Ren Shimin thought of what Old Madam Ren had previously said about his gifting of his paintings being childish playthings. Though he had felt extremely displeased at the time, he hadn’t been able to refute her since she was an elder.

Li Shi was startled and looked toward Nanny Zhou, somewhat at a loss.

Nanny Zhou wanted to say something, but Ren Yaoqi, who understood Ren Shimin very well, smiled and interjected: “What good things has Father prepared for others? Could you tell us about it?”

Ren Shimin’s expression softened, and he said to Ren Yaoqi: “Young Master Han took a fancy to a calligraphy painting at my place. When he was leaving, I had a servant send that painting to him.”

Ren Yaoqi blinked: “I guess the calligraphy painting that Young Master Han took a fancy to must have been Father’s work!”

Ren Shimin was delighted in his heart, though his face remained impassive: “Oh? How can you tell?”

Ren Yaoqi said with complete seriousness, “He helped us with such a big favor. If he had just randomly picked some calligraphy painting by someone else, wouldn’t that be a huge loss?”

Ren Shimin burst into hearty laughter, and everyone in the room could feel his genuine joy from the bottom of his heart.

Seeing the father and daughter’s manner, Li Shi also became happy. However, Ren Yaohua only lowered her head to fiddle with the agate bracelet on her wrist, seeming absent-minded.

“This Young Master Han is also a refined person. If the Han family has young ladies, they could associate with our Third Miss and Fifth Miss.” Nanny Zhou took advantage of Ren Shimin’s good mood to join in the conversation, but was trying to probe the Han family’s situation in a roundabout way.

The Han family had only moved to Baiheng Town last year. At that time, they were still at the estate, and after returning, they had heard people mention the Han family’s affairs but had never had any contact with them.

Nanny Zhou, an old woman who was accustomed to the struggles within inner quarters, naturally knew that some things were more advantageous the clearer one inquired about them.

Ren Shimin was in a good mood, so he graciously responded to Nanny Zhou’s words: “I heard Master Han say he has one son and one daughter. Young Master Han is fifteen this year, but I don’t know about Miss Han. I think the Han family’s upbringing is quite good. Though Young Master Han is young, he is studious and well-mannered, especially his Yan-style regular script, which is written with great vigor.”

Ren Yaoqi hadn’t initially reacted when she heard Ren Shimin mention the Han family, not knowing which Han family it was. Now hearing him praise Young Master Han, she suddenly remembered.

During the year when her mother and Ren Yaohua had gone to the estate, a new Han surname, a wealthy household, had moved to Baiheng Town. Later, Ren Shimin had taken a fancy to the Han family’s young master’s talent and arranged this marriage for Ren Yaohua. The Ren family saw that although the Han family kept a low profile, they had extensive connections and considerable wealth, and only had one son, so they were happy to see this marriage arrangement.

However, later, Young Master Han suddenly broke off the engagement for unknown reasons. The Ren family originally disagreed, but eventually compromised for unknown reasons.

Ren Yaohua was deeply affected; her temper became increasingly volatile, and the Ren family had already regarded her as a discarded child.

Finally, through the matchmaking of Second Madam Su from the second branch, Ren Yaohua married Zeng Kui, the cousin of Second Madam Su’s sister-in-law, Madam Su.

Madam Su was from the capital. Her uncle was Zeng Pu, who had newly succeeded as the General of Ningxia at that time. Though Zeng Pu had countless wives and concubines, he only had one son, Zeng Kui.

At that time, all the unmarried sisters in the Ren family envied Ren Yaohua’s good fortune – even after being rejected in marriage, she could still find such a good match that would be hard to find even with a lantern. However, it wasn’t until just a few days before Ren Yaohua’s wedding that they learned this Young Master Zeng had been scalded with boiling water by his wet nurse when he was young, disfiguring half his face and blinding one eye.

Old Madam Ren had to condescend to personally come to Ziwei Courtyard to persuade Ren Yaohua to marry. During the process, the old madam reasoned with her and appealed to her emotions. Ren Yaoqi didn’t know how Old Madam Ren had managed to persuade her “most beloved” granddaughter, who was proud and arrogant by nature, to happily marry someone whose appearance was as ugly as a fierce ghost.

But she succeeded. Ren Yaohua married into the Zeng family without making a fuss.

Half a year later, Ren Yaohua strangled her newlywed husband with her hair. In his rage, Zeng Pu threw her into the military camp’s red tent. That night, with the northwest wind howling, Ren Yaohua set fire to the military camp and perished in the flames herself.

The Ren family thus became enemies with the Zeng family, and misfortunes followed one after another.

The Young Master Han, who had broken off the engagement with Ren Yaohua, happened to marry Miss Yun Qiuchen, the eldest daughter of the Yun family, that same year. They were a talented man and a beautiful woman with a ten-li wedding procession, making countless young men and women in Yan Bei envious.

“Yaoqi? Yaoqi?” Ren Shimin waved his hand in front of Ren Yaoqi’s eyes and called her with a frown.

Ren Yaoqi came back to her senses and saw everyone in the room looking at her. She forced a smile.

“Yaoqi, are you feeling unwell?” Ren Shimin reached out to feel her forehead.

Li Shi also said: “Are you still not recovered from your illness? Why does your complexion look so poor?”

Ren Yaoqi obediently let Ren Shimin feel her forehead in his haphazard way, not reminding him that hands that had just held hot tea couldn’t detect body heat. She only lowered her head and said, “No, I just suddenly remembered that when Father left home, he had assigned me many paintings and calligraphy pieces to copy. Because I’ve been ill for so long, I haven’t completed them. I was afraid Father would scold me when he checked my coursework later.”

Hearing this, Ren Shimin helplessly withdrew his hand and laughed while scolding: “When has Father ever scolded you? Yet you scared yourself like this?”

Seeing that Ren Yaoqi’s complexion had improved considerably, Li Shi couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief: “It’s good that you’re not ill.”

Although Ren Yaoqi continued to act as a bridge of communication between Ren Shimin and Li Shi afterward, she was constantly worried in her heart about how she could prevent everything from happening.

“Master, Madam, Concubine Fang has brought Sixth Young Master and Eighth Miss to pay their respects.” The senior maid Shanhu reported through the curtain.

Ren Shimin looked at Li Shi in surprise: “Isn’t Concubine Fang still ill?”

Li Shi thought this was a reproach and said uneasily: “I, I had instructed her not to come.”

Ren Shimin nodded, indicating for them to enter.

Soon, Concubine Fang entered with her pair of children.

Today Concubine Fang wore a light blue sheepskin jacket of ordinary fabric, her hair arranged in a round chignon with a Zhaojun hair ornament on her forehead. Her attire was plain, but it didn’t diminish her dignified beauty. As she walked, her head slightly lowered, her slender waist graceful, her lotus steps light, she naturally possessed an elegant bearing that was rarely seen to be frivolous.

No wonder the maids of the Ren family all liked to secretly imitate her.

Ren Shimin looked at Concubine Fang, and his eyes couldn’t help but contain some appreciation. He had always been generous with his gaze toward beautiful things.

Concubine Fang’s eyes briefly swept toward Ren Shimin’s direction, then immediately looked away as she came forward to kowtow and pay respects to Ren Shimin and Li Shi.

Ren Shimin smiled and nodded: “Get up. Didn’t Madam tell you to rest and recover from your illness?”

Concubine Fang’s beautiful eyes were gentle, her smile somewhat weak, but joy radiated from within: “This concubine heard that Master had returned, so this concubine… this concubine came to pay respects.”

Seeing Concubine Fang’s appearance, Ren Yaohua became angry despite her efforts to restrain herself. Though she tried hard to control it, her words still came out quite coldly: “Since you were told to rest, you should rest properly. If you come out like this and catch a cold, making your illness worse, people who don’t know the situation might think my mother treats you harshly!”

Hearing this, Concubine Fang’s complexion darkened, the smile at the corner of her mouth became somewhat bitter, but she very submissively lowered her head and responded: “Third Miss’s instruction is correct. This concubine was thoughtless.”

Ren Shimin frowned as he glanced at Ren Yaohua. He, as the head of the household, had not yet spoken, yet his daughter was already lecturing his father’s concubine, which he considered improper.

Ren Yaoqi smiled at Concubine Fang: “Concubine, please don’t take offense. Third Sister always speaks directly. Even good words become unpleasant when they pass through her mouth. I usually find it most tiresome to talk with her. However, I think her original intention wasn’t to ‘lecture’ you, but rather she was worried about you catching a cold because you’re dressed too lightly.”

Ren Shimin looked at Concubine Fang’s clothing.

Nanny Zhou also said in surprise, “Concubine, why are you dressed so lightly today? It’s so cold outside! You don’t take care of yourself. A few days ago, when it wasn’t this cold, you still knew to wear fox fur jackets and thick cloaks. You’re deliberately making our Madam worry.”

Concubine Fang’s face reddened.

“It’s because Sixth Brother and I were eager to see Father and kept asking to come quickly. Concubine only paid attention to what we were wearing and neglected her clothing. Mother, please don’t blame my concubine, will you?” Ren Yaoyu looked at Li Shi pleadingly.

“Your mother hasn’t blamed anyone. How is it that each of you is already feeling wronged?” Ren Shimin interrupted, his voice gentle but restraining his impatience well.

Though he disdained managing these inner courtyard affairs, due to his sensitive nature, this kind of back-and-forth between women made him extremely annoyed.