“Of course, you’re free to go complain to Father and Grandfather and Grandmother. I won’t stop you. But guess whether they’ll believe you or me?” As she spoke, Ren Yaohua glanced at Ping’er.

Ping’er bit her lip and said in a low voice: “This servant… this servant saw nothing.”

Though she tried her best to conceal it, her voice still carried some trembling. After today, her fear of Ren Yaohua was even greater than before.

So the result was obvious. Even Ren Yaoying’s maid didn’t stand on her side, and the thing had already been swallowed by Ren Yaoying. Ren Yaoying had no evidence whether she wanted to report Ren Yaohua.

The former Ren Yaohua wouldn’t have used such underhanded tactics, but later she gradually understood that dealing with petty people sometimes required extraordinary methods. Once she figured this out, Ren Yaohua could naturally be merciless when dealing with Ren Yaoying. She had never been a person who would show mercy.

Ren Yaohua nodded with satisfaction and said to Ping’er: “Now you tell your young miss where she went wrong!”

Ping’er glanced at the wretched Ren Yaoying. To say she felt no guilt at all would be impossible. Though she hadn’t served by Ren Yaoying’s side for long, Concubine Fang was still alive then. Concubine Fang had treated her well, and Ren Yaoying wasn’t too difficult to serve. But she was just a little maid, and both her fate and her family’s fate were in the hands of Third Madam and Third Miss. When Concubine Fang was still alive, perhaps she could have protected them, but now Concubine Fang was gone. When her parents cried before her, begging her to take refuge with Third Miss, she had no way to refuse.

“Ninth, Ninth Miss, you’d better not oppose Third Miss anymore. This, this won’t do you any good,” Ping’er licked her somewhat dry lips. “Now that Concubine is gone, Madam treats you extremely well. You, you should listen to Madam’s words…”

Ren Yaohua curled her lips and interrupted: “Don’t say these useless things. I want you to enlighten her!”

Ping’er paused, then said in a low voice: “Now it’s Madam who’s in charge of the household. We servants… we servants naturally must listen to Madam. I’m sorry, Ninth Miss.”

Ren Yaoying’s heart was now scratching and clawing with discomfort. She felt that disgusting thing was still attached to her throat, unable to swallow or spit out. She wished she could roll on the ground several times to relieve her pain. Even so, Ping’er’s words entered her ears. She thought in a daze – so there wasn’t even one person on her side anymore? All the maids and servants, including Ping’er, had now sided with Ren Yaohua?

Ren Yaohua said coldly, “Did you hear clearly? That you can stand here safely, with food and clothing without worry every day, you should thank my mother’s kindness. Unfortunately, I’m not my mother. I don’t have such a compassionate heart. If you dare to provoke me again in the future…” Ren Yaohua smiled coldly, “Next time, what I feed you won’t be leeches! I keep my word, so you’d better cherish your little life!”

Ren Yaohua was truly angered by Ren Yaoying today. If Ren Yaoying had schemed against her, she might not have been so angry. But Ren Yaoying had used such a small child as Lei Pan’er! This was intolerable! Ren Yaohua decided to give Ren Yaoying a lesson she would never forget for the rest of her life, reminding her to recognize her situation.

Bullying others with power, beating a dog that had fallen into water – such things Ren Yaohua could do without any psychological burden.

Ren Yaohua looked at Ren Yaoying struggling in pain for a long time with indifference. Even Ren Yaoying’s urine-soaked skirt was almost dried by the wind when she finally condescended to instruct the servant: “Remove the cloth from her mouth. If she’s sensible, give her medicine. If she screams and shouts, let that worm live and die in her throat.”

The servant responded and removed the handkerchief from Ren Yaoying’s mouth. Before Ren Yaoying could make a sound, she started vomiting. The servant couldn’t dodge in time and got vomit all over her sleeve. At this moment, Ren Yaoying’s face was covered with tears and snot, and her mouth and clothes were stained with her vomit. She looked as wretched as could be.

After Ren Yaoying finished vomiting, the servant took out a bamboo tube, wanting to feed her what was inside. Ren Yaoying was now like a startled bird. She looked at the bamboo tube in the servant’s hand with terror, trembling all over as she begged Ren Yaohua for mercy: “Spare my life, Third Sister, please, spare my life…”

Ren Yaohua looked at her with complete disdain: “This is all you amount to! Whether you drink it or not is up to you.”

The servant said: “Ninth Miss, you’d better drink the medicine, otherwise the leech will keep clinging to your throat and sucking blood.”

Ren Yaoying couldn’t help but shudder. She increasingly felt her throat was both itchy and painful, as if something was wriggling inside. She cried while coughing hard, but couldn’t cough anything out.

Ren Yaohua’s patience was exhausted. She frowned and said, “If she won’t drink it, forget it. It’s getting late, let’s go back.”

Ren Yaoying reacted immediately. No matter what was in that bamboo tube, she frantically broke free with one hand, grabbed the bamboo tube from the servant’s hand, and poured it into her mouth. After drinking a tube of sour, salty, fishy-tasting water, Ren Yaoying exhaustedly threw away the bamboo tube. Now, no one was restraining her anymore. She covered her face with both hands, collapsed to the ground, and began crying.

Ren Yaohua’s face showed not a trace of sympathy. She only instructed Ren Yaoying’s maid Ping’er: “Go to the privy and change her clothes, then call over all the others who serve her, then go down the mountain.”

Having witnessed Ren Yaohua’s terrifying methods, Ping’er was scared to death. She immediately stepped forward to help Ren Yaoying up.

Just at this moment, a mocking laugh sounded from not far away.

Ren Yaohua’s heart jumped with alarm. She turned to look but saw no one.

She had already made arrangements earlier, posting guards at nearby intersections to prevent anyone from stumbling upon them while dealing with Ren Yaoying. Xiangqin, Wujing, and several other head maids quickly stepped forward to surround Ren Yaohua, looking around vigilantly and somewhat fearfully.

Xiangqin even put her hands together and muttered, “All you immortals, punishing evil and promoting good is a good thing! But our miss is a good person, and we’re also good people. The ugliest one covered in snot and urine is the only bad person here, so you must look carefully and not mistake us!”

“Who’s there playing tricks? Come out!” Ren Yaohua looked ahead and said coldly.

Ren Yaohua didn’t believe in ghosts and spirits, and she felt no guilt about dealing with Ren Yaoying, so she wasn’t afraid.

As soon as Ren Yaohua finished speaking, she saw a tall, slender man jump down from an old pear tree not far ahead. This man had slightly dark skin, sword-like eyebrows, and starry eyes, very three-dimensional and handsome features. When he smiled, he carried some roguish charm that could make women blush and their hearts race.

When Ren Yaohua saw the newcomer’s appearance, she was stunned: “You…”

The man crossed his arms and leaned sideways against the tree trunk, sizing up Ren Yaohua with a tilted head, then looked at Ren Yaoying who was trying hard to hide her embarrassed self behind Ping’er. Finally, his gaze returned to Ren Yaohua, and he raised an eyebrow to ask: “Where is she?”

Everyone present didn’t understand what riddle he was asking, and they looked at Ren Yaohua with confusion. But Ren Yaohua frowned, and her expression turned cold: “I thought it was someone else. So it’s Second Young Master Yun who’s returned. If you’re looking for someone, go look for them at your Yun family. I don’t have the person you’re looking for here!”

Everyone present also recognized him. This man, who had suddenly appeared, was Second Young Master Yun Wenfang of the Yun family, who hadn’t returned to Yunyang City for three years.

Due to several years of military life, Yun Wenfang was much darker than three years ago. His body also looked leaner and muscular, his facial features more defined than before. Especially those starry eyes had become much more profound, making him look more mature and handsome overall.

Hearing this, Yun Wenfang let out a mocking laugh, but didn’t openly reveal who the “she” he spoke of was. He just raised his eyebrows playfully and said: “Aren’t you afraid I’ll spread word about you bullying your half-sister?”

Ren Yaohua pressed her lips together, straightened her back, and said mockingly: “Do as you please! But after all these years, I thought you would have improved considerably. Turns out you’re still just this capable.”

Hearing this, Yun Wenfang’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he put away the lazy smile on his face. When he was smiling, it wasn’t so noticeable, but now that he wasn’t smiling, he carried an aura of murderous intent that made people’s hearts tremble with fear.

The atmosphere became somewhat tense for a moment, but after a while, Yun Wenfang himself laughed first. He half-jokingly, half-seriously mocked: “Haven’t you noticed my temper has improved?”

Ren Yaohua snorted coldly and didn’t speak. She had never had a good impression of Yun Wenfang, and the fact that Yun Wenfang asked about Ren Yaoqi as soon as he returned made Ren Yaohua even more wary of him.

Yun Wenfang didn’t argue with Ren Yaohua. He lazily stretched his limbs: “Since she’s not here, I’ll leave first. Oh, remember to tell her I’m back.”

Ren Yaohua turned her head away and ignored him.

Yun Wenfang curled his lips and added, “Your method of dealing with people is not bad, but it’s too troublesome. Next time, you can come find me. Making one or two people disappear from this world without anyone knowing is something I can still manage.”

Yun Wenfang’s gaze lazily fell on Ren Yaoying. Ren Yaoying felt as if she was being stared at by a wolf. All the hair on her body stood up, and she hid even more behind Ping’er, refusing to come out.

Ren Yaohua didn’t realize this was actually the proud Second Young Master Yun subtly showing goodwill toward her. She pretended not to hear.

Before leaving, Yun Wenfang turned to look to the right, thought for a moment, then said to himself somewhat playfully: “Seems there are quite a few people who like watching the excitement.”

Ren Yaohua heard these words, and her heart couldn’t help but jump with alarm. Just as she was about to ask Yun Wenfang what he meant, Yun Wenfang had already walked away decisively. Ren Yaohua still couldn’t bring herself to call out and question him.

After waving for Ping’er to take Ren Yaoying away to change clothes, Ren Yaohua thought for a moment, then led her people in the direction Yun Wenfang had looked.

They hadn’t walked far when Ren Yaohua saw a figure standing with his hands behind his back under a tree not far away. That person had been standing there for who knows how long. The shadows of tree branches covered most of his face, making it impossible to see his expression. But Ren Yaohua felt her breathing catch.

She stood in place for a while. That person didn’t come over, and she didn’t go over either. After a long moment, Ren Yaohua secretly took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and instructed Xiangqin and the others calmly: “Wait for me here.”

Several maids obediently agreed and consciously spread out to guard the intersections.

Ren Yaohua straightened her back and slowly walked up to that person. She didn’t look at his expression, only curtsied with a cold expression: “Greetings to Master Lei.”

Lei Ting was silent for a moment: “Why has the way you address me changed again?”

Hearing this, Ren Yaohua couldn’t help but look up at Lei Ting, but Lei Ting still had that eternally unchanging expression. Ren Yaohua really couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

Ren Yaohua didn’t know when Lei Ting had arrived, whether he had seen her dealing with Ren Yaoying, and whether he would think her methods were too vicious, especially since she was dealing with her half-sister.

“You’ve been here for a long time? Did you see everything?” Ren Yaohua didn’t like guessing, so after thinking about it, she asked directly.

Lei Ting looked at Ren Yaohua and nodded: “Yes, I saw it.”

Lei Ting’s tone was calm and without waves, but Ren Yaohua’s heart suddenly surged with bitterness. She felt somewhat bewildered and had some sudden, inexplicable sense of grievance.

Ren Yaohua despised herself for suddenly becoming weak. She slowly took a breath, wanting to quickly armor herself. She thought that since Lei Ting had seen it, he would surely feel disgusted with her, and thus their engagement probably had no need to be forced to continue.

Ren Yaohua was contemplating how to express her thoughts when Lei Ting spoke first.

“Do you need my help?”

Ren Yaohua was stunned. She heard Lei Ting’s words but didn’t understand them. Shouldn’t he be accusing her of having a viper’s heart and feeling disgusted with her?

Seeing that she didn’t speak, Lei Ting continued: “Although you did quite thoroughly this time, you chose the wrong location. This place has roads in all directions, but you’re not familiar with the terrain. Although you posted guards at several intersections, you missed a hidden path. Just now, the Chen family’s young son almost barged in. Moreover, there are quite a few centuries-old pear trees nearby, and hiding one or two people in them would be easy.” Presumably, Lei Ting had also seen Yun Wenfang.

Ren Yaohua was still somewhat unable to process this: “Then, what about that person?”

Lei Ting was amused by her rare foolish expression: “I sent him away.”

Ren Yaohua looked at Lei Ting, stunned and not knowing what to say. She didn’t notice that her eyes were slowly turning red.

Lei Ting sighed softly, stepped closer, raised his hand, thought about it, but put it down again, only softening his voice: “Don’t be afraid. I’ll handle Yun Wenfang’s side.”

He had just revealed himself because he saw Yun Wenfang and was afraid Ren Yaohua would be at a disadvantage. But before he could act, Yun Wenfang left.

Ren Yaohua finally realized something was wrong with herself. She immediately lowered her head, bit her lip, and gave a muffled “mm.”