After Ren Yaoqi returned to the city, she asked Ren Shijia’s steward to help her find some fine medicinal herbs and tonics, planning to send them to the Lei family estate for Lei Pan’er in her and Ren Yaohua’s names.

Lei Pan’er was still a child and couldn’t use those nourishing herbs—it was merely a matter of propriety. So Ren Yaoqi borrowed the cook from Ren Shijia’s small kitchen and had her make several kinds of pastries, specifically instructing that they should be made to look attractive.

Ren Shijia usually enjoyed pastries, and after Nanny Wen left, Lin Kun had someone find a cook from Jiangnan who was skilled at making various pastries.

Finally, Ren Yaoqi had her senior maid, Sangshen, take the medicinal herbs, two boxes of pastries, and two jars of preserved fruits to the Lei family villa to visit Lei Pan’er on behalf of her and Ren Yaohua.

When Sangshen returned from her visit, she told Ren Yaoqi that Lei Pan’er had already awakened and had no serious injuries. She didn’t know how she had fallen into the well—she only remembered chasing a mynah bird that couldn’t fly, and then she remembered nothing else. Fortunately, when she woke up again, she was already in her bed, so she wasn’t particularly frightened.

Upon hearing that Sangshen had been sent by the two Ren sisters to see her, Lei Pan’er had Sangshen come into her room to talk. She was delighted to see the pastries and preserved fruits Sangshen had brought, saying that once her injuries healed, she would come to visit the two sisters.

Hearing that Lei Pan’er was still her lively, spirited, and mischievous self, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but feel cheerful.

“What happened to that maid called Yuegui?” Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment and asked.

“This servant didn’t see Yuegui. When leaving, I asked the wet nurse, who only said Yuegui had been sent back to Yunyang City by the steward. She didn’t know anything else,” Sangshen replied.

Ren Yaoqi thought that although Lei Ting was young and didn’t manage inner courtyard affairs, he wasn’t a foolish person either. This incident with Lei Pan’er should have made him alert to his daughter’s situation.

The next day, Ren Yaohua sent Xiangqin over, saying that the Lei family’s steward had sent some valuable fabrics, bird’s nest, and aged ginseng to their villa early in the morning as return gifts. The Lei family’s return gifts were much more valuable than what Ren Yaoqi had sent.

Since Ren Yaoqi was staying at the Lin residence, the Lei family had sent the items to the Ren family villa instead. Ren Yaohua had Xiangqin bring everything to Ren Yaoqi.

Ren Yaoqi had her maids select some fabrics and bird’s nest to send to Ren Shijia, and had Xiangqin store the rest.

With three days remaining until the Thousand Gold Banquet, Yunyang City had many more noble young ladies from other prefectures and counties who had come to Yanzhou.

Xiao Jinglin sent word that tomorrow the Princess Consort wanted her to play the qin before guests to test the results of her recent practice, so someone would come early the next morning to take her to the Yanbei Prince’s residence.

When Ren Yaoqi received the letter, she was thinking of writing back to tease Princess Xiao for being nervous, but she was stunned when she saw the name of the guest the Yanbei Princess Consort had invited.

The wife of Xu Wanli, Director of Yunyang Academy: Lady Ouyang.

As the highest institution of learning in Yanbei, Yunyang Academy’s Director Xu Wanli held an extremely high position in the hearts of Yanbei’s scholars. He was the leader of the scholarly elite.

Xu Wanli was born into the main branch of the Xu family of Jiangnan. The Xu and Pei families were the foremost among Jiangnan’s scholarly families. Someone had once counted on their fingers that in the past three hundred years, among the great families that had produced prime ministers and cabinet ministers, the Pei family ranked first, while the Xu family ranked second.

The Xu family’s roots were in Jiangnan, but this Director Xu had won the top imperial examination honor in the thirty-fifth year of Emperor Qinglong’s reign during the previous dynasty, then refused to serve as an official at court and began traveling everywhere. Eventually, Xu Wanli came to Yanbei and somehow became the Director of Yunyang Academy in Yanbei.

Yanbei’s relationship with the court was delicate, and many Xu family members served as officials at court—the current Chief Grand Secretary Xu Yuan was Xu Wanli’s cousin. After Xu Wanli came to Yanbei, he never returned to Jiangnan, and the Xu family was also cold toward Xu Wanli, refusing to mention this Xu family heir who enjoyed an extremely high reputation in Yanbei.

However, Ren Yaoqi knew that shortly after Xu Wanli became Director of Yunyang Academy, the Xu family had already removed Xu Wanli’s name from the family genealogy. It was just that neither the Xu family nor Xu Wanli publicized this matter, so although outsiders speculated about the relationship between Xu Wanli and the Xu family, very few people knew the truth.

Ren Yaoqi also knew that Xu Wanli’s reason for leaving Jiangnan for Yanbei was for his wife, Lady Ouyang. This Lady Ouyang was a remarried woman—she had originally been Xu Wanli’s elder brother’s wife, making her Xu Wanli’s sister-in-law.

Shortly after Lady Ouyang married into the Xu family, her husband died. Originally, in a family like the Xu that valued reputation so highly, Lady Ouyang shouldn’t have been able to remarry, yet she ended up marrying her own brother-in-law.

The Xu family of Jiangnan couldn’t tolerate such an unfilial descendant as Xu Wanli. Xu Wanli could only bring Lady Ouyang to Yanbei. Compared to Jiangnan, Yanbei was much more tolerant regarding propriety. Moreover, after Xu Wanli came to Yanbei, he gained the appreciation of the then Yanbei Prince Xiao Qishan. Combined with Xu Wanli’s brilliant talent and extremely high academic cultivation, he quickly established himself among Yanbei’s scholars.

The reason Ren Yaoqi knew about this secret of the Xu family was because Xu Wanli and her teacher Pei Zhiyan were brothers-in-law. Master Pei’s wife was also surnamed Ouyang—she was Lady Ouyang’s youngest sister.

Although Xu Wanli’s relationship with the Xu family wasn’t good, he got along very well with his wife’s brother-in-law, Pei Zhiyan. The two were longtime friends and close companions who regularly corresponded.

The next day, Xiao Jinglin indeed sent someone very early to take Ren Yaoqi to the Yanbei Prince’s residence.

When Ren Yaoqi arrived, Xiao Jinglin was still practicing martial arts in her courtyard.

Standing under the eaves watching for a while, Ren Yaoqi waited until Xiao Jinglin finished her routine before walking over and teasing with a smile: “Is the Princess nervous?”

Xiao Jinglin replied seriously: “How could I be?”

Ren Yaoqi blinked and moved closer, whispering: “The Princess can easily deceive others, but deceiving me is difficult. I know one of the Princess’s secrets.”

Xiao Jinglin glanced at her: “What secret?”

“When the Princess gets nervous, she likes to practice with weapons.”

Xiao Jinglin was silent for a long moment: “This is a spear, not a stick!”

Ren Yaoqi laughed: “Since the Princess knows I don’t know martial arts, naturally I can’t tell the difference between a stick and a spear. Please forgive this small person’s ignorance.”

Xiao Jinglin looked at Ren Yaoqi for a while, then suddenly said, “How about I teach you martial arts?”

Ren Yaoqi was startled and quickly said: “That’s not necessary—I’m not martial arts material.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinglin looked Ren Yaoqi up and down critically, even walking around her in circles, then said slowly: “Although you don’t have much aptitude, you can learn.”