The next day was the full moon celebration for Ren Shijia’s newborn son.

Old Master Ren and Old Madam Ren led the entire Ren family’s children and grandchildren to the Lin mansion, with Liu Shi, who had come from afar, representing the Fang family, accompanying them with her son.

In the carriage, Xiangqin excitedly talked about the full moon gifts Old Madam Ren had prepared for her great-grandson: “A pair of pure gold kylin bracelets, a pair of pure gold longevity and prosperity locks, a pair of Hetian jade twin-beast longevity locks, six large chests of clothes, hats, and shoes, plus a large red envelope. I heard Old Madam originally thought these things were too modest and wanted to prepare more, but was persuaded against it by Old Master, so Old Madam’s red envelope is probably at least this much.” Xiangqin gestured with her fingers to indicate an amount.

Ren Yaohua glanced at her: “Are you that idle all day?”

Xiangqin shrank her neck and leaned toward Ren Yaoqi, looking somewhat aggrieved: “This servant was just thinking that when we left, Madam only prepared one collar, one gold abacus, plus six hundred taels of silver—isn’t that a bit little? What if the other branches, seeing how much Old Madam dotes on her great-grandson, give more, then wouldn’t our third branch…”

Ren Yaohua snorted lightly: “Do you think anyone is a fool?”

Xiangqin smiled apologetically: “Naturally, only this servant is foolish.”

Ren Yaohua said carelessly, “For this kind of gift list, everyone discusses it beforehand, and each branch gives roughly the same amount.” Ren Yaohua had recently been learning household management from Nanny Zhou, which included such social interactions.

For situations like the Lin family’s full moon celebration, the various Ren family branches had already discussed everything before leaving Baihezhen, or the family had general standards for such social obligations. Whenever they encountered such celebrations or mourning events, they followed the family’s established customs and wouldn’t go wrong. So Ren Yaohua wasn’t worried that her mother would displease Old Madam Ren in this matter.

Xiangqin touched her nose and didn’t dare to chatter anymore. The carriage immediately became much quieter.

The Lin family made this full moon celebration for Lin Cen quite grand. When the Ren family’s carriage arrived at the Lin mansion, they could see several carriages already parked at the entrance—the Ren family had arrived relatively early.

The Lin family’s ancestral home was very large. Old Master Ren and the Ren family’s male members were welcomed away by son-in-law Lin Kun, who had been waiting at the entrance after receiving word. When the female family members alighted from their carriages, servants and maids were already eagerly waiting at the entrance.

Ren Yaoqi followed behind Old Madam Ren with the other Ren sisters as they were escorted through the second gate and directly to Ren Shijia’s courtyard.

Originally, Old Madam Ren had politely suggested whether she should first visit Old Madam Lin, but the Lin family’s servant informed her that Old Madam Lin and Eldest Madam Lin had already gone to the Sixth Madam’s courtyard. The Lin family’s Sixth Madam referred to Ren Shijia, as son-in-law Lin Kun was ranked sixth according to the Lin family’s main branch ordering.

Ren Shijia and Lin Kun’s courtyard was quite spacious by Lin family standards and close to Old Madam Lin’s courtyard, because Lin Kun had been raised by Old Madam Lin in his youth.

Indeed, Old Madam Ren’s aunt, Old Madam Lin, was sitting on the heated platform by the window in Ren Shijia’s room, holding little Lin Cen and playing with him. Ren Shijia sat beside her keeping her company, while Eldest Madam Lin and several other Lin family female relatives were also seated nearby. Both the spacious main room and the adjacent side room were very lively.

As soon as Old Madam Ren entered the room, Eldest Madam Lin led Fifth Madam Lin Shi, who had returned to her natal family earlier, to stand up and greet her first: “Oh, our in-law has arrived! Please take the seat of honor, the seat of honor.”

Eldest Madam Lin’s enthusiastic yet not offensive voice rang through the room. Immediately, all those in the room with lower seniority than Eldest Madam Lin stood up and followed her in welcoming the guests. Although Fifth Madam had some friction with Old Madam Ren recently, under her mother’s constant hints, she still stepped forward first to pay respects to Old Madam, then obediently supported Old Madam Ren’s hand.

Seeing her natal family arrive, Ren Shijia, who was sitting on the platform, was also very happy. A maid quickly came forward to help her put on her shoes. Old Madam Lin, sitting across from her, still held the child without letting go, smiling at the entering Old Madam Ren: “Why are you only coming now? Our little Cen has been waiting for ages, haven’t you, little Cen?” The last sentence was addressed to the month-old child in her arms, her tone full of doting affection.

The Lin family was a large clan. The female relatives who came forward with Eldest Madam Lin numbered over ten. After Ren Shijia got down from the platform, she also came forward to support Old Madam Ren’s other arm. The sounds of mutual greetings were constant all around, and everyone in the room appeared very close.

Old Madam Ren, supported by Ren Shijia and Lin Shi, went forward to pay respects to Old Madam Lin. Old Madam Lin was Old Madam Ren’s aunt and rightfully received Old Madam Ren’s courtesies. However, she still handed the child to the wet nurse and helped Old Madam Ren up, laughing: “Enough! You’re getting on in years, too—why go through all this trouble!”

Ren Yaoqi also followed her sisters forward to pay respects. Old Madam Lin’s gaze swept across their faces one by one as she pulled Old Madam Ren to sit on the platform, asking with a smile: “Look at these girls, each one beautiful as water onions. Which one is your family’s fifth daughter?”

Old Madam Lin was about ten years older than Old Madam Ren, but she was extremely well-maintained. Although some silver threads showed at the edges of her forehead ornament set with emerald gems, she still didn’t appear aged. With her high cheekbones and slightly thin eyebrows, she had a somewhat dignified appearance, but her current smiling expression made her look very kind and amiable.

Hearing herself being mentioned, Ren Yaoqi raised her head. Old Madam Lin’s gaze immediately focused on her face: “You are the fifth daughter?”

Ren Yaoqi curtsied and said softly: “Yes, Great-Aunt Grandmother.”

With many people in the room, quite a few gazes immediately turned toward Ren Yaoqi.

Old Madam Lin didn’t say anything more, just praised Ren Yaoqi a few times, then asked about Ren Yaoyin and Ren Yaohua.

However, one of the Lin family’s lively young ladies tugged at Ren Yaoyu’s sleeve and whispered: “Cousin, is this your family’s fifth elder sister who has such a good private relationship with the Princess and even rode a pleasure boat with her on the inner city river?”

Although her voice wasn’t loud, she wasn’t exactly whispering either. Quite a few people present heard her, and several other Lin family young ladies also looked curiously at Ren Yaoqi.

Xiao Jinglin had no friends in Yunyang City, and even her interactions with the young ladies of her grandmother’s natal Yun family weren’t close. As for other daughters of prominent families who wanted to curry favor with the Princess, Xiao Jinglin generally ignored them because they simply had nothing in common.

However, as the only daughter of the Prince and Princess Consort of Yanbei, Xiao Jinglin still received much attention in Yanbei. So the fact that Xiao Jinglin was friends with Fifth Miss Ren was known to all the madams and young ladies in Yunyang City. Not to mention the Dragon Boat Festival incident when the Princess invited Ren Yaoqi to cruise the inner city river—the Princess’s fight with Wu Yiyu was secondary, but the inner city river of Yunyang City had never seen private boats. From this point alone, among the daughters of prominent families in Yanbei, Ren Yaoqi could be considered the first.

Ren Yaoyu had recovered quite a bit mentally after returning to her grandmother’s home these past few days, regaining some of her former liveliness. However, she was still somewhat afraid of Old Madam Ren, so upon hearing this, she only pursed her lips slightly and didn’t dare speak carelessly in front of Old Madam Ren.

Instead, Fifth Madam Lin Shi smiled at her natal nieces: “Our fifth daughter’s friendship with the Princess is truly good. Just recently, the Princess specifically went to Baihezhen to find her fifth daughter. Next time the Princess wants to go boating, I’ll have the fifth daughter invite you all to go together.”

Fifth Madam had suffered greatly recently, but lately, because she had reconciled with Fifth Master, her days were going quite well. She usually loved saving face and most enjoyed showing off in front of her natal family’s sisters-in-law and sisters. She said this originally to gain face in front of her natal family and also thought this would bring honor to her husband’s family without displeasing her mother-in-law.

Unexpectedly, her casual promise caught the attention of the young girl who had just asked the question. She came forward, took Ren Yaoqi’s arm, and shook it, asking: “Fifth cousin sister? I’ve never been on a pleasure boat.”

Ren Yaoqi was very displeased with Fifth Madam’s presumptuous words, but she couldn’t have an outburst. Just as she was thinking of saying a few words to change the subject, Lin Shi’s mother, Eldest Madam Lin, proactively stepped forward to help Ren Yaoqi out of the situation.

She gently patted the little girl’s head and laughingly scolded: “Your aunt is just joking with you. The pleasure boat doesn’t belong to your fifth cousin sister—how can she invite guests whenever she wants? Besides, the inner city river doesn’t allow boats. I heard that after the Princess returned last time, she was even lectured by the Princess Consort.”

The little girl stuck out her tongue and wrinkled her nose at Fifth Madam: “Aunt just likes to tease us.” Her innocent and lively manner made everyone laugh.

Eldest Madam Lin smiled at Ren Yaoqi, her kind smile carrying some comforting meaning.

It had to be said that compared to Eldest Madam Lin’s shrewdness and social skills, the daughter she bore was really… Ren Yaoqi could only shake her head mentally.

This matter was thus brushed aside. Old Madam Ren and Old Madam Lin sat intimately conversing on the platform, seemingly not having noticed this little episode.

More female relatives from families close to the Lin family continued to arrive. From this, one could see that the Lin family had given Ren Shijia an extremely spacious courtyard, so many people didn’t make it feel crowded at all.

The Lin family’s young ladies were all very enthusiastic toward Ren Yaoqi, especially the girl who had said she’d never been on a pleasure boat. She was particularly curious about how Ren Yaoqi and Xiao Jinglin got along, but the young girl’s frank and curious, straightforward manner made it hard to truly dislike her. This young lady was the Third Branch’s Miss Lin Baoling.

In Lin Baoling’s generation, the Lin family only had four girls, two of whom were born to concubines. Compared to over ten male offspring, this truly represented a flourishing of yang and a decline of yin. Rare things were precious, so the Lin family’s young ladies were even more pampered than the young masters.

Just as Ren Yaoqi was socializing with the Ren sisters and the three Lin family young ladies, a servant came in to report that “the old madam from Baoping Alley” had arrived.

This announcement made the room fall silent for a moment. The previous laughter and conversation seemed suddenly cut off, creating a very strange atmosphere.

Ren Yaoqi was also slightly startled. She knew that “the old madam from Baoping Alley” actually referred to her maternal grandmother, the deposed Principal Consort of the Prince Xian. Because of her awkward status, the female relatives in Yunyang City used “the old madam from Baoping Alley” to refer to her.