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Chapter 28: Eavesdropping
December 04, 2022
NĂ©e Li’s illness has completely recovered, but she still doesn’t like to go out. Apart from paying respects to the elders in Ronghua Courtyard every day, she basically stays at home.
On this day, both Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua were doing needlework with nĂ©e Li and Momo Zhou in nĂ©e Li’s main room.
Of the younger generations of the Ren family, boys followed the teachers invited by the estate to study in the outer courtyard. Girls learn to read with their mothers. Fortunately, the ladies of the Ren family are born excellent, thus, writing and painting are nothing difficult.
Or perhaps someone like Ren Yaoqi, who has both a father and a brother willing to teach. Typically, such women are either extraordinarily favored or indeed have some talent.
As for other things such as needlework, or other skills, the Ren family especially invited embroiderers and female teachers into the estate. It’s just that classes usually start at the beginning of spring, and end around the Mid-Autumn Festival. Normally, it is not mandatory to go to class, it all depends on personal preference. Those who fished for three days and net for two days were not held accountable.1
As for why the Ren family spent money on female teachers since they didn’t pay much attention to women’s education, it can only be said that this was popular among wealthy families at this time. Other families invite female teachers, but if your family doesn’t invite them, it’s unreasonable.
Ren Yaoqi was having fun with nĂ©e Li and the others, everyone was overjoyed, and the atmosphere in the room was cheerful when suddenly, they heard Que’er, a maid standing at the door leading to the lavatory, frowning and turned to the lavatory and snorted softly, “Who’s outside!”
Everyone was taken aback, and née Li accidentally pricked her hand with an embroidery needle.
”What are you doing! Being shocked!” Momo Zhou immediately got up and walked over.
Que’er hurriedly said guiltily: “This slave just heard some movement in the lavatory, it seems that someone accidentally kicked a stool in there.”
There is a small lavatory in the inner room of the west room of nĂ©e Li’s main house. This room has a north door. In order to facilitate water delivery from the backyard to the lavatory, it is connected to the backyard.
Momo Zhou hurriedly went into the lavatory to check, but she didn’t find anyone, she only saw that a stool was kicked down beside the curtain of the north door, which proved that someone had indeed come in just now. She lifted the curtain of the north door of the room and looked into the backyard. The backyard of the Ziwei Courtyard is very small, the distance from the north gate of the lavatory to the eaves is only seven or eight steps away. Because it is winter, the outside is quiet, and not a shadow of someone can be seen. The snow in the courtyard has to be cleaned three times a day, especially the path in the middle. Therefore, only a few shallow rows of footprints can be seen, leading to the small kitchen in the backyard used to boil water in winter. Momo Zhou stared at the footprints for a while, then set down the curtain and went back.
Ren Yaohua put down the embroidery hoop in her hands, got up, walked over, and just met Momo Zhou who came back from investigating, and said with a cold face: “Is the person who came to eavesdrop just now from the backyard?”
Xi’er said angrily: “This group of people is really lawless, it’s nothing if they sneak around to eavesdrop at night, but being so blatant in the daytime! How hateful!”
Ren Yaohua looked at Xi’er and was surprised and angry: “What!? They also came to eavesdrop before? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Xi’er heard this and glanced at nĂ©e Li, then lowered her head in embarrassment.
NĂ©e Li sighed to help the maid: “I didn’t let them tell you, and they didn’t hear anything anyway, so just forget it. I’ve heard that the people living in our yard and the backyard all have different backgrounds. It’s not good to offend anyone.”
”Mother!” Ren Yaohua stomped her feet furiously.
Momo Zhou hurriedly said: “Madam also thinks that one thing more is worse than one thing less2. Third Young Lady, don't be angry with Madam.“
Naturally, Ren Yaohua would not be angry with nĂ©e Li, she was just a little dissatisfied with nĂ©e Li’s attitude of keeping things quiet. It is precisely because of nĂ©e Li’s timid temperament that other people can walk over their heads and be domineering.
”These people, if you don’t give them some color to see, they get an inch and they’ll want a mile3. Now they can even do things like eavesdropping on their masters, and they might be able to do something more in the future! Mother, you are pampering and raising traitors!”
Speaking of which, Ren Yaohua turned her head to look at Ren Yaoqi, squinting at her provocatively: “Didn’t you say those people can’t be moved? Could it be that we just put up with them and do nothing?”
Ren Yaoqi thought about the boldness of those people and felt a little unhappy, she shook her head and said: “I didn’t say that those people can’t be moved, I just want to clean them up without using your hands, and not hurriedly. “
Ren Yaohua raised her chin. With an icy face, she expressed: “So to say you want a help? I don’t care what you want to do. Anyway, if you can’t settle their affairs before the Spring Festival4, I will use my methods to drive them away! As long as I think of Mother and I living under the sneaky eyes of those people every day, I can't swallow my breath.”
Ren Yaoqi was not enraged as everyone expected, she just pondered for a moment, then nodded calmly: “I know, I will take care of these people.” After finishing, she added, “Before the Spring Festival.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially née Li, once again sighed that the little daughter had grown up.
Seeing that Ren Yaoqi’s attitude is good, and this matter cannot be said to be Ren Yaoqi’s fault, Ren Yaohua was silent instead, she was a little uncomfortable, but she was unwilling to lower her body to apologize for her previous tone, so she just nodded coldly said: “If you need help, you can ask someone to find Wu Jing beside me, and she will help you.”
Ren Yaoqi smiled at her: “I know.”
This smile stunned everyone, and Ren Yaohua didn’t say anything more.