The Dowager Consort of Yanbei Prince’s mansion was also known as the Old Princess Consort. The Dowager Consort didn’t like others calling her “Dowager Consort” because if she were addressed as Dowager Consort Li, then her rival Concubine Yun, who was only half a rank below her, would also become Dowager Consort Yun, making it impossible to distinguish their difference in status from their titles alone. So the Dowager Consort had people call her “Old Princess Consort,” while Concubine Yun was addressed as “Old Madam Yun,” immediately clarifying the hierarchy.

Birthdays came every year, and birthday celebrations were held annually, so nothing was particularly unusual about it. But this year seemed somewhat different because Yanbei Prince had written a memorial early on requesting imperial permission for the Yanbei Prince’s heir, who was serving as a hostage in the capital, to return and celebrate the Dowager Consort’s birthday.

Prince Xiao Jingkang, the heir to Yanbei Prince’s mansion, had been summoned to the capital as a hostage since childhood and had hardly returned to Yanbei since then. Even his marriage had been entirely arranged by the imperial court. This time, using Dowager Consort Li’s birthday as an excuse, the heir requested permission to return to Yanbei, which was truly a joyous occasion for the people of Yanbei.

Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi was somewhat surprised because in her previous life, she didn’t remember Prince Xiao returning to Yanbei at this time. Moreover, due to the Ningxia incident, the situation between the imperial court and Yanbei had become quite precarious. With the addition of Prince Xian’s involvement, wasn’t the court afraid of releasing a tiger back to the mountains by letting the heir return? It probably wouldn’t be easy for the heir to come back to Yanbei.

Lei Ting had only mentioned it in passing and then continued discussing the book compilation project with Third Master Ren, so Ren Yaoqi didn’t think about it further.

After the meal, sisters Ren Yaohua and Ren Yaoqi went aside for a private conversation. Ren Yaohua told Ren Yaoqi about Xiao Qiao Shi’s situation. Ren Yaoqi only reminded Ren Yaohua to pay attention to Xiao Qiao Shi’s movements and see if she had any contact with outsiders, but didn’t say much else.

The Lei Ting couple stayed until after dinner before returning home. The most reluctant to leave turned out to be Lei Pan’er. There was a pomegranate tree bearing fruit in the Ren family’s back courtyard, and Lei Pan’er had spent the day directing the maids to pick all the pomegranates from the tree. Though the fruit wasn’t very sweet, the little girl had great fun and even made arrangements for next year’s pomegranates to be saved for her to pick. Lei Pan’er was clever and lively, and everyone in the Ren household liked her. Even Third Master Ren gave her a personally carved Tianhuang stone seal with flower and bird designs.

Li Shi and Ren Yaoqi personally escorted Ren Yaohua to the second gate. Only after their carriage had departed did they turn back to the inner courtyard. But they had barely reached the hanging flower gate when they saw Ren Yihong approaching with an unfamiliar young man.

Seeing Li Shi and Ren Yaoqi, Ren Yihong quickly stepped forward to pay his respects. Earlier, Ren Yihong had also come to meet his brother-in-law Lei Ting, but was later sent by Third Master Ren to the outer courtyard to study.

“Mother, this is Father’s student, Meng Shilin. Father asked me to bring him over, saying he had something to give to Brother Shilin,” Ren Yihong quickly explained, seeing Li Shi examining the young man beside him.

Meng Shilin immediately bowed to Li Shi, addressing her as his teacher’s wife.

Ren Yaoqi also glanced at the young man. Though his appearance was ordinary, his temperament was very refined. His gestures carried the scholarly air of an educated person. When meeting Li Shi and Ren Yaoqi, his attitude was composed, but he respectfully avoided looking directly at Ren Yaoqi’s face. His neither humble nor arrogant manner clearly showed he had received a good education. However, though the fabric of his clothes wasn’t too poor, it looked as if it had been washed and starched many times and was quite worn.

“Your surname is Meng?” Li Shi smiled kindly at Meng Shilin and asked casually.

The Meng family was also a prominent clan in Yanbei. The aunt of Miss Guo Yujiao from the Guo family was the current mistress of the Meng household. Hearing that his surname was Meng, Li Shi assumed he was a Meng family descendant.

Meng Shilin bowed his head respectfully and replied: “In response to Teacher’s wife, this student is from a branch family of the Mengs.”

Even though he was only from a Meng branch family, Li Shi didn’t look down on him and said amiably, “I’ve heard the master mention having a talented student surnamed Meng. That must be you. Don’t stand outside – come in and sit while you wait. I’ll have someone invite the master.”

Meng Shilin quickly expressed his thanks. Just then, Third Master Ren emerged from inside carrying several books. Everyone quickly paid their respects to Third Master Ren.

Since it wasn’t appropriate for Li Shi to linger there, she took Ren Yaoqi back first.

That evening, when Ren Yaoqi went to bid her parents goodnight, she happened to hear Third Master Ren and Li Shi discussing Meng Shilin in the side room. Third Master Ren asked Li Shi, “You met Meng Shilin earlier. What do you think of him?”

Li Shi was momentarily stunned, then replied: “He’s a well-mannered child.”

Ren Shimin nodded with satisfaction: “Not only well-mannered and courteous, but his scholarship is excellent too, and his calligraphy is superb. Among all my students, he has the best aptitude. It’s just a pity he missed this year’s autumn examinations and will have to wait another three years.” Ren Shimin sighed regretfully at this point.

“I heard him say he’s from a Meng branch family?” Li Shi asked.

Ren Shimin nodded: “His branch is quite distant from the main Meng line. Both his father and legitimate mother have passed away, and he lives with his concubine mother. The family has no stable property. But fortunately, being a Meng descendant, he can still receive clan support, otherwise, he couldn’t have been admitted to Yunyang Academy.”

Large families generally maintained clan schools to facilitate education for their descendants. Someone in Meng Shilin’s situation could still receive monthly assistance from the clan.

Li Shi rarely heard Ren Shimin discuss a student’s family background in such detail, so she probed tentatively: “From what you’re saying, you seem to think highly of him?”

Ren Shimin readily admitted: “Yes, though Meng Shilin’s family circumstances are lacking, I’m not the type to be swayed by power and influence. So I’m thinking of making him my son-in-law.”

Son-in-law – Third Master Ren wanted to make Meng Shilin a son-in-law of their family?

Li Shi was stunned again and carefully asked: “Which daughter does the master want to marry to Meng Shilin?”

Third Master Ren replied matter-of-factly: “Which other daughter could it be? Naturally, Yaoying – they’re both of concubine-born status, so it’s a good match. Yaoqi is still young, no rush!”

Li Shi: “…”

Third Master Ren seemed to have forgotten that Ren Yaoying was younger than Ren Yaoqi.

However, Li Shi still breathed a sigh of relief. Hearing Third Master Ren praise Meng Shilin so highly, she had worried he wanted to marry Ren Yaoqi to him. Though Li Shi had no intention of looking down on Meng Shilin, that didn’t mean she was willing to marry her daughter to a concubine’s son. Fortunately, Third Master Ren hadn’t been completely carried away by his love of talent.

“Yaoying is still in White Crane Town. Her marriage would probably need to consult Mother’s opinion,” Li Shi thought for a moment and gently reminded Third Master Ren. While Third Master Ren was a lover of talent, the other Ren family members weren’t necessarily so. Though Meng Shilin wasn’t exactly from a humble family, he wasn’t much better off than one. Old Madam Ren might not approve.

But Third Master Ren had too favorable an impression of Meng Shilin and said dismissively, “I can still make decisions about a concubine daughter’s marriage. Don’t worry about Mother – I’ll discuss it with her myself.”

Seeing Third Master Ren’s mind was made up, Li Shi said nothing more. Apart from his family background and birth, that young Master Meng had nothing else wrong with him.

After hearing this conversation, Ren Yaoqi shook her head. Third Master Ren’s desire to marry Ren Yaoying to Meng Shilin probably wouldn’t be so easy. Even though she was just a concubine daughter, in the eyes of the Ren family elders, she was still a bargaining chip that could be exchanged for benefits. How could they let Third Master Ren do as he pleased?

However, Ren Shimin was truly serious about this matter. A few days after discussing it with Li Shi, he made a trip to White Crane Town to discuss his plan to marry Ren Yaoying to Meng Shilin with Old Madam Ren.

Unfortunately, Old Madam Ren was very dissatisfied with Ren Shimin’s arrangement and immediately rejected it.

Because of the concubine incident, Ren Yaoying had become a laughingstock, so naturally, the prominent families in Yanzhou wouldn’t consider her suitable. However, Old Madam Ren had other plans in mind.

The Ren family was declining day by day. The He family from Zhuozhou, who had long maintained business relations with the Ren family, seemed to want to find other partners. The He family dealt in porcelain and had been one of the Ren family’s larger business partners over the years. Moreover, through several generations of management, the He family held a respectable position in Zhuozhou’s commercial circles. If the He family abandoned their business relationship with the Ren family at this time, the Ren family would lose more than just the He family as a business partner.

So Old Madam Ren wanted to form a marriage alliance with the He family, marrying Ren Yaoying to the He family’s eldest master as a second wife. The He family’s eldest master was the legitimate eldest son and head of the He family. His legitimate wife had died two years ago, and he had two legitimate daughters, three concubine daughters, and two concubine sons under his care. However, the He family’s eldest master was nearly fifty years old, not much younger than Old Madam Ren herself.

Old Madam Ren favored the He family’s eldest master because he was the legitimate eldest son of the He family. When the current family head died, Eldest Master He would take charge. Moreover, Eldest Master He only had concubine sons and no legitimate heir. Old Madam Ren thought that if Ren Yaoying worked hard after marrying over and could bear a son, that would be ideal.

When Old Madam Ren explained her plan to Third Master Ren, he was naturally extremely unwilling. Having a concubine daughter serve as someone’s second wife wasn’t unusual, but having a son-in-law older than himself made Third Master Ren feel he couldn’t show his face. If this marriage went through, he would never be able to hold his head up among his friends again.

In the end, neither Old Madam Ren nor Third Master Ren could convince the other, and they parted on bad terms.

Old Madam Ren was scheming. Fearing Third Master Ren would be difficult to deal with and might secretly marry Ren Yaoying to his penniless poor student, she struck first, secretly beginning marriage negotiations with the He family behind Third Master Ren’s back. Third Master Ren couldn’t match Old Madam Ren in this regard and fell a step behind her.

Ren Yaoqi watched coldly from the sidelines, neither interfering nor inquiring.

But no one expected that before long, a major incident would occur in the capital: Prince Xiao was assassinated and seriously injured.