Ren Yaoqi knew that this was merely the beginning.

First, to avenge her son, Old Madam Fang would not easily let Fang Yacun off and would keep a close eye on him at all times. Most of those who had originally gathered around Fang Yacun were united by mutual interests. Now that Fang Yacun had lost his power in the Fang family and could no longer provide more benefits to those Fang clan members who followed him, Old Madam Fang’s side would also take this opportunity to win people’s hearts. Given this situation, how many people would remain by Fang Yacun’s side in the end?

After Fang Yacun lost his influence in the Fang family, his path in officialdom would certainly not be as smooth as before.

With Fang Yacun too busy protecting himself and Concubine Fang having “fled in fear of punishment,” only Ren Yaoying remained. If she would from now on dutifully serve as Miss Nine of the Ren family and not court death herself, given Li Shi and Third Master Ren’s temperaments, they would naturally give her a proper dowry and marry her off.

Ren Yihong was a man who had always stayed out of inner courtyard affairs, maintaining a policy of non-interference with them, so everyone could coexist peacefully.

Thus, the destabilizing factors within the Ren family’s third branch had been largely eliminated.

Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but admire how efficiently that Ninth Master Chu handled affairs. Although all the details of dealing with Fang Yacun had been calculated in advance by Ren Yaoqi and then handed over to Ninth Master Chu for implementation, without Ninth Master Chu as a local expert, Ren Yaoqi believed she wouldn’t have been able to topple Fang Yacun so efficiently.

At this time, in the Chu family of Jiangnan, Ninth Master Chu and his wife were also discussing Ren Yaoqi.

Madam Chu, née Qin, held several letters and looked at them for a long time, shaking her head and sighing: “The handwriting on these letters is neat and proper, clearly showing excellent foundation, but I actually can’t tell whether this fine calligraphy comes from a man’s hand or a woman’s hand.”

Ninth Master Chu, who was reading nearby, glanced at the letters in his wife’s hands: “The writing is excellent, but lacks distinctive characteristics. You should stop pondering over these things. Whether it’s a man or a woman has nothing to do with us—just focus on carrying out what this person has instructed.”

Hearing this, Qin Shi laughed: “I’m just curious! Husband, what do you think this person’s relationship is to that young master? And who might they be?”

Ninth Master Chu frowned: “Curiosity killed the cat!”

Qin Shi was in her twenties with a somewhat lively temperament. Hearing this, she pouted: “It’s just the two of us here, what’s wrong with talking about it? I think the letter writer must be a man, and a remarkable young gentleman with unparalleled schemes. Otherwise, how could they be so formidable? Not only calculating three steps ahead for every move, but also able to dig up so much evidence from events that happened over ten years ago!”

Ninth Master Chu was dismissive, sneering: “A woman’s shallow opinion! The person is already dead. How hard could it be to find evidence?”

Qin Shi’s eyes widened: “Husband, are you saying that the evidence given to Old Madam Fang was fabricated?”

Ninth Master Chu concentrated on his book, ignoring her.

Qin Shi moved closer and snatched the book from Ninth Master Chu’s hands, hiding it behind her back.

Ninth Master Chu had no choice but to respond perfunctorily: “Half and half.”

Qin Shi couldn’t help but frown: “So that concubine might have been wronged? Perhaps she never poisoned anyone at all?”

Ninth Master Chu got up, went around behind Qin Shi, and snatched his book back. Lying back down on the soft couch, he sneered: “A gentleman acts according to his principles. If she hadn’t done it, would I have helped frame a dead woman? However, since she did do it, she shouldn’t fear others settling old scores!”

Qin Shi was also a person of keen intelligence and understood upon hearing this.

The matter of that Fang family concubine harming Fang Yacun should be true, but the evidence the letter writer had them prepare was probably not entirely authentic.

It was just that because Fang Yacun knew his concubine and sister had indeed committed this deed, when it was suddenly exposed, he felt guilty and didn’t think to question the authenticity of the evidence, allowing them to exploit this loophole.

Qin Shi sighed: “This truly is a case of evil being one foot tall while righteousness is ten feet tall! So people should never do anything against their conscience—whatever they do should be worthy of their hearts.”

Speaking of this, Qin Shi lowered her voice and said to Ninth Master Chu: “By the way, speaking of that Fang Yaru, I met her several times when I was still a maiden. Back then, she always appeared gentle and weak, following behind my sister-in-law, speaking softly and quietly. However, my mother seemed to dislike her very much. Later, I accidentally overheard the senior maids in my brother’s room talking and learned that she had once secretly sent my brother a scented sachet, which was later discovered by my brother’s maid and given to my mother. After that, my mother forbade them from mentioning this matter to my brother, and every time Fang Yaru came to our house with my sister-in-law, my mother would deliberately keep her under her watchful eye. At the time, I thought my mother looked down on her concubine-born status, but thinking about it now, the old lady truly had sharp eyes—marrying such a vicious-hearted woman would surely bring household discord!”

Ninth Master Chu looked at Qin Shi somewhat helplessly. Qin Shi was kind-hearted, intelligent, and cheerful, but somewhat chatty. Every time the couple was alone together, she liked to chatter with him about women’s gossip, regardless of whether he wanted to listen.

Fortunately, Qin Shi knew her boundaries. She spoke freely to Ninth Master Chu because she felt that husband and wife were one body with nothing that couldn’t be discussed, but she kept her mouth tight around others. This was why Ninth Master Chu felt comfortable telling her certain things and entrusting her with tasks.

Wanting to read quietly for a while, Ninth Master Chu tried to divert his wife: “If you have time, go back to your natal family to see your sister-in-law. She’s kind-hearted, and although she angrily broke with Fang Yacun over his poisoning of her brother, her heart must be troubled.”

Qin Shi gave Ninth Master Chu a look: “Do you need to tell me this! I’ve already been to comfort sister-in-law.”

When Qin Shi was in her natal family, she had an excellent relationship with Fang Yahui, who took great care of her sister-in-law. So, after hearing about what Fang Yacun and the others had done to Fang Yahui’s blood brother, Qin Shi was filled with righteous indignation and volunteered to help her sister-in-law’s natal family clean house.

Qin Shi remembered something and continued: “By the way, husband, sister-in-law says Old Madam Fang intends to have her and my brother manage the Fang family properties. However, my sister-in-law says that as a married daughter, her natal family already gave her a substantial dowry when she married, so it wouldn’t be proper to interfere in her natal family’s business and cause gossip in her marital family.”

Ninth Master Chu looked up: “What do mother and uncle-in-law say?”

Qin Shi said proudly: “Need you ask! My mother and several brothers are all upright people—how could they covet the Fang family assets? My mother had my brother help Old Madam Fang find several shopkeepers with good reputations and abilities. Sister-in-law says she’ll return to her natal family to persuade Old Madam Fang to call back several honest and dutiful concubine-born brothers and divide the Fang family business among them to manage. This way, the Fang clan members will have nothing to say.”

Ninth Master Chu nodded: “This is proper reasoning.”

As for Concubine Fang, naturally, someone informed her of what was happening outside.

When Concubine Fang learned that the Fang family had convicted her concubine and expelled her from the Fang family, her expression was quite spectacular.

“This is impossible! How could there be evidence? It was already…” Concubine Fang muttered in disbelief.

During this period, Concubine Fang had rapidly grown thin. Her originally carefully maintained soft black hair had become withered and dull, even showing considerable gray, and combined with the scars on her face and two missing front teeth, she looked like an ugly, haggard old woman.

She suddenly looked up at the speaker, her eyes somewhat crazed and stubborn: “What about my brother? My brother will come and find me and rescue me, won’t he?”

Tong He reported the facts in an unchanged tone: “Fang Yacun has been expelled from the Fang family ancestral residence. The Fang clan leader will choose another successor. Old Madam Fang has completely recovered all Fang family properties from his hands and distributed them among several other concubine sons to manage. Due to your implication, Fang Yacun has been demoted to a seventh-rank prefectural judge.”

Tong He paused, then finally said: “You have become an abandoned piece.”

“Abandoned piece? Abandoned piece?…” Concubine Fang sat down dazedly on the bed, muttering repeatedly.

Tong He glanced at her, turned, and left. Just as he was about to close the door, laughter suddenly came from inside the room. After a long while, that laughter turned into sobbing.

Tong He didn’t look back as he instructed the people outside to keep a close watch, then left the retreat house.

After Concubine Fang and Fang Yacun successively encountered trouble, Ren Yaoying indeed became well-behaved. Although she occasionally still shed tears, she no longer dared to randomly provoke Li Shi and Ren Yaohua.

In early June, the flower appreciation gathering that Li Shi had been preparing for a long time finally took place.

This was Li Shi’s first time organizing such an event, so she took it very seriously. From the design of the invitations to the preparation of refreshments and fruits for the banquet, she discussed and prepared everything together with Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi, mother and daughters working as a team. Though they were busy preparing for this flower appreciation gathering during this period, they all enjoyed the process.

Third Master also supported such elegant gatherings and generously contributed over twenty pots of his treasured orchids and peony potted plants to bring honor to his wife and daughters and add to the festivities.

The ladies who received Li Shi’s invitations were also very gracious, all sending replies saying they would attend.

Early this morning, Ren Yaoqi got up to dress and adorn herself. To match today’s flower appreciation gathering, Li Shi had prepared new outfits for both her and Ren Yaohua. Ren Yaoqi wore a goose-yellow jacket and skirt embroidered with orchid flower borders. When Third Master Ren saw it earlier, he said she looked beautiful and even gave this outfit a special name: “Graceful Orchid.”

Ren Yaohua wore a silver-red front-opening jacket embroidered with large peony flowers, making her appearance even more strikingly beautiful. Third Master Ren also gave her outfit a name: “Barbarian Red.”

Li Shi wore a lotus-root colored front-opening jacket embroidered with lotus flowers, looking both elegant and dignified. Third Master called it “Pure Lotus.”