"Uncle, do you really dislike Min Wenqing?" Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but ask.
She asked Li Tianyou instead of her grandmother Rong Shi because she sensed that Rong Shi's attitude toward Min Wenqing differed from Li Tianyou's.
Rong Shi's attitude toward Min Wenqing was quite objective. While she didn't particularly like him, since they were already in a cooperative relationship, she would give him the respect he deserved.
However, Li Tianyou, who clearly knew all this, would still give Min Wenqing the cold shoulder.
This indicated that Li Tianyou's attitude toward Min Wenqing carried some emotional factors. Perhaps because Li Tianyou had invested genuine feelings when his true identity was discovered by the Min family, he developed an aversion to Min Wenqing after learning the truth.
Although Ren Yaoqi wasn't entirely sure whether Li Tianyou's current temperament was a strategy to protect himself by concealing his true abilities or simply his natural disposition, she believed Li Tianyou possessed genuine emotions.
Sure enough, upon hearing Ren Yaoqi's words, Li Tianyou's expression became somewhat awkward. He waved his hand as if shooing away mosquitoes: "Don't bring it up!"
Seeing that Li Tianyou was unwilling to discuss Min Wenqing, Ren Yaoqi didn't press further. She simply said, "Uncle, regardless of whether you like Min Wenqing or not, he was right about one thing—it's better to stay away from Zeng Kui."
Li Tianyou's temper flared quickly but faded even faster. Ren Yaoqi's words ignited his inner gossip fire. He glanced around, then leaned closer to Ren Yaoqi and whispered, "By the way, I heard from Mother that the Zeng family boy went to the Ren Family to propose marriage? Your family's old man Ren didn't agree, did he? From what you're saying, it seems you don't think highly of that Zeng boy either? Hey, let's not even mention his character—his appearance... tsk, it's truly frightening enough to make people cry! If someone got up to relieve themselves at night and opened their eyes to such a face, ordinary folks would probably faint on the spot! Although I don't like your fierce-tempered sister, she is still my niece after all. I can't just watch her jump into a fire pit, right? Should Uncle think of a way to sabotage this marriage? But how to sabotage it?"
Li Tianyou happily rambled on to himself, then started stroking his chin, pondering ideas.
Ren Yaoqi: "..."
After contemplating for a while, Li Tianyou frowned and said, "How about I have Qiusheng and the others go over in the middle of the night and directly finish him off? Qiusheng, what do you think?"
Qiusheng: "..."
Ren Yaoqi restrained herself, then said helplessly, "Uncle, my Third Sister won't marry into the Zeng Family. Thank you for your concern."
Li Tianyou looked up: "Oh? You have a good plan yourself? What is it? Tell Uncle, and I'll help you consider it. Uncle has eaten more salt than you've eaten rice!"
Ren Yaoqi paused, then said sincerely, "So, can you deal with Zeng Kui without alerting the Yanbei Prince's Mansion, the Zeng Family, or anyone else?"
Li Tianyou raised an eyebrow and looked at Qiusheng.
Qiusheng thought for a moment, then shook his head: "Not alerting others is possible, but the Yanbei Prince's Mansion might be difficult."
Li Tianyou blinked and looked at Ren Yaoqi.
Ren Yaoqi said gently, "So you still need to eat more salt, and I need to strive to eat more rice. Things like murder and robbery aren't impossible to do, but if they can't be done without anyone knowing, it's better not to do them at all. Otherwise, the consequences would be endless."Li Tianyou opened his mouth, glanced at Ren Yaoqi, then looked at Qiusheng.
Qiusheng lowered his head, pretending to be a block of wood.
Ren Yaoqi smiled and curtsied: "I’ll head back first. Uncle, you should return early too."
After Ren Yaoqi boarded the carriage and it drove out of the alley, Li Tianyou blinked and asked Qiusheng, "What did she say? That murder and robbery aren’t impossible, but if you do it, you have to do it without anyone noticing?"
Qiusheng, whose professional skills had been looked down upon, grumbled, "That’s exactly what the young miss said."
"Ah! I always say little kids are fun when they’re young—they cry at the slightest scare. How do they become so unlikable when they grow up!" Li Tianyou fanned himself indignantly and turned to leave.
Li Tianyou had a childlike heart and loved playing pranks to tease children. Back in the day, Min Wenqing, Ren Yaoqi, and even Ren Yaohua had all been frightened by him.
But as the children grew up, not only could Li Tianyou no longer scare them, but he often ended up being the one frightened instead. This left Li Tianyou feeling quite displeased!
After returning from her maternal grandparents’ home, Ren Yaoqi still felt uneasy, fearing that Zeng Kui might target the Xianwang Residence. She wrote a short letter to her grandmother, Rong Shi, informing her about Zeng Kui and advising them to be careful not to provoke him.
Rong Shi sent a message back through a maid with just two words: "Rest assured."
Knowing that Rong Shi was now aware and prepared, Ren Yaoqi truly felt at ease.
Whether it was due to Min Wenqing’s interference or the Xianwang Residence’s own precautions, Ren Yaoqi never heard again about Zeng Kui seeking out Li Tianyou.
Later, when Lei Pan’er came to the Ren Family to play, Ren Yaoqi noticed several sturdy maids and additional guards accompanying the carriage.
After inquiring with Ren Yaohua, Ren Yaoqi learned that since the incident at White Dragon Temple, several shops under the Lei Family had caught fire in the middle of the night, burning many goods and forcing them to close for repairs. Fortunately, thanks to Lei Ting’s foresight, only property was lost, with no casualties.
Since the Lei Family’s shops were not in Yunyang City, Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua had been unaware of the incidents.
Ren Yaoqi suspected that the Lei Family’s troubles might indeed be related to Zeng Kui—why else would shops suddenly catch fire for no reason?
Clearly, Lei Ting also believed someone was behind it intentionally, which was why he hadn’t allowed Lei Pan’er to go out recently. Even Lei Zhen was accompanied by many more people assigned by Lei Ting.
When Lei Ting permitted Lei Pan’er to visit the Ren Family this time, Lei Zhen complained to his brother, "Just a few days ago, several shops burned down. If someone is really scheming behind the scenes, why let Pan’er go out now? What if something happens?"
Lei Ting replied calmly, "Burning a few worthless things was just for show. Once that person vents their anger, you’ll all be much safer."
Lei Zhen frowned, "This person is utterly lawless!"
Lei Ting disagreed, "If they were truly lawless, they wouldn’t have avoided our businesses in Yunyang City. It shows they still fear the Yanbei Prince’s Mansion."
It was precisely because he knew the Zeng Family feared the Yanbei Prince’s Mansion that Lei Ting allowed Lei Pan’er to go out. However, aside from visiting the Ren Family, which was not far from the Lei Family, she was not permitted to go anywhere else.
Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua remained worried about Lei Pan’er’s safety, sending someone to watch her return to the Lei Family mansion before finally relaxing.Ren Yaohua grew to dislike Zeng Kui even more because of this incident, and she also felt deeply apologetic for having implicated the Lei Family due to her own actions.
However, Lei Ting never brought up this matter even once. If Ren Yaoqi hadn't become suspicious after noticing more people around Lei Pan'er and sent someone to inquire, she might never have known about the Lei Family being implicated.
A few more days passed. On this day, when Ren Shimin returned home, he mentioned that he would be going back to White Crane Town the next day, as Old Master Ren had sent a letter asking him to return.
Ren Yaoqi calculated the time and felt it was about right. Having a vague premonition, she didn't ask further.
Ren Shimin returned to White Crane Town early the next morning. By noon, Old Madam Ren had sent someone over, saying she missed her granddaughter Ren Yaoqi and wanted to bring her back for a visit.
If it were Ren Yaohua she missed, it would be understandable, but Old Madam Ren missing Ren Yaoqi left Madam Li utterly perplexed. Ren Yaohua was also suspicious, feeling that something must have happened to prompt such an urgent summons for Ren Yaoqi.
"I'll go back with you," Ren Yaohua said to Ren Yaoqi.
Ren Yaoqi shook her head: "Father isn't home either. You should stay and keep Mother company. I'll go and come back soon."
Ren Yaohua thought that Ren Yaoqi had always been clever and could likely find a way to stall if anything came up, so she didn't insist on going along.
Ren Yaoqi took a carriage back to White Crane Town by herself.
It hadn't been long since Ren Yaoqi moved out of the Ren Family's old residence, but when the carriage once again entered the gates of the Ren mansion, she felt her state of mind had somehow changed.
After getting off the carriage outside the Inner Gate, Ren Yaoqi was immediately led by someone waiting there to the Glory and Splendor Courtyard.
When Ren Yaoqi arrived at the main hall of the Glory and Splendor Courtyard, she noticed that the Ren Family members were gathered quite completely today. Old Master Ren and Old Madam Ren, Eldest Master and First Madam, Third Master, Fifth Master and Madam Lin, and even the old madam from the Eastern Mansion along with Second Master and Second Madam had come.
Of her generation, besides herself, only the eldest young master Ren Yiyan was present. Among the previous generation, the only one absent was her mother, Third Madam Madam Li.
The atmosphere in the room was somewhat strange, but Ren Yaoqi acted as if she knew nothing, lowering her head as she stepped forward to pay respects and greet Old Master Ren and Old Madam Ren.
Old Madam Ren pulled Ren Yaoqi up: "Enough, no need to kneel. Come here, your grandfather and grandmother have some questions for you."
Ren Yaoqi obediently stood up and moved to stand beside Old Madam Ren.
Old Madam Ren glanced at Old Master Ren. Seeing that he remained silent, she began to ask: "Qi'er, have you been to the Yanbei Prince's Mansion recently?"
Ren Yaoqi looked bewildered: "I went some time ago, but when I last visited, I heard that the Princess Consort was very busy with matters in Ningxia and Old Princess Consort's illness, so I haven't gone to pay my respects recently."
Old Madam Ren frowned. After exchanging a look with Old Master Ren, she asked further: "Then have you been writing to the Commandery Princess? And the Commandery Princess—has she written back to you? What did the letters say?"
As she spoke, Old Madam Ren glanced at the matron who had followed Ren Yaoqi into the room.It turned out that Old Madam Ren had instructed the servant she sent to fetch Ren Yaoqi to secretly retrieve the letters exchanged between Ren Yaoqi and Xiao Jinglin from Ren Yaoqi’s study. Old Madam Ren was aware of the correspondence between Ren Yaoqi and Xiao Jinglin. When Ren Yaoqi was at home, Old Madam Ren would occasionally inquire about the content of their letters, though out of respect for the Commandery Princess’s status, she never personally inspected them.
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