Xia Sheng looked even more tanned than he had several months ago. He was already taller and more robust in build than Dong Sheng, who worked as a page boy. Such a large man hunched over and squeezed onto the carriage shaft created quite a presence—he looked nothing like anyone’s coachman, but rather more like a bodyguard. Seeing his master emerge from the second gate, he quickly jumped down from the carriage shaft and stood beside the carriage.

Madam Rong said to the several old women and maids from the Lin family who had accompanied Ren Yaoqi to see her off: “I need to speak a few words with the child. Please withdraw for now.”

Though Madam Rong’s tone and manner were gentle, she had, after all, once been a prince’s consort. With just one sentence, she made the several maids and old women immediately bow and withdraw without a word.

Only then did Madam Rong say to Ren Yaoqi: “Dong Sheng returned at midnight yesterday.”

Ren Yaoqi’s heart stirred. He returned at midnight yesterday, and today Madam Rong had brought Dong Sheng to find her. Originally, she had told Madam Rong she would find an opportunity to visit her—if there was something to say, why not wait until then? After all, given Madam Rong’s usual conduct, she wouldn’t come to the Lin residence.

Could it be that there was something important to tell her?

Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but glance at Xia Sheng, but Xia Sheng still wore that eternally unchanging expressionless face, from which she truly couldn’t discern anything.

However, Madam Rong touched Ren Yaoqi’s head, her expression gradually becoming serious: “The Han family may not be as simple as they appear on the surface.”

Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi was startled and immediately asked: “What did Xia Sheng discover this time?”

Madam Rong looked toward Xia Sheng. Xia Sheng lowered his head and said, “Han Dongshan did indeed stay in Jiangnan, but he’s not from Jiangnan. Back then, he left Yanzhou with the Yanbei people who fled south to escape the Liao invaders. He wasn’t even ten years old when he left. He lived in Chuzhou in Jiangnan until he was seventeen, then returned to Yanbei to escape famine. Han Dongshan claims to be from Shangzhuang Village in Zhuqiao Town, Chuzhou. This time, I went to Zhuqiao Town and discovered that after that famine, plague broke out around Chuzhou. Because many people in Shangzhuang Village contracted the disease, the prefectural magistrate at the time ordered the village sealed. In the end, no one in the entire village survived.”

To prevent plague from spreading, local officials’ method of dealing with villages where most people had contracted the disease was to seal them off, preventing those inside from contacting the outside world, leaving them to their fate. Once plague was contracted, eight or nine out of ten would die—there was simply no possibility of treatment. But the result of this approach was often that not a single person from those plague-stricken villages could survive; everyone in the village would eventually die of disease, then be burned in a fire.

“Then from whom did you verify Han Dongshan’s identity?” Ren Yaoqi raised an eyebrow and asked.

“Although Shangzhuang Village is gone, before the plague broke out, Han Dongshan wasn’t the only one who escaped. I originally thought there would be no way to investigate further. But when passing by a newly built stone bridge at the original site of Shangzhuang Village, I saw the inscription on the bridge. It turned out the bridge was built by a merchant to commemorate his ancestors—his father was from Shangzhuang Village. Before the plague but after the drought and locust disaster, his father had left home with his uncle, who was a traveling peddler. I later sought out this merchant—his father is still alive.”

Xia Sheng paused, then continued: “That old man is about the same age as Han Dongshan. I roughly described Han Dongshan’s appearance to him and asked if he recognized anyone who had come from Yanbei back then. Unexpectedly, he immediately insisted that the person I described was his childhood companion. The name wasn’t anything like Dongshan or Xishan, but rather Zu Ge’er.”

“Zu Ge’er?” Ren Yaoqi frowned. “What was his surname?”

Xia Sheng shook his head: “This Zu Ge’er had settled in Shangzhuang Village with a woman called Li Niang. Li Niang just called him Zu Ge’er, and that old man didn’t know what their surname was either. Li Niang made money by helping people during busy farming seasons, living quite frugally. Later, when Zu Ge’er grew older, he herded cattle for others. Li Niang claimed to outsiders that Zu Ge’er was her son, but that old man said once when he went to find Zu Ge’er, he heard Li Niang call Zu Ge’er ‘young master.'”

“After all these years, he can still remember these details clearly?”

“He said if it were someone else, he wouldn’t remember. But this mother and son were quite peculiar back then. Besides their Yanzhou accent, even though Zu Ge’er grew up doing work like the other village children, his body, hands, and face were always clean. He didn’t fight or join others in bathing and catching fish in the river. Because of his delicate appearance, some people even suspected he was a girl. What was even stranger was that sometimes they were so poor they couldn’t even lift the pot lid, yet Li Niang still insisted on sending Zu Ge’er to private school. When she couldn’t pay the tuition, Li Niang would wash clothes, cook, and mend for the teacher, causing much gossip, yet she persisted. Later, quite a few village women wanted to drive them away with brooms. But Li Niang later fell ill and died. Not long after, Chuzhou suffered disaster, and Zu Ge’er fled Shangzhuang Village alone. After he left, someone secretly went to the house where they had lived, hoping to try their luck and see if they could find some food. Instead, they found a blood-stained straw doll used for cursing under the bed boards of the bed where Li Niang had lived. Strangely, the name on the straw doll wasn’t that of anyone from Shangzhuang Village.”

Ren Yaoqi looked at Xia Sheng: “Whose name was on the straw doll?”

Making straw dolls to curse enemies was folk witchcraft circulated among the common people in the Yanbei region. Whether it worked or not aside, people born in Yanbei all knew about it—even Ren Yaoyu, who had grown up in the inner quarters, had used it before.

However, unless it was a blood feud, no one would use blood on straw dolls—at most, they would prick them with needles. Blood sacrifice would cause the curse caster to suffer backlash, equivalent to trading life for life with their enemy.

Xia Sheng said, “It was a disaster year then, and people couldn’t even eat their fill, so after the villagers who discovered the straw doll were startled, no one in the village paid it much attention. However, several bold village youths ran to look out of curiosity, and that person happened to go along too. At the time, those who could read recognized the characters, but unfortunately, after all these years, that person couldn’t remember too clearly.” At this point, Xia Sheng looked up at Ren Yaoqi. “I had no choice but to tentatively ask whether the name on it was surnamed Ren. That person thought for a long time before recalling that it did seem to be someone surnamed Ren.”

Xia Sheng had asked out of caution at the time, and was himself startled upon receiving the affirmative answer. “However, this can’t be taken as certain—that person is also getting on in years, so he could have remembered wrong.” Seeing Ren Yaoqi remain silent, Xia Sheng thought he had frightened her.

After thinking, he hesitantly continued: “However, my finding that bridge and following the trail to locate the bridge builder was purely coincidental. Apart from this, there’s virtually no one else who knows Han Dongshan’s background. I heard that several others left Shangzhuang Village and headed north with Han Dongshan back then, but none of them left even half a trace in Yanbei.” The fact that Han Dongshan had lived in Chuzhou for so many years, yet no one knew his background, was itself a strange matter.

After Xia Sheng finished speaking, no one spoke for a while. They were standing under the shade of a locust tree, with dappled, swaying light spots falling on Ren Yaoqi’s face, making her expression alternately bright and dim, difficult to discern.

Madam Rong’s gentle voice brought Ren Yaoqi back from her contemplation: “When forming marriage alliances between families, what’s most taboo is not knowing the other party’s background. The Han family has lived in Jizhou for generations, which isn’t problematic, but this Han Dongshan… is not simple. His true origins and background may be questionable. I came today to give you a warning. That day at the Dragon Boat Festival, I saw the Ren family was very close to the Han family, and I heard both families have intentions of forming a marriage alliance.” At this point, Madam Rong sighed. “Unfortunately, I cannot speak of this before your grandparents, but I will write a letter to your mother.”

If Madam Rong were to mention these things before the Ren family, Old Madam Ren would first think that Prince Xian’s residence had ulterior motives, interfering in the Ren family children’s marriages, and it would also implicate Third Madam Ren. Moreover, not only would the Ren family not believe what Madam Rong said, they might even betray information about Prince Xian’s residence members freely leaving Yanbei, putting Prince Xian’s residence in danger.

Ren Yaoqi understood Madam Rong’s meaning and nodded: “I understand, Grandmother. You needn’t worry too much.”

However, Madam Rong touched Ren Yaoqi’s head again, saying lovingly: “Qi’er, you are a clever, good child.” Madam Rong knew that investigating Han Dongshan was something Ren Yaoqi had asked Xia Sheng to do, and unexpectedly, some leads had been uncovered.

Ren Yaoqi smiled at Madam Rong, then glanced at Xia Sheng: “Xia Sheng worked hard on this matter.”

Xia Sheng still stood to the side with his hands at his sides. He was someone with a dull personality who didn’t speak much. Not knowing how to respond to Ren Yaoqi’s praise, he remained silent.

Madam Rong patted Ren Yaoqi’s hand and sighed: “If you encounter any problems, send word over. You’re young—there are many things you can’t resolve on your own.”

Ren Yaoqi obediently nodded. Seeing that she had conveyed everything necessary, Madam Rong bid farewell to Ren Yaoqi, who personally helped Madam Rong into the carriage.

Just as the carriage curtain was lowered, Xia Sheng suddenly said, “Miss Cousin, I brought two people back for you this time, but it wasn’t convenient to bring them today.”

Ren Yaoqi was startled, then remembered that before Xia Sheng left, she had asked him to train some martial arts-capable maids for her.

Xia Sheng scratched his head with his whip: “I bought these two girls from a street acrobatic troupe. Since they’ve practiced basic skills from childhood, they’ll learn faster. Otherwise, finding even younger children to train from childhood would take too long. If you think they’ll do, I’ll start teaching them. If you dislike their humble origins, I’ll look for others.”

Ren Yaoqi smiled: “Since you brought them back, it means their aptitude is good. Let Sister Chuchu and the others help me assess what kind of people they are. As for their origins… as long as there won’t be any trouble later, it’s fine.”

Chuchu was standing to the side and hadn’t yet boarded the carriage. Hearing this, she smiled and nodded at Ren Yaoqi: “Miss Cousin, rest assured.”

Ren Yaoqi felt truly at ease.