After Ren Yaoqi finished her confinement period, she resumed her daily social obligations. The Princess Consort gradually began handing over most of the prince’s mansion’s internal affairs to her, while she herself enjoyed the leisurely days of playing with her grandson. Fortunately, Ren Yaoqi was intelligent and had the Princess Consort’s guidance from the side, so managing the household came naturally to her.

Xiao Jinglin had previously said she wanted to take her little nephew as her disciple, so she came daily to cultivate the master-disciple bond with her future student. Little Ah Zhuo liked Xiao Jinglin very much – every time she held him, he neither cried nor fussed. Princess Xiao was very satisfied with this. If not for the Princess Consort’s strict prohibition, she would probably have started teaching the few-month-old Ah Zhuo how to do horse stance exercises.

On this day, Xiao Jinglin came again to bid farewell to Ren Yaoqi and Ah Zhuo.

“Where are you going this time?” Ren Yaoqi asked, looking at Xiao Jinglin who was dressed in military attire with heroic bearing.

Xiao Jinglin grabbed Ah Zhuo’s chubby little hand that was pawing at the soft armor on her chest: “The Zeng father and son have hidden in Tangut territory. This time I’m going to thoroughly eliminate them root and branch.”

Ren Yaoqi looked at Xiao Jinglin with some suspicion upon hearing this: “Surely this doesn’t require you to go personally?”

The Zeng father and son were now nothing more than stray dogs who couldn’t stir up any trouble. Even if the Yanbei Prince’s mansion wanted to eliminate them, there was no need for Xiao Jinglin to take action personally.

Xiao Jinglin pressed her lips together, lowered her head to play with Ah Zhuo, and acted as if she hadn’t heard.

Ren Yaoqi narrowed her eyes and studied her for a few moments, then suddenly had a realization: “Could it be to avoid someone?”

The hand with which Xiao Jinglin was pinching Ah Zhuo’s little paw paused, and Ren Yaoqi understood about eighty to ninety percent of the situation.

Previously, when Yun Wenting followed Xiao Jinglin back from Jiajing Pass, because Yun Wenfang was severely injured and Xiao Jinglin had many matters to attend to, Yun Wenting returned to the Yun family first. Now that Yun Wenfang’s injuries were gradually healing and he had unexpectedly begun taking over the Yun family’s affairs, Yun Wenting, the eldest legitimate grandson who had been designated as the next heir to the Yun family, instead found himself at leisure. So recently, the Yun family’s eldest young master had been appearing at the Yanbei Prince’s mansion from time to time.

Young Master Yun wasn’t coming to see Xiao Jinglin – he was coming to pay respects to the Old Princess Consort and Princess Consort. The Old Princess Consort had always been very fond of this grand-nephew from her maternal family. Although the Princess Consort’s attitude toward Yun Wenting was somewhat inscrutable, she didn’t dislike him either. After all, looking throughout all of Yanbei, there were very few people who could be found to surpass the Yun family’s eldest young master in excellence.

So recently, Xiao Jinglin had been seeing Yun Wenting quite frequently. When she had been busy with affairs earlier, Yun Wenting would follow behind Xiao Jinglin, helping her review documents and handle follow-up matters, and Xiao Jinglin hadn’t found him particularly bothersome. Now that she was gradually becoming more idle, Yun Wenting still constantly hovered in front of her, and Xiao Jinglin was becoming somewhat irritated.

Seeing Xiao Jinglin like this, Ren Yaoqi only sighed and didn’t try to persuade her.

Matters of the heart were something others couldn’t help with much – one had to think things through for oneself.

However, what Xiao Jinglin didn’t know was that the Princess Consort had once privately discussed the matter of Yun Wenting and Xiao Jinglin with Ren Yaoqi. The Princess Consort was an enlightened person. Although the Yun family’s affairs were somewhat complicated, she had no particular prejudice against this younger generation member, Yun Wenting. If Xiao Jinglin agreed, the Princess Consort wouldn’t obstruct it.

As for the Yanbei Prince’s opinion… the Princess Consort calmly indicated that it wasn’t a problem.

Later, when Xiao Jingxi came and heard the mother and daughter-in-law discussing the Yun family’s eldest young master, he rarely expressed an opinion: “Yun Wenting doesn’t have any major flaws as a person, but he lacks a certain sharpness and his temperament is too soft.”

Upon hearing this, the Princess Consort laughed: “We’re choosing a son-in-law, not selecting a commanding general. What need is there for sharpness? One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, even if one is male and one female. For a married couple to last long, one firm and one gentle is the most suitable match. When two people with strong temperaments come together as a pair, after a long time, they’ll easily clash.”

Speaking of this, the Princess Consort sighed: “Lin’er is fixated on wanting to guard the border passes. If she truly gets her wish, then someone with Yun Wenting’s temperament would be most suitable for her.”

Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi exchanged glances and both lowered their heads to indicate they had been educated.

After Xiao Jinglin bid farewell to Ren Yaoqi and Ah Zhuo, she left Yunyang City, taking her guards toward Ningxia. Less than half a day after Xiao Jinglin left, Yun Wenting also departed from Yunyang City.

This departure of Xiao Jinglin and Yun Wenting lasted nearly a year.

During this period, something also happened in the Ren family. The marriage between Ren Yaoying and that Master He ultimately didn’t come to pass – Ren Yaoying broke off the engagement and fled from the Ren family one month before the wedding.

The Ren family was not what it used to be. Many servants had been dismissed, and security naturally couldn’t compare to that of a deep compound. Ren Yaoying used some silver to bribe a few people, disguised herself as a little maid, and escaped from the back door. Before fleeing, she also stole the Eldest Madam’s jewelry box.

When the Eldest Madam discovered this, she immediately sent people to pursue her. She had thought that a teenage girl couldn’t run very far, but unexpectedly, after three days of searching, they still couldn’t find her. Ren Yaoying had mysteriously vanished.

The He family somehow found out and came looking. Since the Ren family really couldn’t produce Ren Yaoying, they returned all the betrothal gifts and compensated the He family with five hundred taels of silver. Although the He family was displeased, they could only consider themselves unlucky.

Ren Shimin and Li Shi also learned of this matter. Although Ren Shimin had already severed the father-daughter relationship with Ren Yaoying, he was, after all, Ren Yaoying’s biological father, so the Ren family still informed Ren Shimin and Li Shi about Ren Yaoying’s disappearance.

Ren Shimin no longer acknowledged Ren Yaoying as his daughter. Upon hearing the news of Ren Yaoying’s escape, he didn’t become particularly angry, only coldly instructed someone to report to the authorities, then had Li Shi prepare five hundred taels in bank notes to send to the Ren family, and also compensated the Eldest Madam for her lost jewelry converted to silver.

Because Ren Yaoqi had taken over most affairs of the Yanbei Prince’s mansion and was quite busy approaching the year’s end, although she heard about Ren Yaoying’s matter when Li Shi sent someone to inform her, she didn’t spend much thought on it.

However, although Ren Yaoqi didn’t interfere, since it was Ren Shimin who had sent people to report to the authorities, the officials naturally didn’t dare to be negligent. So on the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, ten days after Ren Yaoying’s disappearance, Li Shi sent someone to tell Ren Yaoqi that they had found Ren Yaoying.

It turned out that after Ren Yaoying fled from the Ren family, she hadn’t left Yanzhou. She had come to Yunyang City and was living in a two-courtyard residence in an alley called Jixiang Hutong in the western part of Yunyang City.

After the authorities found her, they didn’t rashly go in to arrest her, but first sent someone to report to Ren Shimin. It happened that Ren Shimin had gone out to visit friends, and Li Shi couldn’t make a decision on her own, so she sent someone to the Yanbei Prince’s mansion to ask Ren Yaoqi.

Ren Yaoqi was rather curious about what scheme Ren Yaoying was up to, but she didn’t want to let Ren Yaoying, this bad apple, spoil the entire Ren family’s reputation. So she told the authorities not to make any commotion, then sent several people to watch Ren Yaoying at the Jixiang Hutong where she was staying.

On the first day, there was no movement from Ren Yaoying’s side. In her two-courtyard residence, besides a newly bought little maid who served her daily needs, there was also an old couple responsible for cleaning and the kitchen. Except for the old woman going out to buy vegetables once in the early morning, the gate of that residence remained closed all day.

On the evening of the second day, the people responsible for watching Ren Yaoying’s side finally had news – a man had entered the residence where Ren Yaoying was staying. This man went in and didn’t come out until early morning of the second day.

The identity of this man was naturally quickly investigated. Upon hearing the name reported by her subordinates, Ren Yaoqi wasn’t too surprised. This man was also an acquaintance – it was precisely that Young Master Zhou, Zhou Wen, who had been entangled with Ren Yaoying years ago.

Zhou Wen was now living quite prosperously. He indeed had some real talent in scholarship. Although he had suffered a setback in that examination and been despondent for a while, his luck had returned after marriage. This year’s provincial examination, he had done quite well. His father-in-law was a minor local official in Zhuozhou who had found connections to secure him a lucrative position in Yizhou. His prospects could be said to be unlimited.

Although Zhou Wen already had a beautiful wife who had given him a son last year and had also taken one of her beautiful dowry maids as a concubine, Zhou Wen was naturally romantic by nature. Somehow, he had gotten entangled with Ren Yaoying again. Indeed, a wife was not as good as a concubine, and a concubine was not as good as a stolen lover.

Ren Yaoying compared the currently high-spirited and handsome Zhou Wen with that wrinkled Master He, who could be her grandfather, and the superiority was immediately apparent. So she became unwilling to marry into the He family. Somehow, she convinced Zhou Wen to rent a residence in Yunyang City for her temporary stay. Once the He family withdrew from the engagement and the Ren family stopped looking for her, she could follow Zhou Wen to Yizhou to take up his official post.

The Zhou family only had Zhou Wen as their son, so his wife had to remain in Yunyang City to serve his parents-in-law. Ren Yaoying calculated extremely well – once she followed Zhou Wen to his official post, Zhou Wen would rarely return to Yunyang City even once a year. His feelings for his legitimate wife naturally couldn’t compare to hers, who would be serving him personally. After another three to five years, when Zhou Wen had established himself firmly and no longer needed his father-in-law’s support, he would divorce his legitimate wife. She would then restore her identity as a Ren family young lady, and Zhou Wen could marry her properly. At that time, she would be a proper official’s wife.

Ren Yaoying’s calculations were extremely ambitious, but unfortunately, she had her aunt’s aspirations without her aunt’s brains.

After Ren Yaoqi investigated these matters clearly, she had someone inform Li Shi, telling her to wait for Ren Shimin to return and let him handle it, while she continued to busy herself with this year’s New Year gifts.

After Ren Shimin returned from visiting friends and Li Shi told him about Ren Yaoying’s affairs, Ren Shimin said nothing at the time. The next day, he sent someone with his calling card to the authorities.

At noon, when Li Shi was eating at the same table with Ren Shimin, Ren Shimin casually said to Li Shi, “Send someone to White Crane Town to pack up some old things she used. Considering she bore the Ren surname for over ten years, find a place near the Ren family ancestral graves to bury them. Since she was unmarried in life, get a thin coffin and keep everything simple.”

Li Shi was stunned for a long time upon hearing this: “Master’s meaning is…”

Ren Shimin picked up his chopsticks: “From now on, there is no such person as Ren Yaoying.”

Master Ren decisively canceled Ren Yaoying’s household registration, making her a dead person. The official records stated the cause of death as: encountered bandits, committed suicide.