Old Madam Ren indeed had some ability—Lei Ting had attended Old Madam Jin’s birthday banquet in person. However, it was Old Madam Ren who had her people speak with Lei Ting. After leaving the Jin family, she managed to arrange a meeting with him at a teahouse.

When Lei Ting pushed open the door of the private room and entered, Ren Yaohua’s heart suddenly leaped. She looked at Lei Ting’s still, calm, and resolute countenance, feeling bitter inside.

Seeing that only Ren Yaohua was in the room without even a maid or servant to serve tea, Lei Ting couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. However, he approached without showing any emotion and said in a gentle tone, “I heard you wanted to see me about something?”

Lei Ting’s face still showed no expression, and his perpetually pressed thin lips made him appear devoid of any smile. Yet Ren Yaohua still didn’t mistake the warm concern in his eyes.

Ren Yaohua invited Lei Ting to sit down, taking the opportunity to turn around and bite her lip to force back the tears in her eyes.

After both were seated, Ren Yaohua personally poured Lei Ting a cup of tea and silently watched him drink it.

Seeing that Ren Yaohua remained silent for a long time, Lei Ting asked thoughtfully, “Are you troubled by the Ren family’s affairs?” After thinking, Lei Ting explained, “Your uncle came to see me. My opinion is that this matter has blown up too much, and although the authorities have temporarily suppressed it, it won’t be easy to resolve the problem completely so quickly. You…”

Lei Ting’s words suddenly stopped mid-sentence as he turned to glance at the gauze screen that separated them from the adjacent room, frowning. This was a suite in the teahouse, usually used for entertaining guests or conducting business. When the gauze screen was moved aside, the two rooms became one large space, normally functioning as two separate private rooms.

Just then, Ren Yaohua said softly, “I came to express my gratitude.” Ren Yaohua finally looked up at Lei Ting, “When the Ren family encountered trouble this time, thank you for intervening and mediating.”

Lei Ting drew his attention back and was about to speak when Ren Yaohua interrupted him: “I know the Ren family’s demands are excessive, so you needn’t concern yourself with them.”

Very light sounds came from the other side of the gauze screen—sounds that ordinary people wouldn’t notice if they weren’t paying attention. However, Lei Ting glanced in that direction again and then quietly gestured to Ren Yaohua.

Ren Yaohua’s face stiffened for a moment, and her hands holding the tea bowl couldn’t help but tremble. However, she quickly relaxed again, slowly straightening her spine. Her beautiful face turned pale as she lost color, but her eyes were calm and resolute.

Lei Ting frowned tightly as he looked at her, feeling inexplicably heartbroken.

“Although you and I have a marriage agreement, the Lei family is the Lei family, and the Ren family is the Ren family. In this matter, the Lei family has already done more than enough. Therefore, Master Lei, I earnestly request that you no longer interfere in this affair.” Ren Yaohua insisted on finishing her words word by word.

Lei Ting suddenly grasped Ren Yaohua’s hand that was resting on the table. Ren Yaohua’s hand was very cold and trembling constantly, despite having just set down the hot tea bowl. Lei Ting slowly applied pressure, gripping her hand tightly, as if wanting to transfer the warmth from his palm to her.

The warmth from his palm made Ren Yaohua daze for a moment. She looked down at Lei Ting’s hand for a long while, then slowly but firmly withdrew her hand from Lei Ting’s grasp. She said softly, “Master Lei, perhaps our engagement should be called off.”

Lei Ting looked at Ren Yaohua without speaking. He wanted to grasp Ren Yaohua’s hand again, but she avoided him.

If Lei Ting were facing any other woman today, he would certainly think she was retreating to advance, using the marriage agreement to threaten him. However, sitting across from him was Ren Yaohua, and he knew better than anyone that every word Ren Yaohua had just said was sincere—she truly wanted to break off their engagement.

Ren Yaohua tucked her hands into her sleeves, and no one could see that her clenched fists already showed protruding veins. Ren Yaohua’s proposal to break off the engagement with Lei Ting was certainly not a ploy to retreat to advance. The Ren family’s actions made her feel embarrassed and ashamed. Never before had she recognized so clearly that she was unworthy of Lei Ting. She even felt that if she married Lei Ting like this, it would be an insult to both of them. She could already foresee that if she married into the Lei family, Lei Ting would constantly have to compromise because of her natal family, forced to act against his wishes, and she would eventually be despised by Lei Ting.

Ren Yaohua wasn’t crying, yet Lei Ting had an impulse to wipe away her tears. He sighed, his tone unprecedentedly gentle: “Don’t speak foolishly. How can a marriage agreement be treated as child’s play? I…”

Just then, someone knocked on the door, and the urgent voice of the maid Shanhu sounded from outside: “Miss, it’s getting late, time to return.”

Ren Yaohua glanced at Lei Ting and rose to leave.

Seeing this, Lei Ting quickly stood up and stepped forward, silently grasping her arm. Ren Yaohua’s steps involuntarily paused, but she didn’t turn around—she didn’t dare turn around because she didn’t want Lei Ting to see the tears that had uncontrollably fallen the moment she turned away.

Lei Ting heard Ren Yaohua’s forcibly suppressed breathing. Ignoring her avoidance, he persistently moved to stand in front of her, then raised his hand to gently and tenderly wipe away the tears on her face.

Shanhu was still knocking outside, not daring to barge in because Lei Ting was inside.

Lei Ting ignored the commotion outside. He gripped Ren Yaohua’s shoulders and, with movements both gentle and firm, pulled her into his arms and held her. Then he lowered his head close to Ren Yaohua’s ear and whispered, “Trust me!”

Those simple three words and the tingling, tickling sensation by her ear made Ren Yaohua involuntarily tremble and nearly lose her footing. Her originally pale face instantly flushed with color. She wanted to raise her hands to push Lei Ting away, but couldn’t muster even half the strength—she couldn’t even move her fingers.

Ren Yaohua looked up at Lei Ting in a daze, meeting a pair of firm and warm eyes. Once Ren Yaohua looked into these eyes, she didn’t want to come out again.

“Miss? Third Miss?”

Shanhu’s increasingly urgent calls finally brought Ren Yaohua back to her senses. Her lips moved slightly as she was about to speak, but Lei Ting extended his index finger to gently press against Ren Yaohua’s lips, stopping her from speaking. Then he continued whispering in her ear, “I know everything. Don’t worry about these matters. Go back and focus on embroidering your wedding dress while waiting for me to marry you.”

Lei Ting wasn’t placating Ren Yaohua—he truly understood her meaning, understood why she wanted to break off their engagement. Because of this understanding, he felt even more tender toward her, although rationally he knew that Ren Yaohua’s words, spoken while knowing people were eavesdropping next door, were somewhat impulsive.

However, Ren Yaohua was struck speechless by Lei Ting’s words. Without her knowledge, her face had turned red as a ripe persimmon.

Lei Ting released her at just the right moment, his face showing a slight smile: “You leave first.”

Ren Yaohua left the room in a daze, following Lei Ting’s suggestion. Only when she reached the door and saw Shanhu waiting there with an anxious expression did she slowly come back to her senses. She couldn’t help but look back, but the door had already closed. She bit her lip, and when she walked past the adjacent room, her steps paused as she turned to glance back.

Shanhu whispered, “Miss, Old Madam is already waiting in the carriage.”

By this time, Ren Yaohua had regained her usual composure. She glanced indifferently at Shanhu and walked away.

Shanhu helped Ren Yaohua board Old Madam Ren’s carriage. Just as she got on and before she could sit steadily, a heavy slap accompanied by the sound of wind came swinging toward Ren Yaohua’s face. Ren Yaohua’s body was unstable, and she crashed headfirst into the carriage wall, momentarily dizzy and disoriented. Her lips were also scraped by her teeth, bleeding.

Ren Yaohua blinked, slowly and calmly raised her head, and saw the usually kind and amiable Old Madam Ren looking at her with a cold and stern expression.

“Ungrateful wretch! All those years of raising you were wasted!”

Ren Yaohua took out her handkerchief and pressed it to the corner of her mouth, lowering her eyes without speaking. The two maids attending in the carriage were silent as cicadas.

Old Madam Ren said irritably, “Return to the mansion first! We’ll settle accounts with you when we get back!”

Ren Yaohua coldly and calmly turned her gaze toward the carriage window. As the carriage began moving, through the partially lifted curtain, the teahouse they had just left slowly passed by. Ren Yaohua’s gaze fixed on some point in the void and didn’t move for a long time.

Old Madam Ren had no intention of letting Ren Yaohua stay in Yunyang City and took her directly back to the Ren family’s ancestral home in Baihe Town.

Ren Yaohua’s face had already swollen slightly. Old Madam Ren turned a blind eye to it, but the maids and servants who saw it along the way were shocked and uncertain. However, Ren Yaohua remained very calm, showing no trace of shame or anger on her face.

After returning, Old Madam Ren originally wanted to invoke family punishment. What Ren Yaohua had done today was no longer simply disobedience—Old Madam Ren was furious inside, never having expected Ren Yaohua to pull such a stunt on her.

However, not long after they returned to the Ren family, people from the Lei family arrived. The Lei family had their steward deliver some fresh vegetables and fruits, saying they were produce from their estate for the Ren family elders to taste, without saying anything else.

Although the Lei family had only sent ordinary items, it considerably cooled Old Madam Ren’s anger. Sending inexpensive common food was something only done between families with close relationships. Since the Lei family had sent vegetables and fruits, they had no intention of breaking the engagement with the Ren family.

Old Madam Ren felt somewhat reassured, but her anger still hadn’t completely subsided. In the end, she punished Ren Yaohua by making her kneel in the ancestral hall.

Ren Yaohua had been back in Baihe Town for three days. Ren Yaoqi had always had people monitoring the Ren family’s situation and knew about the Ren family taking Ren Yaohua to meet Lei Ting. Although she wasn’t clear about exactly how Ren Yaohua had angered Old Madam Ren, based on her understanding of the Ren family and Ren Yaohua, she could roughly guess what had happened.

Finally, seeing that Ren Yaohua had been punished by Old Madam Ren to kneel in the ancestral hall, Ren Yaoqi was just thinking about how to get her back when the Ren family sent people again. However, this time Old Madam Ren had sent people to fetch Ren Yaoying.