HomeScheme of the Legitimate DaughterYao Yao You Qi - Chapter 225

Yao Yao You Qi – Chapter 225

Nanny Gui stuffed the two pouches into Nanny Duan’s and Hongying’s hands, respectively. Hongying, who had spent years following the princess and rarely entered other families’ inner courtyards, instinctively raised her hand to refuse when she saw the Ren family giving rewards. Nanny Gui’s face showed some embarrassment.

Nanny Duan glanced at Hongying and gave her a meaningful look. Hongying recalled the inner household etiquette she had learned but mostly forgotten, and finally stopped refusing, allowing Nanny Gui to carefully tuck the pouch into her sleeve.

Both Nanny Gui and Old Madam Ren breathed a sigh of relief. A prince’s mansion’s steward, nanny, and the princess’s maid were not easily encountered. Having the opportunity to make contact, they naturally needed to show proper respect. Even if they wouldn’t need favors later, it was good to establish goodwill.

Nanny Duan knew from the weight that it was a generous reward, but her expression didn’t change at all, as if she were receiving an ordinary gratuity. However, after walking two steps, she stopped and turned back to Old Madam Ren with meaningful words: “They say a dragon has nine sons, all different. Speaking of which, this servant has met both your Fourth Miss and Fifth Miss. I won’t speak of Fourth Miss, but Fifth Miss is truly well-educated, reasonable, and talented. She and our princess are like one person—not only does the princess consort favor her, but even Madam Xu, the wife of Master Xu from Yunyang Academy, holds Fifth Miss in great regard. She not only guides her in music but also gifts her with musical scores from her collection. Madam Xu is someone even our princess consort addresses as ‘Master’! This servant has been in the prince’s mansion for decades and considers herself somewhat knowledgeable—your Fifth Miss is destined for great fortune! Take today’s matter, for instance—if not for Fifth Miss’s sake, how could our prince’s mansion let someone bully our princess?”

Old Madam Ren was startled to hear this, but after careful thought, her heart filled with joy. She had originally thought that after today’s incident, even if Yanbei Prince’s mansion didn’t pursue the Ren family, they would probably harbor some displeasure, which had made her anxious.

If Yanbei Prince’s mansion showed displeasure toward any family, even the slightest hint would ensure that the family could no longer maintain its position among Yanbei’s prominent households.

Now, hearing Nanny Duan speak so highly of Yaoqi meant the princess consort and princess’s attitude toward Yaoqi remained unchanged. As long as Yaoqi could continue to please the princess consort and princess, the Ren family’s image before Yanbei Princess Consort still had hope of redemption. Moreover, the academy master’s wife’s regard for Yaoqi would also give the Ren family face among Yanbei’s noble families.

Thinking this way, Old Madam Ren’s heart relaxed somewhat, though her face showed a smile: “If the princess consort and princess favor her, that’s her good fortune.”

Nanny Duan smiled slightly: “Indeed, it’s good fortune—and your good fortune too, Old Madam.”

Old Madam Ren’s smile brightened at these words.

After personally escorting Nanny Duan and Hongying out, Old Madam Ren asked Nanny Gui, “Did you add extra to the pouches?”

Nanny Gui quickly said: “This servant took the liberty of replacing the twenty taels of silver reward with that mutton-fat jade toad and emerald thumb ring. That Miss Hongying—I saw her accompany the princess to our mansion once before. She’s a head maid in the princess’s quarters. That Nanny Duan, judging by her elegant dress, must also be a steward with standing before the princess consort. I was afraid they’d look down on that small amount of silver.”

Old Madam Ren didn’t disapprove but nodded in praise: “Very good, you thought it through well. They both influence the masters of Yanbei Prince’s mansion—giving generous rewards is nothing. I only fear it wasn’t enough.”

Nanny Gui observed Old Madam Ren’s expression: “How should we arrange matters for Fourth Miss?”

Old Madam Ren’s previously smiling face immediately fell, saying coldly: “That fool—our entire Ren family nearly got implicated because of her stupidity. All my cultivation and effort spent on her over the years, wasted. Her grandfather and I devoted ourselves to planning her marriage to the Qiu family—is this how she repays us?” Old Madam Ren grew angrier as she spoke.

Nanny Gui quickly stepped forward to comfort her while carefully probing: “Old Madam, calm yourself. Given Fourth Miss’s current state of mind… is marrying into the Qiu family still appropriate?”

Old Madam Ren said angrily, “I originally favored Hua’er more… Never mind, first have her confined to the woodshed. I don’t want to see her right now. Let her go hungry for a day or two to clear her head and see if she still has energy for wild thoughts. As for other matters, I’ll need to discuss them with the master after we return.”

When they returned to the main room, Ren Yaoyin was still kneeling motionlessly on the ground, saying nothing, lost in thought. Only when she heard movement did she slowly raise her head. Having been beaten by Ren Yaohua, who hadn’t held back, both sides of her face had swollen more noticeably in the wind, presenting a truly pitiful sight. Old Madam Ren hadn’t looked closely before, but seeing now, she was also startled.

“Grandmother,” Ren Yaoyin called out choking back tears, her speech somewhat unclear due to her swollen face.

Hearing her call out, Old Madam Ren’s anger flared again: “Don’t call me that! Tie her up and take her to the woodshed!” The latter part was directed at Nanny Gui.

Nanny Gui quickly agreed and went out to call for people.

Ren Yaoyin’s face showed grief and despair: “Grandmother, granddaughter truly had no intention of harming Fifth Sister and the princess. Granddaughter has been wronged.”

Old Madam Ren didn’t even look at her, saying coldly, “Would Yanbei Prince’s mansion go to such lengths to frame you? You think highly of yourself! Even if you were wronged, since Yanbei Prince’s mansion has declared you guilty, you can only accept it!”

Old Madam Ren’s words blocked all of Ren Yaoyin’s planned defenses in her throat. She stared at Old Madam Ren in shock.

Nanny Gui had already entered with two matrons. She glanced at Old Madam Ren, then walked to Ren Yaoyin and bent down: “Fourth Miss, let this servant help you up.”

Ren Yaoyin came to her senses. She glanced back at Old Madam Ren, a barely visible mocking smile appearing at the corner of her mouth, her eyes cold and desolate. She shook her head, avoiding Nanny Gui’s hand, and slowly climbed up by herself. She straightened her clothes, bowed to Old Madam Ren, then walked out with her back straight.

Nanny Gui quickly followed with her people, while Old Madam Ren sat in the place of honor, contemplating the marriage alliance between the Qiu and Ren families, paying no attention to Ren Yaoyin.

In her heart, Old Madam Ren still favored her granddaughter Ren Yaohua, so according to her wishes, she would rather have Ren Yaohua marry into her natal family. However, Old Master Ren favored having Ren Yaoyin marry over because she was the legitimate granddaughter of the main branch, and the Ren family would eventually be handed over to the main branch.

Now that Ren Yaoyin not only didn’t want to marry into the Qiu family but had also done such shameful things because of her infatuation with the Yun family’s eldest son, Old Madam Ren was even more unwilling to let Ren Yaoyin marry Qiu Yun. But as for Old Master Ren’s side…

Old Madam Ren’s mind couldn’t help but become active.

As the saying goes, “When flowers bloom, they branch in two directions—each tells its own story.”

Yun Qiuchen was just coming out of Miss Guo’s courtyard when she intended to invite Jiang Yuanniang along the way. Unexpectedly, she encountered Jiang Yuanniang’s maid Qiuxiang halfway.

After hearing Qiuxiang’s account, Yun Qiuchen only pondered briefly before following Qiuxiang toward Qiuhong Courtyard.

Since the thousand gold banquet was hosted by the Yun family, and now Jiang Yuanniang’s head maid had come to her for help, she couldn’t justifiably refuse. Moreover, Jiang Yuanniang was already Old Madam Yun’s chosen granddaughter-in-law, so Yun Qiuchen wanted to establish good relations with her. Additionally, Yun Qiuchen felt that Wu Yiyu and Jiang Yuanniang had no grievances between them, so there shouldn’t be any serious trouble.

If Miss Yun had known what scene she was about to face, she definitely wouldn’t have followed Qiuxiang so easily.

Moreover, what Yun Qiuchen didn’t know was that Yun Qiuping and Yun Qiufang, returning from elsewhere, saw from a distance that Yun Qiuchen suddenly changed direction toward the northwest corner after meeting a maid, which struck them as odd. They had also seen that maid before—she was Jiang Yuanniang’s head maid.

The maid’s somewhat anxious expression when speaking with Yun Qiuchen surprised the two sisters. Later, Yun Qiufang insisted on dragging Yun Qiuping to secretly follow.

When Yun Qiuchen reached Qiuhong Courtyard, she was naturally stopped by Wu Yiyu’s two maids. However, Yun Qiuchen wasn’t Wu Yiyu—she had several maids and matrons with her, and Wu Yiyu’s maids’ expressions made Yun Qiuchen feel something was wrong.

Qiuxiang had a flash of inspiration and simply ran around those two maids into the courtyard, saying as she went: “This servant will go in and report to Miss Yun.”

When those two maids tried to pull Qiuxiang back, Jiang Yuanniang’s other maid immediately stepped forward to help. Yun Qiuchen took advantage of the chaos to enter with her people.

Yun Qiufang and Yun Qiuping, who had secretly followed Yun Qiuchen, became increasingly confused. When they tried to move closer to see and hear more, they were unexpectedly blocked by two matrons who appeared from nowhere.

Yun Qiufang had originally come only out of curiosity, but being blocked now made her somewhat unhappy: “Who are you people? Why are you stopping us? We’re with Big Sister—why didn’t you stop her?”

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