The three of them sat in the courtyard, making a lively commotion for a while. As noon approached, Xiao Jingxi instructed Tong He to go to Baiyun Temple to fetch the vegetarian dishes he had ordered early in the morning.
Baiyun Temple’s vegetarian cuisine was renowned throughout Yanbei. Every year, countless pilgrims visited the temple just for its vegetarian fare. Ren Yaoqi had also tried it during her last visit. Her favorites were the vegetarian meatballs and the mushroom and winter melon soup. She had even discussed these dishes with Xiao Jinglin in their letters.
When the dishes were finally served, the two vegetarian dishes she loved were indeed on the table, likely because Xiao Jinglin had mentioned them.
The three of them enjoyed a leisurely and silent lunch, the atmosphere harmonious, as if they had truly come here just to savor Baiyun Temple’s vegetarian cuisine.
It wasn’t until the dishes were cleared away and tea was served that Xiao Jinglin suddenly said, “I’m actually here to bid you farewell again.”
Ren Yaoqi was taken aback and looked at Xiao Jinglin. “Are you returning to Jiajing Pass?”
Xiao Jinglin was surprised. She hadn’t mentioned it yet, so how did Ren Yaoqi know?
What Xiao Jinglin didn’t realize was that although she had never explicitly told Ren Yaoqi about her plans to return to Jiajing Pass, she had mentioned the movements of the Liao people in the north several times in her recent letters. As summer drew to a close and autumn and winter approached, the Liao people from the north would bypass the mountain passes to raid the borderlands.
In previous years, after Yanbei won a major victory, the Liao people had needed time to recuperate, so the border had remained peaceful for a while. This year, however, the Liao people had a new king. The newly enthroned Liao king was young and ambitious. Having grown up listening to his grandfather reminisce about the “glorious days” when the Liao people roamed freely and plundered Yanbei, he harbored a deep longing for the lands south of Jiajing Pass.
With a major battle likely on the horizon, Xiao Jinglin could no longer bear to stay in the comfortable surroundings of Yunyang City.
Some people were born to soar in the skies. Xiao Jingxi understood her deeply and helped persuade the Princess Consort of Yanbei. The Princess Consort finally relented, agreeing to let her go for another two years. However, after those two years, Xiao Jinglin would have to return, as it would be time for her to discuss marriage.
No family would willingly marry a woman who was stationed at the border year-round and rarely seen. The Princess Consort of Yanbei was genuinely worried about her daughter’s future.
Xiao Jinglin cared little for matters of romance. It wasn’t that she was indifferent, but rather that she understood better than anyone what she truly wanted.
Seeing that Ren Yaoqi, despite her efforts to hide it, was still somewhat downcast, Xiao Jinglin changed the subject. “By the way, I heard from my master that Yun Wenfang has also arrived at Jiajing Pass. After he shook off the Yun Family, he disappeared without a trace. The Yun Family thought he had gone to Ningxia, but instead, he secretly assumed a false name and slipped back. I remember that kid used to bully you repeatedly. When I get to Jiajing Pass, I’ll teach him a lesson for you!”
Xiao Jinglin valued Ren Yaoqi as a friend. Strictly speaking, Ren Yaoqi was her first close female friend. To comfort her, Xiao Jinglin said something she would never normally say—using her position for personal revenge was not Princess Xiao’s style.Ren Yaoqi was indeed amused by her, shaking her head with a smile. "Forget it, I haven't suffered any real harm. Let him walk his own sunny path." Ren Yaoqi understood Xiao Jinglin's temperament well and didn't want her to seek personal revenge under official pretexts. Moreover, she no longer wished to have any connection with Yun Wenfang—not even revenge.
Xiao Jingxi slowly traced the rim of his teacup and said leisurely, "You needn't think about revenge either. Yun Wenfang is quite busy these days and likely has little free time."
Xiao Jinglin looked at him with sudden realization. "Did you do something?"
Xiao Jingxi smiled and shook his head. "What could I do? I merely heard he was assigned to Min Wenqing's command and is now extremely busy every day. However, Second Young Master Yun's performance at the border has been quite impressive. According to battle reports, he earned merit just one month after arriving at Jiajing Pass."
Xiao Jinglin narrowed her eyes at Xiao Jingxi. How did Yun Wenfang end up under Min Wenqing's command?
Since Yun Wenfang was traveling incognito, he went as an ordinary new recruit. Yet Min Wenqing didn't accept new recruits—that fox only commanded either the elite of the Yanbei Army or those assigned to dangerous missions.
Moreover, Min Wenqing had never gotten along with the Yun Family. Min Wenqing was a man without scruples; if he discovered Yun Wenfang's identity, he would surely scheme against him multiple times—otherwise, he wouldn't be worthy of the surname Min. He had plenty of life-threatening tasks on hand, and it was entirely possible Yun Wenfang might die without even knowing how. Yet, danger and opportunity coexisted. If Yun Wenfang could endure to the end, he would undoubtedly be reborn—provided this pampered young master could survive the ordeal.
Clearly, someone had manipulated Yun Wenfang's assignment to Min Wenqing. It was just unclear whether Xiao Jingxi's move was ruthless or merciful.
Xiao Jinglin shot Xiao Jingxi a look of disdain—some people simply enjoyed underhanded tactics.
Xiao Jingxi ignored Xiao Jinglin's blatant contempt and changed the subject. "I heard Third Master Ren's two ancient paintings by Jiang Yuanyi were successfully restored?"
Xiao Jinglin replied expressionlessly, "What do you mean 'heard'? Not only did you source the pigments, but you also specifically visited Yunyang Academy yesterday to see them."
Seeing Ren Yaoqi glance over, Xiao Jingxi's face flushed uncontrollably with embarrassment. Yet, facing Xiao Jinglin, even feeling annoyed seemed futile. He pursed his lips childishly and fell silent—a rare display of petulance.
Whenever Xiao Jingxi sent pigments to Ren Yaoqi through his people, he always used Xiao Jinglin's name to avoid causing trouble for Ren Yaoqi, never claiming credit himself. However, when Xiao Jinglin wrote to Ren Yaoqi, she exposed all of Xiao Jingxi's secrets—not only telling Ren Yaoqi that he had sourced the materials but also revealing that two hard-to-find pigments were specially purchased by Xiao Jingxi through contacts.
Thus, Ren Yaoqi felt deeply grateful to Xiao Jingxi. With countless important matters awaiting Second Young Master Xiao, he was still willing to spend time and effort helping her with such trivial tasks—this sincerity was truly rare.Ren Yaoqi couldn't bear to see Xiao Jingxi embarrassed, so she smiled and said, "I haven't thanked you yet, Young Master Xiao. Some of the pigments were extremely difficult to find. If not for your help, my father’s two paintings wouldn’t have been restored so quickly. At the time, I thought that once the paintings were repaired, I must find an opportunity to show them to you, since your contribution was no small matter."
Xiao Jingxi’s expression had long since softened, though he was somewhat annoyed at his earlier lapse in composure. He smiled faintly, regaining the graceful demeanor of an otherworldly gentleman. "The paintings are excellent. I heard that when they were being restored, the preliminary sketch for one of them was drawn by you?"
At the time, when Xu Wanli heard that Ren Shimin’s daughter had also participated in the restoration, he was quite surprised. Although he often heard his wife mention Ren Yaoqi—and even his invitation for Ren Shimin to join Yunyang Academy to enhance his reputation was largely due to the immense favor Ren Yaoqi had done by saving his wife—he hadn’t expected Ren Yaoqi to truly be such a talented and accomplished young woman. This reminded him of Ouyang Shi in her youth.
Moreover, Ren Shimin’s talent left Xu Wanli in awe. The headmaster of Yunyang Academy now held an extremely favorable impression of this father-daughter pair from the Ren Family.
Ren Yaoqi nodded, smiling sheepishly. "I was just fooling around at the time. My father wouldn’t let me touch the paintings, so while he was sketching the preliminary draft for one of them, I secretly sketched the other. Later, when my father saw it, he said it was usable, so he used it."
Ren Shimin had also been amazed by his daughter’s sudden and remarkable improvement in painting skills, though his feelings were more of pleasant surprise. With a daughter like this, Third Master Ren felt he had someone to carry on his legacy.
Xiao Jingxi, however, found this side of Ren Yaoqi quite interesting. So she also had moments of playful stubbornness. Thinking of the determined expression Ren Yaoqi might have worn at the time, Xiao Jingxi smiled to himself.
Just as Ren Yaoqi was wondering what Xiao Jingxi was smiling about, he cleared his throat lightly and said, "Has Third Master Ren ever considered staying at Yunyang Academy?"
Ren Yaoqi was taken aback, then startled. "What do you mean, Young Master Xiao?"
Xiao Jingxi did not answer immediately. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Third Master Ren possesses remarkable talent and inspiration in painting, especially in meticulous landscape painting. He has already developed a style of his own. Headmaster Xu told me that, given time, it is not impossible for your father to become a master in the painting world."
Ren Yaoqi had heard these words in her previous life as well. Mr. Pei had also praised her father’s paintings, saying he had the potential to establish his own school. Unfortunately, in her previous life, Ren Shimin had not lived to see that day.
Xiao Jingxi was puzzled by the trace of sorrow that flickered in Ren Yaoqi’s eyes at that moment. Had he said something to cause such sadness?
After a moment’s thought, Xiao Jingxi continued, "Although Yunyang Academy is merely an academy, it is Yanbei’s highest institution of learning, and most of Yanbei’s talents come from here." Xiao Jingxi did not conceal the fact that Yunyang Academy was the place where the Yanbei Prince’s Mansion cultivated its own talents.
"And Third Master Ren’s mastery of calligraphy and painting makes him more than capable of taking on a teaching position."
Xiao Jingxi had genuinely given careful thought to Ren Yaoqi’s situation.
He was well aware of the Ren Family’s circumstances. Such a family would inevitably decline sooner or later. And a woman who lost the protection of her family would find herself in a very precarious position.Xiao Jingxi could see that Ren Yaoqi had deep affection for her parents and her full-blooded elder sister. If she were to see them rise and fall along with the Ren clan, she would undoubtedly suffer greatly.
Second Young Master Xiao had long understood the principle of preparing for a rainy day, even though this time he was preparing for a woman who seemed to have no direct connection to him.
Thus, he felt that perhaps Ren Shimin’s branch of the family could seek another path.
As promised, four updates today~ More to come tomorrow~
Hope you all will continue to support o(∩_∩)o.
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