Su came from a prominent family and had a reputation for being virtuous. Therefore, although she had no son, her situation was much better than that of the third wife, Li, who also had no children.
"Isn't second brother's fiancée still in mourning?" Ren Yaoqi asked casually.
She remembered that Ren Yilin's marriage had been arranged two years ago. His wife was the second daughter of a scholar named Liu from Jizhou. Logically, it was a good match.
The wedding was originally scheduled for April this year, but Ren Yilin's fiancée's grandfather passed away just after the first month of the year, and he had to observe a year of mourning. Mr. Liu had just used money to fill the vacancy of a Tongpan in Mozhou, and because his father passed away less than two months after taking office, he returned home to mourn.
To make matters worse, news came from Jizhou a while ago that Mr. Liu's father went out to drink and party with friends before the end of his mourning period. In the end, in order to avoid acquaintances, he panicked and somehow fell into the river and drowned.
Sister Liu’s one-year mourning period has not yet ended, and the three-year mourning period is about to begin again.
Ren Yilin is already seventeen years old this year, and Sister Liu is also sixteen years old this year.
"I heard there's been a falling out in the East Mansion. Concubine Yuan has come to the Second Master and the Second Mistress to complain. That Liu Jie has a terrible fate. Before she even married into the Ren family, her grandfather and father died. She's a jinx. She's clamoring to break off the engagement and find another bride for the Second Master."
The one who answered was Wujing, the maidservant beside Ren Yaohua. She knew more about these things than her two masters and couldn't help but interrupt.
After finishing, he looked at Ren Yaohua nervously, fearing that she would blame him for talking too much and being rude.
Although Ren Yaohua frowned, she didn't say anything and just lowered her head to drink tea.
Ren Yaoqi smiled at Wujing.
Wu Jing breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Ren Yaohua wasn't going to stop her from continuing. Fifth Sister seemed eager to listen, so she continued with some joy, "Second Madam has always treated Second and Fourth Young Masters like her own children, so naturally she's anxious now. Although our Ren family is divided into East and West Mansions, all major matters are still decided by the Old Master and Old Madam of the West Mansion. So the Second Madam of the East Mansion sent Second Madam to discuss matters with the Old Madam."
Ren Yaoqi just smiled and lowered his head when he heard this.
In fact, the East Mansion's Madam Liao and the West Mansion's Madam Qiu had not gotten along since their youth. In other matters, Liao would have preferred to make her own decisions and keep things separate from the West Mansion. However, in matters like this, where she would have to go against her trust, she naturally hoped the West Mansion would help her make the decision, so she asked the Second Madam to come to Qiu.
At this point, the entire Ren family probably wanted to break off the engagement with the Liu family. The Ren family had originally been drawn to the Liu family because of Liu Jie's father's status as a juren. The Ren family had contributed significantly to Liu Juren's securing the position of Tongpan (Tongpan).
The Ren family started out as a business family, and no matter how much they invested, they would get a return.
Now that Mr. Liu, this "promising talent", is dead, and the Liu family has nothing else to use, this marriage has lost its value.
Ren Yaoqi remembered that in her previous life, the Liu family's marriage proposal was eventually called off, but Sister Liu was also a woman with a strong personality. Not long after the engagement was broken off, she hanged herself.
Thinking of this, Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but look at Ren Yaohua.
The Ren family treated other people's women as possessions and abandoned them at will. In the end, did retribution come upon these innocent women of the Ren family?
"What's wrong?" Ren Yaohua couldn't help but frown when she saw Ren Yaoqi staring at her in a daze.
Ren Yaoqi came back to his senses: "Oh, I was thinking that Sister Liu is really pitiful."
Ren Yaohua was silent for a moment after hearing this, then said calmly, "Sister Liu isn't the only pitiful woman in this world. It all depends on fate. If fate isn't good, what can you do?"
There was a hint of melancholy in Ren Yaohua's voice. It was unclear whether she was thinking of her mother Li's hard struggle in the Ren family's inner courtyard over the years or her own unknown future fate.
Ren Yaoqi looked at Ren Yaohua with a complicated expression.
She originally believed in fate, but in this life, she didn't want to believe it anymore.
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