After leaving Zhengyang Street, the carriage circled back to Treasure Vase Alley.
Rong Shi must have already received the news, for as soon as Ren Yaoqi’s carriage entered the large alley in front of Xianwang Residence, she saw Yihong already waiting at the alley entrance.
Once Ren Yaoqi’s carriage came to a stop in front of the gate, Yihong hurried forward to lift the carriage curtain, helping her down while asking, “Why did you arrive so late, Miss? The old madam has been waiting for you for quite some time.”
Ren Yaoqi pointed to the maidservant behind her carrying a box of pastries and said, “I left early today, so I went to Zhengyang Street to buy some pastries.”
Yihong glanced at it and smiled. “Are these from Fumanlou? The master does like them, but the old madam worries about his toothaches and won’t let him eat too many. We’ll have to hide them properly later.”
As they chatted and laughed while walking inside, Li Tianyou happened to stroll leisurely out of the gate, a folding fan tucked into the back of his collar.
Yihong was taken aback and quickly asked, “Master, where are you going?”
Li Tianyou greeted Ren Yaoqi cheerfully when he saw her, but when he turned to Yihong, he put on a stern and serious face. “Where I go depends on my mood! Why do you have to meddle in everything?”
Yihong didn’t take offense at him embarrassing her in public and replied good-naturedly, “This servant just remembered that the old madam instructed early this morning that there would be guests visiting the residence today, so she asked you not to go out for now.”
Li Tianyou rolled his eyes, pulled the folding fan from the back of his collar, and snapped it open with a flourish, fanning himself. “No matter who the guests are, I’m the master! Guests should follow the host’s lead—don’t you understand?”
Seeing that Ren Yaoqi and Yihong were both drawn to the fan’s surface, Li Tianyou grew excited again. He leaned in front of Ren Yaoqi to show off his fan. “Niece, take a look at how well your uncle wrote on this fan? Lately, those bookworms in Yunyang City love flaunting these things everywhere, calling them their ‘ink treasures’ and giving them away as gifts. Yesterday, I wrote dozens of them in one go, planning to give them away today.”
Qiusheng, who was following behind Li Tianyou, carried a large burlap bag, likely filled with Li Tianyou’s “ink treasures.”
Ren Yaoqi had already noticed that one side of the fan Li Tianyou held was inscribed with the words “As Handsome as Pan An.” Li Tianyou was skilled in all matters of indulgence, from food and drink to admiring flowers and the moon, and even his calligraphy was quite good. However, the other side of the fan featured a portrait, and judging by the facial features, it was unmistakably a likeness of himself.
Just as Ren Yaoqi was struggling to find the right words to comment, a deep, magnetic male voice tinged with laughter came from behind them.
“I wonder if Brother Yiming could spare one of his ink treasures for me?”
Everyone turned to look and saw a tall, upright young man holding the reins of a black steed, smiling as he watched them.
The young man had thick eyebrows, a straight nose, and deep-set eyes. His clothes were made of ordinary fabric, yet he exuded a blend of ruggedness and refinement. One could believe he was a warrior just as easily as a scholar—his demeanor was truly unique.Ren Yaoqi noticed a long object tightly wrapped in coarse cloth on his horse. Having seen various weapons at Xiao Jinglin's place, she thought the item on the horse resembled something like a broadsword. Moreover, while they had been standing there talking, this man had approached from behind leading a horse without alerting them. Even Qiusheng, who had martial arts training, had only become aware of him a moment before the man spoke.
Yiming was Li Tianyou's courtesy name, known to very few. Judging by the young man's age, he should be much younger than Li Tianyou, yet he could directly address Li Tianyou by his courtesy name and refer to him as a brother.
Ren Yaoqi couldn't figure out who this person was.
Li Tianyou looked over at the newcomer, narrowing his eyes slightly as if trying to recognize his face. Then, Li Tianyou, who was usually cheerful and easygoing with people, suddenly turned cold.
"I wondered who it was. So it's the brat from the Min family. How dare you call me 'Yiming brother'?"
The man surnamed Min wasn't the least bit offended. Instead, he lowered his posture and smiled, "Then I'll address you as Master Li."
Li Tianyou snorted coldly, glancing at him sideways. "I dare not accept! You'd better get as far away from me as possible, or I'll close the gate and set Qiusheng on you!"
Qiusheng: "..."
The man surnamed Min laughed heartily and shook his head. "Yiming... Master Li still speaks with such humor and wit."
Li Tianyou said disdainfully, "Don't act as if you know me well. When I last saw you, you were still a snot-nosed brat trailing behind your old fox of a grandfather, crying and begging to be carried! Now that the little brat has grown up, you come before me pretending to be important? Get lost!"
Listening from the side, Ren Yaoqi grew even more curious about this man's identity.
Yihong walked over to Li Tianyou and whispered, "Master, this Mr. Min is the guest who is coming to our residence today. The old madam instructed you not to start conflicts with guests."
Li Tianyou frowned, glanced at the man, then snorted coldly and walked away without another word, flicking his sleeve. Qiusheng and the others hurriedly followed.
The man didn't mind Li Tianyou's cold demeanor from start to finish. He cupped his hands toward him in a salute, then led his horse aside to wait until Li Tianyou's group had ridden out of the alley on horseback.
Yihong nodded to the man and said, "Please, Mr. Min."
The man looked at Yihong, cupped his hands, and smiled. "Sister Ji? After all these years, you haven't changed a bit."
Yihong smiled politely, her attitude somewhat distant, and said simply, "General Min has a good memory," before falling silent.
The man then looked at Ren Yaoqi, examined her for a moment, and asked hesitantly, "Might this be the Fifth Miss of the Ren Family?"
Ren Yaoqi didn't know the man's background and found both Li Tianyou and Yihong's attitudes rather strange. She was pondering the title "General" that Yihong had used when she heard the man address her. She nodded and smiled.
The man continued with a smile, "Greetings, Fifth Miss Ren. I am Min Wenqing."
Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi was taken aback and couldn't help but look at him again.
Min Wenqing? The Min Wenqing mentioned in Xiao Jinglin's letter?
Why would Min Wenqing appear at the Xianwang Residence?Min Wenqing was a clever man and immediately guessed that Ren Yaoqi might have heard of him. However, at this moment, they had already entered Xianwang Residence. Madam Li sent someone to take Min Wenqing to the flower hall, saying that the master was already there. Min Wenqing could not keep Prince Xian waiting, so he cupped his hands toward Ren Yaoqi and Yihong and followed the messenger away.
Yihong then took Ren Yaoqi to the main room to find Rong Shi.
Rong Shi was also waiting for Ren Yaoqi to arrive. Seeing her, she smiled and asked, "What brings you here today? Is there something on your mind?"
After paying her respects, Ren Yaoqi was invited by Rong Shi to sit beside her. She joked, "Can I not come to this grand hall without a reason?"
Rong Shi gently patted her head and asked Yihong, "Has Tianyou gone out?"
Yihong replied, "The master left with Qiusheng and the others." After a pause, she added, "The master ran into Min Wenqing at the gate and wasn’t too pleased."
Rong Shi smiled. "Let him be. Go keep an eye on the flower hall and make sure our guest isn’t slighted."
There were likely quite a few people in Xianwang Residence who disliked Min Wenqing as much as Li Tianyou did, and Rong Shi was worried that someone might try something underhanded.
Yihong acknowledged and left.
Ren Yaoqi listened quietly. After Yihong left, she asked Rong Shi, "Grandmother, why has General Min come here?"
Rong Shi looked at Ren Yaoqi with some surprise. "You know Min Wenqing?"
Ren Yaoqi nodded. "I’ve heard the Commandery Princess mention him a few times. I heard he’s the youngest general in the Yanbei Army, and his cunning and methods are both remarkable."
Rong Shi smiled faintly at this. "The Min family has a worthy successor."
"The Min family?"
Rong Shi thought for a moment and said slowly, "Min Wenqing isn’t a native of Yanbei. The Min family’s ancestral home is in Jinzhou. It was only during his grandfather’s generation that they moved to Yanbei."
"Jinzhou? Isn’t that…" Ren Yaoqi was surprised and immediately thought of a possibility. "Could it be that the Min family was originally part of Xianwang Residence?"
Rong Shi sighed as she looked at Ren Yaoqi. "That’s right. Min Wenqing’s grandfather, Min Haoran, was from the same hometown as your great-grandmother, Consort Wan. If we really trace it, the Min family is somewhat related to us, though few know about it now. Back then, Min Haoran was deeply trusted by Consort Wan and, on her orders, came to Yanbei ahead of time to become a military strategist in the Yanbei Army. He even held a portion of elite troops entrusted to him by Consort Wan. In truth, the Min family was one of Consort Wan’s hidden moves."
Listening to Rong Shi’s choice of words and recalling Li Tianyou’s attitude when he saw Min Wenqing earlier, Ren Yaoqi guessed something. "Did the Min family later pledge allegiance to Yanbei Prince’s Mansion?"
Rong Shi sighed again. "It’s not exactly that the Min family pledged allegiance to Yanbei Prince’s Mansion. We only found out later that the Min family had been part of Yanbei Prince’s Mansion all along. If Xiao Jingxi hadn’t revealed this earlier, we would still have thought the Min family was a hidden move of Xianwang Residence."
After hearing Rong Shi’s words, Ren Yaoqi understood. No wonder Xianwang Residence had cooperated with Xiao Jingxi, and no wonder Xiao Jingxi knew Xianwang Residence’s trump card—the root of it all lay with the Min family.
"Then why has Min Wenqing come this time?" Ren Yaoqi asked.Rong Shi said, "Last time we helped Xiao Jingxi once, and to show his sincerity in cooperating, he is willing to return the portion of power originally belonging to Consort Wan that the Min family holds. Min Wenqing came today precisely for this matter."
Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but fall silent.
She recalled the events of her previous life. In that lifetime, it seemed the Yanbei Prince's Mansion had not allied with the Xianwang Residence. In that case, the portion of power in the Min family's hands should have already been consolidated by Xiao Jingxi, and he might even have used the Min family to gradually encroach upon the power in Hezhong.
Ren Yaoqi knew that Xiao Jingxi was exceptionally adept at handling such matters.
No updates tonight~ The author will make up for it with an extra chapter tomorrow ^^~
Previously, due to the author's oversight, Chapter 297 was posted twice, but it has since been corrected. However, fearing that mobile readers might not sync immediately, the author has reposted it in the free chapters section (see "279" in the related works).
Once the mobile version syncs, the author will delete it.
(It should display on most websites and clients, but since the author doesn’t have an account with the mobile platform, it's unclear there. If you still can't see it, please check it out on Qidian—the chapters in the related works section are free.)
Lastly, seeing that subscriptions haven’t decreased because of this, the author thanks everyone for their continued support.
Thank you! o(∩_∩)o.
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