Sensing Ren Yaoqi’s gaze, Xiao Jingxi felt delighted, his smiling countenance becoming even more captivating and impossible to look away from.
Xiao Jinglin cleared her throat lightly and glanced sideways at Xiao Jingxi: “It’s getting late. Let’s go, or we won’t make it back this afternoon.”
Ren Yaoqi was somewhat surprised and couldn’t help asking: “Where are we going?”
Xiao Jinglin had previously said today was for spring outings, so she thought they would stay around Tianqing Mountain. But from Xiao Jinglin’s words, it seemed the destination was quite far.
Xiao Jinglin glanced at Xiao Jingxi.
Xiao Jingxi looked at Ren Yaoqi with a smile: “To the Hot Spring Villa. I had people make several large kites—there’s not enough space to fly them here.”
Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi felt somewhat troubled. She naturally enjoyed playing with Xiao Jinglin, but this height-climbing gathering was prepared by Madam Xu and her mother and the others. It would be fine for her to leave briefly, but not showing up at all wouldn’t be good.
As if knowing what was troubling Ren Yaoqi, Xiao Jinglin said: “When I came to find you, I already spoke with Teacher Ouyang. She knows my temperament best—don’t worry, she’ll cover for you.”
Ren Yaoqi felt something was strange, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was odd about it for the moment. Still, she remained somewhat hesitant.
Xiao Jingxi paused suddenly and said: “I painted the kites.”
“Ah?” Ren Yaoqi blinked and looked at Xiao Jingxi, not immediately understanding.
“I painted the kites,” Xiao Jingxi repeated.
Although he was still smiling, his eyes had dimmed somewhat, and he added quietly: “Won’t you come?”
Ren Yaoqi’s face reddened. She wanted to say that today was inconvenient and she couldn’t just leave like this, but when the words reached her lips, for some reason, meeting Xiao Jingxi’s gaze, she couldn’t say them at all. When she inexplicably opened her mouth and said the word “go,” even she was stunned.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but Xiao Jingxi heard it. The corners of his lips curved into a pleased arc, and the dim look in his eyes was immediately dispelled by the brilliant light that broke through the clouds.
Xiao Jinglin turned her head away as if unable to bear watching, snorting coldly in her heart.
Ren Yaoqi bit her lip—she felt she must have been possessed just now. But since she had already agreed, she couldn’t go back on her word now. She could only turn and board the carriage, not daring to look at Xiao Jingxi again.
Xiao Jinglin let Ren Yaoqi board the carriage first. After Ren Yaoqi got on, she looked Xiao Jingxi up and down with disdain: “Do you know what you look like right now?”
Xiao Jingxi was in a good mood. Although he knew Xiao Jinglin certainly had nothing nice to say, he still smiled good-naturedly: “What?”
Xiao Jinglin rolled her eyes: “A peacock! Male! In full display! So whatever you do, don’t turn your back on me right now!” After dropping this line, Xiao Jinglin jumped onto her carriage.
Xiao Jingxi: “…”
Halfway through the carriage ride, Xiao Jinglin struggled for a long time before saying expressionlessly to Ren Yaoqi: “Do you know how King Yin Wu and King Zhou You of history lost their kingdoms?”
Ren Yaoqi was stunned, not knowing why Xiao Jinglin would suddenly bring this up. Just as she was about to answer, Xiao Jinglin sighed and continued earnestly: “The bloody lessons in history books teach us one truth—don’t be easily bewitched by beauty. Beauty’s tears are a hero’s grave!”
Ren Yaoqi: “…”
Ren Yaoqi, who thought she understood Xiao Jinglin quite well, pondered the entire journey but couldn’t figure out what deeper meaning Xiao Jinglin’s words held. Fundamentally, it was because the two had very different definitions of “beauty” and “hero.”
The journey from the southern suburbs to the Hot Spring Villa took most of an hour. After the carriage entered the villa, the three of them got off.
Ren Yaoqi looked around and smiled: “Isn’t the Double Ninth Festival about going out to climb heights? Where are the high places at the Hot Spring Villa?”
Hearing this, Xiao Jingxi smiled and pointed toward the southwest: “Isn’t that one there?”
Ren Yaoqi looked in the direction Xiao Jingxi pointed and was slightly stunned.
In the southwest direction of the Hot Spring Villa stood a tall tower with nine stories, called the “Star-Picking Tower” by the people of Yunyang City, visible from far away. Ren Yaoqi had seen this tower when she came to the Hot Spring Villa before, but it was said that the “Star-Picking Tower” was a forbidden area of the villa, guarded and not to be approached.
Ren Yaoqi had previously heard other young ladies and madams discussing it. Some said the nine-story tower was a pagoda containing Buddha’s relics, others said it housed the ancestral tablets of the Xiao family generations and their hereditary military texts, and still others claimed the “Star-Picking Tower” actually imprisoned a hundred-year-old “National Teacher” from Yanbei, whom the Prince of Yanbei would consult for divination before each battle.
However, looking at Xiao Jingxi and Xiao Jinglin’s expressions, the “Star-Picking Tower” didn’t seem to hold any great secrets. But since it was a forbidden area after all, it seemed inappropriate as a location for Double Ninth Festival height-climbing.
Xiao Jingxi just smiled nonchalantly: “It’s just an empty tower. The reason people aren’t allowed in is simply fear that the tower is too high and going up would be dangerous.”
Xiao Jinglin glanced at Xiao Jingxi but said nothing.
Although Ren Yaoqi had some doubts, since Xiao Jingxi had said so, she couldn’t say anything more.
As the three walked southwest while chatting, suddenly there were rustling sounds from the roadside grass. Ren Yaoqi turned to look and saw Shaniu poking her head out from a clump of low shrubs not far away. Her tail wagged cheerfully, and she was about to emerge with an “awoo” when Tonghe appeared from nowhere and patted her head: “Rolling around and getting covered in mud—come wash with me!”
Shaniu’s previously cheerful tail stopped wagging, then she turned and roared fiercely at Tonghe. Shaniu was now about the size of an adult tiger, and this tiger’s roar startled all the birds from the surrounding branches. Most people would be trembling with fear upon hearing it.
Xiao Jingxi walked over and flicked Shaniu’s forehead with his finger, saying with a half-smile: “Such high spirits—how about several more baths?”
Shaniu, who had been displaying tiger majesty just moments before, quickly tilted her head back and retreated, staring at Xiao Jingxi with innocent, round eyes while her tail wagged even more ingratiatingly—where was even half the bearing of a forest king?
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but find it amusing.
Tonghe laughed nearby: “Every time, this little one only behaves during baths when the young master is around. Usually, she’s quite fierce in the garden.”
Shaniu was mostly kept at the Hot Spring Villa, where there were quite a few animals, large and small. Shaniu’s favorite activity was chasing chickens and dogs, though she wouldn’t bite even when she caught them—she just liked to carry other small animals in her mouth and roll around in the grass to play. When she was happy, she would carefully return those cats and dogs unharmed, then continue playing the next day. Shaniu was now considered the tyrant of the Hot Spring Villa.
This big tiger was usually imposing and domineering. Because everyone in the garden knew she was Xiao Jingxi’s beloved pet, no one dared do anything to her, spoiling her into complete lawlessness. When unhappy, she would let out a “tiger roar” to show her displeasure. But in front of Second Young Master Xiao, she had no temper at all, obedient as a big dog.
Xiao Jinglin had once mocked Xiao Jingxi, saying that in front of Shaniu, no amount of pretense worked! Tigers don’t identify people with their eyes but with their noses, which showed he had a deep-seated scent of villainy.
In the end, thanks to Ren Yaoqi’s intercession, Shaniu escaped the fate of being dragged back for a thorough scrubbing and happily followed them toward the nine-story tower. However, this silly tiger’s bad habits remained—every few steps, she would chase flies or pounce on butterflies like a cat, or play with her tail. Throughout the journey, she was most entertained by her antics.
The nine-story tower indeed had guards outside, but with Xiao Jingxi present, when the three people and one tiger entered, the guards didn’t even lift their eyes. However, Pingguo, Hongying, and the others were left outside.
Ren Yaoqi had previously looked from afar and thought this tall tower, while high, must be very narrow inside. But upon entering, she discovered each floor was quite spacious. The first floor was empty with nothing inside. The second floor had a square table with a chessboard on it, displaying an intricate chess puzzle.
From the third floor onward, bookshelves appeared—tall bookshelves reaching the ceiling, arranged around the walls in a circle, filling the entire room. Even the windows were blocked, making the tower’s interior very dim. Xiao Jingxi walked ahead, holding an oil lamp he had found somewhere, climbing the stairs while turning to watch the person following behind him.
Ren Yaoqi was still curious about this tower that was so mysterious in people’s mouths, so she looked around as she walked, wondering what wonders the next floor might reveal. Unfortunately, all the way up to the eighth floor, all she could see were bookshelves.
Fortunately, the skylights on all four sides of the eighth floor weren’t blocked, allowing light to stream in and instantly brightening the tower interior.
Xiao Jingxi blew out the oil lamp in his hand and placed it in a hidden compartment beside the stairs.
Ren Yaoqi was about to turn and speak with Xiao Jinglin when she discovered Xiao Jinglin was gone.
“Jinglin?” Ren Yaoqi called out, her voice echoing continuously in the tower with seven or eight reverberations, startling her.
“This tower is called the ‘Echo Tower,'” Xiao Jingxi’s voice sounded nearby, also producing echoes.
Ren Yaoqi looked at the person so close to her, her heart skipping a beat.
When climbing the stairs earlier, no one had spoken, and she had been watching her feet. Hearing footsteps behind her throughout, she assumed Xiao Jinglin had followed. Now thinking about it, the footsteps she heard earlier might have been echoes.