Nanny Zhou went down to arrange Maidong’s wife’s situation according to Ren Yaoqi’s instructions. When she returned, she said to Ren Yaoqi: “This servant told her that we would arrange for her to manage the storeroom, and she didn’t say anything.”

Ren Yaohua was satisfied: “It seems she knows her place!”

However, Ren Yaoqi was waiting for Nanny Zhou’s next words. Sometimes those who know their place aren’t necessarily easier to deal with than those who don’t.

Sure enough, Nanny Zhou continued: “It’s just that she’s not too satisfied with the living arrangements.”

Ren Yaohua frowned: “Isn’t she arranged to live in the back courtyard? Those living in the back courtyard are either stewards or several favored senior maids. If she’s still not satisfied with this, does she expect us to give up the main room for her?”

Nanny Zhou shook her head: “She doesn’t dislike the back courtyard’s living quarters. She just said that when she came to Yunyang City this time, Old Madam also instructed her to serve Fifth Miss with her writing materials. If she lives too far from Fifth Miss, she’s afraid it would be inconvenient when Fifth Miss needs to summon her.”

Ren Yaoqi said, “Then where does she want to live? There is a small ear room next to the west wing where I live, but two senior maids are already living there.”

Nanny Zhou said, “This servant said the same thing. Maidong’s wife said she would be willing to squeeze in with the two maids.”

“Is she wanting to squeeze in with the two maids, or is she trying to force the two maids to give up their room for her? This advance-by-retreat tactic is quite well executed!” Ren Yaohua said with a cold laugh.

Ren Yaoqi readily agreed: “Since she’s willing to squeeze in, let her squeeze in. Have her move over there.”

Nanny Zhou frowned: “Miss, is this alright?”

Ren Yaoqi smiled: “What could be wrong with it?”

Ren Yaohua complained: “I don’t know what Grandmother is thinking.”

Ren Yaoqi could guess what Old Madam Ren was thinking. From Maidong’s wife’s reaction, it seemed that currently, Old Madam Ren’s primary task in sending her over was to monitor her interactions with the Princess and Yanbei Prince’s mansion, then report back to Old Madam Ren at any time.

Nanny Zhou went down again to arrange Maidong’s wife’s living quarters. From that day on, Maidong’s wife lived together with Pingguo and Sangshen.

The next day, Ren Yaoqi went to her small study to practice calligraphy according to her usual schedule. Before long, Maidong’s wife came over.

Ren Yaoqi said nothing, and Maidong’s wife took over from Sangshen to grind ink for Ren Yaoqi.

“Is Fifth Miss going to write a letter to the Princess?” Maidong’s wife asked when she saw Ren Yaoqi spread paper flat on the desk.

Ren Yaoqi shook her head.

Sangshen said softly from the side, “Fifth Miss is going to practice calligraphy. Moreover, Fifth Miss doesn’t like people talking and disturbing her when she’s writing or reading. Sister Maidong, since you’re going to serve Miss with her writing materials, you’d better remember this in the future.”

Sister Maidong nodded, but she still spoke up: “Fifth Miss, Old Madam asked you to write to the Princess as soon as you returned.”

Ren Yaoqi held her wrist suspended as she wrote, saying nothing.

Sister Maidong looked at the characters Ren Yaoqi was writing and couldn’t help but secretly praise them in her heart. She had long heard that Fifth Miss’s calligraphy and painting were personally taught by Third Master, and her handwriting was better than the young masters in the mansion.

However, what Ren Yaoqi was writing was the Diamond Sutra, not a letter to the Princess.

Sister Maidong frowned and glanced at Ren Yaoqi again.

Old Madam Ren had asked her to urge Fifth Miss to write to the Princess early, and also to remind Fifth Miss to remember to ask the Princess in the letter to intercede for the Ren family before the Yanbei Princess Consort, and to memorize the letter’s content to tell her about it.

Ren Yaoqi finished copying the entire Diamond Sutra, and it was already time for the noon meal.

Sister Maidong waited anxiously on the side. Just when she thought Ren Yaoqi was deliberately delaying and didn’t want to write today, she saw Ren Yaoqi instruct Pingguo to move aside the sutra she had just copied, then take out a stack of letter paper from the drawer.

Ren Yaoqi still said nothing and buried her head in writing.

Maidong’s wife leaned over to look and immediately saw the words “Princess, reading this letter is like meeting in person,” finally breathing a sigh of relief.

From then on, Maidong’s wife didn’t need to speak up and remind her. Ren Yaoqi first explained why she hadn’t written to Princess Xiao recently, wrote about her family affairs to inform the Princess, and then requested that the Princess intercede for the Ren family before the Princess Consort, asking the Princess Consort to agree to meet with her.

What Ren Yaoqi wrote was exactly what Old Madam Ren had instructed Maidong’s wife to have Ren Yaoqi write in the letter. She was so obedient and compliant that Maidong’s wife practically had no use for her skills.

After Ren Yaoqi finished writing, she waited for the ink to dry completely, then personally put it into an envelope and sealed it in front of Maidong’s wife. She drew a small flower on the envelope, then handed it to Pingguo, saying: “Send this to Yanbei Prince’s mansion to Nanny Duan, and ask the people at Yanbei Prince’s mansion to help deliver it to the Princess.”

Maidong’s wife quickly said, “Fifth Miss, don’t you need to write your name? How will the Princess know it’s from you?”

Ren Yaoqi finally deigned to speak with Maidong’s wife, and quite calmly at that: “I’ve already signed my name in the letter, didn’t you see? I’m an unmarried young lady—how can I write my name on the envelope? This letter will pass through who knows how many hands before reaching the Princess. So the Princess and I agreed to draw a small flower on the letter, and she’ll know it’s my letter when she sees it.”

Maidong’s wife had never seen letters between Ren Yaoqi and Xiao Jinglin, so naturally, she didn’t know the situation. However, she still kept her guard up and immediately smiled: “Let this servant deliver the letter instead. This servant has never been to Yanbei Prince’s mansion and would like to see it and gain some experience. Fifth Miss just mentioned giving the letter to a Nanny Duan? How should I find her?”

Ren Yaoqi frowned: “Since you want to go, then go. Have Pingguo go with you. She’s always been the one delivering my letters, so you can follow her and learn.”

Maidong’s wife quickly smiled and agreed, politely saying to Pingguo: “Then I’ll trouble Miss Pingguo to lead the way.”

Pingguo nodded, said nothing, bowed, and withdrew.

Maidong’s wife quickly followed her.

Pingguo and Maidong’s wife took a carriage to Yanbei Prince’s mansion.

In the carriage, Maidong’s wife said, “Miss Pingguo, where is Miss’s letter?”

Pingguo glanced at Maidong’s wife and took out the letter: “Here it is.”

Maidong’s wife reached out to take it, smiling as she said: “Let me hold it instead. You young ladies all like to use fragrant sachets, and it wouldn’t be good if the scent got on it.”

Pingguo frowned but still let Maidong’s wife take the letter.

After Maidong’s wife took the letter, she looked at it carefully several more times, confirming it was the same one Ren Yaoqi had sealed in front of her before putting it away in her bosom with relief.

“Miss Pingguo has been serving Fifth Miss for quite some time, hasn’t she?” Maidong’s wife asked.

Pingguo nodded.

Maidong’s wife smiled: “Miss Pingguo has a steady temperament and doesn’t like to talk much.”

Pingguo forced a smile, barely moving the corners of her mouth.

Maidong’s wife asked again: “Do you always accompany Fifth Miss when she goes to Yanbei Prince’s mansion? So you must be very familiar with Yanbei Prince’s mansion, right? I’ve never been to Yanbei Prince’s mansion. I wonder if the nannies and maids there are easy to get along with?”

Pingguo replied briefly: “Mm. Not very familiar. Don’t know, never interacted with them.”

Facing someone like Pingguo who was impossible to get a word out of, Maidong’s wife was quite helpless. She tried probing with many questions along the way, but all the answers she received were perfunctory. Then Yanbei Prince’s mansion appeared before them.

Pingguo familiarly led Maidong’s wife into the mansion, then had someone report that they wanted to find Nanny Duan.

Nanny Duan came out shortly after. Seeing it was the senior maid from Ren Yaoqi’s side, plus an unfamiliar woman she’d never seen before, she remained composed, nodded in greeting, though her attitude wasn’t particularly warm.

Pingguo curtsied and said, “Greetings, Nanny Duan. Our Miss asked us to bring you the letter she wrote to the Princess.” Pingguo glanced at Maidong’s wife.

Maidong’s wife quickly took out the letter and handed it to Nanny Duan with both hands, smiling as she said: “Greetings, Nanny Duan.”

Nanny Duan looked at her, nodded, then said to Pingguo: “I understand. The letter will be delivered to the Princess. You can go back now.”

Maidong’s wife quickly said, “Nanny Duan, our Fifth Miss returned from Baihe Town a few days ago and only came back yesterday, so she hasn’t come to pay respects to the Princess Consort yet. In a few days, our Fifth Miss will come to pay her respects to the Princess Consort.”

Nanny Duan frowned and said, “The Princess Consort has no time recently. Come pay respects again in a while.” With that, Nanny Duan didn’t wait for Maidong’s wife to say anything else and left with the letter.

Pingguo said, “The letter has been delivered. Let’s go.”

Maidong’s wife had no choice. After all, the mansion was heavily guarded, and they couldn’t enter freely without permission. She could only think about finding another opportunity to build a good relationship with Nanny Duan next time.

After Nanny Duan left, she immediately went to Xiao Jingxi’s courtyard and gave the letter to Xiao Jingxi.

“Fifth Miss had her maid deliver this, saying it should be passed to the Princess.”

Xiao Jingxi took the letter and looked at the envelope without a signature, couldn’t help but smile, stroking the letter as he said: “Mm, who else came today besides her maid?”

Nanny Duan said, “There was also a woman in her forties who looked unfamiliar. She also told this servant that Miss Ren Fifth wanted to come pay respects to the Princess Consort. She’s probably not one of Miss Ren Fifth’s people.”

Because the Princess Consort had never said she wouldn’t see Miss Ren Fifth.

Xiao Jingxi nodded: “Pass down the order that in the future, when people from the Ren family come, bring them to you first. You may withdraw now.”

Nanny Duan bowed and withdrew.

After the room was empty, Xiao Jingxi opened Ren Yaoqi’s letter. When he saw the words “Princess, reading this letter is like meeting in person,” he was startled, then shook his head with a laugh.

Although he knew this letter was a smokescreen Ren Yaoqi had created to deceive the Ren family, Xiao Jingxi still read it carefully word by word.

However, when he reached the end, he suddenly sensed something was amiss, so he read the letter from beginning to end again. Then he discovered that starting from the second paragraph of the main text, the first character of each paragraph connected to form a sentence: “The Ren family’s Jiangnan properties can all enter your coffers.”

Xiao Jingxi couldn’t help but be astonished.

After a long moment, he shook his head and sighed softly: “I thought I was ruthless enough, but you’re even more capable of being ruthless than I am.”