that before leaving tomorrow, she must ensure Li Tianyou left this place, lest he become unwittingly entangled in someone else’s family dispute over property.
Men die for wealth, birds perish for food. In this world, some people will commit any vile and immoral act for the sake of gold and silver.
That night, Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua shared a bed.
Both sisters felt somewhat unaccustomed to sleeping together. For the first half of the night, Ren Yaoqi kept sensing Ren Yaohua, who slept on the outer side of the bed, tossing and turning.
She, too, was not used to sharing a bed, but as she lay there preoccupied with many thoughts, she gradually overlooked this discomfort. Eventually, she drifted into a hazy sleep.
When she rose the next morning, Ren Yaoqi noticed dark circles under Ren Yaohua’s eyes.
After breakfast, as they stepped out, Ren Yaoqi saw her yawn and asked with a smile, “Third Sister, didn’t you sleep well last night?”
Ren Yaohua turned to look at her, noticing she seemed quite energetic, and glared at her in frustration. “You slept just fine, snoring all night long. How could I possibly sleep?”
Ren Yaoqi was taken aback. She didn’t recall having a habit of snoring—wasn’t this a false accusation?
Just as she was about to retort, someone behind them spoke up, “Who snored all night long?”
The two turned around to see Ren Yaoyu and Ren Yaoyin emerging from the neighboring room, looking at them with keen interest.
Ren Yaohua paused, pursed her lips, and calmly pointed to Xiangqin beside her. “I was talking about this maid. She’s fine on ordinary days, but when she changes places, she tends to snore.”
Xiangqin glanced at her mistress and silently lowered her head to stare at her feet.
No wonder when she first entered the household, Nanny Zhou had taught them the rules: Mistresses are never wrong and have no flaws. If there are any, they belong to the maids.
Once again, Xiangqin felt that being a maid was truly no easy task.
Wujing, seeing Xiangqin’s sullen expression, stifled a laugh beside her.
The rain had stopped by morning. The sky, washed clean by the rain, was exceptionally clear, tinged with a faint morning glow. It seemed as though the world had transformed, becoming pure and serene.
The sisters went to First Madam’s quarters to await her arrangements for their departure back to the estate. Just then, an elderly maid hurried over, seemingly intent on reporting something to First Madam.
Seeing her haste, Ren Yaoyu grew curious and called out loudly, “You, come here for a moment.”
Ren Yaoyin recognized her as a second-class maid from her mother’s courtyard and gently said to Ren Yaoyu, “She must have something urgent to report. Why stop her? Let her go.”
Ren Yaoyu curled her lip. “What urgent matter could there be while we’re away? It’s probably just about today’s itinerary. Asking about it in advance will help me prepare, won’t it?”
Ignoring Ren Yaoyin, she insisted the maid reveal what had happened.
The maid hesitated. “It’s just that something happened at the White Cloud Nunnery outside. There’s some commotion, and I’m afraid it might delay today’s return to the estate, so I came to ask First Madam.”
Ren Yaoyu grew even more curious. “What exactly happened?”The servant woman grew even more flustered, refusing to speak. It was Ren Yaoyin who suddenly interrupted Ren Yaoyu's persistent questioning, her face cold as she said to the servant, "Then why are you still dawdling here? Go and report immediately."
The servant woman felt as if she had been granted a pardon and hurried away.
Ren Yaoyu said discontentedly, "I haven't finished asking yet! Do... do you know what's going on?" she asked suspiciously.
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Ren Yaoyin's face, but she quickly composed herself and said seriously, "Eighth Sister, since she's going to report to the elders, perhaps there are some matters we shouldn't hear. Why make things difficult for her?"
Ren Yaoyu snorted lightly, brushing past Ren Yaoyin and hurrying toward the main room, muttering, "The more they try to hide it from me, the more I want to know what's going on."
"Eighth Sister!" Ren Yaoyin frowned and followed her.
Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua exchanged a glance and also followed.
As they reached the door, they heard First Madam's displeased voice: "How could such filthy things happen in this pure and sacred Buddhist temple? It's simply..."
When the maid at the door announced that the young ladies had arrived, First Madam's voice abruptly stopped. She only said to the matron Cao behind her, "Go ask Monk Yuanjing of the temple. Since it's within the grounds of their White Dragon Temple, have them send someone to handle it. We'll leave once the commotion outside has settled. Pass down the order: no one in the courtyard is allowed to go out and inquire about the matter. Anyone caught being nosy will be sold off immediately."
Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but frown. What trouble had arisen at White Dragon Temple again? Would Li Tianyou be involved?
Although First Madam didn't want the Ren Family to get involved in such matters, she couldn't stop the curiosity of the servants and maids.
So after Ren Yaoqi left First Madam's presence, she learned the whole story from Xiangqin.
It turned out that several relatives of the deceased husband of the nun surnamed Liang had been stubbornly staying in a courtyard not far from White Cloud Nunnery, refusing to leave. Unexpectedly, that morning, one of the Liang nun's aunts-in-law and the tenant farmer who had been rumored to be her lover were found naked, embracing each other and sleeping soundly in a pile of firewood outside.
Now, the Liang nun's aunt was crying and threatening to kill herself, and the whole family was in chaos, no longer having the energy to trouble the Liang nun.
However, some said the nun was ruthless and capable of such unscrupulous deeds.
Ren Yaoqi quickly sent a servant woman down the mountain to check whether Li Tianyou had left. The servant returned and reported that the uncle and his party had just departed not long ago.
Ren Yaoqi then felt relieved.
The Ren Family didn't leave White Dragon Temple until almost noon. Sitting in the carriage, Ren Yaoqi overheard Ren Yijian outside asking Qiu Yun about his visit to Second Young Master Xiao the previous day.
Perhaps because they had braved the rain to pay their respects, Xiao Jingxi, unable to refuse their earnestness, had indeed received them once. He had even played a game of chess with Ren Yijun.
Xiao Jingxi was a gentle person, but his chess style was extremely sharp, leaving Ren Yijun utterly defeated. Yet, Ren Yijun's impression of Xiao Jingxi was greatly improved because of this.
Thank you also to Youyou, Jane117, Qin Yier, and Zhu Zhu 123128 for your pink votes~
Thank you to Na Jia Xue Fei for the sachet~ ^^************************************************************(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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