Having asked all the questions she needed to ask, Ren Yaoqi stood up.
“Rest well. When your injuries heal a bit more, I’ll have someone come to take you back,” Ren Yaoqi said, her voice already devoid of any emotion, yet still as gentle as always.
Old Woman Luo struggled to sit up properly: “Miss, is there anything else you’d like to ask?”
Ren Yaoqi shook her head.
She already knew everything she needed to know. She had no time to inquire further into the Zhai family’s secrets—what did those have to do with her anyway?
“Miss, could you take Shui’ai with you today?” Old Woman Luo looked at Ren Yaoqi with pleading eyes.
Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment: “Why don’t you both return together after your injuries heal? Since you’re hurt, she probably wouldn’t want to leave you right now.”
Old Woman Luo hurriedly said: “This servant will persuade her. Miss, please take her with you.” Old Woman Luo seemed like she was grasping at the last straw of salvation. The tragic fate of that Liu family, who had been completely wiped out years ago made her extremely wary of Zhai Yaozu.
Ren Yaoqi had originally been considerate of their grandmother-granddaughter bond, but seeing Old Woman Luo’s insistence, she didn’t say anything more and simply nodded.
Xiao Jingxi nodded as well and stood up to leave first.
Ren Yaoqi had also intended to go out, but Old Woman Luo suddenly called out: “Fifth Miss, please wait.”
Ren Yaoqi turned back to see Old Woman Luo laboriously moving her body in her direction. She walked back a few steps, but unexpectedly, Old Woman Luo suddenly reached out to grab her sleeve, pressing her body close. In Ren Yaoqi’s moment of surprise, she whispered quickly and quietly in her ear: “When the Zhai family planned to migrate south to avoid disaster years ago, they had quite a bit of family wealth that was inconvenient to take with them, so they left it in the ancestral house.”
Ren Yaoqi pulled her sleeve free from Old Woman Luo’s grasp and looked at her coolly without speaking. But her gaze was extremely cold, making Old Woman Luo’s heart skip a beat as she shrank back her hand.
“M-Miss, what this servant says is true. That uncle from back then also knew about it. Although he didn’t know where the things were hidden at the time, nor whether those items had been retrieved over all these years.”
“Nanny Luo,” Ren Yaoqi coldly interrupted her words, “The young mistress of the Zhai family treated you well back then.”
Old Woman Luo’s face turned pale, then she looked at Ren Yaoqi with a bitter smile: “Miss is right to scold me. This servant has wronged my former master.”
She paused: “This servant tells you these things with no other intention, only hoping that you might mediate or be on guard, lest the tragedy of years past repeat itself. Li Niang also knows this secret, and she knows more than this servant does. She will surely tell the young master about this. This servant thinks that since the young master has returned, he definitely won’t let things rest. This servant sees that the current Han family is also a wealthy household. If Young Master Yaozu could let go of his grievances, he could live a life of fortune and prosperity. The young mistress and the others are already dead, and that uncle and his wife from years ago have long been buried. When will this cycle of revenge end? Living a good life is what matters. This servant admits to being cowardly. Originally planned to spend my remaining years on the estate, letting these past events rot in my belly, but unfortunately, human plans can’t match heaven’s will.”
Ren Yaoqi quietly looked at Old Woman Luo for a moment, then said in a calm voice: “Then let them continue rotting in your belly. What you just told me need not be known by anyone else.”
Old Woman Luo sighed and nodded.
Ren Yaoqi turned and left the room.
The abundant light outside made Ren Yaoqi’s eyes dazzle for a moment. When she adjusted, she saw Xiao Jingxi standing in the corridor, talking with Zhu Ruomei, the golden light slanting across his profile, serene and beautiful. Hearing Ren Yaoqi come out, he turned to look, smiling gently.
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but close her eyes. Today’s sunlight was truly glaring.
Sister-in-law Zhu was walking over from the side room that served as a kitchen with Shui’ai and Zhu Ruoju, carrying a teapot and a plate of green-yellow apricots.
“Miss, why don’t you come inside and sit?” Sister-in-law Zhu hurriedly greeted them. “We don’t have anything good at home. These apricots don’t look quite ripe, but they taste quite good.” As she spoke, she picked the largest one from the plate and offered it to Ren Yaoqi.
Ren Yaoqi accepted it with a smile and thanked her.
Sister-in-law Zhu had never served in a grand household and didn’t know the rules of such places. If it had been another family’s young miss before her today, they probably wouldn’t have accepted it, but fortunately, Ren Yaoqi didn’t mind such things. She quite liked Sister-in-law Zhu’s straightforward nature.
Zhu Ruomei came over to take the tea and fruit plate: “It’s stuffy inside, not as cool as the courtyard.” They had only recently moved into these rooms, and the furniture inside was all old, some even worm-eaten. Zhu Ruomei was embarrassed to suggest having the two masters go inside for tea. Instead, there was a small stone table in the shaded part of the courtyard with a few small stone stools that had a rustic charm, so he set the tea service in the courtyard.
Sister-in-law Zhu, worried they might have matters to discuss, took Shui’ai and Zhu Ruoju into the west wing to see Old Woman Luo.
Xiao Jingxi had already sat down in the courtyard. Zhu Ruomei lifted the pot to pour him a cup of tea. The cup was ordinary coarse porcelain, looking quite crude, and the tea wasn’t clear enough either.
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but glance at it, suddenly remembering how Xiao Jinglin had said last time that Xiao Jingxi was particular about things and difficult to serve. Ren Yaoqi was certain he wouldn’t drink it.
Xiao Jingxi did notice Ren Yaoqi’s gaze. He looked down at the tea, then with complete composure and perfect elegance, picked up the cup and took a sip.
Although Ren Yaoqi’s mood really couldn’t be considered good right now, for some reason, she couldn’t help but curve the corners of her mouth slightly. She discovered that this banished immortal, Xiao, actually cared quite a bit about face.
Ren Yaoqi walked over and sat down. Zhu Ruomei poured her a cup of tea as well, then silently withdrew. Though he looked burly and rough, his thoughts were quite delicate. He knew these two masters couldn’t possibly have come to his home just to drink tea.
Ren Yaoqi held the teacup in her hands. Her palms were somewhat cool and a bit sweaty. Although today’s weather couldn’t be called cool, Ren Yaoqi felt she needed something to warm her hands.
“You two go give Xia Sheng some tea,” Ren Yaoqi said to the two maids following behind her.
Pingguo immediately lowered her head and complied without a word. Xiangqin, however, rolled her eyes and secretly observed Xiao Jingxi. Noticing her gaze, Xiao Jingxi raised an eyebrow and glanced at her. Xiangqin was startled and blushed furiously, hurriedly following Pingguo as they ran off.
Ren Yaoqi was sending the two maids away. She rarely did such improper things, and in the past would always keep Pingguo by her side.
The two sat quietly for a while, neither speaking first.
“When I came out, Old Woman Luo told me that the Zhai family’s ancestral house still had some family wealth that they didn’t have time to take with them back then. From her tone, it was quite a lot.” Ren Yaoqi’s voice was calm, gentle, and soothing, without any embarrassment or shame about family secrets being exposed to an outsider.
Xiao Jingxi looked at Ren Yaoqi and suddenly smiled, saying gently, “You don’t need to tell me these things.”
Ren Yaoqi looked at him with feigned surprise: “I thought you wanted to know.”
After saying this, Ren Yaoqi immediately regretted it. Wasn’t she slapping Xiao Jingxi in the face? She was practically calling him a gossip who minded other people’s business. Ren Yaoqi wasn’t as composed as she appeared on the surface—she was still venting her anger.
Just as she was about to say something to make amends, Xiao Jingxi laughed first. He pointed at his chin and looked at Ren Yaoqi leisurely: “This is the third time you’ve gotten angry at me.”
Ren Yaoqi: “…”
Why did she feel something was wrong with this statement? How dare she get angry at Xiao Jingxi? When did this happen? Had her manners deteriorated to such an extent? Ren Yaoqi could hardly believe such slander.
“Has Young Master Xiao misunderstood something?” Ren Yaoqi came to her senses and said very sincerely.
“Mm.” Xiao Jingxi smiled and remained noncommittal, unconsciously picking up his teacup but not drinking from it. His long, pale fingers made the coarse teacup look even more crude and rough.
Another period of silence.
This time, Xiao Jingxi spoke first.
“The Lei family matter went very smoothly. You won our wager. According to our agreement, I’ll have the Lei family replace the Han family. Additionally, you can ask me to do one thing for you.”
Xiao Jingxi’s words didn’t make Ren Yaoqi happy. She used her finger to lightly trace the chip on the rim of her teacup, and only after a long while said: “Did I… do something wrong?”
Xiao Jingxi was somewhat surprised to hear this. He had thought Ren Yaoqi was always calm and confident, someone who would find a way to use tall people as shields even if the sky fell.
This was the first time he had seen Ren Yaoqi show confusion. Even when Ren Yaoqi got angry, she did so very subtly and with restraint.
“Why would you think that?”
Ren Yaoqi glanced at Xiao Jingxi: “After hearing the story, don’t you think Han Dongshan’s hatred is something the Ren family should rightfully bear? Even if I’m standing on the side of justice, you shouldn’t have helped me. If you want to cancel our wager, I wouldn’t mind.”
Xiao Jingxi said calmly: “The grievances between the Zhai and Ren families have nothing to do with me.”
Then why did you come along to listen to other people’s family secrets? Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but grumble inwardly.
“I wanted to know the Han family’s purpose. After all, he’s still working for Prince Yanbei’s manor. When someone becomes a blade in another’s hand, they can’t remain ignorant of the situation.” Xiao Jingxi seemed to see through Ren Yaoqi’s silent complaint and said with a half-smile.
Ren Yaoqi knew that Xiao Jingxi indeed had the right to listen, because without him, she wouldn’t have learned everything so smoothly.