With a decisive attitude, Ren Shimin severed his father-daughter relationship with Ren Yaoying. Afterward, the Grand Master of the Ren family specifically sent someone to inquire about this matter, but Ren Shimin adamantly insisted he had no such daughter, and the Ren family could handle her however they wished. If the Ren family was also unwilling to deal with her, then they could send her to a nunnery.

Ren Shimin completely washed his hands of Ren Yaoying. As for Ren Yaoying’s previous engagement, the He family hadn’t actively sought to break it off either. The Ren family was already in complete chaos, and Old Madam Ren, considering the family’s interests, was unwilling to lose Ren Yaoying as a bargaining chip. So Ren Yaoying’s engagement to Old Master He remained as before.

After all of Ren Yaoying’s scheming and calculating, she ultimately gained no benefits, and everything remained the same.

After Ren Yaoqi’s return visit, her days at the Yanbei Prince’s Manor were quite leisurely.

During this recent period, the Yanbei Prince and Xiao Jingxi remained very busy. Every day, Ren Yaoqi would go to Jiuyang Hall with Xiao Jinglin to learn about the manor’s internal affairs from the Princess Consort and Nanny Xin. In the afternoons, she would go to Noble Consort Yun’s quarters to copy scriptures.

Every day, Xiao Jingxi would accompany Ren Yaoqi for breakfast before leaving, then return for dinner with her. After dinner, he still had to go to the study in the outer courtyard to handle business. Ren Yaoqi had no complaints about this. When she wasn’t sleepy, she would wait for Xiao Jingxi to return so they could rest together. If it were too late, she would inevitably become drowsy. Sometimes she intended to take a short nap while waiting for Xiao Jingxi to return so she could serve him when he changed clothes and washed, but for some reason, every time she lay down, when she opened her eyes again, it was already morning.

On this particular day, Ren Yaoqi dozed off as usual while leaning against the bed with a book, but she had something she wanted to discuss with Xiao Jingxi on her mind, so she didn’t sleep very soundly. When Xiao Jingxi entered the room with light footsteps, Ren Yaoqi seemed to sense something.

Xiao Jingxi sat down by the bed, gently pulled the book from her hands, and placed it on the bedside table, then carefully bent down and planted a soft kiss on Ren Yaoqi’s forehead. As he half-embraced her, wanting to move her properly under the covers, Ren Yaoqi drowsily opened her eyes.

Xiao Jingxi looked down at her and smiled tenderly, then pressed a kiss to her lips, asking in a volume meant not to startle her: “Are you awake?”

Ren Yaoqi blinked, then gradually became fully conscious. Xiao Jingxi still maintained his previous position, half-pressed over her, his forehead gently touching hers, nose tip lightly touching hers, his eyes filled with deep affection as he gazed at her without blinking.

Ren Yaoqi’s hands unconsciously wrapped around his neck. She glanced toward the hourglass outside, but unfortunately, the lamps in the room had been dimmed at some point, so Ren Yaoqi couldn’t see clearly and asked quietly: “What time is it?”

Xiao Jingxi gently nibbled the corner of her mouth and said tenderly in a low voice: “I accidentally woke you. It’s already very late. Continue sleeping. I’ll go wash up.”

Ren Yaoqi blinked and looked at him without speaking. Xiao Jingxi thought she hadn’t fully awakened yet, so he gently placed Ren Yaoqi’s hands back under the covers, stroked her hair, and slowly stood up to go wash in the adjoining washroom.

Ren Yaoqi had already awakened. She heard very faint sounds of water from the washroom. Xiao Jingxi hadn’t summoned anyone to serve him, and even the candles in the room remained very dim. Ren Yaoqi finally understood why she had been completely unaware the previous times when Xiao Jingxi returned very late.

When Xiao Jingxi finished washing and lay back down on the bed, he discovered that Ren Yaoqi was still awake.

Xiao Jingxi gently embraced her, letting her head rest in the hollow of his shoulder, kissed her forehead, and said softly: “I’m sorry, next time I’ll be more careful not to wake you.”

Ren Yaoqi wrapped her arms around his waist: “You didn’t wake me. Why don’t you let anyone come in to serve you? I had instructed the maids before – why are all the lamps in my room extinguished?”

Xiao Jingxi gently patted her back: “Didn’t I tell you not to leave lamps burning for me? It’s bad for your eyes if you’re sleeping. It’s just washing – I don’t need anyone to serve me.”

Ren Yaoqi knew that Xiao Jingxi was afraid the noise of his return would wake her. Xiao Jinglin had always complained about Xiao Jingxi’s young master’s temperament in front of her before, saying he was difficult to serve. But now Xiao Jingxi didn’t want anyone to serve him at all. Ren Yaoqi felt warmth in her heart.

“Have you been this busy recently?” Ren Yaoqi never actively inquired about Xiao Jingxi’s external affairs – today was just a casual question.

While gently caressing her, Xiao Jingxi said: “Mm. I’m sorry, I’ve been quite busy recently and haven’t had much time to accompany you.”

Ren Yaoqi looked at him in the darkness without speaking, but her eyes were very bright.

Xiao Jingxi couldn’t help but lower his head to kiss her eyes. Ren Yaoqi’s eyelashes gently brushed against Xiao Jingxi’s lips, making his heart feel as if scratched by a kitten, somewhat ticklish.

“The matter of establishing the heir… won’t take much longer to be decided.” Seeing that Ren Yaoqi still had energy, Xiao Jingxi thought for a moment and told her what he had originally planned to discuss tomorrow.

Ren Yaoqi hadn’t paid much attention initially, but listening to Xiao Jingxi’s voice, she keenly detected something and couldn’t help but frown, asking softly: “Is there some problem?”

Although the court had been constantly urging the Yanbei Prince’s Manor to establish an heir, with hints of wanting to interfere, the people of Yanbei all believed that even if the Yanbei Prince’s Manor established an heir, it would be the Xiao family’s Second Young Master. Despite the young master far away in the capital possibly having much better physical condition than Second Young Master Xiao, just like how children one raises oneself are always more dear, the Yanbei people’s hearts supported Second Young Master Xiao, who had always been in Yanbei. Even though that Young Master Xiao left behind by the previous heir was indeed of Xiao family blood, he was ultimately a child raised by others.

However, since Xiao Jingxi specifically mentioned this today with such a peculiar tone, Ren Yaoqi was somewhat puzzled.

Hearing this, Xiao Jingxi couldn’t help but chuckle softly, kissed her lips, then without moving away, remained lip-to-lip as he said: “I only said that one sentence, and you detected something from it?”

Ren Yaoqi wanted to speak, but feeling her lips somewhat dry, she unconsciously extended her tongue to moisten them, accidentally touching Xiao Jingxi’s lips.

The soft, moist sensation made Xiao Jingxi’s body stiffen for a moment, then he captured Ren Yaoqi’s lips, followed by a round of face-reddening, heart-racing conquest.

The kiss, gentle yet somewhat domineering, forced Ren Yaoqi to follow Xiao Jingxi’s rhythm, with no possibility of even a single escape as he blocked all her retreat routes. Only when Ren Yaoqi couldn’t hold her breath anymore did Xiao Jingxi release her, leaning close to her ear to whisper: “Don’t tempt me… It’s already very late…”

Ren Yaoqi glared at him with a red face, not caring whether he could see or not.

Xiao Jingxi planted light kisses one after another while saying: “Yaoyao? If I’m not the heir of the Yanbei Prince’s Manor, would you be disappointed?”

Ren Yaoqi, dizzy from Xiao Jingxi’s kisses, became somewhat more clearheaded upon hearing this. She looked at Xiao Jingxi through a layer of misty tears, only seeing a pair of eyes as deep, bright, and gentle as always.

Ren Yaoqi asked softly: “If you’re not the heir of the Yanbei Prince’s Manor, would you be disappointed?”

Xiao Jingxi smiled, touching his forehead to hers: “I have you now. There’s nothing in this world that could disappoint me anymore.”

Ren Yaoqi raised her hand to gently touch his face and also smiled: “I have you now. There’s nothing in this world that could disappoint me either.”

As soon as Ren Yaoqi’s words fell, Xiao Jingxi’s kiss descended again, but this kiss was much more urgent than the previous one. Ren Yaoqi instantly felt as if her breath had been stolen away.

That night, the two had no time to continue that topic.

The next morning, when the two were having breakfast together, Ren Yaoqi remembered she had forgotten to tell Xiao Jingxi something the night before.

“My maid Pingguo is getting married. After she marries, I plan to let her continue staying in the courtyard to help me manage household affairs.”

Normally, the mistress wouldn’t need to specifically report such matters to the master, but the Yanbei Prince’s Manor was different. If Pingguo stayed at Zhaoning Hall as a manager, she would need to be registered in the manor’s records. Although the head steward who originally managed Zhaoning Hall had said that Ren Yaoqi could decide such small matters herself, Ren Yaoqi still discussed it with Xiao Jingxi beforehand. Xiao Jingxi’s Zhaoning Hall originally had quite strict rules.

Hearing this, Xiao Jingxi smiled at Ren Yaoqi and gently squeezed her hand: “You are the mistress of Zhaoning Hall. You can decide such small matters yourself – no need to discuss them with me.”

Ren Yaoqi smiled back at Xiao Jingxi and nodded.

Pingguo had originally wanted to wait a few more months before marrying, since Ren Yaoqi had only recently arrived at the Yanbei Prince’s Manor, and Pingguo didn’t want to busy herself with personal matters at this critical juncture. However, Ren Yaoqi considered that the Yuan family had already waited too long, and fearing that Pingguo’s personality would lead to indefinite delays, she decided on the wedding date. The Yuan family was naturally overjoyed.

After Xueli, this was the second time Ren Yaoqi was marrying off a maid.

Ren Yaoqi was always extremely good to the people around her, especially to Pingguo, who had served by her side for many years with few words but great diligence and loyalty. So Ren Yaoqi prepared a dowry for Pingguo that made all the other maids envious, just like a wealthy family marrying off their daughter, sparing no expense. In addition, she gave a generous sum of private money, though Ren Yaoqi didn’t publicize the exact amount.

On the day of Pingguo’s wedding, she wore a full set of red clothing and came to kowtow to Ren Yaoqi. This girl was sincere at heart, and her kowtowing sounded sincere too. Ren Yaoqi helplessly bent down to support her, lest this maid have to endure her wedding night with a head full of bruises.

When Pingguo raised her head, her eyes were as red as a rabbit’s – this was the first time Ren Yaoqi had seen this girl cry.

Ren Yaoqi gave Pingguo three days off. After marrying, when Pingguo wasn’t on duty, she would live with the Yuan family in the outer quarters’ side rooms. During the day, she would continue serving at Zhaoning Hall. Aside from not living there for one-third of each month, there wasn’t much difference from before.