“Old Madam, this was found in the crevice under the rocks beneath the artificial mountain,” Nanny Gui said with lowered head as she presented the bundle.

Old Madam Ren’s gaze swept over Fifth Madam and Ren Yaoyu’s faces, then signaled for Nanny Gui to open the bundle.

Nanny Gui placed the bundle on the kang table, turned her back, and unwrapped it. Suddenly, the room filled with her frightened gasp.

Old Madam Ren frowned and glanced over, then her pupils suddenly contracted and her face turned iron-blue.

Everyone curiously looked toward the kang table and saw that the autumn-fragrance colored bundle cloth had been spread open on the table. In the center was a white cloth doll about the size of two adult palms, covered with chaotic red cinnabar symbols that were shocking to behold. No wonder the usually composed Nanny Gui had gasped in shock upon first sight.

Everyone present could see that this was the cursing technique that circulated among the women in the inner quarters.

Dried yin-yang grass was wrapped in white cloth to form a human shape, then the cursed person’s birth date and time were sewn onto it, and cursing spells were drawn on with dog’s blood.

Old Madam Ren’s cold, stern gaze fell upon the two maids who were so frightened they had fallen to their knees with a “thud”: “You dared to engage in such filthy dealings within this household!”

The two maids trembled as they prostrated themselves begging for mercy: “Old Madam, spare our lives! Old Madam, spare our lives!”

Great families most taboo such evil and crooked practices. Especially the head of the household could least forgive such behavior. If servants were implicated, they would be sent to the magistrate’s office and publicly beaten with one hundred rods.

One hundred rods from the magistrate’s office was essentially a death sentence.

Eldest Madam also said with an ugly expression: “You were too foolish. How could you do such a thing! Our Ren family absolutely cannot tolerate servants using such sinister methods! You… sigh.”

The maid with the mole on her face seemed to suddenly come to her senses. She turned to look at the deathly pale Ren Yaoyu, then suddenly crawled on her knees a few steps and threw herself forward: “Eighth Miss, save us! Eighth Miss, save our lives!”

Just as the Fifth Madam was feeling angry, seeing this situation, she kicked the maid in the chest and scolded: “Shut your mouth!”

But the maid had steeled her heart and regardless of consequences shouted: “This belongs to Eighth Miss! This servant was only following orders to take it out and bury it. This servant did not know what was inside!”

The other maid, who had only been crying, also quickly said between sobs: “Old Madam, how would we servants dare use such things to curse our master? We truly were only following orders!”

If they could drag Eighth Miss down with them, the Ren family would not send them to the magistrate’s office for the sake of their reputation.

Old Madam Ren looked coldly at Ren Yaoyu: “What do you have to say?”

Ren Yaoyu’s legs had gone weak, and when questioned, she immediately burst into loud tears with a “wah—”.

The Fifth Madam was furious. She stepped forward and kicked both maids to the ground, no longer caring about her image as she scolded: “You two treacherous things! How dare you throw such dirty water on your own master? Are you tired of living?”

But Ren Yaoyu had already been frightened nearly to mental collapse by the atmosphere in the room: “I was just playing around! I… I… I didn’t use dog’s blood, I used cinnabar… Third Sister won’t die!”

But these words were an admission that she had made this thing.

Ren Yaohua, who had been mentioned by name, looked stunned and instinctively glanced at the cloth doll on the kang table.

Fifth Madam was so infuriated by her daughter that she nearly fainted. She wanted to slap her and call her an “idiot!” But it was too late for scolding now.

Seeing everyone in the room looking at the mother and daughter with complex expressions, Fifth Madam forcibly suppressed the anger in her heart and turned to Old Madam with a forced smile: “Mother, Yu’er is young and doesn’t know the severity of things. It was just sisterly play that somehow involved such things. She was merely influenced by the servants below and didn’t understand what she was doing. This time it’s also due to this daughter-in-law’s lax supervision. Please forgive her this once.”

The cursing matter was dismissed in a few words as minor sibling squabbling.

Seeing Old Madam Ren sitting with a dark expression without speaking, Fifth Madam turned her gaze to the cold-faced Ren Yaohua and said in a gentle tone: “Yaohua, this time your younger sister was ignorant. You’re the elder sister, and with your magnanimity, please don’t hold it against her. She just has a childish nature and means you no harm. Fifth Aunt personally apologizes to you.”

But Ren Yaohua didn’t buy into this approach. With a mocking expression, she said, “Fifth Aunt, I don’t understand these words. If I forgive Eighth Sister, I’m magnanimous, but if I don’t forgive her, I’m petty? You, as an elder, are condescending to personally apologize to me, a junior, and if I don’t comply with your words, I’m disrespectful to my elders? This hat is truly too big – forgive me, but my head is too small to wear it.”

A flash of embarrassed anger passed through Fifth Madam’s eyes, but since her daughter was in the wrong today, she had to suppress her anger. Just as she was about to say a few more soft words to stabilize the situation, Nanny Gui made a sound of surprise and pulled out the cloth strip with the birth date and time written on it from behind the doll. Upon looking at it, she was shocked and instinctively glanced toward Old Madam.

Old Madam Ren noticed her movement and also looked at the cloth strip in her hand. Upon seeing it, her expression changed drastically, and she turned to angrily point at Ren Yaoyu and berate her: “Beast! Kneel!”

Ren Yaoyu was still sobbing when Old Madam Ren suddenly flew into a rage. Frightened, her body shook, and she collapsed to the ground.

Fifth Madam, who had been talking to Ren Yaohua, was stunned and turned back: “Mother—”

“Don’t call me Mother! Look at what a good thing you’ve raised!” Old Madam Ren was so angry that she was gasping for breath. She picked up the cloth doll and threw it at Fifth Madam, hitting her squarely in the face.

Fifth Madam was stunned, then felt somewhat humiliated, and her eyes immediately reddened.

This was the first time she had received such reproach from Old Madam Ren since marrying into the Ren family.

When she was an unmarried daughter at home, she had been beloved by the family elders and had never suffered the slightest grievance. After marrying into the Ren family, Old Madam Ren had treated her like her own daughter, always supporting her among the sisters-in-law.

But this time, she had been struck in the face in front of Eldest Madam and so many juniors.

Fifth Madam felt so wronged that her tears fell like golden beans. She raised her sleeve to wipe her tears from her face, about to express her dissatisfaction, but when her eyes swept over the cloth doll on the ground, her body stiffened, and she couldn’t say a word.

Everyone in the room also clearly saw the cloth doll on the ground with its birth date and time, and for a moment, the room was dead silent.

The birth date and time were written in cinnabar, shocking to see, but they were not Ren Yaohua’s birth date and time.

Ren Yaohua was born in the Gengwu year, on the sixth day of the eighth month, at the Wei hour. The time written there was correct, but it was the Gengyin year.

Everyone in the Ren household knew that the reason Old Madam Ren looked upon Third Miss Ren Yaohua with special favor was not only because Ren Yaohua resembled her when she was young, but also because Ren Yaohua’s birth date was the same day as hers, and even the same hour.

The birth date and time on this cursing doll were Old Madam Ren’s.

Ren Yaoqi had been watching from the beginning to the end. The surprise on the faces of Fifth Madam, her daughter, and Ren Yaohua all seemed genuine.

Now she finally understood why in her previous life, Fifth Madam had insisted that Ren Yaohua had framed Ren Yaoyu.

Looking at Ren Yaoyu’s performance, this doll should indeed have come from her hand, but she had written Ren Yaohua’s birth date and time, which somehow ended up being changed to Old Madam Ren’s.

In the end, Ren Yaoyu was despised by Old Madam Ren because of this, while Ren Yaohua regained the qualification to live in Ronghua Garden. Who had more motive to frame Ren Yaoyu than Ren Yaohua?