Yun Wenfang took the wine pot from beside Yun Wenting and drank a mouthful without speaking.

Yun Wenting knew this was his tacit acknowledgment and couldn’t help pressing his brow, falling silent.

The two sat quietly for a while when Yun Wenfang suddenly spoke: “What do you want most?” Though he had already drunk quite a bit, Yun Wenfang’s voice was unexpectedly calm when he asked this question.

Yun Wenting didn’t answer, and Yun Wenfang didn’t ask a second time.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, when Yun Wenfang had drunk himself nearly unconscious again, he heard someone beside him singing softly to a beat: “Three winters come from the north, nine summers never return south, though the green stream flows deep, white snow still covers the peaks, evening winds blow through low grass, distant mountains catch the setting sun…”

It took Yun Wenfang a long time to remember that this was a folk song from near Jiajing Pass that all Yanbei soldiers who had guarded the frontier knew how to sing. He listened silently for a long while, until he could no longer distinguish whether it was Yun Wenting singing this tune or his voice harmonizing in his heart.

After finishing the last drop of wine, Yun Wenfang pulled at the corner of his mouth and murmured something low, whether because he’d drunk too much or hadn’t spoken aloud, no one could hear clearly what he said – it seemed like just another mocking laugh as usual.

After dawn broke, Yun Wenfang returned to the Yun family with Yun Wenting.

This time, Yun Wenfang’s father brought out the family discipline, binding Yun Wenfang to the bench outside the Yun family ancestral hall and beating him half to death. The blood flowing from Yun Wenfang’s body soaked the executioner’s shoes. If it hadn’t been for the eldest young master, Yun Wenting, asking Old Madam Yun to intercede, Yun Wenfang might have lost his life there.

But no matter how the Yun family punished Yun Wenfang, they couldn’t cure eldest Miss Yun Qiuchen’s deaf ear, let alone restore the shame of the siblings stripping away the Yun family’s dignity in front of so many people – that could never be repaired.

While the Yun family busied themselves with cleaning house behind closed doors, the thousand gold banquet at the hot spring villa had to continue. Although the original hosts, the Yun family, had no one left behind – after Yun Qiuchen’s incident, the Yun family’s second and third daughters were also taken back. The Yun family had lost such face that they really had no mood to continue staying at the hot spring villa being spectacles for others.

However, on the second day of the thousand gold banquet, unexpectedly, Grand Consort Yun, who everyone thought wouldn’t attend, was helped by Princess Consort onto the high platform, where she and Old Princess Consort sat on opposite sides in confrontation.

Grand Consort Yun had never liked joining such festivities, nor did she like appearing at the same occasions as Old Princess Consort, especially since she had been ill yesterday and now looked somewhat pale.

But despite Grand Consort Yun’s sickly appearance and plain dress, when standing with Old Princess Consort, she didn’t appear humble. On the contrary, in terms of presence and temperament, Old Princess Consort might not match Grand Consort Yun.

When Grand Consort Yun walked before Old Princess Consort, she nodded slightly as a greeting, then walked to her seat and sat down.

Old Princess Consort was very displeased with Grand Consort Yun’s behavior, especially that Grand Consort Yun hadn’t bowed to her in front of so many people, which embarrassed her greatly. After all, her rank was half a level higher than Grand Consort Yun’s.

“Indeed, birds of a feather flock together – they probably don’t even know how to write the words ‘propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame,'” Old Princess Consort said sarcastically with a dark expression.

Her words were meant to allude to Yun Qiuchen and Yun Wenfang’s affair. Yesterday’s incident had caused such a commotion, and Old Princess Consort, also at the hot spring villa, had naturally heard about it. Her words also implicated Grand Consort Yun, accusing the Yun family of not understanding proper conduct.

Hearing this, Grand Consort Yun glanced at Old Princess Consort: “Are you speaking about me?”

Old Princess Consort snorted coldly, her meaning clear.

Unexpectedly, Grand Consort Yun nodded: “You’re quite right to criticize. The Prince doesn’t stay in the mansion every few days and fails to pay his respects to you – that is indeed improper conduct. This is my failure in teaching.”

Hearing this, Old Princess Consort’s expression became even uglier.

She had been talking about the Yun family, but Grand Consort Yun brought up the Prince, as if afraid others wouldn’t know that the current Prince Yanbei came from her womb and that she was family with him.

In ordinary families, even if concubines bore children, they would still have to acknowledge the legitimate wife as mother. Unfortunately, due to the messy accounts between Yanbei and the court, strictly speaking, Grand Consort Yun wasn’t actually a concubine.

Back then, Grand Consort Yun had been properly wed to the old Prince Yanbei with all three matchmakers and six ceremonies complete. If the court hadn’t interfered, Grand Consort Yun would have been the old Prince Yanbei’s legitimate wife. So initially, to appease the Xiao family, the court also granted Grand Consort Yun an imperial title. Therefore, Prince Yanbei and Princess Consort are still called Grand Consort Yun mother, and siblings Xiao Jingxi and Xiao Jinglin are also called Grand Consort Yun grandmother.

The saying goes: don’t hit the face when beating someone, don’t expose shortcomings when criticizing. But Grand Consort Yun targeted the Old Princess Consort’s sore spot and trampled on it mercilessly. Everyone knew that Princess Consort’s greatest regret in life was not bearing a son, leading to her current awkward situation.

Princess Consort didn’t interfere in the contest between Old Princess Consort and Grand Consort Yun. She sat in her position calling Xiao Jinglin and Ren Yaoqi over, quietly instructing them about various matters.

However, the tense scene between Old Princess Consort and Grand Consort Yun fell into everyone’s eyes.

Those who had originally been gloating over the Yun family’s misfortune saw Grand Consort Yun appear and confront Old Princess Consort without losing ground, and their thoughts of watching a joke faded considerably. Seeing Grand Consort Yun’s composed attitude when facing Old Princess Consort, then looking at Princess Consort, who was also from the Yun family, they couldn’t help thinking that as long as Grand Consort Yun and Princess Consort remained, the Yun family wouldn’t truly fall.

Grand Consort Yun sat in the place of honor, taking in the expressions and attitudes of everyone below, silently lowering her head to sip tea.

Though Ren Yaoqi was listening to Princess Consort speak, she also secretly paid attention to the surrounding atmosphere. She seemed to understand Grand Consort Yun’s reason for appearing here.

Grand Consort Yun had come to support the Yun family’s dignity, and even this open and covert struggle with Old Princess Consort was to achieve this purpose. The old Princess Consort had been thoroughly used by Grand Consort Yun.

Grand Consort Yun’s move had achieved good results. Those below who wanted to kick the Yun family when they were down had to restrain themselves and think carefully after seeing this scene.

Grand Consort Yun knew when to stop. After gaining the upper hand in close combat with Old Princess Consort, she ignored her thereafter.

Speaking of which, Grand Consort Yun’s feelings for the Yun family were deeper than Princess Consort’s. The current Yun family head was Grand Consort Yun’s blood brother, while Princess Consort’s parents died early, and the Yun family head was her uncle, ultimately one degree removed.

This year’s thousand gold banquet judges were similar to the previous session, still led by Madam Xu, née Ouyang. They came up after Old Princess Consort, Grand Consort Yun, and Princess Consort were seated.

Princess Consort instructed Ren Yaoqi: “Later, you’ll sit with Madam Xu and the others.”

Ren Yaoqi was somewhat confused hearing this.

Princess Consort said, “You don’t need to compete with them. Today you’ll score them together with Master Ouyang.”

Ren Yaoqi was stunned and declined: “Princess Consort, I’m still young and might not command respect.”

Hearing this, Princess Consort rarely put on a stern face and quietly educated Ren Yaoqi: “Remember, this is Yanbei. On our territory, if anyone dares to be dissatisfied, let them take it up with our Yanbei army!”

Xiao Jinglin silently added from the side: “Mother means that whether others are convinced is their business – if they really come to be an eyesore, they’re purely asking for a beating!”

After a pause, Xiao Jinglin added another sentence: “That’s what Father said. Anyway, it’s all the same meaning.”

Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but want to laugh. Her earlier pressure completely disappeared. She nodded: “I understand, Princess Consort.”

Princess Consort patted her hand. Ren Yaoqi stood up and went toward Madam Xu, who was talking with several other ladies invited as judges. Seeing Ren Yaoqi approach, she pointed to the seat beside her: “Come, sit here.” Princess Consort must have spoken with Madam Xu beforehand, so she wasn’t surprised to see Ren Yaoqi.

Ren Yaoqi walked over and sat beside Madam Xu. The other ladies also smiled at Ren Yaoqi very friendlily, with no one giving her a cold shoulder.

However, those below were quite surprised to see Ren Yaoqi sit with Madam Xu and the others, whispering among themselves. Old Princess Consort and Grand Consort Yun also looked over.

But Grand Consort Yun glanced once without saying anything and turned away, while Old Princess Consort didn’t care much about the thousand gold banquet and didn’t say anything at this moment either.

The thousand gold banquet was still hosted by Madam Xu, who explained the day’s competition rules in detail. Actually, the Yanbei young ladies were all familiar with these rules – Madam Xu was mainly explaining to the ten young ladies who had come from afar.

Ren Yaoqi casually glanced below and immediately spotted Yan Ningshuang sitting in the front right position. Though Yan Ningshuang had been badly frightened by Silly Girl yesterday, she still came today, wearing a bright red jacket and skirt with elaborate makeup that showed no signs of discomfort. Quite strong-willed indeed.

Yan Ningshuang’s gaze seemed constantly on Ren Yaoqi, so when Ren Yaoqi looked casually, she met her eyes directly. Ren Yaoqi politely nodded at her, then looked away.

After Madam Xu finished introducing all the rules and asked if these young ladies had any questions, someone said: “When we came, we heard that the masters at the thousand gold banquet are all virtuous, talented, and respectable elders?”

The speaker was a Miss Lu from the court. Though her words were diplomatically phrased, her gaze swept toward Ren Yaoqi sitting among the masters, her meaning obvious.

Madam Xu smiled: “I wouldn’t dare claim virtue and talent, but each has their strengths. As for ‘respectable elders’… I believe age isn’t the most important thing. You’re competing in talents, not seniority. Those who can be teachers should be teachers – this is the way of learning.”

“Master Xu makes sense, but I wonder what this Miss Ren excels at?” Miss Lu had decided to be the troublemaker today and pressed relentlessly.

Hearing this, Madam Xu didn’t answer directly, only smiling: “Be patient, you’ll know what she excels at soon enough.” After saying this, Madam Xu sat back down. Seeing Madam Xu leave, Miss Lu could only give up, thinking Madam Xu was surely making excuses to fool them.

Ren Yaoqi sighed. She had a premonition that sitting up here wouldn’t be more comfortable than sitting below.

Indeed, once the competition began, the atmosphere was filled with gunpowder smoke, mostly directed at Ren Yaoqi.

The court and Yanbei young ladies took turns, and following guest courtesy, the court side went first. The first to appear was Miss Lu, who had been the troublemaker earlier.

Miss Lu was quite attractive and rose gracefully to bow to everyone, then came to the center. Today she was demonstrating qin skills. Maids had already set up the qin table and instrument, waiting for her performance.

Miss Lu burned incense and washed her hands, sitting properly, then raised her hands to play, immediately amazing everyone.

It must be said that Miss Lu’s qin skills were extremely excellent – graceful posture, melodious tones, flawless whether in technique or emotion. Even the masters on stage nodded approvingly. When she finished the piece, everyone felt like wanting more.

Miss Lu stood up, and before the masters could comment, she spoke: “This student is untalented and would like Master Ren’s guidance.”

Though her voice wasn’t loud, everyone on and off stage heard clearly. The words “Master Ren” carried an unmistakable, provocative tone. The scene quieted, with almost everyone’s eyes on Ren Yaoqi.

Ren Yaoqi looked at Miss Lu, who was gazing at her with a modest expression, and smiled: “Master Xu and Master Li are both master-level figures in qin technique. Miss Lu should seek guidance from these two masters.”

Miss Lu also smiled but looked at Ren Yaoqi without speaking or moving.

At this point, Princess Consort in the center spoke: “Since Miss Lu insists, Yaoqi, say a few words.”

Madam Xu also smiled and nodded at Ren Yaoqi.

Ren Yaoqi no longer declined. While thinking of her words, she said: “Was Miss Lu playing the lost ancient piece ‘Nine Doubts’?”

Miss Lu was stunned, then nodded: “Correct. I found this from a damaged score, but unfortunately the original piece was incomplete. The latter half was restored by me.”

Madam Xu smiled: “What a coincidence. Yaoqi has also been helping me organize some precious ancient damaged scores, including a piece called ‘Nine Doubts.'”

Miss Lu glanced at Ren Yaoqi, somewhat surprised.

These selected young ladies all had their specialties. Her specialty was qin – looking across the entire capital, few could play better than her. With her qualifications, she found restoring the score somewhat difficult. She didn’t believe Ren Yaoqi could do it.

“Might I have the honor of hearing Master Ren play a piece?”

Ren Yaoqi smiled without taking the bait, instead saying: “Has Miss Lu’s left wrist been injured before?”

“How does Miss Ren know?” Miss Lu couldn’t help widening her eyes. In her youth, her left wrist had been accidentally cut by a hairpin, nearly injuring the tendons.

Ren Yaoqi said: “When you played, your left hand fingers didn’t dare use too much force. Though you can mask this with skilled technique, the music inevitably carries a sense of hesitation.”

Miss Lu couldn’t help frowning: “That’s impossible! I’ve always been very careful when playing.”

Ren Yaoqi didn’t argue, only nodded along with her words, smiling: “Miss Lu is indeed very careful. They say Qin music reflects the player’s heart, so I heard your heart constantly saying you were afraid your hand would hurt. If Miss Lu hadn’t played so well, I wouldn’t have noticed this.”

After Ren Yaoqi finished speaking, everyone present laughed, and even Miss Lu embarrassedly curved her lips. She had been forced to practice the qin by her aunt after injuring her wrist, to stand out among many sisters and bring honor to her aunt. Though her hand injury healed later, the suffering was remembered by her body, so that even though her wrist had long recovered, she still felt pain. Later, when she became accomplished, she began working hard to overcome this weakness, but unexpectedly, it is still pointed out today.

Then Madam Xu and Master Li also gave Miss Lu some guidance. By now, Miss Lu had lost her earlier arrogance and listened seriously to others’ opinions, then sat back in her place without a word.

When Ren Yaoqi sat down, Xiao Jinglin secretly gave her a thumbs up behind everyone’s back. Though she maintained her noble, cold County Princess demeanor while sitting properly, Ren Yaoqi found it quite amusing.

Next up was eldest Miss Meng, who had originally planned to play qin too, but having heard Miss Lu’s excellent performance, she felt unconfident about surpassing her and switched to flute at the last minute. Her flute playing was decent, but she seemed nervous and missed her breath twice, playing two wrong notes. Fortunately, she persisted to finish the piece.

None of the Yanbei young ladies dared brazenly demand “Master Ren’s” guidance, so ultimately, the masters commented and encouraged her.

The third performer was a Miss Zhou from the capital. Miss Zhou’s specialty was calligraphy. She had white silk hung in the center, then worked with both hands simultaneously, writing the characters “fortune,” “prosperity,” and “longevity” in various scripts. In just one cup of tea’s time, the four-foot square white silk was covered on both sides with egg-sized characters of “fortune,” “prosperity,” and “longevity,” each in different fonts, drawing amazed gasps from the crowd. Everyone looked impressed, as if thinking, “This seems very impressive.”

Miss Zhou seemed rather quiet. After putting down her brush, she pressed her lips together and only said quietly: “I hope Master Ren won’t spare her guidance.”

Everyone’s attention focused on Ren Yaoqi again.

Many people watched with schadenfreude. Who couldn’t see it now? These young ladies were all banding together against Ren Yaoqi, all targeting her.

When Miss Lu first stood out demanding her “guidance,” Ren Yaoqi had already anticipated facing this situation. She glanced at Princess Consort and Madam Xu, and seeing they said nothing, stood up again.

No matter how Ren Yaoqi smiled bitterly inside, her expression remained calm as she carefully admired Miss Zhou’s calligraphy, then said thoughtfully: “Does Miss Zhou usually practice Yan style?”

Miss Zhou glanced at her and nodded: “Yes.”

Ren Yaoqi frowned: “Yan style emphasizes momentum while balancing firmness and softness. Miss Zhou’s calligraphy is beautiful, but because of too many flourishes, it somewhat wastes the characters. If you could return to basics, Miss Zhou would make great progress.”

Miss Zhou bit her lip and lowered her head. She knew Ren Yaoqi was right. She didn’t want to practice these flashy things all day either, but the Empress Dowager and imperial consorts in the palace liked them.

Someone below said: “Master Ren speaks so convincingly, but as they say, talking the talk isn’t like walking the walk. I wonder how Miss Ren’s calligraphy is?”

Though Miss Zhou didn’t speak, she also glanced at Ren Yaoqi.

Those who understand calligraphy and painting appreciation aren’t necessarily able to create good works themselves, just like food critics aren’t necessarily chefs.

County Princess Xiao glanced at Hong Ying. Hong Ying very quickly brought brush and ink to Ren Yaoqi, saying seriously, “Master Ren, please grant us calligraphy.”

Ren Yaoqi: “…”

Fortunately, Ren Yaoqi wasn’t the stubborn type. She picked up the brush and wrote “fortune,” “prosperity,” and “longevity” in one breath – plain Yan style without any flourishes. When placed together with Miss Zhou’s elaborately decorated white silk, those who had been jeering below fell silent.

Ren Yaoqi’s talent in calligraphy and painting had once made even her teacher Pei Zhiyan admit inferiority, and combined with her willingness to work hard at practice, she naturally could produce work that would hold the stage and command respect.

By now, Ren Yaoqi understood – the thousand gold banquet was something Prince Yanbei’s mansion didn’t want to lose either.

But having carefully selected people to openly defeat these young ladies from the capital would make Prince Yanbei’s mansion appear ungracious, since the thousand gold banquet wasn’t a dragon boat race, and the young ladies weren’t rough, thick-skinned men.

So how could they defeat these young ladies sent by the Empress Dowager one by one, yet do it quietly, lightly, with majestic dominance?

Thus, Ren Yaoqi transformed into Master Ren.

Princess Consort hadn’t placed her with Master Xu to avoid the spotlight, but to steal it – in a one-against-ten fashion.

No wonder Xiao Jingxi had said not to worry about offending the Empress Dowager by winning.

As a “master,” her defeating a group of students naturally meant nothing. It both slapped the Empress Dowager’s face while maintaining Prince Yanbei’s mansion’s dignified and domineering position – a sure win.

Ren Yaoqi swept her gaze over the young ladies below, each harboring unique skills and eager to try. She wanted to learn from Xiao Jinglin and roll her eyes elegantly.

Since Ren Yaoqi was the main force to defeat these young ladies, the other Yanbei young ladies below were just there to accompany and go through the motions. Though generally decent, none were particularly outstanding – apparently Yanbei still left the Empress Dowager some dignity.

The third court performer was a magician. Ren Yaoqi had seen magic tricks at the previous thousand gold banquet, too. Young ladies’ talent competitions were limited to just a few types – there weren’t many variations possible.

This young lady’s magic was better than Miss Guo’s from the last thousand gold banquet. With a slight shake of her hands, ten small wine cups appeared on her ten fingers, trembling precariously on her delicate fingertips as if they’d fall with the slightest breeze.