Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but smile bitterly and plead for mercy: “Princess, please spare me. Can’t I admit my mistake? I shouldn’t have been so presumptuous as to tease the Princess without knowing my place.”

Xiao Jinglin quietly curved her lips: “No! You must learn!”

“I can’t even lift your stick… your spear, how can I learn?” Ren Yaoqi looked at her smug smile and protested tearfully.

Seeing Ren Yaoqi like this, Xiao Jinglin was quite pleased. Ren Yaoqi had accompanied her in practicing the qin for so long, and her image of being heroic and divine had almost completely crumbled.

Ren Yaoqi usually teased her, and she had endured it all—who told her that her skills were inferior?

However, as a martial artist, Princess Xiao’s master had taught her a principle early on: losing temporarily didn’t matter. While working hard to improve one’s martial skills, one should also look for opportunities to find the opponent’s weaknesses and regain face elsewhere. This was what they called being able to bend and stretch.

Xiao Jinglin pretended to think, then magnanimously said: “If you can’t handle the spear, then practice sword instead.”

Without waiting for Ren Yaoqi’s protest, she happily instructed Hongying: “Go fetch that ‘Snow Garment’ sword.”

Shortly after, Hongying came out carrying a brocade box. When opened, it contained a completely snow-white short sword about eight or nine inches long.

Xiao Jinglin gestured toward the short sword in Hongying’s hands: “Try picking it up.”

Although Ren Yaoqi didn’t practice martial arts or understand weapons, she still had a woman’s appreciation for beautiful things. This sword looked very exquisite, so she took it from Hongying’s hands.

“Oh? It’s so light?” Only when Ren Yaoqi held the sword did she discover that its weight was equivalent to that of a bamboo sword, which surprised her somewhat. In her impression, weapons were all very heavy—her father’s practice sword was one she couldn’t wield. This sword seemed neither iron nor jade, and she didn’t know what material it was made of.

“This is a tribute from a small island nation in the south to the court, said to be forged from a special stone from their island. The Emperor bestowed the sword on the Crown Prince, who then gave it to me. I tested it and it’s quite sharp. If you’re willing to practice sword with me, how about I give it to you?” Seeing that Ren Yaoqi liked this sword that she considered flashy and impractical, Xiao Jinglin began to tempt her.

Ren Yaoqi quickly said, “Since it was given to you by the Crown Prince and is a tribute item, how could I accept it?”

Xiao Jinglin said indifferently: “The court bestows a pile of tribute items every year to show imperial favor—we can’t worship them all, can we? The Crown Prince just likes giving these pretty but useless delicate trinkets that are of no use to me.” Her tone was extremely disdainful.

Princess Xiao had always looked down upon her elder brother far away in the capital who couldn’t even tie up a chicken, finding him effeminate and inferior even to her sickly second brother.

Ren Yaoqi didn’t know how to respond.

Xiao Jinglin handed the spear to Hongying and took the short sword back from Ren Yaoqi. She casually executed a sword flourish, then looked at Ren Yaoqi with barely concealed disdain: “I know you must be afraid that practicing martial arts would make you coarse—all that fighting and killing isn’t attractive. How about this: I’ll teach you a routine that looks graceful when performed.”

With that, Xiao Jinglin flicked her wrist and began dancing in the courtyard.

Unlike her fierce and murderous spear technique, Xiao Jinglin seemed to slow her movements extremely for Ren Yaoqi to see more clearly, yet they remained fluid and agile, harmoniously combining swordplay with feminine grace in an indescribable elegance.

With her movements, the fallen leaves in the courtyard were stirred up by her sword wind, adding several touches of magnificence and mystery to this sword dance.

Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but watch entranced, and only when Xiao Jinglin finished did she applaud in praise: “Is this sword dancing? It’s truly beautiful.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinglin was ungrateful: “I knew you’d like this kind of soft, impractical, flowery technique. But this is swordplay, not sword dancing—I just modified it slightly and slowed the movements. Although it’s not very useful in combat, it’s sufficient for strengthening the body. You’re delicately built with weak qi and blood. Practicing this regularly would be good for your health.”

Just as Xiao Jinglin was about to say more, Dasu Jin, a maid from the Princess Consort’s side, entered and said that Lady Xu had arrived and the Princess Consort wanted Xiao Jinglin to come over.

Xiao Jinglin had to cut short her words and said to Ren Yaoqi: “It’s settled then. From now on, you’ll practice sword with me for half an hour daily. I’ll keep this Snow Garment sword here for now—you can take it back once you’ve learned.”

Ren Yaoqi knew that although Xiao Jinglin wanted her to practice swordsmanship partly out of mischief, it was more for her good. Her constitution was poor, and while it wasn’t usually obvious, she easily caught a cold during autumn and winter, and once ill, she didn’t recover easily.

So when Xiao Jinglin said this, Ren Yaoqi didn’t refuse.

When Ren Yaoqi followed Xiao Jinglin to Jiuyang Hall, the Princess Consort was talking with a middle-aged woman who appeared to be in her early forties.

Ren Yaoqi knew this woman must be Lady Xu, and couldn’t help being somewhat surprised. Lady Ouyang should already be over fifty, but she looked quite youthful.

Lady Ouyang’s appearance wasn’t particularly outstanding—merely refined. Moreover, her complexion was somewhat pale with darkish lips, clearly indicating poor health.

However, Lady Ouyang possessed an elegant and gentle temperament typical of someone born into a scholarly family from Jiangnan.

This temperament of Lady Ouyang’s was different from other Jiangnan women like Concubine Fang and Madam Fang—she had an additional quality of “scholarly cultivation naturally enhancing one’s bearing” that added two or three points to her originally six-point appearance, and this charm deepened with age.

In her previous life, Ren Yaoqi had often heard Master Pei mention his deceased wife, and she had wondered what kind of woman could make such an elegant person as Master Pei sigh “除却巫山不是云” (nothing else can compare after seeing the best), and remain unmarried after his wife’s death.

Now seeing Lady Xu, her image overlapped with Ren Yaoqi’s imagination of Lady Pei.

Although Lady Xu and Lady Pei were about twenty years apart in age and weren’t born from the same mother, they should have similarities. Unfortunately, Lady Pei had already passed away nearly two years ago, so she would never see Lady Pei’s elegance.

After the greetings, because Ren Yaoqi had focused on Lady Ouyang for quite some time, Lady Ouyang looked over at her. When Ren Yaoqi realized this, she felt somewhat embarrassed, but Lady Ouyang gave her a warm and comforting smile, proactively saying, “This must be Fifth Miss Ren? The Princess Consort was just mentioning you, saying you play the qin extremely well.”

Lady Ouyang’s voice was somewhat low but extremely soft and gentle, making people feel like they were bathed in spring breeze, easily generating goodwill and trust.

“I only learned for some time at home—the Princess Consort is too kind in her praise,” Ren Yaoqi said.

Xiao Jinglin said from the side: “I think you play very well.”

Although Princess Xiao occasionally resented losing her expert demeanor in front of Ren Yaoqi, she still gave face to this close friend in front of others.

Unexpectedly, Lady Ouyang smiled and teased her: “In the Princess’s eyes, anyone who plays better than you counts as good, right? It would be better if you didn’t praise her—now that you have, I’m curious to hear Miss Ren Fifth play a piece.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinglin wasn’t angry but laughed instead, even winking at Ren Yaoqi, rarely showing the liveliness and spirit of a girl her age.

Seeing this, Lady Ouyang was somewhat surprised and couldn’t help looking at Ren Yaoqi a few more times.

Ren Yaoqi also noticed from Xiao Jinglin’s attitude that she treated Lady Ouyang differently from other ladies of the inner quarters.

If other ladies were present, Xiao Jinglin would only put on a cold, aloof expression that made people feel Princess Xiao was unapproachable, causing those wanting to curry favor to back down.

The Princess Consort laughed from the side: “Let the teacher listen to them play first. But I’ll say this upfront—if Lin’er doesn’t pass the teacher’s test today, she’ll have to practice four hours daily for the next two days.”

Xiao Jinglin’s expression stiffened.

Lady Ouyang laughed and glanced at Xiao Jinglin, saying to the Princess Consort: “The Princess Consort specifically had me come to be the villain today, didn’t she? That’s not right.”

When Ren Yaoqi heard the Princess Consort’s form of address for Lady Ouyang, she was somewhat surprised. Women only respectfully called someone “teacher” if that person had taught them.

Could Lady Ouyang and the Princess Consort have a teacher-student relationship?

As everyone moved together to the side hall that served as Ren Yaohua’s qin room, Xiao Jinglin whispered in Ren Yaoqi’s ear: “My mother consort studied under Lady Xu in her youth—she learned qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting from Lady Xu. Lady Xu was a famous, talented woman in the capital when she was young, and the late Emperor once praised her as having the talent of a top scholar.”

Only then did Ren Yaoqi understand.

Today Lady Ouyang had been specially invited by the Princess Consort. The Yun family’s Thousand Gold Banquet had young ladies from various families perform talents every year, and several outstanding talented ladies would be selected at the end.

Lady Ouyang was one of those evaluating the talents of the young ladies, and due to her status and learning, her opinions served as the basis for other ladies participating in the judging.

Other families would naturally avoid inviting Lady Ouyang to their residences at this time to avoid suspicion, but the Yanbei Prince’s residence didn’t need to observe such rules.

Apart from the private friendship between the Yanbei Princess Consort and Lady Ouyang, the Thousand Gold Banquet was like the previous Dragon Boat Race at the Su family’s Dragon Boat Festival—as long as the Yanbei Prince’s residence had participants, the championship would come from the Yanbei Prince’s residence. This was a convention everyone knew.

The Princess Consort inviting Lady Ouyang to hear Xiao Jinglin play was simply to ensure Xiao Jinglin’s level wasn’t too far from that championship position and wouldn’t be mocked behind her back.

After all, an empty reputation was for others to see—real skill belonged to oneself.

Xiao Jinglin had been intensively practicing a piece called “Moon Over the Frontier Pass” recently and played it quite skillfully. As soon as she began plucking the strings, Lady Ouyang saw her posture for playing and couldn’t help nodding.

Lady Ouyang was clear about Xiao Jinglin’s previous qin skill level. Seeing her performance today, she knew she had put in considerable effort recently.

Of course, Xiao Jinglin’s level couldn’t compare with true masters, but at least she wouldn’t embarrass herself at the Thousand Gold Banquet.

When Xiao Jinglin finished her piece, Lady Ouyang smiled and said: “It seems I can’t be the villain today—the Princess’s qin skills have improved greatly.”

Although Xiao Jinglin showed nothing on her face, Ren Yaoqi could tell that Princess Xiao was secretly pleased, as she specifically glanced in her direction.

Lady Ouyang seemed to sense what Xiao Jinglin was thinking and gently changed the subject: “However, the Princess must understand that playing qin, like many things in this world, cannot be accomplished overnight. Expedient measures are ultimately just expedient measures—steady and solid progress is the lasting way. You must never think there are shortcuts and neglect basic skills, or you’ll suffer greatly when you encounter true masters.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinglin quickly put away her slight pride and bowed her head to receive instruction: “Yes, Madam. Jinglin respectfully accepts your teaching.”

The Princess Consort was also very satisfied with her daughter’s performance today, thinking that if her daughter could calm down and study, she wasn’t entirely unteachable.

As a mother, the Princess Consort still hoped Xiao Jinglin could be like ordinary women, learning qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and understanding some survival skills for the inner quarters. No matter how strong and capable her daughter was, she would eventually marry and spend the latter half of her life in the inner quarters.

The Yanbei Princess Consort understood the principle that one is influenced by their companions. She knew that Xiao Jinglin’s ability to calm down and play the qin was largely due to Ren Yaoqi’s influence.

After observing coldly for this period, the Princess Consort felt that although this Third Miss Ren was only born into a merchant family, perhaps due to having some royal bloodline, she didn’t have the petty air of ordinary merchant families. Instead, she was very measured in her interactions, with a steady and gentle personality, and was remarkably talented in many areas—she could handle qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting with competence.

The Yanbei Princess Consort had also considered herself a talented woman in her youth and didn’t much agree with the idea that women without talent were virtuous, so she had a favorable impression of intelligent girls.

Any mother wouldn’t dislike her daughter associating with children like Ren Yaoqi, so the Yanbei Princess Consort had been very kind to Ren Yaoqi during this time.

Wanting to elevate Ren Yaoqi, the Princess Consort smiled and said, “Lin’er has passed the teacher’s test. Yaoqi, you play a piece too. As long as you earn the teacher’s praise, whether you get a good reputation at the Thousand Gold Banquet is secondary.”

Lady Xu smiled and shook her head, looking at Ren Yaoqi with gentle encouragement.

Ren Yaoqi smiled slightly, stood up and bowed, then sat down at the qin table.

She didn’t choose anything too difficult or obscure, only playing an ordinary piece called “Flowing Water.” As soon as she sat at the qin table, her elegant and serene temperament became even more apparent—she looked like a pleasing landscape painting. Ren Yaoqi’s fingering was also skilled, with harmonics light and clear, open tones deep and rich, and pressed tones sometimes gentle, sometimes passionate, sometimes solemn.

Lady Ouyang tilted her head slightly, listening attentively and silently moving her fingers to keep time.

When Ren Yaoqi finished the piece, Lady Ouyang smiled and looked up at her.

Ren Yaoqi stood up and lowered her head to receive instruction.

“How old are you?”

“Twelve by Chinese reckoning.” Ren Yaoqi had just passed her eleventh birthday in May. Girls this age generally didn’t celebrate birthdays, fearing it would diminish their good fortune, so Ren Yaoqi hadn’t made a big deal of it. However, according to Yanbei custom, when asked about age, one generally answered in Chinese years, counting one year old from birth and adding one year each New Year.