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Chapter 118: Planning Ahead
Ren Yaoqi listened to Pingguo’s words and pondered for a moment, “Are you saying that Concubine Kang is deliberately trying to make Eighth Sister angry?”
“This… servant is also not good at judging… This servant just feels that if Concubine Kang did not say anything, today’s conflict might have been avoided,” said Pingguo while bowing her head.
Ren Yaoqi nodded. She leaned half-sideways on the kang bed without saying anything; no one knew what she was thinking.
It was Pingguo who broke the silence, murmured somewhat doubtfully, “Miss, why do you think is she doing this? She is still pregnant, what if she really angers Eighth Miss and Eighth Miss moves her hand? Concubine Kang is only accompanied by two maids at most, and no one dares to come forward to persuade her.”
Ren Yaoqi blinked at her words, looked at Pingguo, and smiled. But right when she was about to say something, there was a gentle knock on the door outside.
After Ren Yaoqi gave her permission, Pingguo quickly walked out to open the door, and came back not long after, “Miss, it is Third Miss’ maid Xiangqin, Third Miss asked if you’re free now, she’s waiting for you in the main room.”
Ren Yaoqi nodded and slowly got up off the bed, “Go to the main room.” Pingguo hurriedly came forward and squatted down to help Ren Yaoqi put on his shoes.
When Ren Yaoqi went to the main room, she saw Ren Yaohua sitting alone on the east side of the room drinking tea.
Ren Yaohua raised her eyes the second Ren Yaoqi came in, “You looked for me before, is something happened?”
Ren Yaohua was asking about the matter when Ren Yaoqi asked Pingguo to invite her to catch the butterflies earlier.
Ren Yaoqi shook her head and sat down beside Ren Yaohua, “Nothing much, it’s just that Seventh Sister suddenly wanted to catch butterflies for fun, so I asked you and Fourth Sister if you wanted to come along.”
Ren Yaohua cast a sidelong glance at Ren Yaoqi and hummed lightly, “You want me to go and listen to you guys badmouthing me?”
She was referencing to what Ren Yaoqi said in jest last time. Ren Yaoqi laughed without saying anything, and ordered Xiangqin who was waiting at the side to bring the tea over.
Ren Yaohua stare at her and said, “I don’t like her, if you do this kind of thing again you don’t need to call me.”
After she refused before, she realized that probably Ren Yaoqi was using that excuse to tell her something important, so when she saw Ren Yaoqi come back, she asked her.
Ren Yaoqi denied it helplessly, then talked to her about the conflict between Concubine Kang and Ren Yaoyu.
Ren Yaohua didn’t want to listen to it, but she wasn’t surprised at all, “Eighth Sister was fine when she first came back from Lin’s house, but gradually she couldn’t hide her temper. Now every time she sees Concubine Kang, she doesn’t feel comfortable without scolding her a few words.”
When Ren Yaoyu was at her grandparents’ house, she should have been warned by someone not to get into conflict with Concubine Kang. Ren Yaoyu tried her best to restrain herself at first, but ultimately she couldn’t bear it.
Ren Yaoqi also told Ren Yaohua what Pingguo had seen. Ren Yaohua frowned upon hearing this: “If so, what exactly does Aunt Kang want to do?”
Xiangqin came in, followed by a little girl carrying a carved red lacquer garden tray, on the tray were two small lidded bowls.
“Fifth Miss, Madam has called for someone to prepare almond milk for you and Third Miss. How about this servant serve your tea later?” Xiangqin smiled and brought out the lidded bowl from the tray and gently placed it on the table between Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua.
Ren Yaohua uncovered the bowl and the rich fragrant almond scent immediately overflowed out. She couldn’t help but lean over slightly to smell it, then smiled and arched her eyebrows, “Hmm, I like almond milk the most.”
Xiangqin covered her mouth and chuckled. Ren Yaohua gave Ren Yaoqi an irritated look and slowly uncovered the lid of the bowl in front of her.
After the little maid with the tray retreated again, Ren Yaoqi picked up the warm almond dew and took a small sip, her eyebrows smoothed, “It looks like Concubine Kang trying to provoke Eighth Sister on purpose.”
Ren Yaohua’s hand paused, then put down the bowl she just drank from, “Why is she doing that?”
As Pingguo said before, Concubine Kang was still pregnant and her fetus was less than three months old. She didn’t need to provoke the impulsive Ren Yaoyu at this time.
Ren Yaoqi also put down the bowl in her hand. Perhaps she was really thirsty, because she drank most of the almond milk in her bowl.
“For the time being, I’m not sure exactly what she wants to achieve, but it should be to get rid of Eighth Sister.” Ren Yaoqi said casually.
Ren Yaoqi had some guesses in her heart. For example, Concubine Kang didn’t care that much about the child in her stomach.
But this idea was a bit unbelievable. When Concubine Kang just came in, she still doubted if Concubine Kang was really pregnant because the timing was too coincidental.
It was only later that she learned that the Old Madam had called a few midwives she knew to visit Kang shortly after she entered the Ren family. The results showed that Kang was really pregnant, and the timing could also roughly coincide with the time she met Ren Shimao.
Since Concubine Kang’s pregnancy was real, how could she not care about her child? If it was just to help Concubine Fang, the price Kang paid was too big, what benefits did Concubine Fang give her?
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t figure out these points yet, so she didn’t explain them to Ren Yaohua.
But she could feel that Concubine Kang wanted to attack the impulsive Ren Yaoyu.
Ren Yaoqi slowly drank all the almond milk in her bowl, but Ren Yaohua frowned deeply thinking about it, the worry and seriousness in her eyes on her young face made her look much more mature than her peers.
Ren Yaoqi looked at Ren Yaohua, shook her head, sighed softly, then deliberately interrupted, “Third Sister, are you drinking that?”
Ren Yaoqi smiled and pointed at Ren Yaohua’s bowl of untouched almond milk with a look of interest.
Xiangqin covered her mouth and snickered as she watched from the side.
Ren Yaohua turned back to look at Ren Yaoqi. Just a glance and she managed to guess what Ren Yaoqi meant. So she glared, and under Ren Yaoqi’s disappointed gaze, she picked up her own bowl and took two sips. The smooth and sweet taste filled her mouth, which made her feel much better.
Ren Yaoqi deliberately showed disappointment, and complained in a low voice, “I thought you didn’t want to drink it, so I wanted to help you drink.”
Ren Yaohua cast a side look toward Ren Yaoqi, “Thanks for your kind words! Don’t bother!”
After Ren Yaohua drank her almond milk, Xiangqin packed up their bowls and quietly retreated.
“What are you going to do?” Ren Yaohua asked after contemplating. It seemed like she had forgotten the unpleasantness between the two of them.
Ren Yaoqi considered it this time before answering, “We can’t confront Concubine Fang right now.” Before Ren Yaohua opened her mouth, Ren Yaoqi hurriedly continued, “I’m not afraid of her. I heard that the wife of Concubine Fang’s younger brother will come to Yanbei to participate in Brother Cen’s Full Moon Banquet, and I’m afraid there will be other things that catch us by surprise at that time. For now, it’s better to keep the enemy in the open and us in the dark.”
“The Fang Family is sending Fang Yacun’s wife?” asked Ren Yaohua, stunned.
Ren Yaoqi nodded and mused, “Although Fang Yacun’s official position is not high, he is adept at exploiting the situation and doing things steadily, so he is highly valued by his superiors. You also know the situation of the Fang Family. Now Fang Yacun is probably the one who supports the face of the Fang Family… Although Old Madam Fang is Grandmother’s sister, according to Grandfather’s temperament, he will never quarrel with Fang Yacun. So our real troubles are yet to come.”
Ren Yaohua listened quietly and did not refute Ren Yaoqi’s words, even though a line creased in her eyebrows.
Ren Yaoqi observed Ren Yaohua’s expression and she knew that her sister must be feeling aggrieved, so she added, “But… just because we don’t make a move ourselves doesn’t mean that we’ll just watch the enemy’s ploys succeed.”
Ren Yaohua immediately raised her head. Although she didn’t ask questions hastily, she looked like she wanted to listen to the following.
Ren Yaoqi beckoned toward Ren Yaohua, who hesitated for a moment before coming over.
The two sisters whispered across the kang table. Ren Yaohua couldn’t help being taken aback after hearing this, and with a frown she reconsider it to Ren Yaoqi, “Will this work?”
Ren Yaoqi didn’t make any promises. She only smiled and said, “Whether it will work or not, we’ll know when we try it. No plan is absolutely guaranteed will work. Moreover, what I just said to you is only based on my speculation.”
Ren Yaohua didn’t get angry when she heard this. Instead, after a moment of contemplation, she said, “Well, you’re right. There’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed in anything, so let’s do our best and listen to God’s will. If it’s not possible, the worst thing that can happen is to face her head-on. I’m not afraid of her anyway, I don’t care what Fang Family, Yuan Family, or whatever family is standing behind her!” Although Ren Yaohua’s words were still a little murderous, there was a faint sense of comfort.
Ren Yaoqi could not help but smile.
After a few more days, the Second Madam of the East Mansion, Su, brought Ren Yaoting.
The Dragon Boat Festival is less than 10 days away. The Su Family had finally sent the invitation to the West Mansion..
Every year at the Dragon Boat Festival, Yunyang City would prepare for a dragon boat race, and the Su Family was the initiator and organizer of this event.
Therefore, the Su Family will send invitations to big families in Yunyang City and surrounding towns when the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching.
Invitations outside of Yunyang City normally would be sent down at the beginning of May. But because of Su, the Ren Family was able to get them in April.
Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua happened to be at the Ronghua Courtyard when Su came.
Since the visit of the County Princess to the Ren Family last time, Ren Yaoqi was often called over by Old Madam Ren to talk, and her frequency of entering and exiting the Ronghua Courtyard had increased. Ren Yaoqi always had a humble and easygoing demeanor. However, unlike Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoyin, Ren Yaoqi rarely spoke in front of Old Madam Ren and was not very good at flattering her. Whatever the question was, she just responded with a single sentence, which seemed a bit dull and cowardly.
Therefore, although Old Madam Ren would remember to bring her up for anything, and her attitude was also a lot more amiable, it was still different compared to her attitude toward Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoyin who grew up beside her.
Therefore, her sudden “favour” didn’t make the Eldest Madam and the Fifth Madam take it seriously, and Ren Yaoyin’s attitude towards her was as friendly as ever, which saved her a lot of worry.