Seeing that it was Wujing, Ren Yaoqi asked: “Has something happened?”

Wujing nodded, and while leading Ren Yaoqi to find Ren Yaohua and the others, she leaned close to Ren Yaoqi’s ear and whispered: “The eldest daughter of the Guo family just fell into the water.”

“The eldest daughter of the Guo family?” Ren Yaoqi was somewhat surprised.

Wujing immediately explained: “That’s the eldest daughter of the Guo family from Weizhou – you met her at the Thousand Gold Banquet before. Not long after you left, Fifth Miss, the two Jiang family young ladies, and the Guo family eldest daughter arrived. Later, somehow, they agreed to go boating on the lake, and then the incident of the Guo family’s eldest daughter falling into the water occurred.”

Ren Yaoqi nodded, thought for a moment, then asked: “Was Second Young Master Yun also present?”

She remembered that Yun Wenfang had just said he didn’t want to drag her into messy affairs – this messy affair must be referring to Guo Yujiao falling into the water.

Upon hearing this, Wujing hesitated for a while before saying: “Fifth Miss, earlier Second Young Master Yun had stopped Third Miss to ask about your whereabouts. The third Miss was quite displeased by his questioning and deceived him by saying you had gone to the lakeside. Just now, when we heard someone had fallen into the water, Third Miss was startled, fearing that something had happened to you, Fifth Miss, so she sent me and Xiangqin and the others all out to look for you.”

Ren Yaoqi nodded. This wasn’t the time to ask detailed questions, so she followed Wujing quickly to find Ren Yaohua and put her mind at ease.

When Ren Yaohua saw that Ren Yaoqi was safe, the first thing she asked was whether she had encountered Yun Wenfang.

Seeing the anger and worry in Ren Yaohua’s eyes, Ren Yaoqi told her about meeting Yun Wenfang on the road when she had just returned.

Ren Yaohua frowned for a long time, then instructed her to stay as far away from Yun Wenfang as possible in the future. After Yun Wenfang returned, she had seen him twice, and each time he had inquired about Ren Yaoqi’s whereabouts, which made Ren Yaohua vigilant. Although she couldn’t claim to be very familiar with Yun Wenfang as a person, she could still sense that he was a very dangerous figure, especially since returning from the frontier.

Ren Yaoqi naturally agreed obediently.

While the two sisters whispered to each other on this side, the other young ladies were discussing Guo Yujiao’s fall into the water.

Most of those invited to Madam Xu’s warm stove gathering were the female relatives of Yunyang Academy. Since the Jiang family also ran an academy, the Jiang and Xu families often had dealings, and the Jiang sisters happened to be in Yunyang City, so they were also invited. Besides them, some respectable daughters from prominent families had also received invitations, such as Guo Yujiao, who had made a small impression at the Thousand Gold Banquet and happened to be in Yunyang City, so she had also received an invitation.

Later, the Jiang sisters and Guo Yujiao went boating on the lake, but no one expected such an incident to occur. After the accident, Madam Xu rushed over to handle the situation, and the guests who had come to attend the banquet couldn’t very well leave at such a moment, so they remained here.

Someone whispered, “How could she fall into the water for no reason? Didn’t she bring old women and maidservants? Didn’t anyone see what happened?”

“I heard there was no one else around when Miss Guo fell into the water.”

“Miss Guo and Eighth Miss Jiang were arguing at the time…”

Ren Yaoqi was silently listening to their discussion from the side when Shijin, Madam Xu’s chief maidservant, hurried in. She first looked around the warm pavilion, then walked directly to Ren Yaoqi, curtsied, and said: “Fifth Miss Ren, our madam asks you to come over.”

Although somewhat surprised that Madam Xu would summon her at this time, Ren Yaoqi didn’t hesitate to nod in agreement. After greeting Ren Yaohua, she followed Shijin.

Shijin led Ren Yaoqi to a courtyard very close to the lakeside. This courtyard had no side rooms, only three large rooms arranged side by side, looking like a study.

From a distance, Ren Yaoqi could see many people moving about outside the door – it was quite bustling.

Maidservants were hurrying into the house carrying hot water, copper basins, and braziers, while old women carried thick bedding. If you listened carefully, you could hear soft sobbing from inside the house.

Shijin directly led Ren Yaoqi into the house. Upon entering, Ren Yaoqi indeed found this was a study – she could immediately see a large black lacquered desk. Madam Xu’s voice came from the room on the right. Following Shijin over, Ren Yaoqi discovered that four braziers had already been placed inside, but since they hadn’t been brought in long ago, it wasn’t as warm as the previous warm pavilion.

By the window was a soft couch, with a group of maidservants and old women bustling around it. Ren Yaoqi could only see wet hair protruding from thick bedding, along with a section of neck that was eerily pale. Madam Xu stood beside the soft couch, frowning as she gave orders in a low voice.

As Ren Yaoqi approached, she could see half the face of the person lying on the bed – it was indeed Guo Yujiao who had fallen into the water. Only then did she notice that Guo Yujiao’s body, hidden under the thick bedding, was constantly shaking, and she could hear the sound of her chattering teeth.

Seeing Ren Yaoqi enter, Madam Xu beckoned to her, then asked the maidservants without turning her head: “Why hasn’t the ginger soup been brought up yet? Has the physician arrived?”

When Ren Yaoqi approached and found a gap, she asked: “Is Miss Guo alright?”

Madam Xu sighed: “Fortunately, she was rescued in time and didn’t swallow much water, but the lake water was too cold – I’m afraid she’s been frozen badly.”

Looking at Madam Xu’s expression, Ren Yaoqi knew that Guo Yujiao should be fine, and she also breathed a sigh of relief.

“There’s something I need you to do.” Seeing that things were more or less arranged, Madam Xu finally said to Ren Yaoqi, “Just now things were urgent, so I rushed over immediately and couldn’t attend to other matters. I’ve left the madams and ladies to your mother and Madam Liu and the others, and I’m entrusting the young ladies to you.”

Madam Xu quietly gave Ren Yaoqi detailed instructions, asking her to tell those young ladies that Guo Yujiao was already out of danger, and to try to quell bad rumors as much as possible, lest unfavorable gossip arise later that would damage the reputations of the young ladies.

“Today, I’m considered the host, and when such things happen, I should be the one to step forward. It’s just that I have no daughter and no daughter-in-law. Everyone knows you’re my little disciple, so I’m entrusting this matter to you.” Madam Xu patted Ren Yaoqi’s hand as she gave her instructions.

Hearing Madam Xu say this, Ren Yaoqi understood. Madam Xu was currently stretched thin, and by rights should have delegated the aftermath to a daughter-in-law or daughter to help share the burden, but unfortunately Madam Xu had neither a daughter-in-law nor a daughter, so she could only turn to Ren Yaoqi, who was considered her disciple in everyone’s eyes.

Ren Yaoqi knew that, given Madam Xu’s position among the female relatives of Yanbei’s prominent families, having her do these things was a sign of trust and an elevation of her status in front of everyone, so she immediately agreed.

To be honest, Ren Yaoqi was very grateful in her heart for Madam Xu’s repeated efforts to elevate her status.