Reborn of the Rightful - Chapter 250

Chapter 250 - A Brilliant Scheme!

At that moment, Ren Yaoqi spoke up, "Grandmother, I heard this matter has already spread to the point where all the maids and matrons in the estate are aware of it?"

The Elder Madame frowned. "It was all because of those two loose-tongued matrons who leaked it! I’ve already had each of them given a round of administrative boards and locked away; I'll deal with them properly after this storm passes. I've also issued strict instructions across the estate forbidding anyone from gossiping further. Anyone caught wagging their tongue again will be beaten to death and thrown out!"

Ren Yaohua let out a cold snort. "Those two matrons are certainly capable; they managed to spin a wisp of wind and a shadow into a full-blown scandal that the entire household knows about." Her words were a thinly veiled insinuation that someone was intentionally pulling strings behind the scenes.

The Elder Madame, however, replied, "I've already investigated the matter myself. They ran into that woman yesterday afternoon, and coincidentally, a senior matron in the Rongsheng Courtyard hosted a birthday banquet last night where wine was served and those two were invited. Both of them drank heavily, failed to hold their liquor, and blabbered about it right at the dinner table. With maids and matrons from various branches and courtyards present, the news spread like wildfire."

What a remarkable coincidence! Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua exchanged glances.

Ren Yaohua asked, "Grandmother, what should we do about Meihong?"

Hearing Ren Yaohua bring the name up again, the Elder Madame's wrath reignited. "What else can we do! Your grandfather has already dispatched men to track her down! Regardless of whether she was originally sold from our estate or not, she cannot be allowed to remain in Baihe Town. Otherwise, every time she resurfaces, these vicious rumors will follow suit. The Ren family simply cannot afford to lose face like this!"

As expected, once the Ren family caught wind of the situation, they would not sit idly by. Bundling the person away indiscriminately to silence her was the safest course of action.

Yet, if the Ren family could anticipate this much, would Fang Yiniang fail to foresee it? What other hidden cards did she have up her sleeve?

Ren Yaohua received a severe tongue-lashing from the Elder Madame, alongside an added punishment of copying volumes of scriptures.

Ren Yaoqi chose not to linger in the Rongsheng Courtyard. Upon returning to her own chambers, she immediately picked up a brush with her left hand, penned a swift letter, and summoned Apple to instruct her: "Find Yuan Dayong and have him deliver this letter to Zhu Ruomei as quickly as possible."

Apple carefully tucked the letter away into her sleeve, turned on her heel without a word, and hurried off.

This wasn't Apple's first interaction with the Yuan family, and she returned swiftly after dropping off the message.

"Young Miss, Yuan Dayong took the letter and has already departed. He said he will ensure it reaches its destination before noon today."

Ren Yaoqi glanced at the sky outside; there were less than two hours left before noon. She nodded and said, "Keep a close eye on the Yuan family's side of things. If they have any needs or run into any trouble, let me know."

The Yuan family had rendered her considerable assistance, and adhering to the principle of reciprocity, helping them out within her own capacity was only right. Leveraging her connection with Third Master Ren Shimin, Ren Yaoqi had already elevated Yuan Dayong from a minor accountant at the coal mine to the second manager of the Ren family's coal yard in Baihe Town.

Ren Yaoqi hadn't simply pulled the man out and considered her debt of gratitude paid; she had also instructed Ren Shimin's personal page to monitor Yuan Dayong's daily conduct and work ethic, only to discover that Yuan Dayong genuinely possessed considerable potential. Having previously served merely as a low-level accountant at the mine, his promotion to second manager at the Baihe Town coal yard had naturally sparked resentment among some of the old hands. Yet, within a mere few months, he had firmly established his footing and forged a strong working rapport with the yard's managers and clerks. His performance drew glowing praise from the head manager, who had even commended him directly to the Eldest Master Ren.

Ren Yaoqi couldn't help feeling secretly gratified.

She could provide opportunities, but the scope of assistance she could offer was fundamentally limited. Whether he truly rose to prominence depended entirely on his own capability. Fortunately, Yuan Dayong had not let her down.

Ren Yaoqi was about to dismiss Apple when the maid hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Young Miss, if the Yuan family has any requests, is there anything we can do to help them?"

Startled by the question, Ren Yaoqi smiled and nodded. "Tell me what's on your mind first. If it's within our power to help, I'll naturally lend a hand."

Apple replied, "When I ran into Sister-in-law Yuan a few times previously, she mentioned wanting to arrange a match for Yuan Dayong. Because Yuan Dayong used to be stationed permanently at the Xishan coal mine, finding a match was difficult, but now that he's stationed in town, Sister-in-law Yuan wants to find him a wife. Today, Sister-in-law Yuan even quietly asked me about the older and younger sisters serving in our courtyard. Young Miss, would you be willing to put in a good word with Madam on their behalf?"

While Apple executed her daily duties with meticulous precision, she was typically reserved and quiet, making this unusually long speech a rare occurrence.

Ren Yaoqi privately regarded Yuan Dayong as an exceptional young man; the Yuan family members were equally pleasant to deal with and possessed thoroughly kind dispositions. If possible, she truly hoped to retain Yuan Dayong as a trusted right-hand man in the future, meaning asking her mother to assign a capable maid to him posed no real difficulty.

Even so, why had Sister-in-law Yuan chosen to probe Apple specifically?

Pondering this, Ren Yaoqi asked Apple, "Did Sister-in-law Yuan happen to ask you about your age, or who else is in your family?"

Apple froze in place. Then, as realization seemed to dawn on her, her face flushed brilliant crimson, and she stammered incoherently, "N-no, well, it seemed... perhaps she did..."

Seeing her flustered state, Ren Yaoqi found it rather amusing and deliberately teased her, "So did she ask, or did she not?"

Apple dropped her gaze. "I suppose she did..."

There was no mistaking it now—Sister-in-law Yuan had clearly set her sights on this silly girl Apple.

Yet Apple had assumed Sister-in-law Yuan was simply inquiring about the general pool of maids in the Crape Myrtle Courtyard, prompting her to return and ask her young mistress to request a maid assignment for Yuan Dayong from Madam.

Apple was so thoroughly mortified she couldn't even lift her head, feeling utterly foolish. Looking back now, she recalled the expressions and tone Sister-in-law Yuan had used during that conversation, as well as the helpless yet disappointed look on her face when introducing the other maids of the courtyard. Everything finally clicked into place.

Having always believed herself to be thoroughly average in appearance and dull of wit, she assumed no one outside of her young mistress could possibly harbor any romantic interest in her. Consequently, the thought that she herself was the intended target had never once crossed her mind.

Watching Apple's rare display of bashful embarrassment, and sensing that the girl harbored no aversion or rejection toward the idea, Ren Yaoqi smiled and said, "The next time you run into Sister-in-law Yuan, tell her that I still intend to keep the maids by my side for a few more years. If their family is willing to wait, they can wait; if they cannot wait, I'll ask Mother to select a slightly older maid for Yuan Dayong." There happened to be two maids in her mother's chambers who were approaching the age where they would ordinarily be released from service; both possessed pleasant appearances and honest, reliable characters.

Apple bit her lip and responded in a flushed whisper. Fearing she might genuinely overwhelm the girl with embarrassment, Ren Yaoqi smiled and waved her away.

By afternoon, word arrived from Sister-in-law Yuan stating that Yuan Dayong had successfully delivered the letter into Zhu Ruomei's hands. Upon reading it, Zhu Ruomei had instructed him to relay a message: "I shall not fail this mission!"

Apple delivered the report herself. Whether due to her natural disposition or sheer self-consciousness, the young maid had resumed her usual stoic, serious expression, though a faint, telltale flush lingered on her cheeks whenever Yuan Dayong was mentioned. Ren Yaoqi knew then that Apple had successfully passed along her words; Apple was never one to drag her feet once her mind was made up.

True to form, just before stepping back out of the room, Apple lowered her head and murmured, "Young Miss, Sister-in-law Yuan said their family is willing to wait."

The color that had barely faded from Apple's face surged back in full force as she remembered the radiant, joyful smile Sister-in-law Yuan had worn while clutching her hands and delivering those very words.

That evening, Ren Yaohua returned after completing her punishment, and Ren Yaoqi went over to converse with her.

As Xiangqin gently massaged Ren Yaohua's aching wrists, Ren Yaohua remarked to Ren Yaoqi, "Grandfather returned this afternoon, and I overheard him telling Grandmother that the woman really is Meihong from years ago. They questioned her about several past details, and everything matched up."

Ren Yaoqi furrowed her brow. She wasn't particularly surprised, but it highlighted Fang Yiniang's formidable resourcefulness—to track down such an obscure pawn, or had she laid this trap far in advance? Yet Meihong had never surfaced in her past life; perhaps in that timeline, this particular piece had simply never been played.

If that was indeed the case, Fang Yiniang's depth of calculation was chillingly profound.

"How did she manage to return to Yanbei, and how did she end up reduced to such a degraded life?" Ren Yaoqi inquired.

Ren Yaohua waved a hand to signal Xiangqin that the massage was sufficient, then explained, "She didn't claim the Ren family sold her to that kind of place. Instead, she claimed she was originally sold to a private household as a maid, driven out later after offending that household's mistress, and subsequently resold twice before eventually making her way back to Yanbei. However, her account was entirely disjointed and her timeline muddled; Grandfather said her words are only two or three parts credible at best."

Ren Yaoqi pondered this. "Did Grandfather order her to be bought out and escorted away?" Regardless of whether Meihong was acting on someone's orders or had been inadvertently resold back, how she explained herself to the Ren family was secondary. A mouth belonged to the speaker, and tales could be altered at a whim.

Ren Yaohua nodded. "She was sent away this afternoon."

Just then, Wucheng hurried into the room, her complexion drained of color as she blurted out, "Third Young Miss, Fifth Young Miss, we're in trouble. A matron in our courtyard just heard that the rumors have somehow already leaked outside the estate, and maids from other noble houses are sneaking over to our gates to fish for gossip. Some people are even running their mouths, claiming Meihong used to be a personal maid serving directly by the Third Young Miss's side!"

Those were merely the rumors circulating openly; the malicious distortions whispering in the dark were likely even worse.

Ren Yaohua's expression turned ashen. "Do we know who leaked it outside?"

Ren Yaoqi maintained her composure. "Grandmother already issued a strict gag order prohibiting anyone from spreading it internally. For the news to disseminate this rapidly on the outside, someone must have meticulously laid the groundwork beforehand."

Ren Yaohua sighed in partial relief. "Fortunately, Meihong has already been sent away. Otherwise, had someone bribed her to spout further nonsense, the situation would be entirely unexplainable."

Ren Yaoqi, however, shook her head. "I don't regard that as fortunate."

Ren Yaohua frowned.

Ren Yaoqi fixed her gaze on Ren Yaohua. "Did Grandfather merely instruct for her to be escorted away? Now that the situation has escalated beyond containment, how do you suppose the Ren family will handle her?"

Ren Yaohua recalled the fragments of conversation she had overheard, the grim tone her grandfather had used, and the customary methods of the Ren household, causing the blood to drain entirely from her face. "You mean... Meihong isn't going to be allowed to live?"

The Ren family held Meihong's deed of sale, classifying her among the servile class. Ending a low-ranking maid's life was as trivial as snapping a twig for a household like theirs. They only needed to grease the palms of the local officials with a small sum of silver to register her death, and the authorities would never probe deeper into a master executing a rebellious bondservant.

Ren Yaoqi smiled faintly, a bitter edge to her voice. "What a brilliant scheme! She anticipated that the Ren family would step in to remove the witness, and once the Ren family took custody of her, she escalated the commotion further. At that point, to quell the rumors and save face, even if the Ren family didn't execute Meihong, they could never allow her to remain alive or visible in Baihe Town."

"And then?" Ren Yaohua asked, her voice tight.