"What are you thinking about?" Rong Shi asked, waving a hand in front of Ren Yaoqi’s eyes when she remained silent for a long time.
Ren Yaoqi snapped back to attention and smiled. "Nothing, just lost in thought for a moment."
She wanted to ask Rong Shi whether she resented the Yanbei Prince's Mansion and Xiao Jingxi, but upon further reflection, she realized the question was unnecessary—the current stance of the Xianwang Residence made it clear enough.
The Xianwang Residence and the Yanbei Prince's Mansion were two political forces that could cooperate or oppose each other, depending entirely on the rulers' positions. The victor becomes king, the loser a bandit—judging such matters by personal grudges or emotions would be utterly laughable.
Thus, even though the Yanbei Prince's Mansion had previously absorbed the forces held by the Min family, the Xianwang Residence was still willing to cooperate with Xiao Jingxi. Even if Li Tianyou disliked Min Wenqing intensely, he only taunted him a few times and did not actually stop him from entering or resort to violence.
Earlier, based on Xiao Jingxi’s stance in her previous life, Ren Yaoqi had pondered the role the Yanbei Prince's Mansion played in the fate of the Ren Family. Although she knew Xiao Jingqi was not the mastermind behind it all, he could not escape the charge of standing by and reaping the benefits. Yet, she found herself unable to resent him.
Xiao Jingxi owed her nothing, nor did he owe the Xianwang Residence anything. He was not some saint, always ready to rescue others from peril. He was one of Yanbei’s rulers, with his own political stance.
She should even be grateful that in this life, Xiao Jingxi had chosen to cooperate with the Xianwang Residence rather than devour its forces and then wipe it out completely.
"I heard the Zeng family has proposed marriage to the Ren Family?" Rong Shi did not press further and instead shifted the topic to Ren Yaohua’s marriage.
Ren Yaoqi nodded and affirmed, "Zeng Kui is not a suitable match. This marriage will not happen."
Upon hearing this, Rong Shi gave Ren Yaoqi a thoughtful look and then smiled. "If there’s anything you cannot accomplish on your own, you can come to me. Your maternal grandmother’s household still has people who can run errands."
Ren Yaoqi nodded. "I understand, Grandmother."
In truth, Ren Yaoqi knew that before the Xianwang Residence and the Yanbei Prince's Mansion truly trusted each other, the Xianwang Residence had very little power it could wield within Yanbei’s territory. If something fell within the Xianwang Residence’s capabilities, she would not hesitate to ask her maternal family for help when necessary.
Around noon, Yihong came in to report that Min Wenqing had already left after meeting with Li Qian and did not stay for a meal.
Rong Shi nodded but said nothing.
Ren Yaoqi thought to herself that the Min family’s position in the Xianwang Residence’s domain was quite awkward. Regardless of their original stance, it was an undeniable fact that the Min family had betrayed Consort Wan’s trust. Even though the Xianwang Residence and the Yanbei Prince's Mansion might now come together due to their cooperation, the people of the Xianwang Residence could no longer treat Min Wenqing as they once had.
Ren Yaoqi left after having lunch at her maternal grandmother’s home.
As soon as her carriage turned out of the alley in front of the Xianwang Residence, Ren Yaoqi heard her uncle Li Tianyou’s voice.
"...I said, how can you be so shameless! What’s the point of following me all the way?"
Another voice replied helplessly, "Yiming, I just wanted to see if you were really going home."
Ren Yaoqi recognized this voice as belonging to Min Wenqing, who had left the Xianwang Residence earlier.
"Whether I go home or not is none of your damn business!" Li Tianyou, annoyed at being followed by someone he disliked, couldn’t help but curse.Min Wenqing said good-naturedly, "Yiming, it's best for you to stay away from the Zeng family. The purpose behind Zeng Kui's earlier challenge to you for a horse racing bet might not be simple."
Upon hearing Zeng Kui's name, Ren Yaoqi was greatly alarmed and immediately said, "Stop the carriage!"
The carriage came to a halt in front of Li Tianyou and Min Wenqing.
Ren Yaoqi lifted the carriage curtain and stepped down.
Min Wenqing was still dressed as before, holding the horse's reins. He showed no surprise upon seeing Ren Yaoqi and nodded in greeting.
Li Tianyou scratched his head, glanced at Ren Yaoqi, and forced a smile. "Niece, heading back already?" Just moments ago, he had been glaring fiercely at Min Wenqing, but now his expression changed quickly.
Ren Yaoqi bowed slightly and asked, "Uncle, did you just meet Zeng Kui?"
"Ah! You know Zeng Kui too? Oh, right, it seems he..." Li Tianyou paused here, glanced at Min Wenqing, and didn't continue.
Ren Yaoqi frowned and asked, "He said he wanted to bet on horse racing with you?"
Li Tianyou shot a sidelong glance at Min Wenqing, then waved his hand dismissively. "I know, I know! No more betting, no more betting! Don't lecture me! Besides, that Zeng kid couldn't even beat Min, that little brat. How dare he think of challenging me? Am I so foolish as to lower my standards for him?"
Ren Yaoqi frowned deeply and turned to Qiusheng. "What happened?"
Qiusheng glanced at Li Tianyou, then lowered his voice and recounted the events.
It turned out that after leaving home today, Li Tianyou had gone to his favorite theater house, where he successfully gave away dozens of folding fans he had written, along with some reward money. Later, the young master of the Su family and Zeng Kui also arrived.
Zeng Kui was very familiar upon seeing Li Tianyou, saying he had long admired Master Li and wanted to find an opportunity to bet on horse racing with him. The onlookers all joined in the commotion.
Li Tianyou was a regular at such gambling events, so it wasn't strange for him to receive an invitation to bet.
However, before Li Tianyou could agree to Zeng Kui's bet, Min Wenqing and a few of his subordinates unexpectedly appeared at the theater house.
Seeing the lively scene, Min Wenqing said he also wanted to place a few bets, adding that it was better to seize the day than wait for another. Instead of scheduling a horse race, why not gamble on Pai Gow right then and there?
Li Tianyou ignored Min Wenqing, but Min Wenqing used the momentum Zeng Kui had stirred up to challenge Zeng Kui. Since Zeng Kui had been the most vocal earlier, he couldn't publicly refuse when Min Wenqing proposed a bet. Thus, a gambling table was set up on the spot.
After just a few rounds, no matter how the seating was rearranged, Min Wenqing kept winning while Zeng Kui kept losing. Zeng Kui lost all five hundred taels of silver notes he had brought with him, as well as the three hundred taels borrowed from the second young master of the Su family.
Regardless of Zeng Kui's original intention in stirring up the bet with Li Tianyou, his competitive spirit was now fully aroused. He declared that Pai Gow was boring and time-consuming, so why not switch to dice?
Min Wenqing toyed with the Pai Gow tiles in his hand and said meaningfully, "I don't care what we bet on, but since we're changing the game, shouldn't we also change the stakes?"
Li Tianyou, who had been watching the spectacle without participating, now mischievously chimed in from the back, "Exactly! Betting money is boring and vulgar, not fitting for your status! Let's make it bigger—whoever loses takes off their clothes! The one who strips completely naked has to run a lap on Zhengyang Street bare-bottomed."Those who usually gambled with Li Tianyou were all shameless fellows, and now they all came to stir up trouble.
Min Wenqing’s expression remained unchanged, still smiling: "I have no objections. What does Young Master Zeng say?"
Min Wenqing had stated his position, and Zeng Kui was also a lawless character. Moreover, he believed his gambling skills were quite good and refused to believe his luck today would truly be so bad. He immediately responded with a forced smile, but proposed that they take turns shaking the dice themselves instead of letting others do it.
After several rounds, Zeng Kui ended up stripped down to his last pair of pants.
Min Wenqing didn’t win every round either—he lost twice, but only removed his belt and outer robe.
In the end, it was Second Young Master Su, who had come with Zeng Kui, who couldn’t bear to watch any longer. Feeling that if he didn’t intervene, things would spiral out of control, he found an excuse, saying that elders from their family had sent someone to fetch them, and insisted Zeng Kui return with him.
Min Wenqing eyed Zeng Kui’s last remaining pair of pants and whistled: "Whether to continue gambling is up to you, Young Master Zeng. If you wish to leave now, you can owe me this last pair of pants. I don’t mind if you repay it next time."
Zeng Kui narrowed his eyes and stared at Min Wenqing for a long moment before finally nodding with a smile and leaving with Young Master Su.
Qiusheng recounted the story in great detail, and Ren Yaoqi listened with twitching eyelids.
Min Wenqing chuckled beside her: "Speaking of which, I learned my gambling skills from Brother Yiming when I was young."
Li Tianyou snorted disdainfully, ignoring Min Wenqing’s attempt to cozy up: "Back in the day, I even taught you to climb trees bare-assed, use your grandfather’s treasured chess pieces to shoot birds, and pour tung oil into rat holes. Why don’t you show off those skills today?"
Min Wenqing sighed and didn’t respond. Instead, he bowed to Li Tianyou in farewell: "I’ll take my leave now."
Li Tianyou rolled his eyes, turning his face away.
Min Wenqing then nodded to Ren Yaoqi before mounting his horse. Before leaving, he paused and added: "Brother Yiming, stay away from the Zeng family from now on."
Li Tianyou replied unhappily: "I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice. Who asked for your meddling? Get lost!"
Min Wenqing turned his horse around and rode off.
Li Tianyou opened his fan and fanned himself vigorously, frowning as if lost in thought. Finally, remembering Ren Yaoqi was still there, he awkwardly smiled and made small talk: "Well, kids are fun when they’re young, but they become annoying when they grow up."
Seeing Ren Yaoqi remain silent, Li Tianyou added unnecessarily: "Oh, that… I wasn’t talking about you!" He paused. "Hmm, and not your sister either."
Ren Yaoqi: "..."
The author owes many updates, but really can’t bear to owe feifiguan’s birthday bonus update anymore 〒_〒
Didn’t see feifiguan’s message yesterday, the author is very sorry.
A belated birthday wish, please accept it～
Wishing feifiguan good health, happiness, and joy～o(∩_∩)o
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