After returning home, Maidong's family sent a letter back to Baihe Town, telling Mrs. Ren what happened today.
Although Ren Yaoqi's letter had been delivered, he hadn't received any more from Xiao Jinglin since Mai Dongjia arrived. Mai Dongjia diligently monitored the incoming letters from the outer courtyard, but to no avail. She also regularly reminded Ren Yaoqi to send a letter to the Yanbei Palace requesting an audience with the princess. Ren Yaoqi did so, but the princess refused to see him. Finally, Mai Dongjia had no other recourse but to report the truth to Old Madam Ren.
Old Madam Ren doesn't have much time to take care of the affairs of the third house now. Since the East and West Mansions of the Ren family were officially separated, the second old lady of the East Mansion decided to leave for Kyoto, and the second master Ren would go with her. However, the second wife Su decided to stay in Yanbei to look after the house for the time being, and let the second master Ren take several concubines and two sons with him. Ren Yaoting said that he wanted to stay to accompany his mother, and did not follow his grandmother and father this time.
The old lady of the East Mansion seemed to be planning to stay in Kyoto for a long time. She packed up all her valuables, no matter how bulky or not. However, the East Mansion and the West Mansion had originally belonged to the Ren family. Although some of the furnishings in the East Mansion were used by the East Mansion, they were actually the ancestral property of the Ren family and could not be moved away from the ancestral home.
However, Liao didn't care about this. In her mind, since the things were on the territory of the East Palace, they were divided among their family.
Old Madam Ren had been so irritated by Liao these past few days that she was practically vomiting blood. She wasn't exactly a stingy person; if it were just ordinary items, she'd have turned a blind eye and let Liao take advantage. However, the East Palace contained two screens, two pairs of vases, and some calligraphy and paintings—all antiques that had been collected at great expense by Grand Master Ren Baoming during his lifetime to decorate the palace. It had been agreed that the collection would only be passed down to the eldest son of the eldest branch, but this time, Liao was planning to ship all of these items to Kyoto.
Old Madam Ren summoned the Second Madam to her house to offer her some advice and appeal to her feelings. The Second Madam, Su, proved quite easy to talk to. After returning, she persuaded Liao not to take the items with her, arguing that carrying them along on the journey would be inconvenient. However, Liao refused to listen and scolded Su, calling her a traitor. Then, infuriated, Liao spread rumors among her relatives about Old Madam Ren's harshness, threatening to expel her entire family. Liao figured she would be living in Kyoto permanently anyway, so she wasn't afraid of falling out with Old Madam Ren, let alone a bad reputation.
The concubines that had been separated from the Ren family in the previous generation also began to come out to join in the fun.
In addition to his two legitimate sons, Ren Yongxiang and Ren Yonghe, Grand Master Ren Baoming also had illegitimate children. However, after Ren Baoming's death, they were driven out and lived separately after receiving a very small portion of his wealth. Over the years, they rarely interacted with the legitimate branches of the Ren family except during festivals and ancestor worship.
Now that the East and West Houses have separated, the Ren family's vast estate is bound to spark jealousy, and naturally, there are many who will speak ill of it.
Both the East and West Mansions of the Ren family have been quite lively recently, and Old Mrs. Ren is very busy.
In the end, Liao finally left. As for the ancestral property, Old Lady Ren endured the anger and paid some money to redeem it, hoping that Liao would never come back.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com