Hearing this, Nanny Yang also frowned: “Madam, are you saying our young miss was calculated against?”

Su Shi didn’t answer, her expression inscrutable. Nanny Yang pondered for a moment and suddenly remembered what Ren Yaoqi had said when seeing Ren Yaoting off earlier, and couldn’t help but say: “Hearing madam put it this way, this matter is indeed too coincidental. It just happened that our young miss witnessed the process of Eighth Miss pushing Concubine Kang. If our young miss hadn’t been present at the time, with only Eighth Miss and Concubine Kang in the garden, then it would be a case of each side having their version of the truth. With Fifth Madam’s unwillingness to suffer losses, even if Concubine Kang were in the right, she probably couldn’t make her case clear.”

“In the right?” Su Shi’s face showed a half-smile at Nanny Yang’s words.

Seeing her expression, Nanny Yang was startled. Just as Su Shi was about to say something, she heard soft talking sounds from the adjacent room. After listening for a while, Su Shi immediately stood up and walked to the next room. Nanny Yang and the two maids quickly followed.

In the adjacent room, Ren Yaoting was lying on the soft couch, sleeping. However, she was not sleeping peacefully. Although her eyes were still closed, her eyeballs moved restlessly beneath her eyelids, her lashes trembling like butterfly wings, and she kept talking in her sleep.

Su Shi immediately stepped forward to grasp Ren Yaoting’s hand, which was anxiously clutching the thin blanket, and called softly in a very gentle tone: “Ting’er? Having a nightmare? Don’t be afraid… don’t be afraid…”

Ren Yaoting seemed to hear Su Shi’s call and immediately opened her eyes. She was dazed for a moment, and after her gaze focused on Su Shi, she immediately threw herself into her arms, saying tearfully: “Mother, so much blood, so much blood! Eighth younger sister also pushed me, and then I bled a lot like Concubine Kang. Mother, I’m scared!”

Hearing this, Su Shi frowned, but her tone remained gentle as she gently patted Ren Yaoting’s back: “Good child, don’t be afraid. It was just a dream. You’re awake now, so it’s fine.”

Ren Yaoting lay in Su Shi’s arms, unwilling to move. Su Shi said nothing, only held her tenderly while softly comforting her.

“Mother, don’t leave. Sit here and keep me company. I’m scared.” Remembering the chilling nightmare, Ren Yaoting tugged at Su Shi’s sleeve pleadingly.

Su Shi nodded and smoothed her hair: “Mother won’t leave. Mother will stay here with you.”

Only then did Ren Yaoting temporarily calm down and lie back down, though her hand still held onto Su Shi’s sleeve. Su Shi knew her daughter was truly frightened and let Ren Yaoting wrinkle her sleeve.

After an unknown amount of time, Ren Yaoting’s breathing gradually became steady again, though it was unclear whether she had fallen asleep. Su Shi gently held her hand without moving. Only after confirming that Ren Yaoting had truly fallen asleep did Su Shi beckon to one of Ren Yaoting’s senior maids, withdraw her hand, and have the maid continue holding Ren Yaoting’s hand to help her sleep peacefully.

After doing this, Su Shi quietly returned to the side room where they had been talking earlier with Nanny Yang.

“Madam, this time, young miss was truly frightened,” Nanny Yang said in a lowered voice with concern.

Su Shi remained silent, but the “thump—thump” sound of her fingers lightly tapping on the kang table made people feel uneasy.

Nanny Yang carefully glanced at Su Shi, who still maintained that calm and detached appearance. Based on her years of experience serving her, Nanny Yang sensed that Su Shi was angry at the moment. So she wisely stood silently to the side without speaking.

After a long while, Su Shi’s fingers finally stopped tapping the kang table. The several trusted servants in the room unconsciously breathed sighs of relief.

“Have someone investigate Concubine Kang,” Su Shi suddenly spoke, her tone very calm. Nanny Yang instinctively responded immediately, then thought about it and said: “Madam, do you think there’s something wrong with this Concubine Kang? It’s just that before the Western Residence acknowledged her identity, Old Madam had people investigate her background. Otherwise, she couldn’t have entered the Ren family. Since they let her in, presumably they found no suspicious traces.”

Su Shi said coldly: “There’s no problem with her identity. Go investigate the people close to her before she entered the Ren family. Also,” Su Shi paused, then continued, “Investigate whether she has any connections to Jiangning.”

“Jiangning?” Nanny Yang pondered for a moment and immediately understood – Concubine Fang was from Jiangning. “Madam, you suspect Concubine Kang has connections to Concubine Fang?”

The corner of Su Shi’s mouth lifted slightly, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes: “This method is very familiar, making one suspect it comes from that person’s handiwork.”

Nanny Yang had great faith in Su Shi and immediately became somewhat indignant: “If it’s truly related to her, then Concubine Fang goes too far! To repeatedly use our young miss like this. In her eyes, is our Eastern Residence so easy to bully?”

Su Shi’s expression remained calm: “I’ve never interfered in Western Residence affairs all these years. Last time when she used Ting’er, I said nothing. This probably made her think I would turn a blind eye to some harmless exploitation.”

Nanny Yang frowned: “How could using our young miss be harmless? And frightening our young miss like this!”

“I suppose she’s been having too smooth a time these years,” Su Shi said, lowering her head to gently stroke the silver threads on her skirt.

“This servant has also heard that Concubine Fang’s blood brother has been promoted again. Although the position isn’t high, the Ren family’s business in Jiangnan can rely on him for some assistance. So I’ve heard that whatever the legitimate madams in the Western Residence have, Old Madam won’t shortchange her share. But she’s accustomed to causing trouble in the Western Residence – does she think our Eastern Residence should also walk around her when we see her?” Nanny Yang sneered. “What trash! Ptui!” Compared to Nanny Yang’s visible anger, Su Shi’s face was much calmer.

“I’ve always appreciated clever people, but… she shouldn’t have made a move against Ting’er. From the current situation, if I don’t remind her appropriately, there’s no guarantee she won’t find using my daughter increasingly convenient.”

Seeing Su Shi say this, Nanny Yang knew she was angry with Concubine Fang. She also detested this woman who always liked to step on others to climb up: “Madam is right. Some people just like to take a yard when given an inch, not even realizing when they’ve crossed the line.”

Su Shi didn’t respond to Nanny Yang’s words, but in her slightly lowered eyes, a trace of deep thought flashed inadvertently.

Su Shi was very clear about what Concubine Fang wanted. Why Fifth Madam Lin Shi was now in trouble wasn’t hard to guess when connecting the causes and effects. However, if their Eastern Residence wanted to remain uninvolved, it would be better for the power balance between the various branches of the Western Residence to remain temporarily stable. Su Shi wondered whether she shouldn’t just watch Lin Shi fall like this.

After Ren Yaoqi returned to Ziwei Courtyard from Ronghua Garden, she immediately went to the main room to find Nanny Zhou.

“Help me investigate whether the eighth younger sister has drunk any medicinal decoctions recently. If so, it would be even better if you could obtain the dregs,” Ren Yaoqi whispered to Nanny Zhou.

Ren Yaoqi had observed Ren Yaoyu’s abnormal behavior. If Ren Yaoyu had truly been given that kind of drug as she suspected, judging from Ren Yaoyu’s condition and the drug’s properties, this medicine had definitely been administered more than once, because to avoid detection, it had to be done gradually.

Although Nanny Zhou was somewhat surprised to hear this, she immediately agreed and went to arrange personnel.

When Ren Yaoqi came out of the main room, it suddenly began to rain heavily outside. This rain came without warning, but the downpour was considerable. Standing on the steps, Ren Yaoqi could feel the bean-sized raindrops splashing onto her skirt hem and embroidered shoes.

Fortunately, summer rains came quickly and left quickly, and were much more bearable than the cold dampness of winter rain.

The maids below were whispering among themselves, saying today’s rain came at the right time – the bloodstains left by Concubine Kang’s miscarriage in the small garden would be washed clean by this downpour, returning to a clean appearance. Even cleaning would require much less effort.

Meanwhile, Concubine Kang in Liuli Courtyard was lying motionless on the bed with her eyes closed, unclear whether she was asleep or not.

Because of the miscarriage, after helping Concubine Kang stop the bleeding, the physician had instructed that she should be cared for according to the standards of a woman in confinement.

The windows of the wing room where Concubine Kang lived were tightly closed, and the heavy rain outside and the humid air blocked by the windows made it even more stuffy.

Fine beads of sweat even appeared on Concubine Kang’s forehead, but she still didn’t open her eyes.

The whispered conversations of the little maids guarding the door outside drifted in, nothing more than discussing how Fifth Master had been staying with Fifth Madam in the main room and hadn’t come out. On Concubine Kang’s side, Fifth Master had only come to look once at the beginning, said a few comforting words, then went to the outer courtyard to find Old Master and First Master.

Originally, people in Liuli Garden had thought that since Fifth Master hadn’t set foot here for a long time but got along very well with Concubine Kang, Fifth Madam Lin Shi had fallen from favor and Concubine Kang had captured Fifth Master’s heart. Today’s commotion, however, let people clearly see Fifth Master’s true feelings.

This was Liuli Courtyard, and the several maids assigned to guard the door were all from Liuli Courtyard. Therefore, when they spoke of these matters, they not only didn’t lower their voices but seemed to deliberately want the person inside to hear.

However, Concubine Kang slept very peacefully, not even changing her breathing by half a measure. Only no one saw that the mattress beneath her had been torn by her claws at some unknown time, in a sorry state.

This rain indeed came quickly and left quickly, stopping inexplicably by evening, though the air was much fresher.

By the next day, Nanny Zhou’s people sent to investigate Ren Yaoyu’s medicine-taking had news.