“If the land is good, the seedlings flourish; if the residence is auspicious, the people prosper. When my great-grandfather was alive, he firmly believed in these feng shui arts,” Ren Yaoqi replied quietly.

“Oh? Does Fifth Miss also believe in these things?” Han Yunqian smiled slightly and turned his face to the side.

“Doesn’t Master Han believe in them?”

Han Yunqian remained silent for a moment, as if contemplating.

Ren Yaoqi looked at his back from behind. Han Yunqian’s figure was like bamboo, with a straight back and waist. When he wasn’t speaking, he had a kind of deep, weighty bearing about him.

After a while, he said slowly: “My grandfather doesn’t believe in these things. I remember a few years ago when the ancestral home in Jizhou needed repairs, the clan uncles all said we should find a feng shui master to take a look, to benefit future generations, but my grandfather refused.”

“I don’t believe in these things either,” Ren Yaoqi smiled slightly. “This residence isn’t the Ren family ancestral home. My great-grandfather bought it from a wealthy household at the time. The original owners moved south to escape the Liao people. If this feng shui were truly effective, shouldn’t they have remained safe sitting at home? Why would they need to move south with their entire family?”

Han Yunqian looked at Ren Yaoqi. Because his face was backlit, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t see his expression.

After a moment, he laughed and nodded in agreement: “Fifth Miss makes a good point.”

“I heard the Han family has lived in Jizhou for generations?” Ren Yaoqi asked casually.

“That’s what the Han family genealogy records,” Han Yunqian said gently.

“I’ve never been to Jizhou. I don’t know if Jizhou people’s living habits differ greatly from ours, Yanzhou people. However, I see that you and Sister You don’t seem very different from us, Yanzhou people. Are there people born in Yanzhou in your family?”

Upon hearing this, Han Yunqian lowered his head to think, then replied with a smile: “No. However, my grandfather’s maternal family seems to have ancestral roots near Yanzhou, though after several decades, the relatives from Yanzhou can no longer be found. They probably moved south, too. I heard that when Yanbei was in chaos, Yanzhou was also nine-tenths empty.”

Ren Yaoqi was thinking that Han Yunqian’s answer was truly flawless. It could even explain why his grandfather occasionally inadvertently let slip some Yanzhou accent in his speech.

“Is Fifth Miss here to stroll in the garden?” Han Yunqian looked at Ren Yaoqi and asked with a smile.

Ren Yaoqi replied casually: “I was passing through the corridor when I saw someone in the garden. The figure looked somewhat like my second cousin from the East Manor. I originally wanted to come greet him, but unexpectedly it turned out to be you.”

Ren Yilin, the concubine-born son of Second Master from the East Manor, was about the same height as Han Yunqian, and their silhouettes were indeed quite similar.

Han Yunqian laughed, looking at Ren Yaoqi: “I see. It was Yunqian who was presumptuous. Please forgive me, Fifth Miss.”

At this time, the footsteps of several people seemed to come from behind. Ren Yaoqi turned around and saw Ren Yiyan and Ren Yihong approaching, with Ren Yaohua, Ren Yaoting, and Han You following behind them.

“Fifth Sister, when did you arrive? I was just thinking of having someone call you and Eighth Sister to come over,” Ren Yiyan said with a smile after being slightly startled to see Ren Yaoqi and Han Yunqian together.

Ren Yaohua, Ren Yaoting, and Han You also saw Ren Yaoqi. Ren Yaoting’s gaze lingered long on Ren Yaoqi and Han Yunqian, then suddenly said with a somewhat mocking smile: “Fifth Sister is out strolling in the garden? What a coincidence.”

Ren Yaohua said to Ren Yaoqi coolly: “Didn’t I have a maid tell you to wait in the pavilion ahead?”

This implied that she had sent someone to call Ren Yaoqi over.

Ren Yaoting looked at Ren Yaohua with confusion, then at Ren Yaoqi’s frank expression, and her face looked somewhat better.

Han Yunqian smiled gently: “I heard someone coming and thought it was Brother Yiyan, so I came to greet them, but unexpectedly encountered Fifth Miss instead. It was my breach of etiquette.”

Ren Yaohua glanced at Ren Yaoqi, slightly turned her head away, not knowing what she was thinking.

Ren Yaoqi walked to their side and asked Ren Yaoting with a smile: “When did Seventh Sister arrive?”

“I heard Sister You had come, and my mother went to Jizhou for Second Brother’s marriage matter, so I came to have a look too.” Ren Yaoting turned and smiled at Han You.

“Second Aunt went to Jizhou?” Ren Yaoqi was slightly surprised.

“Yes, she left this morning and probably won’t return for two days,” Ren Yaoting said casually.

Ren Yaoting said Second Madam went to Jizhou for the marriage of the concubine-born son Ren Yilin, but Ren Yaoqi knew that Second Madam was going to break off an engagement.

Second Madam, Madam Su, appeared to be a perfect mistress of the house in outsiders’ eyes. She managed the household well, was gentle and modest, and was not jealous. The several concubines of Second Master from the East Manor were all well-behaved, rarely causing trouble, and the two concubine-born sons, Ren Yilin and Ren Yixin, were very respectful to this legitimate mother.

So it wasn’t strange that she would travel for a concubine-born son’s marriage.

However, Ren Yaoqi was wondering whether in this life, that young lady from Scholar Liu’s family would still despair and take her own life because of the broken engagement.

“The spring scenery is perfect now. How about we sit in that pavilion?” Ren Yiyan suggested.

“Sister Ting said she would play the qin for us – the pavilion would be perfect,” Han You said happily.

Ren Yaoting smiled with pursed lips: “I’m here to make a fool of myself. Why must you announce it so everyone knows?”

Han You blinked: “Everyone will hear it shortly anyway.”

“How wonderful. I’ll have someone go back to fetch the qin,” Ren Yiyan said with a smile.

“I already sent a maid back to get it,” Ren Yaoting said hurriedly.

She had indeed come prepared.

The group went together to sit in the pavilion.

Ren Yaoqi noticed that Ren Yaoyin, who should have come, was absent, so she asked about it.

Ren Yiyan said, “Fourth Sister caught a chill, and her voice is somewhat hoarse. She said she’ll apologize to Master Han and Miss Han next time.”

Ren Yaoting’s qin was indeed brought quickly. She burned incense, washed her hands, sat in the courtyard, and played the precious qin with her delicate hands.

To be fair, Ren Yaoting played the qin quite well, which was why she dared to “make a fool of herself.” Everyone either sat or stood, listening quietly.

Han Yunqian was originally standing facing the lotus pool when suddenly there was a “zheng zheng zheng—” sound. Han Yunqian frowned and looked back, meeting the affectionate gaze of Ren Yaoting, who was playing the qin.

Han You suddenly giggled. Seeing everyone looking at her, she said somewhat embarrassedly: “I told Sister Ting that my brother has extremely sharp hearing – he can detect even the slightest wrong note. Sister Ting didn’t believe me, so she just tested it. You see, I was right, wasn’t I? When you play well, he won’t notice, but if you play a wrong note, he’ll frown and look over.”

Those present who were proficient in music recalled that Ren Yaoting had indeed played a wrong note just now. Though it wasn’t obvious, Han Yunqian had immediately noticed it.

However, this couldn’t help but bring to mind a saying: “When the melody has an error, Zhou Lang looks back.”

Legend had it that Zhou Lang was also proficient in music like Han Yunqian. Even when thoroughly drunk, if someone playing made an error, he could immediately detect it and look toward the person who made the mistake, smiling slightly at her. Many women who admired him would deliberately play wrong notes just to make Zhou Lang look their way.

Was Ren Yaoting blatantly hinting that she was interested in Han Yunqian?

Han You was innocent by nature and hadn’t originally thought so much, but seeing everyone’s strange expressions, she thought carefully and understood, showing some embarrassment on her face.

It was still Ren Yiyan who gently smiled to help Han You out of the awkward situation: “So, Brother Han also has this habit? My third brother also enjoys music. Next time, when he’s listening to the qin, I must test him too. If he can’t detect it, I’ll tease him for being pretentious.”

Ren Yiyan, as the eldest brother, usually had considerable elder brother dignity and was quite popular among the siblings, so everyone gave him face and laughed.

Han Yunqian seemed to notice nothing. He smiled faintly, gentle and courteous, but his eyes were calm and unruffled.

Just as they were talking, a maid ran over. After bowing, she said to Ren Yaoqi: “Fifth Miss, Third Master asks you to come to the warm pavilion.”

The warm pavilion the maid mentioned was where Han Yunqian had played chess with Ren Shimin and Ren Junyí last time. It was in the northwest corner of the garden, not too far from this lakeside pavilion.

“When did Third Uncle return?” Ren Yiyan asked in surprise.

The maid said, “Third Master arrived at the warm pavilion not long ago. Hearing that the young masters and misses were here, he sent this servant to invite Fifth Miss over.”

Ren Yaoqi stood up, apologized to everyone, and followed the maid to the warm pavilion in the northwest.

As soon as Ren Yaoqi entered, she saw Ren Shimin standing by the window with his hands behind his back. Seeing her enter, he turned to look: “Come, keep father company for a few games of chess.”

Only after Ren Yaoqi sat at the chessboard behind Ren Shimin did she raise an eyebrow and ask: “Father called me here just to play chess?”

Ren Shimin looked at Ren Yaoqi, suddenly sighed, and said somewhat helplessly: “I just returned from the outer courtyard. Your grandfather is discussing the marriage alliance between the Ren and Han families with Han Yunqian’s father.”

Ren Yaoqi was startled. So soon?

Seeing Ren Yaoqi’s expression, Ren Shimin couldn’t help but shake his head: “I heard the salt well matter went very smoothly for both families. Both the Ren and Han families invested considerably, so…”

So they needed a marriage to solidify the relationship between the two families?

Ren Yaoqi frowned.

Perhaps she was biased against the Han family, but she felt that it was the Han family who urgently needed a marriage to gain the Ren family’s trust.

“Your grandfather just called me over. From his words, the person decided upon by both families should be your sister Yaohua.”

Ren Yaoqi’s expression became even uglier.

This marriage agreement came too quickly – she hadn’t had time to think of a way to prevent it. She had originally thought that without Ren Shimin and Ren Junyí’s involvement in this life, even if the Han and Ren families wanted to form a marriage alliance, it would take some time.

After all, today was only the first time the Han family had formally visited for this matter.

Could this be what was called destiny?

“No one can change your grandfather’s decision. I tried asking tentatively whether another Ren family daughter would work, but he said he has arrangements for everyone, then dismissed me.”

Arrangements for everyone? Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but sneer coldly.

If they followed his arrangements, none of them would have good endings.

“Things being as they are, you should stay away from Han Yunqian from now on,” Ren Shimin suddenly said seriously.