Wujing’s words made Ren Yaohua’s expression turn slightly cold.

“Who is it?”

“That Liu An’s wife came from the estate not long ago. She and Xu Po-zi, who works at the outer courtyard gatehouse, are sisters-in-law.”

“Xu Po-zi from the gatehouse?” Ren Yaohua was stunned and said in shock, “Ying’er’s mother-in-law?”

Wujing nodded: “Exactly her. The dog that Liu An’s wife brought in today was borrowed from Xu Po-zi.”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yaohua’s expression changed unpredictably. Suddenly, she turned to glare at Ren Yaoqi: “You guessed correctly! This way, it would be difficult for Fifth Aunt not to suspect me.”

“Fifth Aunt will soon be able to investigate this connection, too,” Ren Yaoqi smiled and looked at Ren Yaohua.

Ren Yaohua narrowed her eyes slightly and paced a few steps around the room.

“What’s Ying’er’s relationship with her mother-in-law like?” Ren Yaoqi wasn’t as anxious as Ren Yaohua and instead inquired about seemingly unrelated matters.

Wujing quickly said, “That day, this servant heard Sister Zhu’er say that Sister Ying’er was quite lucky. Her parents-in-law think highly of her, and her husband is also honest and dutiful. Sister Ying’er has always had the final say in her household.”

“Has the final say?” Ren Yaoqi raised her eyebrows slightly, carefully pondering these words.

“Ha!” Ren Yaohua laughed coldly. “What a fine ‘final say’!”

Ren Yaoqi glanced at Ren Yaohua and smiled: “If it weren’t so, how could this blame be pinned on you? It must be that you secretly instructed your former maid to mobilize her family to stand up for you.”

“What should we do now? We can’t just watch that wretch succeed and profit from hiding in the shadows, can we?” Ren Yaohua said through gritted teeth.

“A solution… naturally, there is one,” Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment and said slowly.

Ren Yaohua stared at her intently.

After leaving the main room, Ren Yaoqi called for Nanny Zhu.

When Li Shi and Ren Yaohua went to the estate, the most senior managing nanny in Ziwei Courtyard was Nanny Zhu, which had made her quite prominent for a while.

However, ever since Ren Yaohua returned, she couldn’t interfere in any affairs of Ziwei Courtyard. Therefore, these past few days have been extremely difficult for Nanny Zhu. She had even considered going to plead with Concubine Fang.

But Concubine Fang had been absent these days, reportedly having caught a cold and feeling unwell.

“Why does Nanny look so dispirited?” Ren Yaoqi examined Nanny Zhu for a few moments and frowned.

Nanny Zhu looked around, then moved close to Ren Yaoqi, tears and snot flowing: “Oh my! Miss, you don’t know! These past few days have been terrible for this servant! That Third Miss doesn’t look favorably upon you, so how could she have a pleasant face for us servants loyal to you? Just yesterday, the steward brought out several plum vases from the storeroom. This servant noticed that one of them, a sky-blue misty rain colored one, was what you had once wanted to place in the hall for arranging plum branches in winter. But the steward said these plum vases were taken out for the Third Miss. This servant politely asked several times, but in the end was humiliated by those sharp-tongued maids around Third Miss! This old face of mine…”

Ren Yaoqi flew into a rage: “How outrageous! Ren Yaohua is truly going too far!”

Nanny Zhu secretly glanced at Ren Yaoqi and, seeing her indeed furious, couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

She had heard from the maids in the courtyard that these past few days, the relationship between Third Miss and Fifth Miss wasn’t as tense as before. But she knew Ren Yaoqi’s temperament best – especially after being slapped by Ren Yaohua, there was no way she could swallow this insult.

“Exactly! Miss, you are also legitimately born to Madam, but in Third Miss’s eyes, you’re worth less than a concubine’s daughter!”

Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

Nanny Zhu was stunned and somewhat confused: “Miss?”

Ren Yaoqi beckoned to Nanny Zhu, who leaned her ear closer.

“Don’t worry, Nanny. I’ll help you get this revenge right now! Originally, I wanted to tolerate her for Mother’s sake, but I didn’t expect that after just a few days back, Ren Yaohua would be so arrogant, hitting and scolding me at will. I don’t want to endure her anymore. I must send her back to the estate to satisfy my hatred!”

Nanny Zhu’s face lit up with joy: “Then, Miss, do you have a plan?” No wonder there had been no conflicts these past few days – Fifth Miss had been looking for an opportunity.

Ren Yaoqi nodded: “Naturally. Today I discovered a secret about Ren Yaohua!”

“What secret?” Nanny Zhu was stunned.

Ren Yaoqi smiled: “You know about what happened in Grandmother’s courtyard today, right? Eighth Sister has been confined.”

Nanny Zhu thought for a moment and said carefully, “I heard that two maids serving Eighth Miss brought dirty things into the inner courtyard?”

“It has nothing to do with Eighth Sister at all. This is Ren Yaohua scheming behind the scenes!” Ren Yaoqi stated definitively.

Nanny Zhu’s eyes darted around: “Is Miss speaking truly?”

Ren Yaoqi glanced sideways at Nanny Zhu: “Naturally, it’s true. I heard that the old woman who slandered Eighth Sister this morning belongs to Ren Yaohua. If I go tell Fifth Aunt about this, do you think Fifth Aunt will spare her? She just returned and is already doing such things to frame her sisters. Grandmother will surely send her back to the estate again! This time, if she wants to return to the household, it won’t be so simple.”

Nanny Zhu pondered for a while, thinking that with Fifth Madam’s temperament, she indeed wouldn’t let Ren Yaohua off easily.

“Miss is right. Once Fifth Miss is gone, you’ll be the highest-ranking in this courtyard!”

So Ren Yaoqi took Nanny Zhu to the Fifth Madam’s courtyard.

The fifth Madam had just returned from secretly checking on Ren Yaoyu at the ancestral hall and was worrying about how to get her daughter out. When she heard news of Ren Yaoqi’s visit, she found it somewhat strange.

After Ren Yaoqi finished her greetings, Fifth Madam was too lazy to exchange pleasantries and said directly: “You’re quite the rare guest.”

Knowing that Fifth Madam had never liked them, Ren Yaoqi got straight to the point and repeated what she had told Nanny Zhu earlier.

Sure enough, after Fifth Madam was stunned for a moment, she ground her teeth in hatred: “Ren Yaohua! How dare she!”

Ren Yaoqi shared Fifth Madam’s indignation: “What wouldn’t she dare do? You don’t know – ever since she returned, I’ve been bullied terribly by her! Not only did she slap me for no reason, but today she called me over and gave me a harsh lecture! I, Ren Yaoqi, am irreconcilable with her!”

Seeing her even more agitated than herself, Fifth Madam calmed down somewhat and looked at her: “But why would Ren Yaohua do this?”

“Naturally, to drive Eighth Sister out of Ronghua Garden so she can move in herself!”

Fifth Madam frowned, stroking her teacup and pondering for a moment: “Where did you learn all this?”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi seemed somewhat hesitant and secretly glanced toward Nanny Zhu. Nanny Zhu encouragingly winked at her, and Ren Yaoqi cleared her throat: “Oh, this… this I overheard from Ren Yaohua’s maids.”

This interaction between master and servant gave the Fifth Madam different ideas when she observed it.

Fifth Madam thought, could it be that Ren Yaoqi heard this from Nanny Zhu?

“This is your Nanny Zhu?” Fifth Madam’s gaze circled Nanny Zhu several times.

Nanny Zhu quickly and respectfully lowered her head.

Ren Yaoqi nodded, somewhat carelessly: “If Fifth Aunt has anything to say, please speak freely. Nanny Zhu is my confidant and has helped me a lot in daily affairs.”

Upon hearing this, Fifth Madam smiled, lowered her head to sip her tea, and remained noncommittal.

Whose person this Nanny Zhu was – Ren Yaoqi might not know, but she certainly did.

“Fifth Aunt? When will you expose Ren Yaohua before Grandmother?” Ren Yaoqi asked urgently.

“Oh, that… no rush. I still need to investigate and verify,” Fifth Madam said perfunctorily.

Ren Yaoqi glanced at Nanny Zhu again, then said: “Yes, yes, such an important matter indeed requires personal investigation. Liu An’s wife is Ying’er’s aunt, and Ying’er was one of my mother’s people. When she was in Ziwei Courtyard before, she was most obedient to Ren Yaohua. You can easily find this out with just a casual inquiry!”

Fifth Madam listened somewhat absent-mindedly but asked about other matters: “I haven’t seen your concubine mother for a long time. What has she been busy with lately?”

Ren Yaoqi said, “Concubine Mother has been ill these past few days and hasn’t been going out.”

Fifth Madam smiled with some meaningful undertones: “Oh… sick again? That’s quite like her character.”