That afternoon, Ren Yaoqi had just returned from Princess Consort’s Jiuyang Palace when she discovered that Xiao Jingxi, who had gone out in the morning, was in the room.
“Didn’t you say you’d return in the evening?” Ren Yaoqi asked in surprise.
Xiao Jingxi smiled slightly and stood up: “Do you have plans this afternoon?”
Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment: “I need to go to Lanxi Palace later to copy Buddhist scriptures for the Dowager Consort.”
Xiao Jingxi walked forward and gently pinched Ren Yaoqi’s nose: “I’ll have someone tell the Dowager Consort that you won’t go today. Go change into lighter, more convenient clothes for going out.”
Ren Yaoqi brushed away Xiao Jingxi’s hand and asked puzzledly: “Going out?”
Xiao Jingxi blinked: “I’ll take you somewhere.”
Ren Yaoqi was very curious: “What place?” Since their marriage, the two rarely went out together, and from Xiao Jingxi’s manner, it didn’t seem like anything important.
Xiao Jingxi gently pushed Ren Yaoqi’s shoulder, guiding her toward the inner room while laughing: “Change clothes first, I’ll explain in detail later.”
Ren Yaoqi had no choice but to call in her maids to help her wash and change clothes.
Xiao Jingxi sat to the side, waiting for Ren Yaoqi to finish her grooming before walking forward, bending down to examine Ren Yaoqi in the mirror. After studying her for a long while, he frowned.
Ren Yaoqi was somewhat puzzled: “What’s wrong?”
Xiao Jingxi turned to examine her in person, then said: “Something seems off.”
Ren Yaoqi was both amused and exasperated, glancing at him teasingly: “What’s off? Don’t tell me you just now realized I’m wearing a painted skin? Young Master Xiao, you should read fewer nonsensical books in the future.”
This comment stemmed from Ren Yaoqi accidentally discovering several popular romance novels among young ladies on Xiao Jingxi’s bookshelf.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingxi coughed lightly, his ears turning slightly red, which amazed Ren Yaoqi.
In fact, since their marriage, someone’s skin had grown increasingly thick, and Ren Yaoqi hadn’t seen Xiao Jingxi’s red ears for a long time.
What Ren Yaoqi didn’t know was that Xiao Jingxi had put considerable effort into pursuing his beauty back then. Reserved and proud as Second Young Master Xiao was, he naturally couldn’t lower himself to ask others how to court the girl he fancied, but Second Young Master Xiao believed in one thing: any knowledge he wanted to learn, he could master.
So for some time, whenever night fell and all was quiet, Second Young Master Xiao would burn the midnight oil reading in his study. No one knew that the noble and aloof Second Young Master Xiao was secretly reading romance novels in his study.
Everyone has secrets, and Second Young Master Xiao was no exception. He never expected these books would eventually be discovered by Ren Yaoqi and would be brought up to tease him from time to time over the next several decades.
If he had known earlier…
Xiao Jingxi nonchalantly avoided Ren Yaoqi’s teasing gaze, took out a piece of slate eyebrow powder from her cosmetic box, dipped it in water, and said seriously: “The right eyebrow is too light, let me draw it for you.” Without waiting for permission, he lifted Ren Yaoqi’s chin with his hand and began concentrating on drawing her eyebrow.
Ren Yaoqi watched Xiao Jingxi with a smile for a while, suppressing her laughter and letting him continue.
Second Young Master Xiao was still frowning in dissatisfaction: “Don’t laugh – if it gets smudged, don’t blame me.”
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but burst into laughter, and then Xiao Jingxi’s hand trembled, indeed smudging the eyebrow.
After they finished getting ready, Xiao Jingxi finally regained his usual noble and aloof demeanor in front of others, though only the smile on Ren Yaoqi’s face couldn’t be suppressed.
After boarding the carriage, Second Young Master Xiao finally couldn’t bear it: “Madam, if you keep smiling at me like that, do you want your lip rouge to get smudged too?”
Ren Yaoqi was stunned before understanding what he meant, couldn’t help but glare at him fiercely, then turned her head away and ignored him.
Originally, Ren Yaoqi thought Xiao Jingxi was just taking her somewhere in Yunyang City, but she didn’t expect the carriage to actually leave the city gates and take the official road. Ren Yaoqi was somewhat surprised to discover the carriage was heading toward Baihe Town.
“Where are we going?” Ren Yaoqi lowered the curtain and asked.
Xiao Jingxi poured Ren Yaoqi a cup of tea and smiled slightly: “Guess?”
Ren Yaoqi: “…”
After entering Baihe Town, as the surrounding buildings became increasingly familiar, Ren Yaoqi instead became calm. When the carriage stopped in front of a familiar gate, Ren Yaoqi simply let Xiao Jingxi help her down from the carriage, looking up at the dusty gate plaque for a long while without speaking.
Xiao Jingxi took Ren Yaoqi’s hand and led her up the steps. When entering, no one came to greet them – the gatehouse was empty, completely deserted.
Ren Yaoqi stood before the screen wall in the front courtyard, looking at the empty residence, suddenly feeling as if she were in another lifetime.
“This residence is now in the Han family’s hands, isn’t it?” Ren Yaoqi turned to look at Xiao Jingxi.
Although she stayed within the inner quarters, she was still clearly informed about the Ren family’s affairs.
Xiao Jingxi nodded and led her through the hanging flower gate, walking along the covered corridor toward the inner courtyard.
Ren Yaoqi had walked this path countless times before, but this was the first time walking here side by side with Xiao Jingxi. The emptiness and silence around them made her feel very strange. Perhaps because of the person beside her, this residence that usually filled her with disgust didn’t seem so oppressive today. After slightly adjusting her mood, she followed Xiao Jingxi forward, even having the leisure to discuss the feng shui layout of this grand residence with him.
Xiao Jingxi smiled: “The feng shui layout here is indeed surprising.”
Ren Yaoqi sighed: “Books say that fate and feng shui complement each other, but unfortunately, no matter how good the feng shui here is, ordinary families like the Zhai and Ren families ultimately couldn’t suppress it.”
Both owners of this residence ended up with poor fates.
Xiao Jingxi seemed to think of something and couldn’t help but look thoughtful.
“Why did you bring me here?” Ren Yaoqi asked with a sigh.
Xiao Jingxi looked down at her and was about to speak when Ren Yaoqi interrupted: “I won’t guess!”
Xiao Jingxi couldn’t help but chuckle softly, squeezing her hand: “Han Yunqian said he wanted to present Yanbei Prince’s Manor with a small gift, so I brought you to take a look.”
Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi was stunned, her heart involuntarily speculating what Han Yunqian’s so-called small gift could be. She had some guesses.
Xiao Jingxi seemed completely familiar with the way, not needing Ren Yaoqi to guide him at all. Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at him: “You’ve been here before?”
Xiao Jingxi blinked innocently: “No, I wanted to come with you. But Han Yunqian drew me a map beforehand.”
Ren Yaoqi said nothing more.
Xiao Jingxi led Ren Yaoqi around to the garden. Ren Yaoqi looked at several newly dug deep holes around the garden and couldn’t help frowning. Though these holes weren’t particularly large, they were extremely deep, at least seven or eight zhang deep. The originally beautiful garden had lost its former aesthetic appeal due to these messy holes, and if someone came here at night, they might accidentally fall in.
However, because of these holes, if there were underground chambers, they would be easily discovered.
Xiao Jingxi led Ren Yaoqi around those dark holes to the pond’s edge.
The Ren family garden had a lotus pond in the center. May in Yanbei still carried some coolness, so the lotus flowers in the pond hadn’t bloomed yet, and even the lotus leaves looked somewhat listless. Xiao Jingxi led Ren Yaoqi around the artificial mountain beside the lotus pond, then gestured to someone behind them.
Xiao Hua, dressed in gray, appeared from nowhere, bowed to Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi, then turned and disappeared into the artificial mountain.
Ren Yaoqi raised her eyebrows in surprise: “It’s here?”
Xiao Jingxi returned Ren Yaoqi’s smile.
Ren Yaoqi was quite astonished. This garden wasn’t some secret place – the Ren family’s daughters liked to stroll here when they had nothing to do, and maids and old women sometimes came in too. Especially the artificial mountain area with the lotus pond was a good place to cool off in summer. Ren Yaoqi hadn’t expected the Han family’s secret passage to be located here.
Xiao Hua stayed in the artificial mountain for about a quarter hour. If Ren Yaoqi hadn’t heard faint hammering sounds from inside, she would have thought he had already exited through another opening.
Fortunately, both Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi were extremely patient, showing no signs of impatience. Just as Xiao Jingxi was thinking of asking Ren Yaoqi if she wanted to walk around, there was suddenly a clicking sound from inside the mountain, followed by slight “rumbling” vibrations, and then something opened.
Ren Yaoqi and Xiao Jingxi couldn’t help but exchange glances.
Xiao Hua quickly emerged from the artificial mountain, bowing his head to report: “Master, there is indeed a secret passage inside. Using the method you described, it has been opened. For safety’s sake, this subordinate will go down first to investigate before you and Young Madam enter.”
Xiao Jingxi thought for a moment and nodded. If it were just him, he wouldn’t fear any mechanisms or traps, but going in together with Ren Yaoqi required more caution.
Without another word, Xiao Hua disappeared into the artificial mountain again. This time he stayed inside for another half quarter hour before emerging.
“Master, there are no mechanisms.”
Xiao Jingxi nodded and led Ren Yaoqi into the artificial mountain.
Ren Yaoqi was naturally familiar with this artificial mountain. When she was young, she and several sisters often came here to play. The center of the artificial mountain was hollow with considerable space, and because there was a light opening at the top, it was fairly bright inside during the day.
However, when Ren Yaoqi entered, she discovered that even inside this artificial mountain, a deep hole of six or seven zhang had been dug, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
“The secret passage wasn’t discovered?”
Xiao Jingxi glanced at Ren Yaoqi, then gently cupped her face with his hands and turned her head. Ren Yaoqi then saw that behind her, the stone wall of the artificial mountain near the pond had opened. Being pulled by Xiao Jingxi to take a closer look, she saw that below the stone wall was a stairway wide enough for only one person, slanting down toward the bottom of the lotus pond.
Ren Yaoqi said in surprise: “How is this possible? This lotus pond is very deep, with soft mud at the bottom.”
Xiao Jingxi smiled and winked: “Go down and see for yourself.”
Xiao Jingxi descended along the secret passage, and Ren Yaoqi hurriedly followed. Since the passage only allowed one person at a time, Xiao Jingxi kept his right hand behind his back to carefully hold hers, while reminding her to be careful not to hit her head. Being prepared, he held a fire starter for illumination in his left hand.
This secret passage was extremely narrow, and Xiao Jingxi had to bend slightly to pass through.
Ren Yaoqi discovered that the passage was not only narrow but also very long. The surrounding air was very humid and cold, with a rotting mud smell entering her nostrils. If Xiao Jingxi weren’t with her, even if she had discovered such a secret passage, she wouldn’t have wanted to go down and explore.
While reminding Ren Yaoqi to be careful, Xiao Jingxi smiled: “Do you know why it took Xiao Hua nearly a quarter hour just to open this secret passage?” His elegant voice echoed in the narrow, long enclosed space.
Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment: “The passage is difficult to open?”
Xiao Jingxi said, “Mm, they used mechanical techniques. If someone tried to forcibly dig open this passage, the stone steps would collapse and block the entrance to the inner chamber.”
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help frowning: “Logically, the Zhai family was just an ordinary wealthy household. Why would they spend so much effort building such a chamber? Could they have hidden some rare treasures?”
Xiao Jingxi smiled: “Whether there are rare treasures or not, we’ll know once we go down and see.”
Because he had to take care of Ren Yaoqi, their descent wasn’t fast, but they finally reached level ground. Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. They were now at the bottom of the pond, and because the underground air hadn’t circulated for years, she felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Xiao Jingxi looked back at her and frowned: “Uncomfortable? Should we go back up? I didn’t think this through properly.”
Ren Yaoqi held onto Xiao Jingxi and laughed: “We’ve already come down – I won’t be satisfied without seeing the rare treasures. I’m fine, just need to adjust.”
Seeing that Ren Yaoqi was indeed alright, Xiao Jingxi felt relieved.
Ahead of them was an already opened stone door, again only wide enough for one person.
Xiao Jingxi used his fire starter to light an oil lamp hanging on the stone wall, then carried the lamp and led Ren Yaoqi into the chamber.
Here, Ren Yaoqi felt truly curious and expectant.
She had known about this chamber for a long time. The Ren family had been searching for the entrance to the secret passage since her great-grandfather’s generation. The Zhai family’s downfall was partly due to this treasure bringing disaster. Unfortunately, until the Ren family moved out of this residence, they never succeeded. She never expected to see it with her own eyes one day.
After entering, Ren Yaoqi felt somewhat disappointed. This was just a very ordinary stone room. Though not as narrow as the outside passage, it was only about as large as her bedroom at her family home. Along both sides of the stone room were more than ten large wooden chests, their red lacquer severely peeling, showing their age.
Directly facing the entrance was an altar table with incense burners and fruit plates. Incense ash covered the altar, and the fruit plates contained blackened objects of unknown nature. Ren Yaoqi, led by Xiao Jingxi to take a closer look, couldn’t help but pause upon seeing the jade statue behind the altar table. “This is…” Ren Yaoqi turned her head to carefully examine the jade carving, which was just over a foot tall.
“It’s the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens,” Xiao Jingxi said.
Ren Yaoqi frowned: “The Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens? Very few people worship her at home…”
Xiao Jingxi continued thoughtfully: “Except military families.”
Ren Yaoqi raised an eyebrow at Xiao Jingxi.
Xiao Jingxi smiled: “Legend says the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens was the Yellow Emperor’s military advisor, an ancient goddess of war who deeply understood military strategy and tactics, so some military families worship her.”
Ren Yaoqi nodded and asked puzzledly: “Were the Zhai family ancestors military officers?”
Xiao Jingxi led Ren Yaoqi closer to the statue, looking down at a wooden chest placed beneath it. The chest sat on the altar table, seemingly made of sandalwood, smaller than the dozen or so chests piled nearby, with a lock on top.
Ren Yaoqi looked around, trying to find a key to open this chest, but found nothing.
Xiao Jingxi stopped her and smiled: “What are you looking for? This isn’t an ordinary lock but a mechanism lock – keys won’t open it.”
Ren Yaoqi took the oil lamp from Xiao Jingxi and leaned in for a closer look, discovering what appeared to be an ordinary double tiger-head brass lock. Due to the humid air here, it was already covered with blue-green patina. Looking carefully, she could see five interlocking gears, each engraved with densely packed small characters.
Ren Yaoqi had read about such mechanism locks in books. By rotating the five gears to align the correct characters in the correct positions, the lock could be opened.
Ren Yaoqi examined it with interest for a while, then asked Xiao Jingxi: “Since Han Yunqian told you the mechanism for the secret passage, he should have also told you the password for this lock, right?”
But Xiao Jingxi shook his head: “No.”
Ren Yaoqi felt somewhat disappointed: “So we can’t see the rare treasures?”
Xiao Jingxi thought for a moment and frowned: “Do you want to see them?”
Ren Yaoqi deliberately made things difficult for Xiao Jingxi: “Yes, but unfortunately, you can’t open it, so forget it.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingxi just raised an eyebrow and smiled, not arguing, but led Ren Yaoqi away, saying gently: “Let’s first see what’s in the other chests.”
Besides the chest on the altar, the other dozen or so large chests in the room weren’t locked. Xiao Jingxi randomly opened one and found it full of porcelain, from square famille rose general vases to small snuff bottles of various types and sizes. After carefully examining one famille rose general vase, Xiao Jingxi nodded and concluded: “They’re treasures.” Then he closed the chest and opened another.
The adjacent large chest contained jade pieces, all exquisite treasures. Ren Yaoqi even recognized a pair of luminous cups as crafts from a small southern kingdom.
However, both Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi only casually looked at these fine objects without showing any surprise.
It wasn’t until they opened the third chest and found it full of well-sealed, perfectly preserved calligraphy and paintings that Xiao Jingxi smiled and said to Ren Yaoqi: “This chest must be taken back no matter what – it can please father-in-law.” He even took out a painting to examine carefully, looking very satisfied.
Ren Yaoqi: “…”
The two walked around the chamber and found that these chests contained valuable but difficult-to-carry objects. Even from their casual glances, they could tell the Zhai family’s foundation had indeed been substantial.
After examining the chests, Xiao Jingxi led Ren Yaoqi back to the altar to study the locked sandalwood chest.
Ren Yaoqi looked at Xiao Jingxi’s slightly contemplative expression and asked curiously: “What? Can you open it?”
Xiao Jingxi gave Ren Yaoqi a brilliant smile that almost dazzled her: “Since you want to see, I must find a way to open it.”
Saying this, Xiao Jingxi handed the oil lamp to Ren Yaoqi and leaned over to fiddle with the lock.
Ren Yaoqi didn’t stop him, standing aside to watch.
Xiao Jingxi examined all the characters on the gears, then tried guessing the password. Unfortunately, Second Young Master Xiao wasn’t a god, and his first two guesses were wrong.
Seeing him frown with a serious expression, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help laughing: “Forget it, let’s have someone bring it up and find an expert to open it. This kind of lock is probably…”
Before Ren Yaoqi could finish speaking, she suddenly heard a “click” followed by the sound of mechanisms operating, and couldn’t help but pause.
Xiao Jingxi’s face slowly broke into a smile, and he turned to wink at Ren Yaoqi.
Seeing someone’s secretly smug expression, Ren Yaoqi found it amusing and generously praised: “Young Master is amazing, truly admirable!”
Second Young Master Xiao looked at Ren Yaoqi and said seriously in a low voice: “As long as it’s what you want.”
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but blush. Xiao Jingxi took the opportunity to lean down and kiss Ren Yaoqi’s forehead, then led her over: “If it’s not rare treasures inside, will you be very disappointed?”
Ren Yaoqi was still dazed from Xiao Jingxi’s gentle kiss. Hearing this, she answered without thinking: “Since you opened it, how could I be disappointed?”
When she met Xiao Jingxi’s bright gaze, Ren Yaoqi realized her words were as sweet as his romantic declarations.
Ren Yaoqi felt somewhat embarrassed, but Xiao Jingxi chuckled softly, gently squeezing her palm: “That’s good, because I suspect this chest doesn’t contain surprises – hopefully not scares either.”
Ren Yaoqi paused: “You know what’s inside before even opening the chest?”
Xiao Jingxi sighed, looking at the statue of the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens: “Not exactly, but I’ve guessed the true identity of this chest’s owner.”
Ren Yaoqi frowned: “The chest owner’s true identity? Isn’t this the Zhai family’s chamber? Could this chest not belong to the Zhai family?”
Xiao Jingxi said, “Not quite – this person should have deep connections to the Zhai family.”
Ren Yaoqi’s curiosity was piqued by Xiao Jingxi’s words, and she looked at the sandalwood chest: “So you were able to open this mechanism lock not by random guessing, but because you figured out the identity of the chest’s owner?”
Xiao Jingxi nodded: “Exactly.” He smiled at Ren Yaoqi. “Don’t you want to see? Should we open it?”
Ren Yaoqi blinked, wondering what Xiao Jingxi meant by “scare.”
Xiao Jingxi said nothing, just smiled at Ren Yaoqi, as if he would open it if she said to open it, or lead her away if she said she didn’t want to see.
Ren Yaoqi didn’t hesitate long – curiosity ultimately conquered everything. Besides, she knew in her heart that if there were real danger, Xiao Jingxi wouldn’t let her open the chest, so at most it would just be a scare.