Li Shi also noticed Ren Shimin’s attire and quickly asked: “Master, would you like to bathe first?”

Ren Shimin looked down at his clothes and frowned: “Having worn this for so many days, I’ve gotten used to it. Only when you reminded me did I realize I must smell terrible. Go prepare some hot water.”

Li Shi hurried off to instruct servants to heat water and fetch clothes for Ren Shimin.

Ren Yaoqi moved closer and said, “Father, was your journey not peaceful?”

Ren Shimin reached out and pushed Ren Yaoqi’s head away: “Don’t come close. Father smells awful.”

Ren Yaoqi said with a grin: “A dog doesn’t dislike its mother for being ugly, and I don’t dislike my father for smelling bad.”

Hearing this, Ren Shimin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he didn’t chase her away anymore: “Originally planned to set out after attending the Mid-Autumn feast at the palace, but got held up by an incident, then there were various banquets, large and small.”

“Oh? What major incident happened?” Or had Xiao Jingxi’s condition worsened? Had the return journey become problematic? Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but worry.

Ren Shimin took the tea a maid brought over. Without his usual fastidious requirements, he lifted the bowl cover and drank directly. Fortunately, with the cold weather, the tea was just the right temperature when brought over.

After drinking two sips of hot tea, Ren Shimin said, “This matter is both big and small. Second Young Master Xiao made an appearance at the literary competition, and somehow, Minister Yan’s wife saw him. Madam Yan then told the Empress Dowager that she wanted to marry the Yan family’s daughter to the Second Young Master.”

Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi was startled: “Miss Yan?”

Ren Yaoqi remembered that in her previous life, Miss Yan had also taken a fancy to Xiao Jingxi and eventually chased after him to Yanbei.

“Wasn’t it said that Second Young Master Xiao was ill?” Ren Yaoqi asked, thinking it couldn’t be too serious, then.

Ren Shimin nodded: “The Second Young Master only appeared briefly at the literary competition, then stayed in the separate pavilion recuperating the whole time. He only came out for a while at the end for the Mid-Autumn feast, which couldn’t be missed.” Speaking of this, Ren Shimin sighed, “I don’t know how Second Young Master Xiao is doing now.”

Ren Yaoqi frowned: “He didn’t return with you this time?”

Ren Shimin sighed: “Originally, we were leaving together, but before that, the Emperor and Empress Dowager kept refusing to let people go. Finally, we managed to get away with great difficulty, but the journey wasn’t very peaceful. We encountered two groups of assassins, one after another. Finally, the Second Young Master Xiao suggested he travel separately from us. After that, Second Young Master Xiao’s carriage disappeared, but after he left, our journey became peaceful. It seems those assassins were indeed targeting Second Young Master Xiao.”

After hearing this, Ren Yaoqi’s heart, which had just settled, became anxious again.

So Xiao Jingxi still hadn’t returned?

And he had encountered assassins again? Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but think of the assassination attempt when she had ridden in his carriage last time, as well as the poison in his body. She wondered how many times a year he had to face such incidents.

Ren Yaoqi wanted to ask Ren Shimin for more details, but just then Li Shi came over, saying the bath water was ready and asking Ren Shimin to go bathe. Seeing Ren Shimin’s exhausted appearance, Ren Yaoqi ultimately restrained herself, thinking to wait until Ren Shimin had rested well before asking.

A few days after Third Master Ren’s return, there was still no news of Xiao Jingxi. But for some reason, regarding Second Young Master Xiao not returning to Yanbei, Yanbei Prince’s mansion made no public announcement, and even people like Ren Shimin were instructed not to speak much about it. However, Ren Yaoqi heard from Ren Yijun that recently, the traffic on the official road to the capital was more than double the usual amount.

The situation on the surface still appeared calm, but underneath it was already tightly wound and ready to explode at any moment.

When Ren Shimin was still in the capital, First Master Ren had sent people to gather intelligence there. Now that Ren Shimin had returned, the intelligence gatherers brought back a letter from Second Old Master who was far away in the capital.

Early this morning, Old Master Ren summoned all the adult men of the Ren family. Ren Shimin also went. After resting well for several days since his return, he had finally gradually recovered.

Learning of this, Ren Yaoqi instructed her servants to report to her as soon as Third Master Ren returned. Ren Yaoqi guessed that the Second Old Master’s letter should be about the Ren family’s coal yards in the south, and this matter very likely involved Fang Yacun.

Ever since Ren Yaoqi learned about the connection between Fang Yacun and Eunuch Lu, she had been paying close attention to news from the capital.

At noon, when Ren Shimin returned, Ren Yaoqi went to his study to find him.

Ren Shimin was puzzled why his daughter would be concerned about such boring, trivial matters, but he still good-naturedly told Ren Yaoqi: “Father said that thanks to the Fang family’s help, the Ren family’s coal mines in Jiangnan have shown some improvement. It’s said that next year the Ren family might open four more coal yards around the capital. The related documents are already being prepared.”

Ren Yaoqi probed: “I remember that coal yards in the capital require very complicated paperwork, and the money needed to smooth relationships is considerable?”

Ren Shimin thought for a moment: “Father seemed to say some noble person was helping.”

Ren Yaoqi pressed her lips together and asked with a somewhat stiff tone: “What noble person?”

“This… Father didn’t seem to say.” Ren Shimin was embarrassed to admit he hadn’t been paying attention.

Ren Yaoqi lowered her head and said quietly: “Where in this world are there so many cheap deals? When others give you something, they always hope to get more in return from you. I just don’t know if the Ren family will be able to afford what that ‘noble person’ wants when the time comes.”

“What return? The Ren family doesn’t lack money.” Ren Shimin said unconcernedly.

Ren Yaoqi sighed. She remembered Ren Shimin saying that after the New Year and spring arrived, he might go teach at Yunyang Academy, so she asked: “Father, if you teach at Yunyang Academy, how much salary will the academy give you each year?”

Hearing this, Ren Shimin looked at Ren Yaoqi somewhat strangely and frowned: “Money is just external possessions. Yaoqi, you shouldn’t care too much about these things. If you lack anything, Father will have someone buy it for you. As for the academy, I was just thinking of discussing with Headmaster Xu about not taking a monthly salary.”

Third Master Ren didn’t value that little bit of money at all. He went to the academy only because there were many people there who shared his interests, and he could research things he was interested in together with them. This trip to the capital had already brought him considerable benefits.

Ren Yaoqi knew it would be like this.

She secretly sighed and said, “Father, it’s not that I care about those external possessions, but do you remember the incident when Fifth Uncle’s family was punished by having their monthly allowance stopped for a year?”

Third Master Ren suddenly understood: “Oh, that matter? I remember. Fifth Brother even came to borrow money from me, but later, somehow, Father found out and had someone take the money away. He said if I dared to secretly give Fifth Brother money again, he would punish me along with him.”

Ren Yaoqi nodded: “You’ve also seen how Fifth Uncle’s family has been living this year?”

When Old Master Ren said no money would be given, he truly meant it. Originally, Fifth Madam Ren had quite a bit of dowry, so supporting Fifth Branch’s expenses wasn’t a problem. But Fifth Madam’s dowry mostly consisted of valuable jewelry. After she pawned it a few times, Fifth Master Ren wouldn’t let her do it anymore, nor would he let her borrow money from her natal family.

When the Fifth Madam married in, the Lin family had given her top-quality dowry items that many people had seen. Some things would be recognized immediately when taken out. Fifth Master was also face-conscious; having his wife use her dowry to support him made him feel he had no place to put his face.

But if Fifth Madam didn’t contribute money to supplement their expenses, and Fifth Master really couldn’t come up with money, Fifth Branch immediately became financially strained. The Fifth Madam had never suffered such grievances. Within half a year, she couldn’t hold on and started secretly pawning jewelry again.

Fifth Master, who had never raised his voice to his wife in over ten years of marriage, flew into a rage and quarreled with Fifth Madam several times. The two didn’t speak to each other for over half a year, only recently beginning to reconcile gradually.

“Father, what if one day you’re also punished by Grandfather with a stopped monthly allowance?”

Fifth Master said awkwardly: “This… it wouldn’t happen, would it?”

Ren Yaoqi shook her head: “Better safe than sorry. So you should still accept the salary Yunyang Academy offers. At worst, just keep it without spending it. After a few years, you can take all this money and donate it to the academy to build a painting pavilion or library. How wonderful would that be? This money would all be earned by you, quite different from a pavilion built with Ren family money.”

Ren Shimin was persuaded and nodded after thinking: “Then let’s do it that way.”

The next day, Ren Shimin was invited to Yunyang Academy. Those who had returned from the capital with Ren Shimin would all be giving lectures at Yunyang Academy during this period. Ren Yaoqi also wanted to go, using the excuse of delivering a letter to the Princess. Old Madam Ren thought it would be good for Ren Yaoqi to visit the Prince’s mansion more often to build good relations with the Princess Consort, so she approved.

However, what Ren Yaoqi hadn’t expected was that upon arriving in Yunyang City, the first news she heard was of the sudden death of Ningxia Commander Wu Xiaohe.

Although Ren Yaoqi vaguely remembered that in her previous life, Wu Xiaohe had died around this time, when she heard the news, her expression couldn’t help but change.

The entire Yunyang City was now buzzing with excitement over this news.

Everyone knew that Ningxia Commander Wu Xiaohe was Yanbei Prince’s brother-in-law. Wu Xiaohe controlled all military power in Ningxia and played a crucial role in maintaining border stability in the northwestern region.

The position of Ningxia Commander was somewhat special—it was hereditary, passed from father to son, then from son to grandson. The fatal problem was that Wu Xiaohe had no sons; he only had one daughter.

The power vacuum in the northwestern military authority created by Wu Xiaohe’s sudden death, though temporary, would certainly make various factions restless with ambition.

But at this time, there was still no news of Xiao Jingxi, and it was unknown whether he had returned safely.

After hesitating for a moment, Ren Yaoqi finally found an envelope, put a few pieces of angelica root inside without leaving any words or signature, and had it delivered to Yanbei Prince’s mansion along with her letter to Xiao Jinglin.