The Plot of a Concubine's Revenge

Chapter 2: The Undercurrent

In the wintry afternoon, the tranquility of the Ziwei Courtyard was shattered by a rush of footsteps, signaling the coming storm.

While snowflakes were flying outside the house, the atmosphere inside the house was tense due to a rush of footsteps. The curtain was violently lifted, and a clear maid dressed in a dark green satin jacket and stone green cotton skirt hurriedly entered, her appearance was like a cold wind in the winter, bringing ominous news.

“Sister Zhu, the Third Mistress's carriage has arrived at the residence, and the First Mistress is sending someone to greet it. Auntie has ordered you to quickly prepare Ziwei Courtyard, the floor dragons should be burning hot, and the bedding should be replaced immediately if it is damp.” Her words were hurried, like her gait, revealing uneasiness.

Sister Zhu, who was originally sitting peacefully on a small stool in front of the kang, jumped up in alarm at these words, and even the small stool made a muffled sound: “So soon? Didn't you say it would arrive in the evening? It's just past noon.”

“Aiya, what's the use of asking this now? People are almost here, you'd better hurry up.” After the maid finished speaking, she hurriedly left again.

Sister Zhu anxiously circled around the room a few times, and finally stomped her foot, hastily explaining to Ren Yaoqi, “The slave servant will go and make the arrangements first.” Then she lifted the curtain and left, and the room was suddenly plunged into silence.

Ren Yaoqi inclined her head to look out the window, her gaze as clear as water. The descent of snow made the world gray, and even though it was already late afternoon, it was as if it was dawn.

She sat quietly on her bed, waiting for the movement outside. When her mother returned, she would surely go to the old madam's courtyard to pay her respects before returning to the Ziwei Courtyard.

The two little maids who had been sent away by Sister Zhu earlier returned, and their conversation seemed especially clear in the quiet house.

“Sydney, did you see that? The guards of Yan Bei Wang Fu are all heroic, more imposing than our guards.”

“I missed it, have you seen the old Wangfei? She's a princess.”

“So what if she's a princess? If she can't give birth to a son, she will have to give up her position no matter how high her status is. Even a princess has to succumb to reality.”

“The emperor's daughter is always a bit different, right?”

“How is it different? Yan Bei Wang was not born of her, and if she cannot give birth to a son, she is like a rainless sky, an unreasonable pawn with nothing to do.”

“That makes sense, we'd better not say anything, lest Sister Zhu scold us.”

“Don't worry, Sister Zhu is busy, how would she have time to care about us? Besides, compared to the Third Mistress's Sister Zhou, Sister Zhu's reprimand is but a piece of cake.”

“With the Third Mistress back, isn't the Ziwei Courtyard still in Sister Zhou's hands? Then we ......”

“Hush - someone is coming.”

The outside suddenly quieted down, but noisy footsteps rang out in the garden. Ren Yaoqi sat up straight and looked out the window at the hurried silhouettes of people, seemingly all heading in the direction of the main house.

“Third Mistress and Third Miss went to the old madam, soon will be back to Ziwei courtyard, you guys move fast, what is missing immediately report back to the First Mistress.”

Ren Yaoshi waited for half a day, but no one came back, only the noises outside remained.

The medication she took before had a tranquilizing component, and she eventually couldn't support herself and fell into a deep sleep. With something on her mind, she woke up at the time of the palm light.

Feeling someone beside her bed, she immediately opened her eyes. The candlestick in the center of the room was already lit, and the dim light made her a little uncomfortable, she couldn't help but incline her head.

“Yao period, you're awake?” A gentle voice rang out, causing Ren Yaoyi to freeze.

Noticing her discomfort, the person got up and moved the candlestick to the low table in the west before walking back again.

“Feeling better now?”

Ren Yaoyi nodded and looked at the woman in front of her, “When did Auntie come?”

Despite the backlighting, she could still see the woman's outfit, light purple embroidered orchid grass satin fox fur jacket, white picket skirt, ebony hair in a fallen horse bun, embellished with gold hairpins, pearl earrings swaying gently, casting a shadow, graceful and delicate.

This is Auntie Fang, a Jiangnan woman, her demeanor is always so elegant and gentle, as if she is a lady coming out of an ancient painting. Everyone in Renfu praised her not only for her beauty, but also for having a Bodhisattva's heart.

There was once a maid in the Ziwei courtyard who imitated Aunt Fang's demeanor, and when Ren Yaohua bumped into her, she ordered Sister Zhou to use bamboo gimlets to beat her severely until she was bloodied and locked up in the woodshed. In the height of summer, three days later, maggots grew in their wounds.

In the year that her mother and Ren Yaohua went to the manor, the old madam handed over the Ziwei courtyard along with Ren Yaohua to Auntie Fang's care.

“Just came not long ago, see you sweating, are you hot?” Auntie Fang's palm was slightly cool, lightly placed on Ren Yaoyi's forehead.

Ren Yaoyi did not move, “Uh-huh.”

Auntie Fang sighed softly, “Why didn't you say you were hot? When you first got sick, you kept screaming about the cold, and you were still shivering after being covered with three layers of quilts, so I had someone move you to the bed. Now you're not afraid of the cold, so you should be almost cured. I'll have someone pack up the bed later, so it's better to sleep on the bed tonight, it's also more spacious.”

Ren Yaoyi nodded her head.

Auntie Fang looked at her for a while and said with deliberation, “Yaoqi, your mother and third sister have returned, in the future, I'm afraid that I won't be able to intervene in the affairs of this courtyard anymore, so you should be more obedient to your third sister in the future. She has a high temperament and pleases the elders, if you are still wringing your hands with her, it is you who will suffer. As for the lady there ...... actually can not blame the lady, you know you were born that moment ...... In short, the lady she is not not valued you, after all, you are also her daughter, just the third young lady is the eldest daughter, the lady will inevitably look up to her some more. ”

Aunt Fang softly persuaded, her voice slowly, northern dialect with a hint of southern accent, soft and pleasant to the ear.

Ren Yaoqi tried to imagine how she would have reacted if she had listened to these words according to her own temperament when she was young, but she did not move on her face.

Auntie Fang saw that she didn't say anything, reached out to straighten the quilt for her, and said: ''When your body gets better in a few days, you can go to see madam and third miss. I just probed your forehead is still hot, Mrs. and Third Miss's side is just settling down after a long journey, so you should rest first today. I'll order someone to change your bed.”

Mother and Third Sister have already returned to the courtyard? Ren Yaoqi nodded.

Auntie Fang then got up and went out, her low soft commanding voice coming from outside the curtain.

After a while, two maids came in carrying bedding and walked over to the frame bed in the north to start making the bed.

That frame bed hadn't been slept in for a while, and was originally a bit damp, but fortunately the house had burned the floor dragons, and the newly replaced bedding was also dry. However, compared to that hot bed, it is still quite cold.

The body is first hot and sweat, and then cold to collect sweat, in fact, is very easy to catch a cold, I do not know Auntie Fang know not know.

Ren Yao period let the small maid called Qingmei went to get a few small hand stove to, put into the quilt cover, and let them go to get a set of dry close clothing, first to the smoker baked hot.

Qingmei and another maid Sydney muttered in a low voice: “First is too hot, this moment and afraid of cold, the fifth young lady and the third young lady is really a real sister, are accustomed to tossing people.”

“Hush - in the future this must not be said, the east wing's back ......”

Ren Yaoqi didn't hear the maids' complaints, when the bed was covered with heat, she let the maids wait for her to change her close-fitting clothes, and helped to go to sleep on the bed.

Having been covered by the small stove for this long, the heat of the bed was not far from the temperature of the kang.

Not long after lying down, someone came in with a bowl of medicine.

“Fifth Miss, it's time to drink the medicine.” A young woman's voice called out in a small voice.

Ren Yaoqi opened her eyes and saw the clean-cut woman wearing a dark green satin jacket and a stone green cotton skirt who had come to Sister Zhu earlier; she was a big maid by Aunt Fang's side named kumquat.

“Didn't you say you wanted to change the formula?” Ren Yaoqi was helped to sit on the bed by Jin Kuang and glanced at the medicine bowl.

Jin Kuang had a smile on her face, “Eat this dose before changing it. Auntie originally invited a doctor to come, but was stopped halfway by Sister Zhou to see the Third Mistress and the Third Miss. The doctor went to the old lady's place to reply but was sent away by the steward. Auntie said that she would go back the next day to ask the doctor to come for you.”

“Mother she is sick?”

Jin Oranges sniffed and glanced at Ren Yaoqi, smiling, “Third Mistress and Third Miss rushed for a day, and it's freezing outside, so I think they're worried about the wind and cold. Fifth Miss, the medicine is getting cold, drink it quickly, right?”

The medicine bowl came up to her mouth, Ren Yaoqi's brows couldn't help but slightly knit, this wasn't the prescription she had eaten before.

The prescription that she had eaten before was not warm, but it was symptomatic, but this bowl of medicine was changed with several herbs.

After she left the Ren family, she had followed Mr. Pei and read a lot of books, not to mention history and military law, but also law and order.