Looking at the kind and amiable expressions on Old Master Ren and Old Madam Ren’s faces, Ren Yaoqi lowered her eyes slightly.

This was only the second time in both her lifetimes combined that her grandparents had looked at her with such attention. In her previous life, when the Ren family was planning to send her to Commander Lu, they had also had a long conversation with her.

What they said then was nothing more than telling her to prioritize the family’s interests, serve that powerful eunuch well, and find ways to benefit the Ren family.

Her first reaction at the time had been disgust and nausea. She couldn’t understand how people could be so shameless.

Living a second life, when Ren Yaoqi faced such hypocrisy again, she no longer felt that cynical anger. Her heart was extremely calm.

Scheming for advancement by any means necessary had always been the Ren family’s consistent style. When they had arranged for her father to marry her mother, it was only because they wanted to “corner the market on a rare commodity.”

Before Noble Consort Wan, the mother of Prince Xian, committed suicide, her influence was not to be underestimated. When Prince Xian first came to Yanbei, the current emperor and the Yan family’s hold on the throne was not yet secure, so Prince Xian might not have been without a chance for a comeback.

What the Ren family hadn’t anticipated was Noble Consort Wan’s decisiveness and determination. They hadn’t expected that her efforts to send Prince Xian to Yanbei were truly only to let him live peacefully, rather than a strategic retreat to plan for the future.

As time went on, with the Yan family’s support, the current emperor’s throne became increasingly secure. Prince Xian’s situation became increasingly precarious, and Li Shi, who had married into the Ren family, became an increasingly troublesome chess piece.

Sometimes Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but feel grateful that Prince Xian’s family in Yanbei was beyond the reach of Empress Dowager Yan’s faction in the capital. Otherwise, if there were any unfavorable developments around Prince Xian, Li Shi would become a sacrificial victim of the Ren family.

The reason Li Shi had survived after becoming an abandoned piece was probably due to the Ren family’s instinctive fear of the surname “Li.”

If the court moved against Prince Xian, killing Li Shi would naturally be a way to curry favor with the court. But since the court hadn’t yet raised a blade against Prince Xian, making such a move might invite trouble. So, although Li Shi had lived a stifled life in the Ren family all these years, she hadn’t lost her life.

Ren Yaoqi lowered her eyes slightly, her voice still respectful and obedient: “The Princess said Second Young Master Xiao came on business and will return to Yunyang City tomorrow. She will go back with him. The Princess still has other places to visit today and has no free time. As for Second Young Master Xiao… granddaughter doesn’t know how to invite him.”

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Ren instinctively frowned, her tone carrying some reproach: “Why didn’t you keep the Princess here today? If we could have her stay in our mansion for one night, everything would be much easier to arrange. The Princess rarely shows you such favor – don’t you know how to seize the opportunity?”

Faced with such inexplicable blame, Ren Yaoqi only lowered her head further, somewhat uneasily: “The Princess said she didn’t want to enter the mansion. Granddaughter couldn’t very well drag her in by force.”

Old Madam Ren wanted to say more, but Old Master Ren smiled and came to Ren Yaoqi’s defense: “Enough. Just because we didn’t manage to invite the Princess and Young Master Xiao this time doesn’t mean there won’t be opportunities in the future. I can see that Fifth Girl is clever – otherwise, she wouldn’t have caught the Princess’s eye. Don’t be too harsh on her.”

Old Madam Ren couldn’t say anything more after that.

Old Master Ren said kindly, “Fifth Girl, you must remember – next time, if there’s an opportunity to invite anyone from the Prince of Yanbei’s family in, you must find a way to do so. You must understand that if our Ren family can establish relations with the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion, it would be an incredible opportunity for us. Only when the Ren family prospers can you descendants who depend on the Ren family for survival prosper as well.”

Ren Yaoqi quietly replied, “Yes.”

Old Master Ren was very satisfied with Ren Yaoqi’s compliance and thus instructed Old Madam Ren: “I can see Fifth Girl is excellent, just a bit timid. You should spend more effort on her in the future and cultivate her well. I believe this child will have a bright future!”

Old Madam Ren glanced at Old Master Ren, wondering if he was blaming her for neglecting this granddaughter too much in the past, causing her to develop such a weak character.

“Yes, I understand,” Old Madam Ren was still quite respectful in front of Old Master Ren.

“You’re tired too. Go back and rest,” Old Master Ren kindly instructed Ren Yaoqi.

Ren Yaoqi took the opportunity to stand up and bow properly. Just as she was about to withdraw, Old Master Ren added: “Even after the Princess returns, remember to write to her regularly to maintain contact. Don’t let the Princess forget about you.”

“Yes, Grandfather.” Ren Yaoqi maintained her obedient and well-behaved appearance throughout.

Seeing that Old Master Ren and Old Madam Ren had no other instructions, Ren Yaoqi quietly withdrew.

As soon as she lifted the curtain and came out, Ren Yaoqi instinctively took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then slowly exhaled.

There was no greenery in Ronghua Garden’s courtyard, not a trace of spring or summer vitality, making anyone standing in the yard feel suffocated. Although she very much disliked this place, her steps remained slow and steady.

After Ren Yaoqi left, Old Madam Ren asked Old Master Ren, “Do you think the Princess came to our Ren family just to see Fifth Girl this time?”

After Ren Yaoqi had left that day, Old Madam Ren had specifically called Li Shi and the servants who had attended at White Dragon Temple to question them. They all said the Princess had shown great affinity for Ren Yaoqi upon first sight and had taken her for tea.

However, no matter how compatible they were, it was unlikely they would become close friends after just one meeting and one tea session.

Old Madam Ren still harbored some doubts about the Princess coming to find Ren Yaoqi.

Old Master Ren had originally been deep in thought. Hearing Old Madam Ren’s words, he said: “Though it seems somewhat strange, we can’t see anything improper about it for now. Regardless, having people from the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion show favor to our Ren family is a good thing. Many people already know about the Princess visiting our mansion today, and quite a few have come to inquire.”

Having the Princess of the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion come to White Crane Town and visit their Ren mansion first was something that brought great honor to the Ren family.

“Don’t underestimate Fifth Girl as you did before. Being able to gain favor from a noble person shows she has good fortune. Who knows what opportunities might come her way in the future,” Old Master Ren reminded Old Madam Ren once more.

However, Old Madam Ren was somewhat dismissive: “What opportunities? Even if Fifth Girl can win the Princess’s favor, we can’t very well marry her into the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion, can we?”

Old Madam Ren had said this casually, but Old Master Ren stroked his beard and remained thoughtfully silent.

Having been married to him for many years, Old Madam Ren knew from his expression that he must have some plan in mind. She couldn’t help but probe: “Old Master, are you seriously considering this? But how easy is it to arrange a marriage with the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion?”

Old Master Ren stroked his beard thoughtfully: “Originally it would indeed be difficult, but it’s not entirely without opportunity.”

“Oh?” Old Madam Ren became more interested and straightened up to listen.

Old Master Ren said, “You should know about Second Young Master Xiao, right?”

Old Madam Ren nodded: “Second Young Master Xiao Jingxi of the Xiao family, of course, I know of him.”

“This Second Young Master Xiao has been in poor health since childhood. A few years ago, he nearly died. Although he recently took a long journey and reportedly improved considerably after returning, can an illness carried from the womb truly be cured? Medicine can control it for a while, but not forever. There will come a day when his body gives out,” Old Master Ren said with certainty.

Old Madam Ren pondered Old Master Ren’s words, and with the understanding of a long-married couple, she suddenly had an epiphany and looked at Old Master Ren in surprise: “You mean…”

Old Master Ren said calmly, “Our Yanbei has always had the custom of ‘celebratory marriages.’ Whenever a man who is terminally ill but unmarried is on his deathbed, the family will select a woman from a lower-status family to marry in for good luck. Although the ceremonies are simplified, as long as her status isn’t too low, she usually receives the proper status of a legitimate wife.”

Old Madam Ren had only guessed part of it, but now that Old Master Ren had explained so clearly, how could she not understand?

“You mean when the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion arranges a celebratory marriage for Second Young Master Xiao, our Ren family…”

Old Master Ren stroked his beard without speaking.

Old Madam Ren frowned in thought: “If that’s the case, who do you think would be suitable? We don’t know how long this Second Young Master Xiao can last, but our Ren family girls need to be married off.”

Old Master said steadily, “Third Girl and Fourth Girl’s marriages can be arranged first. The Han family match still needs observation, but the Qiu family match can be settled.”

Old Madam Ren hesitated: “I originally thought Hua’er could be engaged to the Han family and Yin’er to Yun’er. But now that the Han family match has fallen through, we can’t very well arrange Yin’er’s marriage before her older sister Hua’er’s, can we? Should we marry Hua’er to the Qiu family instead?”

However, Old Master Ren glanced at Old Madam Ren: “I know you’ve always gotten along well with Hua’er and favor her more than the other granddaughters. But in matters of marriage, we can’t rely on personal preferences – the most important thing is to see who is more suitable.”

Old Madam Ren felt somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this and defended herself: “I was also considering their birth order.”

Old Master Ren paid no heed to Old Madam Ren’s excuse and said directly, “I think Yin’er is more suitable. Although Qiu Yun ranks third in his generation, he is the legitimate eldest son of the Qiu family’s main branch. The position of Qiu family head will fall to him in the future. His wife must have a steady temperament and be capable of great responsibility. It’s not that Hua’er isn’t good, but she lacks Yin’er’s composure. Moreover, Yin’er is a daughter of the main branch, and our Ren family’s future will also be led by the main branch. Marrying Yin’er to the Qiu family will make relations between our families even closer.”

Hearing Old Master Ren’s words, Old Madam Ren knew he had made his decision, so she couldn’t say anything more. Ren Yaoyin had also been raised by her side, and even if she favored Ren Yaohua more, she wouldn’t be too biased.

“What about the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion…” Since Old Master Ren had already decided, Old Madam Ren stopped dwelling on this matter.

Old Master Ren said, “Doesn’t Fifth Girl get along well with the Princess? Perhaps there will be opportunities for her to appear before people from the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion in the future.”

Currently, the unmarried girls in the western mansion are Ren Yaohua, Ren Yaoyin, Ren Yaoqi, Ren Yaoyu, and Ren Yaoying.

Old Master Ren had already decided to engage Ren Yaoyin to the Qiu family. As for Ren Yaohua, apart from Old Madam Ren being reluctant to part with her, she was several years older and might not be able to wait. Ren Yaoying was of concubine birth and too low in status for the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion to consider. Ren Yaoyu was the granddaughter of the Lin family head, and Old Madam Lin and the First Madam were protective – the Ren family did not need to openly offend the Lin family over this matter. That left only Ren Yaoqi as the most suitable choice.

Old Madam Ren thought it through and understood. She had never paid attention to her granddaughter Ren Yaoqi, so she didn’t find anything improper about Old Master Ren’s plan to send her to the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion for a celebratory marriage. Marriage arrangements naturally had to follow the elders’ decisions.

“However, even for a celebratory marriage, the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion is still the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion. There are plenty of people eager to send their daughters there. If she’s not presentable enough, the Prince of Yanbei’s mansion won’t accept her either. So you must pay attention to the Fifth Girl. No matter how much you dislike her, once she marries out, she’ll be a young mistress of our Ren family.”

This was the third time today that Old Master Ren had reminded Old Madam Ren not to underestimate Ren Yaoqi. Old Madam Ren realized he was truly serious about this matter and said, “Don’t worry. How could I be so thoughtless? I’ll pay proper attention to Fifth Girl’s upbringing from now on.”

Only then was Old Master Ren satisfied.

By the next day, Ren Yaoqi noticed the change in Old Madam Ren’s attitude toward her.

Originally, only Ren Yaoyin and Ren Yaohua had the privilege of being invited to stay for breakfast with Old Madam each day. Starting this morning, Old Madam Ren also kept Ren Yaoqi.

After the meal, Old Madam Ren kept all three granddaughters by her side to chat, treating Ren Yaoqi with unprecedented kindness.

Such an obvious change was noticed not only by Ren Yaoqi but by everyone in the Ren family. The household couldn’t help but speculate about the reason for Old Madam Ren’s complete turnaround.

Although Ren Yaoqi guessed it was related to Xiao Jinglin’s visit, she hadn’t yet figured out Old Master Ren’s plan to marry her to Xiao Jingxi as a celebratory bride.

She stayed with Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoyin until nearly lunchtime before returning to Ziwei Courtyard.

Although Ren Yaohua was also somewhat puzzled by Ren Yaoqi’s sudden favor, she didn’t say anything. Li Shi, however, was overjoyed to see both daughters gaining the approval of the family elders. She specifically called both sisters over for instructions, telling Ren Yaoqi to listen to her grandmother and not be disobedient, and instructing Ren Yaohua to look after her sister and guide her not to displease Old Madam.

In Li Shi’s presence, Ren Yaoqi complied obediently, and Ren Yaohua also nodded in agreement. Li Shi looked at her two daughters with great comfort.

In the afternoon, Ren Yaoqi went to visit Ren Shijia and happened to encounter Sister-in-law Wen coming to bid farewell.

It turned out that Sister-in-law Wen would leave for Yunyang City early the next morning. Tomorrow, someone from the Lin family would travel to Jiangning, and Sister-in-law Wen would accompany them – an arrangement Lin Kun had made for her.

In front of Ren Shijia, Sister-in-law Wen put on quite a performance. She first expressed her reluctance to leave this old customer, then thanked profusely after Ren Shijia gave her some rewards.

Ren Yaoqi observed secretly from the side and felt that Sister-in-law Wen’s eyes held some unwillingness.

She didn’t want to return to Jiangning. Ren Yaoqi confirmed this thought once again.

Ren Yaoqi was still curious about the connection between Lin Kun and Concubine Fang. She wanted to know what these two people were plotting.

But if Sister-in-law Wen returned to Jiangning like this, this lead would probably be lost.

After leaving Ren Shijia’s courtyard, Ren Yaoqi thought about it all the way and decided to ask Zhu Ruomei, who was still in White Crane Town, for a favor.

So as soon as she returned to Ziwei Courtyard, she called Pingguo over and gave her detailed instructions, having her go outside the second gate to find someone from the Yuan family to arrange for Pingguo to meet with Zhu Ruomei.

After returning from outside yesterday, Old Madam Ren had specifically called Pingguo over for questioning, since Ren Yaoqi had only kept Pingguo by her side during both meetings with Xiao Jinglin.

After some thought, Ren Yaoqi still sent Pingguo to see Old Madam Ren. She had been somewhat worried, but Pingguo’s performance was very satisfactory.

No matter how Nanny Gui beside Old Madam Ren used both soft and hard tactics to probe indirectly, even in front of Old Madam Ren herself, Pingguo consistently maintained that Ren Yaoqi and Xiao Jinglin had only had tea and chatted about trivial amusing stories. She didn’t even mention Xiao Jingxi’s existence.

With her honest and simple appearance, after Old Madam Ren personally questioned her several times and found she really couldn’t get any more information, she finally dismissed her.

This girl, Pingguo, truly lived up to Ren Yaoqi’s expectations – she was someone who could handle important matters. Although she might not be very clever, her loyalty was unquestionable.

So today, Ren Yaoqi also entrusted Pingguo with contacting Zhu Ruomei.

Pingguo was gone for nearly two hours before returning and coming directly to see Ren Yaoqi.

“What did he say?” Ren Yaoqi sat on the kang embroidering with occasional stitches. Her skill was mediocre but not embarrassingly bad. Moreover, she drew all her patterns herself, making them much more unique and interesting than store-bought ones.

Pingguo came forward and reported quietly: “This servant conveyed your words exactly as instructed. He said there was no problem and he would handle this matter well for you. He can give you an answer tomorrow.”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi nodded, feeling moved.

She hadn’t had much contact with Zhu Ruomei, and her help for him had been merely a small favor. But Zhu Ruomei was truly a man who valued loyalty and gratitude.

The two tasks she had asked Zhu Ruomei to do both sounded puzzling and even bizarre. If it were an ordinary person hearing such instructions from a half-grown child, they would definitely be suspicious. But Zhu Ruomei had agreed both times without treating her carelessly because of her young age.

After asking a few more questions, Ren Yaoqi let Pingguo go rest and waited peacefully for Zhu Ruomei’s response the next day.

By the afternoon of the next day, news came from Sister-in-law Yuan. Ren Yaoqi knew that the matter she had asked Zhu Ruomei to handle had results.

However, since Li Shi had instructed Ren Yaoqi not to casually go out to meet people after the last incident, Ren Yaoqi hadn’t personally met with anyone from the outer courtyard. Although she wanted to personally inquire about this matter with Zhu Ruomei, she didn’t want Li Shi to worry about such things.

So in the end, Ren Yaoqi gave Pingguo some instructions and sent her to the outer courtyard to see Sister-in-law Yuan.

Sister-in-law Yuan secretly took Pingguo to meet Zhu Ruomei.

After more than half an hour, Pingguo finally returned to Ziwei Courtyard.

Ren Yaoqi dismissed all the maids and women: “Did you ask about everything I instructed you earlier?”

Pingguo nodded and began reporting without waiting for Ren Yaoqi’s questions: “He said he covered his face and waited outside the city as you instructed. When Sister-in-law Wen’s donkey cart reached a secluded spot outside the city, he used a slingshot to knock out the driver and climbed onto the cart. Sister-in-law Wen originally thought he was a bandit trying to rob her, so she offered him the fifty taels of silver in her hand and the gold hairpin on her head. He pretended to disdain the money and act like someone who only wanted to kill. Sister-in-law Wen was stunned for a moment, then suddenly seemed to understand something and began cursing loudly.”

Ren Yaoqi asked with interest: “Who was she cursing? What did she say?”

This was exactly why she had asked Zhu Ruomei to stage an attack on Sister-in-law Wen – to make her think someone was trying to silence her.

Although Ren Yaoqi wasn’t entirely clear about the connections between Sister-in-law Wen, Lin Kun, and Concubine Fang, since Sister-in-law Wen was somewhat unwilling to leave, she must have conflicts with someone or be under some kind of coercion.

Although Ren Yaoqi’s approach was somewhat risky, in the absence of information, it was a good way to startle the snake by beating the grass.

“Sister-in-law Wen’s first words were to demand whether Sixth Master Lin had sent him to kill her and silence her!” Pingguo wiped the fine sweat from her forehead that had formed from hurrying back and answered.