Xiao Jinglin’s words made Ren Yaoqi chuckle with a “puchi” sound. She truly hadn’t expected that someone like Xiao Jingxi would say such things.

However, if a person could do what must be done without being burdened by reputation, it was either because they didn’t care or because they possessed the strength to fear no opposing voices.

Someone like Xiao Jingxi should be the second type.

It had to be said, this was quite enviable.

After Xiao Jingxi returned, he invited Ren Yaoqi to play Go. They played for over an hour but only finished one game. This time it wasn’t a draw—Xiao Jingxi won.

While collecting the Go stones, Xiao Jingxi smiled and remarked, “This game, you played quite properly and methodically.”

Xiao Jingxi’s words reminded Ren Yaoqi of their first match, when she had racked her brains and used every means possible to avoid losing. She couldn’t help but lower her head and smile.

Xiao Jinglin was tugging at Sha Niu’s ears while yawning continuously nearby: “You two play two games of Go every day, and just like that, the whole day passes. How truly peaceful and leisurely the years are.”

Please forgive the “unscholarly” Princess Xiao for speaking so casually—she meant nothing else by it. But somehow, when the two chess players heard it, they felt something was oddly strange about her words.

Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi exchanged a glance, then both lowered their heads to collect the stones without speaking. Xiao Jinglin and the little tiger Sha Niu looked at one, then the other, their innocent expressions perfectly matched.

Seeing the atmosphere had become somewhat peculiar, Ren Yaoqi remembered she still had an important matter to discuss. She opened her mouth to ask Xiao Jingxi: “Young Master Xiao, do you have any impression of a person named Fang Yacun?”

Xiao Jingxi thought for a moment: “I remember that among the recent batch of candidate officials from Yanbei, there was such a person. Fang Yacun… he seems to have some connection with your Ren family?” With his excellent memory, Xiao Jingxi had roughly reviewed the backgrounds of all those officials.

Ren Yaoqi nodded and said thoughtfully: “His legitimate mother and my grandmother are blood sisters, and his elder sister is one of my father’s concubines. Recently, because some unpleasant events occurred in our household, I was reminded of this person, Fang Yacun. There are some aspects I can’t quite understand, and I’d like to ask Young Master Xiao to help clarify my confusion.”

Due to the Han family situation, Xiao Jingxi already knew quite a bit about the Ren family affairs—both what he should and shouldn’t know. Since the pot was already broken, Ren Yaoqi wasn’t afraid to expose her family’s disgraceful matters in front of him.

Xiao Jingxi looked at Ren Yaoqi with a slight smile and nodded, indicating for her to continue.

Ren Yaoqi frowned and said, “Logically, the Fang family’s roots are in Jiangnan. Although Fang Yacun is only a sixth-rank assistant prefect in Chuzhou, he’s highly regarded by his superiors. His wife’s natal family is also in Jiangnan and quite wealthy. By all logic and reason, wouldn’t it be better for him to remain in Jiangnan? Yet both Fang Yacun himself and his wife seem enthusiastic about coming to Yanbei. I heard that among this new batch of officials appointed to Yanbei, none are ranked higher than sixth grade in terms of position. Young Master Xiao, are you familiar with affairs in Chuzhou?”

Xiao Jingxi curved his fingers slightly, gently tapping the Go board as he pondered for a moment: “I hadn’t heard of this Fang Yacun before. He probably doesn’t have any significant background. However, I remember the current Prefect of Chuzhou is named Feng Mian. This person has mediocre abilities—he’s nearly fifty and only achieved the position of prefectural leader, and not through political achievements. Do you know why?”

Xiao Jingxi looked at Ren Yaoqi with a slight smile.

Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi became somewhat curious: “Oh? Could it be through nepotism via marriage connections?”

Xiao Jingxi smiled and shook his head: “It is indeed nepotism, but not through marriage. He acknowledged a eunuch over ten years younger than himself as his adoptive father, and gave his youngest son to this eunuch to continue the family line.”

Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but frown. Somehow, she had a bad premonition in her heart. She rubbed the Go stone she was playing with in her hands and asked: “I wonder which eunuch he acknowledged.”

Xiao Jingxi said, “This eunuch’s surname is Lu, and he serves beside Empress Dowager Yan.”

Ren Yaoqi’s hand trembled, and the Go stone slipped from her fingertips, falling to the ground with a crisp sound. Her face had already turned pale as she looked up at Xiao Jingxi in disbelief: “Who?”

Xiao Jingxi was somewhat bewildered, not understanding why Ren Yaoqi had suddenly lost her composure. He softened his voice, speaking gently and soothingly: “It’s Eunuch Lu who serves beside Empress Dowager Yan. This person is about thirty years old and has served the Empress Dowager for over ten years, earning her great favor. However… he’s merely a eunuch.”

But Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help thinking of events from her previous life, her body beginning to tremble.

There were some things she desperately wanted to forget and never deliberately recalled, but hearing this name now still prevented her from remaining calm.

After being sent to Eunuch Lu by the Ren family that year, she had lived in constant fear and anxiety. According to whispered discussions among the servants who attended to Eunuch Lu, although he was a rootless man, he greatly enjoyed using various despicable methods to torment women. The servants had once seen the horrifically mangled body of a young maid carried out from his courtyard.

The old woman assigned to serve her comforted her, saying that since she came from a prominent family and was sent to be Eunuch Lu’s wife, he probably wouldn’t use such methods on her.

The first time she saw Eunuch Lu was on the evening of the third day after being sent there. That day, she had gone to bed early, and in her half-sleeping, half-waking state, she felt someone stroking her face. Frightened, she jolted awake, only to see a pale, slightly plump middle-aged man sitting by her bedside. The man reeked of alcohol, and the way he looked at her was so strange it made her feel nauseous.

She screamed in terror, but the man pounced on her, pressing her down on the bed. Ignoring her struggles, he began tearing at her clothes while gripping her throat with one hand.

Ren Yaoqi felt such despair that she wanted to die, yet she knew she still wanted to live. When the man lowered his head to kiss her, she bit down hard on his ear, ultimately being knocked unconscious by his slap.

When she awoke, she learned from the old woman caring for her that the man was indeed Eunuch Lu.

Fortunately, Eunuch Lu had injured his ear and sobered up considerably, losing interest in tormenting her. He went to tend to his wound first, and she felt relieved knowing her chastity had been preserved.

But this relief didn’t last long. The next day, Eunuch Lu returned with his ear bandaged, carrying a strange whip about a foot long. Without a word, he began lashing her with it.

That time, she was beaten until her entire body was covered in wounds, barely clinging to life, and she spent half a month recuperating in bed.

From then on, every time her injuries healed, he would give her a thorough whipping, though he never struck her face.

She still remembered how he twisted his face grotesquely and said to her: “Aren’t you a chaste and virtuous woman? I want to see just how chaste you can remain! One day you’ll be unable to bear the pain and beg this old man to take you to bed!”

She cursed “in your dreams” in her heart, then endured in silence without a sound. She thought she would eventually die under Eunuch Lu’s whip in that lifetime, but she ultimately persevered and encountered Pei Zhiqian, who was willing to rescue her from that living hell.

That period of the past was a nightmare for Ren Yaoqi. Hearing the three words “Eunuch Lu” triggered this nightmare from the depths of her heart.

Both Xiao Jingxi and Xiao Jinglin noticed something was amiss with Ren Yaoqi.

Xiao Jingxi observed Ren Yaoqi for a while, then bent down to pick up the Go stone that had fallen by his feet. He rubbed it between his fingers for a moment, then leaned forward slightly and placed the stone in Ren Yaoqi’s palm.

The slightly cool Go stone, still carrying some of Xiao Jingxi’s body warmth, falling into her palm brought Ren Yaoqi back to her senses. She lowered her head to look at the white stone in her palm, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Xiao Jingxi looked at her with a gentle smile: “Look, the stone has a crack from being dropped.”

Ren Yaoqi came to her senses and immediately said: “I’m sorry, I… I’ll replace a set for you.” Though what she replaced certainly couldn’t match this set.

Xiao Jingxi smiled and shook his head, taking the stone back from Ren Yaoqi’s hand: “I like objects with stories, because having a story makes them unique. Today you played Go with me and broke one of my stones, so this originally ordinary set of Go stones now has a story.”

Ren Yaoqi was amused by his explanation, and the negative emotions she’d felt from remembering Eunuch Lu also dissipated considerably. She smiled: “Then shall I break a few more to give it more stories?”

Hearing this, Xiao Jingxi smiled at her: “That won’t do. Since it’s a story, it shouldn’t be deliberately created. Besides, you couldn’t create another identical crack.”

He looked at her with gentle, bright eyes: “I just want to tell you that the crack already formed on the stone cannot be erased, but precisely because of this crack, it has become the unique stone it is now. Why not view the harm as a story that has already happened? After all, no matter how you drop it, you can’t create identical marks. If you view it lightly, it cannot hurt you.”

If you view it lightly, it cannot hurt you.

Because of Xiao Jingxi’s words and his seemingly all-seeing, gentle gaze, Ren Yaoqi was somewhat stunned.

After a moment, Ren Yaoqi slowly curved her lips upward, looking at Xiao Jingxi earnestly: “Thank you.”

She spoke these thanks very sincerely, because she was truly grateful.

It seemed that every time, Xiao Jingxi could always guide her out of her obsessions with just a sentence or two.

Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but look at Xiao Jingxi a few more times. His ink-colored robes made his jade-like countenance even more striking, pleasing to the eye. Such an incomparably handsome man always made Ren Yaoqi forget that he was currently just a young man not much older than her present age.

Seeing Ren Yaoqi staring at him without speaking, Xiao Jingxi felt somewhat flustered and wanted to reach for his tea bowl to conceal his unwillingness to admit his confusion, but his hand grasped only empty air.

Xiao Jinglin had taken Xiao Jingxi’s cup away and stood up to hand it to Hong Ying, who was waiting nearby: “Go exchange this for a hot one.”

Xiao Jingxi: “…”