As soon as Ren Yaoqi spoke those words, she was stunned.

She had almost forgotten what she was like in her previous life, but in this lifetime, her temperament certainly couldn’t be considered rash or unable to remain calm.

Xiao Jingxi was a dangerous person, and even though the two of them had no conflicts at present, what might happen in the future was still very uncertain. But why would she so impulsively say such a thoughtless sentence in front of Xiao Jingxi?

Xiao Jingxi was also stunned.

The two of them just stared at each other in bewilderment, neither saying a word.

“Ahem.” Xiao Jinglin coughed lightly, glanced at the two of them, and seeing that they had come to their senses, turned back to observe the races outside with detached interest, as if completely unaffected by the previous atmosphere.

Ren Yaoqi was annoyed, while Xiao Jingxi’s mood was somewhat complicated.

Each harboring their thoughts, even after coming back to their senses, both remained speechless for a moment.

“Whether to use or not use depends entirely on whether it’s useful or useless.” After a long silence, just when Ren Yaoqi thought Xiao Jingxi wouldn’t want to continue this topic with her, Xiao Jingxi suddenly spoke.

Ren Yaoqi turned Xiao Jingxi’s tongue-twister-like sentence over in her mind, and suddenly had a feeling of clearing away the clouds to see the bright moon.

She had always thought that Prince Yanbei’s mansion wanted to use the Han family. Now that the Lei family had emerged, with strength and momentum no less than the Han family’s, and because the Lei family’s head was very young, completely lacking that decaying air of decline that other established families carried. Connecting this with Xiao Jingxi’s words, Prince Yanbei’s mansion likely had more than one hand behind the scenes. Families like the Han and Lei families were not the only ones; it’s just that, after comparison, only the Han and Lei families stood out. Those other families in the background then became hidden pieces.

But a mountain cannot accommodate two tigers. Prince Yanbei’s mansion would ultimately need to choose between the Han and Lei families. Only the family that emerged victorious in the end would truly become the blade in Prince Yanbei’s mansion’s hand.

This could explain why Ren Yaoqi had no impression of the Lei family in her previous life. In her previous life, it was very likely that in the final confrontation between the Lei and Han families, the Lei family had just barely emerged before suffering defeat, with only the Han family laughing last.

“Will Prince Yanbei’s mansion not intervene?” Ren Yaoqi looked at Xiao Jingxi and asked.

She was asking whether Prince Yanbei’s mansion would not intervene in the contest between the Han and Lei families. Although her question was vague, she believed Xiao Jingxi could understand.

Indeed, Xiao Jingxi understood. Not only did he understand, but he also put away that hint of surprise in his heart.

Ren Yaoqi’s intelligence, perceptiveness, and ability to draw inferences weren’t something he was witnessing for the first time today. To be surprised again would make him seem easily startled.

Such matters shouldn’t be revealed through his mouth, yet for some unknown reason, Xiao Jingxi felt not the slightest bit of regret.

“No, we won’t.” He took a sip of tea and answered decisively.

An expected answer.

Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but sigh.

Xiao Jingxi, however, smiled, glancing at Ren Yaoqi and saying, “The Lei family may not necessarily lose.”

Naturally, he knew that Ren Yaoqi didn’t want Prince Yanbei’s mansion to ultimately choose the Han family. So between the Han family and the newly emerged Lei family, Ren Yaoqi hoped the Lei family would prevail.

Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but smile bitterly, because she knew the Lei family would definitely lose. And they would lose completely even before the two families truly confronted each other.

At this moment, cheers erupted from the river surface and the riverbank, along with thunderous drumbeats.

It seemed the first round had ended.

“Second place: Yun family, third place: Su family.” Xiao Jinglin reported the results to herself, not caring whether the other two had their minds on this matter.

She didn’t announce who came first because everyone knew the first place would be Prince Yanbei’s mansion.

However, this was still the first round. Sixteen competing dragon boats were reduced to eight. The next round would be selecting four from eight.

The second round’s gong wasn’t struck by the Prince of Yanbei, but by Old Master Su. Since Yanbei’s reconstruction, the Su family had reorganized the dragon boat races, so the second gong in previous years was always struck by someone from the Su family.

Outside remained lively, but Ren Yaoqi was absent-minded. In this noisy excitement, she said softly, “Is this the Lei family really that Lei family?”

Her voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the cheers and drumbeats outside, yet Xiao Jingxi still heard it. Heard it very clearly.

Although he had already told himself not to be surprised by Ren Yaoqi, he couldn’t help being surprised each time more than the last. His gaze toward Ren Yaoqi was extremely complex, and even Xiao Jinglin, who had been watching outside the window, turned to glance at her.

“What makes you say that?” Xiao Jingxi asked.

“I guessed.” Ren Yaoqi looked at Xiao Jingxi with complete frankness.

She was indeed guessing, without evidence or proof.

The Lei family had rapidly accumulated wealth over a dozen years. This certainly couldn’t have been accomplished without Prince Yanbei’s mansion’s assistance, just like the Han family. However, from her previous conversation with her maternal grandmother, Rong Shi, Ren Yaoqi sensed that the Lei family was different from the Han family. Although the Lei family also had many shops, their most important aspect was maintaining the customs of an ancient established family. The Lei family’s masters weren’t as “diligent” as the Han family’s masters; they didn’t personally manage shops and estates. Although the Lei family head seemed very capable, perhaps he made decisions behind the scenes, but openly, it was the stewards who managed things.

Ren Yaoqi dared to bet that both Lei brothers were definitely proficient in the so-called “six arts of a gentleman,” even though most of these skills were useless after learning them.

The feeling the Lei family gave her was that they wanted to make good use of their ancient established family reputation. With the Lei family’s previous family history, replacing the Yun family as Yanbei’s foremost established family was only a matter of time.

Strike the snake at its vital point. Although Ren Yaoqi couldn’t say she was very familiar with the Han family, she just knew the Han family’s methods against opponents.

So, for the Han family to easily eliminate the Lei family threat, they only needed to make the Lei family “lack legitimacy and justification.”

“Unfortunately, this Lei family is indeed that Lei family.” Xiao Jingxi said slowly with unclear meaning.

Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but frown.

Had she guessed wrong?

“However… you’re not entirely wrong either.” Xiao Jingxi said unhurriedly, his face returning to that composed and gentle smile, though this smile made Ren Yaoqi want to punch it away.

Although Ren Yaoqi’s expression remained gentle and soft, Xiao Jingxi seemed to hear the sound of Ren Yaoqi gritting her teeth. For some unknown reason, this made him feel somewhat comfortable and happy, and the smile at the corner of his mouth involuntarily carried some teasing.

However, Xiao Jingxi’s inexplicable smugness didn’t last long. Xiao Jinglin suddenly interjected, “Lei Ting’s grandmother was only a Mistress.”

Xiao Jinglin’s gaze remained outside, only showing the back of her head to the two of them. Her words were also flat and calm, as if she were merely saying “the wind on the river is too strong.” She didn’t feel she had said anything remarkable, nor did she feel uncomfortable about undermining her brother.

Xiao Jingxi’s smile froze on his face.

Ren Yaoqi slowly blinked, turned to look at Xiao Jinglin, who calmly revealed the answer without turning her head, then glanced at Xiao Jingxi, and quite inappropriately burst out with a “pfft” of laughter.

Then she was surprised to discover that the immortal-like, unreachably noble, elegantly refined Second Young Master Xiao was slowly developing a faint rosy glow from his ears.

Ren Yaoqi’s smile also froze.

At this moment, Second Young Master Xiao, with his elegantly beautiful face and his usual calm expression, was tinged with a pink color that looked strange no matter how you looked at it.

Ren Yaoqi coughed lightly, lowered her head, and carefully examined the tea bowl beside her hand, as if a flower had suddenly bloomed on it.

Not looking at Xiao Jingxi, Ren Yaoqi tried hard to keep the smile off her face and focused her thoughts on the Lei family matter, helping Second Young Master Xiao cover up his embarrassment.

She didn’t want to truly anger this person.

Xiao Jinglin said that the Lei family head’s grandmother was only a Mistress.

The more prestigious the family, the more they valued bloodline continuation, and they absolutely could not tolerate bloodline confusion. So, truly prestigious families generally wouldn’t acknowledge children born to Mistress, because whether they were true blood relatives simply couldn’t be proven.

Moreover, families with deep foundations were generally prosperous with many branches and numerous descendants, so they wouldn’t lack one or two heirs of unknown origin. Even if a particular branch truly had few descendants, there was still the clan. At such times, clan descendants were more reliable than bastards of unknown origin.

The scandal that emerged from the Ren family only exposed the Ren family’s shallow foundations, and speaking of it would only make people laugh their teeth out.

Even if the Lei family head’s father was born to a servant girl and was a concubine’s son, he would still be considered a legitimate heir from the Lei family’s main bloodline, since he was born within the inner quarters. Unfortunately, he was born to a mistress.

Now Ren Yaoqi understood how the Lei family would suffer complete defeat.

And Prince Yanbei’s mansion knew the Lei family inside and out, but as Xiao Jingxi had said, Prince Yanbei’s mansion wouldn’t intervene.

The river surface continued with thunderous gongs and drums. From the commotion, it seemed the second round was also about to end. The three people on the boat each looked their way, no one speaking.

Just as Prince Yanbei’s mansion’s dragon boat reached the finish line and the second dragon boat was about to cross the line, an unexpected change occurred at that moment.

Ren Yaoqi only felt a sudden, earth-shaking, tremendous roar. The water surface threw up a curtain of water several zhang high, obscuring her vision. Then water mist came flooding over them overwhelmingly. Ren Yaoqi had no time to feel whether her body had gotten cold, because the large ship she was on began rocking violently.

All the furnishings on the ship tilted toward the other side. Ren Yaoqi felt she was about to be thrown out and couldn’t help crying out in alarm. Then a strong arm steadied her around the waist. However, in front of them was only a low table set with tea utensils and refreshments that wasn’t fixed to the ship, so there was nothing to hold onto to stabilize their bodies. Therefore, Ren Yaoqi fell to the ground along with that person.

The tea, refreshments, and fruits from the low table came crashing down all at once. Ren Yaoqi instinctively closed her eyes, but felt that those things didn’t fall on her. She opened her eyes and met a pair of deep, calm eyes as dark as ink.