Although Lei Ting had brought his daughter to the estate, he was, after all, the head of the Lei family, with many matters requiring his attention daily, so the time he could spend with his daughter was truly limited. And Yuegui still had no opportunity to get close to Lei Pan’er.

Yuegui knew her opportunities were running out. Once they returned to Yunyang City and Lei Pan’er went back to live in Second Master’s courtyard, it would be nearly impossible for her to make any moves without alerting the people in Second Master’s courtyard. Lei Zhen’s courtyard also had two shrewd and capable senior maids who had been bestowed by Old Madam Lei, whose status was no less than hers.

After much deliberation, Yuegui decided she must deal with the wet nurse by Lei Pan’er’s side before returning to Yunyang City.

The wet nurse had served by Lei Pan’er’s side for several years, so getting rid of her wouldn’t be simple unless she failed in her duties and became unsuitable to continue serving Lei Pan’er.

Today, after Lei Pan’er had bid farewell to Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua and returned to the estate, Yuegui used the wet nurse’s previous excuse that Lei Pan’er didn’t like too many people following behind her to dismiss several maids. Then, while the wet nurse was crouching on the ground with a few junior maids catching crickets for Lei Pan’er, she used a small mynah bird with broken wings to lure Lei Pan’er away and secretly hid her.

Yuegui had no intention of harming Lei Pan’er—after all, she would need this young lady for her plans. So after knocking her unconscious, she didn’t hide her too far away, just somewhere within the estate. She planned to wait until Lei Ting returned, have the negligent wet nurse punished, then “accidentally” discover Lei Pan’er, who had “carelessly” fallen into the dry well in the back courtyard and been knocked unconscious, thus earning merit.

After all, no one would think Lei Pan’er could disappear within such a tiny estate, so when they discovered Lei Pan’er was missing, the Lei family’s maids and servants all assumed the young lady had mischievously run out to play.

Yuegui’s scheme had originally been flawless, but she hadn’t expected that as soon as they came out, they would encounter Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua, who were just returning.

Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua had already followed the junior maid through the gate. The Lei family’s estate was a small three-courtyard compound, not too large. In this valuable area, it was quite respectable.

“Call all the maids and servants on the estate over,” Ren Yaohua thought for a moment, still not directly taking her people to search. This was someone else’s estate, not her territory.

The junior maid was confused and forgot that Ren Yaohua wasn’t her Lei family’s master. Without a word, she went to find people. Earlier, the wet nurse had already taken away all the maids and servants who personally served Lei Pan’er, leaving only those who did rough work at the estate.

Seeing this situation, Yuegui knew things were about to get out of hand. After all, these servants doing rough work originally belonged to the estate and were very familiar with the place. If they searched, it might not take long before they discovered Lei Pan’er unconscious in the dry well.

But Lei Ting hadn’t returned yet. If he didn’t experience the anxiety and fury of his daughter’s disappearance, his punishment of the negligent wet nurse wouldn’t be severe, and Yuegui’s scheming would be wasted.

Today’s events required great resolve from Yuegui and had taken long planning. Missing this opportunity, the wet nurse would certainly be more careful about Lei Pan’er’s safety in the future, and with the wet nurse’s shrewdness, she would have no chance to act again.

Thinking this, Yuegui’s expression also turned cold. She raised her hand to stop Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi: “Miss Ren, we at the Lei family are very grateful that you’re helping us find our young lady. But this is the Lei family’s villa, and we have no way to properly receive you two ladies right now. Moreover, our master is currently staying at the estate, so this servant is thinking of you two ladies—you should avoid any impropriety.”

The Lei family’s estate had no female family members, only one male master, so it was indeed inappropriate to entertain female guests. Yuegui’s words directly invoked propriety and women’s reputation, with considerable destructive power.

If Yuegui had said these words in front of other young ladies, it would certainly have made them flee in embarrassment. Unfortunately, today, she faced Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua.

Ren Yaoqi, having experienced worldly affairs with a firm character, would hardly be thrown into confusion by a maid’s words. Her usual understanding and observance of propriety was because she knew propriety—this couldn’t become a weapon for others to threaten her.

As for Ren Yaohua, she didn’t take a mere maid seriously at all. Moreover, Yuegui’s strange reaction had already made her suspicious, making her even less inclined to pay attention to Yuegui, focusing entirely on finding Lei Pan’er.

The Ren sisters didn’t take Yuegui seriously, making Yuegui tremble with anger.

By now, the junior maid had called over seven or eight rough-work servants, waiting for Ren Yaohua’s instructions.

Yuegui immediately vented her anger on those servants: “Who told you to come out? Get back inside!”

Those rough-work servants were startled and looked nervously at the junior maid who had called them. The junior maid usually didn’t dare offend Yuegui either, so she looked at Ren Yaohua awkwardly, clearly embarrassed.

Only then did Ren Yaohua turn her gaze to Yuegui, looking down at her: “You’re a maid from Master Lei’s courtyard? What’s your name?”

When Ren Yaohua usually asked Ren family maids’ names in this tone, it meant the maid had made a mistake, and she was sending them to the steward for punishment.

No matter how capable Yuegui was, she was still just a servant. Hearing this, she felt guilty for a moment, then somewhat embarrassed, and couldn’t help resenting being suppressed by another inexplicable outsider.

The junior maid beside her immediately replied: “This is Yuegui, the senior maid from our master’s courtyard.”

Yuegui glared fiercely at that maid and was about to scold her when Ren Yaohua said coldly: “Just a servant, yet putting on airs bigger than her master! I’m standing here today because I get along well with your young lady—I’m a guest of your young lady! Is it your place as a maid to see guests out? As for you, being a maid… your little master is missing, and instead of hurrying to find her, you’re driving away guests who came to help search. I’d like to ask what your intentions are!”

The surrounding people who didn’t understand the situation all looked at Yuegui upon hearing this.

Yuegui’s face turned pale, and she nearly fainted, pointing at Ren Yaohua: “You, you’re slandering me!”

Ren Yaohua didn’t even want to look at her: “What are you that I would bother to frame you? What are you all standing there for? Waiting for your master to return and punish you? Two people per group, start searching from the first courtyard.” The latter words were directed at the servants.

The Lei family servants were intimidated by her presence and responded submissively.

Yuegui’s mind was somewhat muddled, her eyes reddening, and somehow she stepped forward to grab at Ren Yaohua.

Ren Yaohua hadn’t expected her to resort to violence and couldn’t dodge in time, nearly falling. Fortunately, Ren Yaoqi supported her.

Just as Ren Yaohua was about to get angry, a low male voice suddenly appeared behind them.

“What’s going on here?”

Everyone turned around upon hearing this and saw a man in his twenties standing behind them. This man was handsome with a composed bearing, and his frowning appearance carried considerable authority.

His gaze swept over Yuegui, then stopped on the Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua sisters, raising his eyebrows without speaking.

Ren Yaoqi immediately recognized him as Lei Ting, head of the Lei family and Lei Pan’er’s father.

Ren Yaoqi inconspicuously squeezed Ren Yaohua’s arm and pulled her to bow to Lei Ting.

Yuegui looked at Lei Ting, then at Ren Yaohua, then suddenly half-covered her face and cried like pear blossoms in rain, running to Lei Ting: “Master, you’ve finally returned! The young lady went out with her wet nurse to play with the Ren family ladies, but after returning, she disappeared again. This servant was just arranging for people to search for the young lady when they came to our door. This servant said it wasn’t appropriate to receive guests today, but they wouldn’t listen and couldn’t be stopped… If this delays finding the young lady, what should we do?”

Ren Yaohua had never seen such a shameless servant who dared to distort the truth in public, and immediately became coldly angry.

Yuegui cried for a while without Lei Ting speaking, so she couldn’t help but secretly glance at him. But she saw Lei Ting didn’t even look at her, his expressionless face making her heart sink. Even her crying stopped.

Ren Yaoqi spoke up: “Master Lei, we sisters have been presumptuous. Because your daughter gets along well with us, when we heard she had suddenly disappeared and your villa was short-handed, we were anxious and took it upon ourselves to help search. We were inconsiderate and offended your maid—please don’t blame us. But the urgent matter now is finding your daughter. The wet nurse has taken people along with several of our maids to search outside the estate. I thought Pan’er is young and certainly couldn’t go far quickly, possibly still hiding in some corner of the estate, so my sister had your courtyard servants search around the estate.”

Ren Yaoqi spoke very amiably, but Ren Yaohua wasn’t so polite, saying coldly, “Your maid thought Pan’er couldn’t possibly be in the estate and found our meddling troublesome. Since it concerns a child’s safety, we’re being thick-skinned and meddling once more.”

“I didn’t say the young lady couldn’t possibly be in the estate, I just…” Yuegui hurried to defend herself—she knew better than anyone whether Lei Pan’er was in the estate or not.

Lei Ting nodded to Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua, then said to the servants: “Listen to Miss Ren and search around the estate.” He had already heard his daughter was missing on his way back.

As soon as he spoke, even the last trace of color drained from Yuegui’s face.

The master had returned during their argument? She didn’t know how much he had heard.

Though Lei Ting was young, he was experienced. When he encountered the wet nurse outside, he had already asked about the situation and guessed his daughter wouldn’t have gone far, so although he was somewhat worried, he wasn’t thrown into panic.

Only after the servants left to search did he apologetically say to Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua, “Thank you both so much today. The household servants are unruly—please don’t take offense.”

Seeing he was reasonable, Ren Yaohua, who always responded to softness rather than hardness, immediately softened her expression and nodded: “There was no one in charge at your residence at the time, so we took matters into our own hands. We also have our faults.”

Ren Yaoqi said, “Since Master Lei has returned, we should go outside to help search.” With Lei Ting back, it was inappropriate for them to stay longer, and with Lei Ting present, no one would dare cause more trouble.

Lei Ting thanked them repeatedly, then had his steward Liu Gui personally escort Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua out.

Before leaving, Ren Yaohua stopped in front of Lei Ting. She glanced at Yuegui, thought for a moment, and said: “Master Lei, although Pan’er is only a four-year-old child, she shouldn’t become a stepping stone for those despicable creatures. She’s young and doesn’t understand, but surely the adults understand?”

Without waiting for Lei Ting to respond, she walked away.

Lei Ting was stunned and stared at Ren Yaohua’s retreating figure for a long time without reacting.

Ren Yaoqi looked helplessly at Ren Yaohua, truly speechless at her sister who dared to lecture the Lei family head to his face about not understanding things.

After leaving the estate, once the Lei family steward left, Ren Yaoqi said to Ren Yaohua: “Third Sister, you…”

Ren Yaohua interrupted before she could finish: “Alright, don’t lecture me. I know I went too far today. It’s just that when I think of Pan’er being so small and… I really can’t stand it!”

At this point, Ren Yaohua sighed: “I know our family affairs are already a tangled mess, and we really shouldn’t meddle in others’ family business. I promise you this won’t happen again.”

Ren Yaohua’s straightforward apology and voluntary admission of fault surprised Ren Yaoqi.

“Never mind, I’m not blaming you for meddling. Lei Pan’er’s situation is indeed special—if we can help, we should.” Ren Yaoqi didn’t think kindness and soft-heartedness were flaws, as long as they weren’t misplaced.

“Let’s go see how the wet nurse is doing.” Ren Yaohua wasn’t used to admitting mistakes, so seeing Ren Yaoqi wouldn’t lecture her, she immediately started walking.

Ren Yaoqi followed, asking: “Third Sister, did you notice that maid Yuegui had problems?”

Ren Yaohua looked puzzled: “Wasn’t it you who suspected she had problems? I saw you were suspicious of her, so I paid attention to her. Then she kept obstructing us from entering the estate to search. If that’s not having a guilty conscience, what is? As for what exactly she’s guilty of…” Ren Yaohua glanced sideways at Ren Yaoqi, “How would I know? Why don’t you tell me?”

Ren Yaoqi: “…”

Should she be moved by their sisterly telepathy?

“I just felt her expression was off, and she didn’t seem anxious about Pan’er’s disappearance, so I was suspicious. But it was only suspicion. You told Master Lei she had ulterior motives without any evidence—what if we wronged a good person?” Ren Yaoqi sighed.

Ren Yaohua trusted Ren Yaoqi’s judgment, though she didn’t say so directly. She just said indifferently: “If we wronged her, so be it. I could tell that the maid had ill intentions anyway—keeping her would only add chaos to the Lei family’s inner quarters. Besides, I only offered an opinion—it’s not my decision how to handle it.”

Ren Yaoqi said no more.

The wet nurse had searched the surrounding area with people but found no trace of Lei Pan’er. Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua had the remaining maids and servants spread out to search as well.

When they returned to the pond, only Zhou Wen was waiting there.

Seeing Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua return, Zhou Wen hurried to meet them: “I heard the Lei family’s young lady disappeared. Are you both alright?”

Ren Yaohua frowned: “What could happen to us? We were just helping search. Where are Miss Zhou and my ninth sister?”

Zhou Wen quickly said: “Seeing the Lei family searching everywhere, I was afraid this area wasn’t safe, so I had Brother Fang escort Miss Ren Nine and my sister back first. I stayed here to wait for your return. By the way, what exactly happened with the Lei family? How could a perfectly fine child just disappear?”

Ren Yaoqi shook her head: “Perhaps the child was being mischievous and hid somewhere.”

Just then, the junior maid from the Lei family who had led them into the estate earlier came running over, saying Lei Pan’er had been found. Master Lei was worried they might be concerned, so he sent her to inform them and put their minds at ease.

At the same time, Wujing and the other maids who had helped search also returned one by one.

Both Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua breathed sighs of relief upon hearing this.

“Where was she found? Is she alright?”

The maid’s expression looked somewhat strange: “She was found in an abandoned dry well in the back courtyard. The young lady had some scraped skin on her head and some bruises on her body. The master examined the young lady, and fortunately, no bones were injured.”

Ren Yaohua gasped: “How did she fall into the dry well?”

The maid was also puzzled: “This servant doesn’t know either. That back courtyard usually has no one going there, and we don’t know how the young lady got out there. Fortunately, those servants were very familiar with the estate and could find the young lady so quickly. Our master said today, we owe it all to you two ladies. It’s just that we’re currently in mourning for our Old Madam, so it’s inappropriate to make a grand gesture of thanks at your residence. When there’s an opportunity, we’ll certainly thank you both properly.”

Ren Yaoqi smiled: “As long as she’s found, that’s good. Thanks aren’t necessary. We got along well with Pan’er to begin with, and today we didn’t help because of the Lei family—if thanks are needed, it should be Pan’er thanking us herself once her injuries heal.”

The maid said a few more polite words before taking her leave.

Zhou Wen, who had been listening, said in amazement: “How could a child fall into her own family’s well for no reason? And yet the Lei family’s maids and servants went out searching everywhere.”

Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi exchanged glances but said nothing.

Since Lei Pan’er was safe, both Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua felt relieved and followed Zhou Wen back to the Zhou family estate.

Although Ren Yaoying and Fang Shuzhou weren’t there, Zhou Wen didn’t change his talkative nature, staying by the carriage and chatting with Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi, not minding that he received few responses.

Speaking of which, though Zhou Wen was young, he was extremely considerate by nature, eloquent, and able to speak in ways that made you unable to dislike him. Ren Yaoqi felt that in a few more years, this young man would certainly be one of the sought-after romantic gentlemen in Yunyang City.

When they returned to the Zhou family, Liu Shi and Madam Zhou had been waiting for some time.

Hearing about the Lei family’s young lady’s disappearance, they asked a few questions, and upon hearing she was finally found in a well, they all sighed with emotion.

Zhou Rong pouted: “I wondered why you disappeared as soon as you left, making us wait so long. Turns out you were playing the good Samaritans.”

Ren Yaoying said gently, “So Third Sister and Fifth Sister know people from the Lei family?”

Ren Yaohua was too lazy to deal with them and gave perfunctory responses. Ren Yaoqi sat to the side, acting tongue-tied and inarticulate while drinking tea, not participating.

After having lunch at the Zhou family estate, Liu Shi finally took them back to the city.