Ren Yaoyin had truly calculated everything perfectly. Ren Yaoqi felt that being schemed against by her sister should make her angry, yet her heart was completely calm now. She just couldn’t understand where Ren Yaoyin got the confidence that she could have her turn after Xiao Jinglin failed to marry Yun Wenting.

Hadn’t Ren Yaoyin only become Yun Wenting’s concubine in her previous life?

Thinking of this, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but realize that she really couldn’t remember who Yun Wenting’s legitimate wife had been in her previous life. Logically, she should have heard some news about the Yun family’s eldest son getting married. Could it be that in her previous life, Yun Wenting had never taken a legitimate wife before she left Yanbei, only taking Ren Yaoyin as a concubine?

If that was Ren Yaoyin’s plan, then she might not be without opportunity. After all, even if a legitimate daughter from the main branch of the Ren family couldn’t become the legitimate wife of the Yun family’s eldest son, being taken as an honored concubine by the Yun family would still be considered an injustice to her.

Unfortunately, after she left Yanbei in her previous life, she never paid attention to Yanbei affairs again, so she didn’t know how long Ren Yaoyin’s methods had kept the position of the main woman in Yun Wenting’s household vacant.

Ren Yaoyin was still earnestly trying to persuade Xiao Jinglin to go to Qiuhong Courtyard.

Ren Yaoqi no longer wanted to watch her performance. She lifted the bead curtain of the inner room and walked out: “Fourth Sister, thank you for your concern.”

When Ren Yaoyin saw Ren Yaoqi, she froze: “Fifth, Fifth Sister, how are you—”

Ren Yaohua was also startled to see Ren Yaoqi emerge from the inner room. After recovering her senses, she immediately walked around Xiao Jinglin toward Ren Yaoqi, looking her up and down. Only after confirming she was unharmed did she finally breathe a sigh of relief, though her face showed anger as she pointed at Ren Yaoqi’s nose and scolded: “Ren Yaoqi, are you only three years old this year? Why did you have to provoke Wu Yiyu for no good reason?”

Ren Yaoqi knew that Ren Yaohua had genuinely worried about her today, which had made her lose her composure. Otherwise, she should have been on guard against Ren Yaoyin. Ren Yaoqi took advantage of the moment to grab Ren Yaohua’s hand that was pointing at her nose and shook it ingratiatingly: “Third Sister, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Ren Yaohua coldly pulled her hand back with disdain: “Who’s worried about you! If I weren’t afraid of having no way to explain to Mother when I return, who would care whether you live or die!”

Ren Yaoyin’s expression flickered through various changes. When she realized Xiao Jinglin had been watching her, she showed a relieved smile: “Fifth Sister, I’m glad you’re alright. Third Sister and I were both frightened just now.”

Ren Yaohua now remembered Ren Yaoyin too, saying suspiciously: “Didn’t you say someone saw Fifth Sister being deceived away by Wu Yiyu’s people?”

“I—” Ren Yaoyin’s mind raced rapidly, trying to find a suitable excuse to brush off Ren Yaohua.

But Ren Yaohua seemed to remember something as she looked at Ren Yaoqi. Ren Yaoqi looked calmly at Ren Yaoyin without speaking. Ren Yaohua had only been used as a weapon by Ren Yaoyin because concern had made her confused, but she wasn’t stupid after all. She narrowed her eyes slightly and examined Ren Yaoyin: “Fourth Sister, you didn’t deliberately deceive me, did you?”

Ren Yaoyin denied: “Third Sister, what kind of talk is that? What benefit would I get from deceiving you? I was just misled by someone else. In my anxiety—”

Xiao Jinglin, who had been silent all along, suddenly interrupted: “The benefit would be making me and Wu Yiyu fight over Yaoqi, resulting in mutual destruction. Wu Yiyu said you have feelings for Yun Wenting. It seems she wasn’t wrong.”

Ren Yaoyin’s entire body stiffened, but almost immediately, she took a deep breath and said with some anger: “Princess, I’ve always respected you as a woman who doesn’t yield to men, but I never thought you’d be the type to speak carelessly! You say I deliberately framed you both—do you have evidence? If you have no evidence, even though you’re a princess and I’m just a small merchant’s daughter, I won’t accept this!”

Ren Yaohua looked at Ren Yaoyin, then at Xiao Jinglin.

Just as Ren Yaoqi was about to speak, Xiao Jinglin stopped her with a look. Then she looked coldly at Ren Yaoyin: “You want evidence? Do you want witness testimony or physical evidence? The witness would be the maid Wu Yiyu, arranged to secretly contact you and lead Yaoqi to Qiuhong Courtyard. Yanbei Prince’s mansion has many ways to make people tell the truth. Don’t forget this is Yanbei Prince’s territory, and Wu Yiyu can’t be trusted by the Xiao family. As for physical evidence—”

Here, Xiao Jinglin looked at Ren Yaoyin with some amusement: “Does that poem by Yun Wenting count?”

Ren Yaoyin’s expression changed.

Xiao Jinglin imitated Xiao Jingxi’s manner, smiling faintly: “If Wu Yiyu could get her hands on it, couldn’t I?”

Ren Yaoyin hadn’t expected that what she thought was a secret between her and Yun Wenting would be known by so many people, and even become a tool for others to threaten her repeatedly.

How could Ren Yaohua not understand now? Thinking that she had also been used by Ren Yaoyin, her heart churned with anger, and her eyes turned red. Without another word, she walked two steps to Ren Yaoyin and fiercely slapped her across the face.

Ren Yaoyin was stunned by the blow and nearly fell to the ground. Unfortunately, Ren Yaohua had never been one to show tender mercy. Without saying a word, she grabbed Ren Yaoyin to steady her, then used both hands to repeatedly slap Ren Yaoyin’s face.

The sound of “slap—slap—slap—” continuously echoed in the room.

Both Ren Yaoqi and Xiao Jinglin were shocked, and even Xiao Jinglin’s two maids, who considered themselves fierce, were frightened.

Ren Yaoqi was the first to recover, quickly stepping forward to pull at Ren Yaohua: “Third Sister, stop hitting her, or people will watch the spectacle when we go out.”

Ren Yaoqi hadn’t expected Ren Yaohua’s reaction to be so intense. She could barely restrain her, and Ren Yaohua had even disheveled Ren Yaoyin’s hair.

Xiao Jinglin didn’t know whether she should step forward to break up the fight or pretend she saw nothing. However, regarding this sister of Ren Yaoqi’s sister, Xiao Jinglin finally gained new understanding today. This girl would be a fierce character if she followed her to battle. Finally, out of genuine admiration for brave women, Princess Xiao still kindly reminded expressionlessly in a low voice: “Don’t hit the face anymore.”

Ren Yaohua finally stopped, while Ren Yaoyin had collapsed to the ground, unable to speak. Both sides of her cheeks were swollen, and because her lips had been cut, blood trickled from the corners of her mouth. Her beauty was completely ruined, a pitiful sight.

“It’s one thing for you to be despicable yourself, but you even want to frame and use your sister as a stepping stone! Ren Yaoyin, do you have no shame? Was your conscience eaten by dogs? People like you are wasting food by living, and whoever marries you will have no peace in their household! I advise you to stay away from that Young Master Yun in the future—you’d be accumulating virtue for his family, and he’d be grateful to you!”

Ren Yaohua had always been eloquent. Xiao Jinglin and her two maids, Hongying and Hongxiao, listened in amazement—this was the first time they’d witnessed such a scene.

Ren Yaoqi hugged Ren Yaohua while frantically signaling with her eyes to Xiao Jinglin, who was listening with great interest.

Xiao Jinglin could only instruct Hongying to step forward and help Ren Yaoyin up.

This was the first time Ren Yaoyin had suffered such treatment. Even when Wu Yiyu hit her today, she hadn’t been this harsh. She couldn’t even stand now, her body weight almost entirely dependent on Hongying’s support.

The humiliation made Ren Yaoyin wish she could faint and never wake up again. She hated Ren Yaohua, who had struck so viciously, with a trembling heart, and Ren Yaohua’s words pierced her heart one by one, causing bloody pain.

Just thinking that her plan had been seen through by Xiao Jinglin and that her future path would be even more difficult, she felt more of a hopeless fury.

Seeing Ren Yaoyin’s pitiful state, Ren Yaohua finally calmed down somewhat.

The mother of Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi, Li Shi, had a weak and uncompetitive nature. As the eldest daughter, Ren Yaohua had to fight for her mother. She was used to being the protector of the third branch. She couldn’t stand others bullying her mother and daughter because of their mother’s loss of favor. So seeing Ren Yaoqi framed by Ren Yaoyin and herself being used by Ren Yaoyin had made her so angry.

“You stay here properly. I’ll take her back to find Grandmother for justice!” Ren Yaohua said to Ren Yaoqi.

“I’ll go back with you. There’s nothing for me to do staying here.”

Ren Yaoqi knew Ren Yaoyin’s scheming nature. When they returned to see Old Madam Ren, Ren Yaohua might well be bitten back by Ren Yaoyin. If she went back, she could at least find ways to control Ren Yaoyin and leave her speechless. Moreover, Ren Yaohua had also struck Ren Yaoyin. No matter how much the old madam doted on her, she couldn’t ignore the main branch’s dignity.

Ren Yaohua frowned: “You should stay. What would it look like if we both left? Besides, you were very impressive with the princess today, so perhaps tomorrow—”

Just as Ren Yaohua was speaking, they heard a nanny outside requesting an audience. Both Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi stopped talking.

Xiao Jinglin looked at Ren Yaoyin’s condition and, after thinking, still had Hongying go out to see.

Hongying returned in just a moment, bringing with her the nanny who had requested audience. When Ren Yaoqi looked up, she saw that this was the steward nanny who had brought the silly creature to Qizhen Garden yesterday—she seemed to be one of Xiao Jingxi’s people.

The steward nanny entered and bowed respectfully without looking around: “Princess, Fifth Miss Ren, my master sent this servant to escort Fourth Miss Ren back.”

Ren Yaoqi was startled and looked at Xiao Jinglin. Ren Yaohua was even more confused.

Xiao Jinglin glanced at the steward nanny: “What else did he say?”

The steward nanny said, “My master also said to have Miss Hongying accompany this servant to visit Old Madam Ren at the Ren family villa. Regarding Fourth Miss Ren’s actions today, Yanbei Prince’s mansion will not pursue the matter out of consideration for Fifth Miss Ren and the princess. However, our prince’s mansion hopes Old Madam Ren can properly discipline Fourth Miss Ren. If there’s a next time, Yanbei Prince’s mansion will severely punish her without mercy. Fifth Miss Ren and Third Miss Ren are requested to remain at the hot spring resort and leave tomorrow with the other young ladies, to avoid all three Ren family misses leaving simultaneously, which might cause outsiders to speculate and spread unfavorable rumors.”

The implication was to remove Ren Yaoyin quietly without alarming others, thus preserving the Ren family’s dignity.