The Ren and Han families were now like a pair of lovers. Both parties had reached a tacit understanding regarding the marriage, and if nothing unexpected happened, they would soon exchange tokens to finalize the marriage.
The first person who lost his patience and jumped out was Ren Yaoting from the East Palace.
On the second day after the Han family came to visit, the old lady Liao from the East Mansion came over.
Liao arrived quite early. At that time, the younger generations of each branch of the West Mansion had just paid their respects to Old Master Ren and Old Madam Ren of Ronghua Courtyard and were about to leave when the doorman came to report that Liao had arrived with her seventh sister.
The Ren family hadn't split up; the East and West Mansions were effectively one. Although a long flowered wall separated the two, a doorway was cut into it. However, when Liao came to the West Mansion, she never passed through the wall. She insisted on going through the main gate and even sent the doorman to report.
When Liao and Qiu were young, they had a feud, engaging in countless back-and-forth exchanges of attack and saber-rattling. When the previous head of the Ren family, Baoming, was still alive, he placed the highest regard for seniority. Therefore, no matter how the two sisters-in-law argued, as long as the matter was brought to the attention of the elders, Liao would be blamed. This led to Liao's deep resentment towards her father-in-law.
Before Ren Baoming died, he left a will: the first and second wives should remain together. Liao had agreed to this on his deathbed, but after the seventh day of her father-in-law's death, she found an excuse to have a heated argument with Qiu. She then moved with her son to the West Garden, separated by a flower wall. Although she hadn't said she would separate the family, for years the two wives had lived separately, with the first wife allocating a monthly sum to the East House to support everyone there.
Liao also insisted that anyone from the East Palace entering the West Palace must go through the main gate and not through the flower wall between the two palaces. The second old master of the Ren family was often away from Yanbei, and his letters to her were fruitless.
At the West Mansion, Old Master Ren saw that she had no choice but to make such a fuss, so he let her go. After all, the house was large and already divided into East and West Mansions, so there was no need to redesign the courtyards. On the contrary, the separation of Liao and Qiu had made the Ren family much quieter.
When the younger generations of the Ren family saw Liao coming, they all bowed and greeted her. Qiu smiled politely, "How come you have time to come here today?"
Although Liao was from Yanbei, she was not tall. She was a bit fat and looked quite wealthy. After hearing what Qiu said, Liao forced a smile on her face and greeted Old Man Ren, calling him "Uncle".
"You haven't eaten yet? Eldest wife, bring two more sets of bowls and chopsticks." Qiu instructed her daughter-in-law. Seeing that Liao didn't refuse, she said to Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoyin, "You will each eat in your own courtyard."
Liao's eyes swept over Ren Yaohua and nodded, "I came here today to discuss something with my brother and his wife. It's better for them to leave first. Ting'er, you should leave first too."
Ren Yaoting had been quietly following behind Liao. When Ren Yaohua passed by her, she glanced over, the coldness in her eyes making her heart flutter. She mumbled a "yes" to Liao's words and followed the others out.
"Third sister, I have something to tell you." Ren Yaoting called out to Ren Yaohua.
Ren Yaohua had sensed Ren Yaoting's hostility before, and she vaguely understood why. However, she wasn't a good-tempered person herself, so Ren Yaoting's words irritated her greatly. She replied coldly, "I need to go back to dinner first. If you have anything else, I'll handle it when I'm free."
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