Qi Yuegui quickly curtsied with a bright smile: “Thank you for your gracious mercy, Young Master.”

Ren Yijun looked at her, then at the orchid in her hands, snorted coldly, and magnanimously said: “You may go now. Oh, and have someone bring tea and refreshments to the flower hall.”

“Right away!” Qi Yuegui placed the flower pot under the courtyard corridor and efficiently withdrew.

Ren Yaoqi smiled and shook her head, following Ren Yijun to the small flower hall in Qingfeng Courtyard used for receiving guests.

After sitting down as host and guest, Ren Yijun said, “Before you came, I received word that Third Uncle sent a letter today.”

Ren Yaoqi quickly asked: “What did the letter say?”

Ren Shimin and the others had set out for the capital in April, and it was already August now.

During this time, Ren Shimin had only sent two letters, saying that after they arrived in the capital, there had been a great fire in the palace’s Wenyuan Hall, so the literary competition had been postponed. They would probably return around August and could make it back for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Ren Yijun smiled: “It’s good news. Third Uncle’s painting took second place. Although the first place representative was from the capital, that person was actually from our Yanbei, so Third Uncle didn’t lose face for Yanbei either.”

Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment and raised her eyebrows: “Could it be the Crown Prince?”

Ren Yijun laughed heartily: “Exactly, the Crown Prince of Yanbei.”

Ren Yaoqi had also heard of this Crown Prince from Yanbei Prince’s mansion. Though he couldn’t practice martial arts, he was an expert in refined pursuits like music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

“The court had the Crown Prince of Yanbei’s mansion represent the capital to compete against the people sent from Yanbei?” Ren Yaoqi frowned.

Ren Yijun scoffed: “They only know how to pull these petty tricks. It’s nothing more than wanting to tell Yanbei Prince’s mansion that even if people from Yanbei win, the winner is still a subject of the Great Zhou Dynasty and must obey the Li family’s orders, because even our Crown Prince must bow to their wishes.”

Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi smiled: “Oh? So this means even though Yanbei won this time, the victory wasn’t satisfying?”

Ren Yijun shook his head: “Naturally not.” For once, Ren Yijun played coy.

Ren Yaoqi cooperatively put on an attentive listening expression.

“The capital played tricks during the literary competition, but the upcoming martial competition won’t have so many tricks for them to play. In archery, horsemanship, polo, and cuju, Yanbei won a complete victory.” When Ren Yijun said this, his expression showed undisguised pride as a person from Yanbei.

Ren Yaoqi said in surprise: “I remember that in previous martial competitions, although Yanbei had the advantage, the court would still win a few rounds.”

Ren Yijun scoffed again: “That was just letting them save face. Since this time they threw away their dignity, why give them any face?”

The court used the Crown Prince of Yanbei to warn Yanbei Prince’s mansion that “under heaven, all land belongs to the king; within the realm, all people are the king’s subjects.” Yanbei Prince’s mansion responded by directly throwing punches to see whose fists were harder.

Ren Yaoqi thought that the conflict between Yanbei and the court had already reached such a white-hot stage. It seemed this trip to the capital was indeed full of undercurrents. No wonder Xiao Jingxi had personally gone to the capital. She only hoped they could return safely and smoothly.

“Did Father’s letter mention a specific return date?”

Ren Yijun frowned: “Originally, they planned to set out before the Mid-Autumn Festival. But Second Young Master Xiao fell ill again, so they might be delayed.”

Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi was startled: “Second Young Master Xiao is ill? What kind of illness? Is it serious?”

Ren Yijun looked at Ren Yaoqi somewhat strangely: “Third Uncle’s letter didn’t go into detail. After all, Third Uncle couldn’t have close contact with Second Young Master Xiao. But I think it should be his chronic ailment acting up again. Hasn’t his health always been poor?”

But Ren Yaoqi was thinking whether Xiao Jingxi’s illness at this time was a real sickness or a feigning illness for some reason. If it was a real illness, was it his poison acting up, or had someone plotted against him?

Because she was thinking about Xiao Jingxi’s illness, Ren Yaoqi was somewhat distracted during her subsequent conversation with Ren Yijun. She was somewhat worried that if Xiao Jingxi couldn’t return before the Ningxia rebellion due to illness, wouldn’t Zeng Pu have another opportunity? As for whether Ren Yaoqi was worried about “Xiao Jingxi being ill” itself, perhaps even she couldn’t tell clearly.

After sitting with Ren Yijun for a while, Ren Yaoqi got up to take her leave.

Ren Yijun rose to see her out.

Looking at him, Ren Yaoqi smiled: “Third Brother, your complexion looks much better lately.”

Ren Yijun was startled and said, baffled: “I’m a sickly person. How good could my complexion look?”

Ren Yaoqi smiled and shook her head: “An imperial physician once said that many illnesses are purely from being lazy. Moving around more is very good. The Princess taught me a set of sword techniques. I’ve been practicing for a year now. You know I used to catch a cold easily every winter, but this past year I haven’t had to take medicine once.”

Hearing this, Ren Yijun couldn’t help but look thoughtful.

Just then, a servant woman walked past under the corridor, looked at the flower pot under the corridor, and muttered quietly: “Eh? Who planted chives in the glazed flower pot?”

Ren Yijun’s expression changed immediately. He immediately left Ren Yaoqi and walked toward the corridor, pointing at the pot of so-called “orchid” that Qi Yuegui had brought earlier and glaring at the servant woman: “What did you say? Say it again! What is this thing?”

The servant woman was startled by the fierce Ren Yijun and stammered: “Re-replying to Third Young Master, this, this is chives. There’s a big bundle in the kitchen for making chive dumplings. If Third Young Master doesn’t believe me, this servant can go to the kitchen to get some for you to see?”

Ren Yijun’s face instantly became a palette of colors. He gritted his teeth, then clenched his fist and roared: “Qi Yuegui! Get out here right now!”

Qi Yuegui happened to be running out of the tea room carrying a plate of candied ginger that Ren Yijun had specifically requested earlier, saying as she ran: “Coming, coming, Young Master! Your candy is here!”

But after running a few steps, Qi Yuegui noticed something was wrong. She glanced around at Ren Yijun’s livid face, then looked at the pot of “orchid” under the corridor and the servant woman who was trembling with fear. Then she quickly stuffed the plate in her hands to a little maid behind her and took off running back.

As she ran, she waved back: “Young Master, you eat the candy first. I’ll go brew you a fresh pot of good tea! I’ll be right back!”

How could Ren Yijun still listen to her nonsense? He lifted his foot and chased after her: “Qi Yuegui, you foolish woman! Stop right there!”

Qi Yuegui called back: “Eh? Young Master, you want to run with me again? Fine then, but run slowly! Hey—watch your step!”

Just as Qi Yuegui finished speaking, Ren Yijun kicked a small flower pot in the courtyard and fell with a “crash.”

Ren Yaoqi: “…”

Qi Yuegui hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly jogged back: “Young Master, are you alright? Is it serious? Are you hurt anywhere? Should I have someone carry you back to your room?”

Ren Yijun got up using his hands and feet, and without a word lunged forward to grab her. Qi Yuegui was so frightened she immediately jumped back a big step, then ran away again.

Ren Yaoqi watched the two people in the courtyard chasing each other with great enthusiasm, sighed, and left with her maids.

Sangshen said, “Miss, aren’t you going to try to persuade them?”

Ren Yaoqi shook her head and said quietly: “Some things are between two people—others can’t interfere.”

Sangshen looked back with half-understanding.

But Ren Yaoqi was thinking that she couldn’t find anything wrong with Qi Yuegui, nor could she see any malicious intent from her. On the contrary, Ren Yijun had become much more cheerful and healthy because of her. Since that was the case, she would try to trust once. Not everyone in this world is a bad person.

In his previous life, Ren Yijun had been lonely and bitter his whole life. He was a genuinely good person, and she hoped that in this life he could have someone to spend the rest of his life with.

This autumn was colder than in previous years. Not long after the Mid-Autumn Festival, there were several consecutive rainy days. The wind and rain outside were so strong that even bringing out winter padded jackets to wear still couldn’t ward off the cold. The entire Ren mansion began making winter clothes early.

Third Master Ren still hadn’t returned from the capital, and Ren Yaoqi began to worry, going to Ren Yijun’s place every few days to inquire about news.

Even if Ren Shimin wrote letters home, the letters would first go to Old Master Ren, for the men of the Ren family to read first. But by September, there was still no letter from Ren Shimin’s side.

Ren Yijun spoke with First Master Ren, asking First Master Ren to send someone to the capital to check, or to write to Second Old Master and Fourth Master at the Eastern Manor to ask about the situation in the capital.

In mid-September, Yanbei had another early snow, heralding the arrival of winter.

Early this morning, Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua were returning together from Ronghua Garden. Ren Yaoqi was afraid of the cold and wore a thick padded jacket, holding a palm-sized hand warmer. As she walked through the garden, her deerskin boots made “crunch crunch” sounds stepping on the snow.

Just then, a servant woman from the gatehouse came running over hurriedly, saying joyfully as she ran: “Third Master has returned! The Third Master has returned from the capital!”

Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi was delighted and felt greatly relieved.

How wonderful—Father had returned.

After Ren Shimin’s return, as usual, he first went to Ronghua Garden to see Old Master Ren and Old Madam Ren, then returned to Ziwei Courtyard.

Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua had just returned from Ronghua Garden, so they went to Ziwei Courtyard first to wait for Third Master Ren.

Half an hour later, Ren Shimin finally appeared in the main hall of Ziwei Courtyard.

From participating in this literary competition, Ren Shimin had not only made breakthroughs in his painting skills and met many like-minded friends, but had also gained a resounding reputation. So, although he looked much thinner than when he left, he appeared particularly spirited.

It was quite normal for people to be in high spirits during happy events, but what surprised Ren Yaoqi was that Ren Shimin was wearing a dark blue outfit with fitted sleeves. Although the fabric of this clothing looked very fine, Ren Shimin had always paid attention to his appearance. How could he possibly wear a style that he would consider only suitable for warriors and crude people?

Moreover, this outfit looked somewhat travel-worn, quite unlike the style of Third Master Ren, who bathed daily regardless of season and changed clothes three times a day.