Those several nannies had originally been anxious and fearful, but when Nanny Zhou went over and relayed what Ren Yaoqi had instructed, all of them were overjoyed and extremely grateful to Li Shi, praising her for being magnanimous and having a compassionate heart like a bodhisattva.

Everyone knew that among the servants in great households, aside from the head nannies, the personal maids serving closely beside the young mistresses had the highest status.

Both young ladies in Ziwei Courtyard were legitimate daughters, so the little maids selected at this time would be kept as dowry maids if they proved outstanding. Even if they couldn’t accompany their mistresses in marriage in the end, when their mistresses discussed marriage arrangements, they would still be more honorable than ordinary maids, and the master’s family would provide considerable dowry money.

Moreover, being sent away was already disgraceful for them, but if someone from their families could enter the manor, it meant they still had hope of making a comeback in the future, and other household servants wouldn’t look down on them.

As for why Nanny Guan didn’t receive this favor, after brief consideration, several people understood the reason and couldn’t help but start planning to properly instruct their own daughters when they returned home.

Because of this, when they were sent away the next day, not one of them harbored resentment toward Li Shi. They even begged Nanny Zhou to let them kowtow before Li Shi.

Ren Yaoqi didn’t interfere in this matter anymore. Selecting and training maids didn’t require her attention—Nanny Zhou would naturally handle it all.

Concubine Fang fell ill again, so Li Shi exempted her from morning greetings, and she began staying behind closed doors.

Ren Shimin became busy, starting to write Spring Festival couplets and carve peach wood charms. Of course, Third Master Ren’s couplets and peach wood charms were extremely particular—from selecting paper to carving the charms, everything was done by his hand. The output was low, which made them precious and difficult to obtain even with a thousand gold pieces.

This morning, Ren Yaoqi was returning from Ren Yijun’s place.

Ren Yijun liked to find Ren Yaoqi to play chess, but the weather outside was extremely cold, and his health was poor.

Thinking of events from her previous life, Ren Yaoqi showed more tolerance for Ren Yijun’s eccentric temperament. Therefore, every few days, she would voluntarily visit him for a chess match, saving him from braving the wind and snow to come to Ziwei Courtyard.

Walking slowly along the nine-bend corridor, Ren Yaoqi held a small, exquisite Hetian jade hand warmer with blue and white patterns.

This palm-sized hand warmer had been forcibly pressed into her hands by Ren Yijun when she was leaving.

She had seen it was a valuable item and didn’t want to take it, but Ren Yijun had darkened his face, grabbed the hand warmer, and was about to smash it on the ground, frightening her into rushing forward to snatch it away.

This was also the first time she realized that someone could express goodwill in such an… awkward manner.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but smile slightly.

When she looked up, she saw the outer courtyard’s head steward, Yang Cheng, walking toward them with his body bent respectfully, leading two people. Ren Yaoqi’s steps involuntarily paused.

Walking behind Yang Cheng were two boys of twelve or thirteen years old. The one on the right wore a red fox fur cloak with dark blue precious flower patterns, with reasonably handsome and proper features—a well-educated young master from a wealthy family.

The boy on the left wore a narrow-sleeved purple sable fur long robe and held a horse whip in his right hand. He had a tall, slender build with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and extremely distinct, handsome features. When he smiled, the corner of his mouth curved slightly to one side—an expression that would seem ill-intentioned on others, but on his face was pleasing to behold.

The two boys, who had been walking leisurely while chatting and laughing, were also startled when they saw Ren Yaoqi approaching.

When Ren Yaoqi came to her senses, she quickly suppressed the complex emotions in her eyes.

“Fifth Young Miss.” The head steward bowed with clasped hands upon seeing Ren Yaoqi. Seeing that Ren Yaoqi didn’t move, he glanced back at the two boys and quickly said, “Fifth Young Miss, Young Master Qiu from the maternal family has come. The other is his classmate, Young Master Wen.”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi slightly lowered her eyes, bowed her head, and slowly curtsied to them.

She remembered them, and her memory was deep.

Young Master Qiu from the maternal family, Qiu Yun, was the legitimate grandson of Old Madam Ren’s elder brother. He was currently studying at an academy in Yunyang City. Since the route from Yunyang City back to the Qiu family in Jizhou passed through Baihezhen, Qiu Yun was considered a regular guest at the Ren family.

The person beside him wasn’t some Young Master Wen, but Yun Wenfang, the second young master of the Yun family from Yunyang City.

The reason she remembered Yun Wenfang, this unrelated outsider, was because they had once been mortal enemies.

She had heard that some people were naturally incompatible by their birth charts, and she and Yun Wenfang must have been such a pair. From their first meeting, they clashed with each other, and by the time she finally left the Ren family, he had severely tricked her, leaving a deep impression that made it impossible to forget even if she wanted to.

She could no longer remember the exact time of their first encounter in her previous life, but it seemed to have been in this corridor too. She had run out angrily from Ronghua Garden after quarreling with Ren Yaohua. Because she had run rather hastily, she accidentally bumped into Yun Wenfang.

Then Yun Wenfang had whistled frivolously in front of everyone.

That whistle made everyone present laugh “pfft,” and left her utterly humiliated.

She had felt extremely wronged at the time and, in her fury, raised her hand and gave him a resounding slap, then ran away crying, abandoning everyone.

She had been young then, willful and impulsive, never thinking of consequences.

The result was that Old Madam Ren confined her to the ancestral hall for half a month, and she even spent the New Year in that cold ancestral hall.

On New Year’s Eve night, while outside was filled with joyful laughter, she wasn’t even allowed visitors. Because the servants outside forgot to bring her food, she was cold, hungry, and frightened, curled up under the offering table, crying.

He had somehow snuck in, pulled her braids, and smiled with one corner of his mouth raised like an evil demon: “Kowtow three times to this young master and call me ‘good elder brother’ three times, and I’ll go with Qiu Yun to plead for your release. How about it?”

She had hated him to death at that time. Hearing these words, without thinking, she jumped up to scratch his face, leaving four bloody scratches on his neck.

In the end, the furious him was dragged away by Qiu Yun.

Only then did she feel afraid, thinking she would be punished again. Fortunately, that very night, her father pleaded with Old Madam Ren to take her out.

A few days later, she occasionally heard Qiu Yun’s servant say that the reason Second Young Master Yun had used a false name to stay in Baihezhen for so long without even returning home for New Year was because he had caused great trouble in Yunyang City, beating a court official’s brother-in-law into an idiot, and was secretly hidden away by Old Madam Yun.

Old Madam Yun and Old Madam Ren were distant cousins. Old Madam Yun’s father had originally been the clan leader of the Qiu family.

Since Old Clan Leader Qiu had only one daughter and no sons, he eventually adopted Old Madam Ren’s elder brother.

After the old clan leader of the Qiu family died, Old Madam Ren’s elder brother, Qiu Xinmin, took over as clan leader.

Qiu Xinmin was adopted by the old clan leader when he was almost twenty years old, and by then, Old Madam Yun had already married into Yunyang City. Old Madam Ren’s branch was originally a side branch of the Qiu family, so the relationship between the two sides was merely superficial. The relationship between Old Madam Ren and Old Madam Yun was even more distant, with almost no interaction in daily life. So, Second Young Master Yun coming to the Ren family to avoid trouble was unexpected to others.

After learning this information, she secretly leaked the news about Yun Wenfang being at the Ren family.

Within a few days, the eldest young master of the Yun family came to take Yun Wenfang away.

She thought she had been very careful and that no one would know. Unexpectedly, before leaving, he suddenly leaned close to her ear and sneered coldly: “Ren Yaoqi, you’ll regret this! Let’s wait and see!”

She was ordered by Old Madam Ren to be confined and couldn’t step outside Ziwei Courtyard.

For the next several years, she rarely left home, so she and Yun Wenfang maintained peace.

Later, when her father died and the Ren family wanted to send her to Commander Lu, during her mother’s critical illness, she had Nanny Zhou pack up valuables and secretly help her escape from the Ren family to find her maternal grandfather’s family in Yunyang City.

Unexpectedly, halfway through her escape, she encountered Yun Wenfang riding out of the city. She knelt and begged him to spare her life, but he still knocked her unconscious and threw her onto horseback.

Much later, when she woke up again, she was already lying in the carriage sent by the Ren family to find her, and Yun Wenfang was nowhere to be seen.

At that time, she was filled with despair, with only one thought in her mind: if she ever encountered Yun Wenfang again in her lifetime, she would make sure he died a terrible death!

Now, with time having passed, he stood before her again.

Still with handsome features, a mischievous smile, and dark eyes bright as summer night stars.

Yet he could no longer stir even half an emotion in her.

The hatred from her youth now seemed utterly childish to her.

In this life, she didn’t want to have any entanglement with Yun Wenfang whatsoever.