After bidding farewell to Rong Shi, Ren Yaoqi followed Xiangqin to reunite with the Ren Family.
Although people from the Yanbei Prince's Mansion and the Su Family had already come out to manage the situation, the area near the riverbank remained somewhat chaotic. Many families were worried that something even more dangerous might happen next, so they hurriedly wanted to leave. Many frightened women were still weeping and wailing.
Quite a few families had come to participate in the dragon boat race, so even if they wanted to leave, they had to do so in batches. After all, the road leading back to the city was not wide, and without order, they would end up stuck here.
Thus, even though Old Madam Ren wanted to lead the Ren Family away, she still had to wait for the carriages ahead to depart first.
Ren Yaoqi went to greet Old Madam Ren. Old Madam Ren was currently in a state of agitation and had no time to question Ren Yaoqi in detail. She simply waved her hand and let her board Ren Yaohua's carriage.
As soon as Ren Yaohua saw her, she frowned and said, "Where have you been? I've been looking for you for ages!"
Ren Yaoqi smiled apologetically. "I was on the boat earlier. There were too many people, so it took me a while to get off. I'm sorry for worrying you, Third Sister."
Seeing her attitude, Ren Yaohua couldn't bring herself to say anything more.
Ren Yaoqi then sat down at the low table in the middle of the carriage and instructed Xiangqin to bring out the writing brush and ink.
Although Xiangqin was puzzled as to why she needed writing tools at this moment, she obediently went to fetch them. Their travel carriage was typically stocked with daily necessities, from clothes and cosmetics to tea, snacks, and writing materials.
Besides the sisters Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua, only Xiangqin and Pingguo were attending to them in the carriage. Ren Yaoqi selected a piece of ordinary rice paper, picked up the brush with her left hand, and wrote a few characters on it.
Ren Yaohua sat opposite her. She found it strange that Ren Yaoqi wanted to write at this time, and seeing her deliberately use her left hand made her even more suspicious. She couldn't help but glance curiously at the paper.
On the neatly trimmed paper, two characters were written in neat, upright regular script: "Dragon Head."
Ren Yaohua was taken aback. She glanced at Ren Yaoqi again, but her sister's face remained calm and composed, which left Ren Yaohua utterly perplexed. She thought Ren Yaoqi would write more, but instead, Ren Yaoqi set down the brush after writing only those two characters. She then blew on the ink to dry it and folded the paper.
The carriage was quiet, with only the faint rustling of paper as it was folded. Although no one understood Ren Yaoqi's actions, no one spoke up.
After folding the paper, Ren Yaoqi beckoned to Pingguo, who immediately moved closer on her knees. "What are your orders, Miss?"
Ren Yaoqi leaned close to her ear and whispered a few instructions. Pingguo nodded solemnly. Once Ren Yaoqi finished, she handed the folded note to Pingguo, who left the carriage without another word.
Ren Yaohua had been watching Ren Yaoqi the whole time. Only after Pingguo left did she speak up. "What are you up to now?"
Ren Yaoqi lifted the carriage curtain and saw Pingguo's figure slip away swiftly like an eel, disappearing from sight. She then turned back to Ren Yaohua with a smile. "Today's events are suspicious. I'm just giving someone a little reminder."Ren Yaohua listened with only partial understanding. Recalling previous events and the two characters she had just seen, she thought Ren Yaoqi's meaning was likely to suspect that today's incident was related to the dragon head. As for the "someone" Ren Yaoqi mentioned needing to warn, Ren Yaohua assumed she was referring to the Commandery Princess of Yanbei Prince's Mansion.
After asking this one question, Ren Yaohua let the matter drop. After all, this affair ultimately had little to do with them, and there was no real reason for her to inquire further. She believed Ren Yaoqi was only paying attention to these things because of her close friendship with the Commandery Princess, and that Ren Yaoqi was likely just speculating anyway.
Seeing that Ren Yaohua did not press further, Ren Yaoqi was in no hurry to explain. Such matters were not something she could clarify in just a few words.
Earlier, she had secretly instructed Pingguo to deliver that slip of paper to the head of the Lei Family.
She suspected that in her previous life, the Han Family had used the fact that the Lei Family was not the legitimate main branch of the Lei clan to completely drive them out of Yanbei. She had a strong feeling that today's incident was not aimed at others but specifically at the Lei Family.
Apart from the timing aligning perfectly, the Han Family had been involved in the preparations for this dragon boat race, while the Lei Family had been riding a wave of prominence in Yunyang City recently.
She had been pondering why the explosives had targeted those particular dragon boats. Later, when she saw the dragon head broken in the river, it suddenly dawned on her. Due to the complex craftsmanship involved, the dragon heads for each family required one to two years to complete before they could be launched. To the untrained eye, there might be no visible difference between a dragon head that had been in the water for many years and one newly rushed to completion. However, if taken apart, the interior would certainly differ, and veteran artisans specializing in dragon head construction would definitely be able to tell.
The Lei Family claimed their dragon head was the one originally brought from Yanbei to the Jiangnan region, using it as proof of their orthodox status. Ren Yaoqi, however, felt this was overreaching and could backfire.
If someone seized upon this as a vulnerability, trouble would surely come for the Lei Family.
Of course, regarding the dragon head matter, the Lei Family could ultimately claim they had done it merely to save face. But for a prominent aristocratic family, such a reputation would be unsavory. Moreover, this incident was likely just a pretext; the Han Family would undoubtedly have follow-up moves.
By warning the Lei Family about the dragon head issue, Ren Yaoqi aimed not only to have them discreetly dispose of the destroyed dragon head but also to alert them that their origins were already known, urging them to take early precautions.
She had thought of all this after disembarking from the boat but had not voiced it to Xiao Jingxi and the others.
Xiao Jingxi had already made it clear that Yanbei Prince's Mansion would not intervene, so she was unsure if her act of passing on a warning would be stopped.
"Ah! Fifth Young Miss, are you injured?" Xiangqin suddenly exclaimed in alarm.
Ren Yaoqi snapped back to attention, somewhat puzzled. "No, I'm not."
But Xiangqin pointed at Ren Yaoqi's collar. "Look, there's blood there." As she spoke, she immediately rummaged through a drawer under the small table and pulled out a hand mirror, handing it to Ren Yaoqi.
Ren Yaoqi took the mirror and looked. Indeed, on the right side of her collar was a red stain about the size of a mung bean. It had been hidden by her hair earlier, so no one had noticed—credit to Xiangqin's sharp eyes.
Ren Yaoqi was momentarily stunned, then remembered it was probably blood that had splattered from Xiao Jingxi's neck earlier. She had wiped off the drop on her face but hadn't realized one had also landed on her collar.
"It's not my blood," Ren Yaoqi said after a glance, then used her hair to cover the stain again.Although Xiangqin and Ren Yaohua felt somewhat puzzled, seeing that Ren Yaoqi truly appeared unharmed, they could say little more.
Yet Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but recall the moment on the boat when that person shielded her. She could still feel the lingering warmth of his touch on her body and the cool, medicinal fragrance that had lingered around her.
If she were a maiden with budding affections, her cheeks would surely be flushed with shyness at this moment. Unfortunately, she had long passed that age of innocent naivety.
Still, even so, when she thought of that scene and the warmth of that person, she couldn't help but fall into a brief daze.
Several people on the Lei Family's boat had suffered serious injuries this time, and Lei Ting was busy handling these matters. Suddenly, a sound came from behind him. His pupils contracted sharply as he swiftly dodged to the side. A whistling sound brushed past his ear, and something flew by, landing on the ground not far ahead.
Lei Ting narrowed his eyes slightly and immediately turned to look behind him. However, he only saw the heads of various families who, like him, had stayed behind to manage the aftermath, along with attendants bustling about. There was no one suspicious in sight, which made Lei Ting inwardly wary.
A steward serving nearby picked up the object from the ground. "Master, this is..."
Only then did Lei Ting turn his head and realize it was a stone the size of a longan fruit, wrapped in a thin sheet of paper. This was what had flown toward him.
Lei Ting glanced at the steward's hand for only a moment before taking the object. Without revealing any emotion, he unwrapped the thin paper. Yet upon seeing the words written on it, he was suddenly startled.
However, Lei Ting was no longer a green youth fresh out of the gate. Years of experience allowed him to quickly calm his mind, and his expression showed no change whatsoever.
"Summon Liu Gui. I have orders for him," Lei Ting instructed the steward in a low voice.
The steward immediately complied and left.
Lei Ting gazed toward the river, his stern, chiseled face revealing an inscrutable expression.
Hiding in the shadows, Pingguo saw Dongsheng approaching and immediately looked at him.
Dongsheng nodded to her and, drawing closer, said, "Go tell the young lady that it has been delivered to him."
Upon hearing this, Pingguo turned and left without another word, her movements crisp and efficient.
Dongsheng was taken aback and rubbed his nose.
Ren Yaoqi wanted to send a secret message without anyone noticing, something Pingguo naturally couldn't accomplish on her own. So she had Pingguo seek out Dongsheng and instructed him not to hide the matter if Xiao Jingxi inquired about it.
Although she hadn't directly discussed this matter with Xiao Jingxi when she thought of it, she also had no intention of deliberately concealing her actions. Given Xiao Jingxi's shrewdness, he would surely figure it out afterward.
Having completed her mission, Pingguo immediately returned to report.
The Ren Family's carriage was parked on the riverbank. The carriages of the families ahead had already begun to move, and the Ren Family's steward was also calling out to the coachmen to prepare.
After Pingguo returned, Ren Yaoqi set the matter aside for the time being. She leaned against the carriage wall, resting with her eyes closed, when she heard voices outside. At first, she paid no attention, but after a moment, someone gently tapped on the carriage wall right where she was leaning, startling her.
At Ren Yaoqi's signal, Pingguo lifted the carriage curtain.
A young man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes appeared outside the carriage window.Yun Wenfang noticed Ren Yaoqi looking over, his gaze sweeping across her face. For some reason, his voice carried a hint of nervousness as he said, "I heard many people were injured when getting off the ship. Are you... alright?"
Ren Yaoqi looked at this nemesis from her past life, watching him try to conceal the worry in his eyes while maintaining his usual proud and aloof demeanor. Her gaze grew somewhat complicated.
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