Xiangqin cheered excitedly, "Fifth Miss, how long did it take? How long did we take?"
Ren Yaoqi continued walking outward without looking back, replying, "We’ll have to check the time once we’re outside."
Ren Yijun and Han Yunqian were already waiting not far from the exit of the lantern maze, standing together with Han You and Ren Yaoting, who had gotten separated earlier.
As Ren Yaoqi approached, she happened to hear Ren Yaoting say, "Third Brother, Young Master Han, should we go wait at the entrance? Fifth Sister probably won’t be able to find her way out."
Ren Yijun, however, had already spotted Ren Yaoqi and widened his eyes in surprise. He then looked down at the pocket watch in his hand and exclaimed incredulously at Ren Yaoqi, "Fifteen minutes and one mark."
Everyone turned around just in time to see Ren Yaoqi walking over.
Ren Yaoqi stopped in front of Ren Yijun, took the pocket watch from his hand, glanced at it, and breathed a sigh of relief. She then turned to Han Yunqian, who was looking at her slightly dazed, and smiled politely, saying, "Young Master Han, I must concede to your generosity."
Ren Yijun laughed heartily, "Fifth Sister, you took fifteen minutes and one mark to exit the maze, while Young Master Han took fifteen minutes and two marks. You were one mark faster than him! Young Master Han, you’ve lost!"
Han Yunqian looked at Ren Yaoqi without speaking, but Ren Yaoting wore a suspicious expression and said, "Impossible! How could Fifth Sister possibly beat Young Master Han?"
Ren Yijun glared and retorted unhappily, "Why can’t Fifth Sister win?"
Ren Yaoting opened her mouth to speak but noticed everyone looking at her. Her face flushed red, and she could no longer muster a rebuttal.
Han Yunqian withdrew his gaze from Ren Yaoqi’s face, lowered his eyes slightly, and said calmly, "I have lost."
Ren Yaoqi modestly replied, "I was just lucky, stumbling my way out by chance."
Ren Yaoting gave Han You a look that said "I knew it," feeling inexplicably more at ease.
Han Yunqian, however, knew how unlikely it was to navigate the Nine-Curve Dragon Gate Lantern Maze so quickly relying solely on luck.
Ren Yaoqi glanced around and asked curiously, "Where is Third Sister?"
"Yaohua Sister said she felt a bit cold and went to wait for you in the carriage. She left not long ago," Han You answered Ren Yaoqi.
Ren Yaoqi thought to herself that Ren Yaohua must still be angry, deciding it was better to avoid the embarrassment by staying out of sight.
Remembering her purpose for entering the maze, Ren Yaoqi turned to Han Yunqian and said, "Young Master Han, about that painting of my father’s..."
Han Yunqian remained silent for a moment before nodding, "Tomorrow, I will visit your residence and first inquire about Third Uncle Ren’s opinion. If he has no objections, I will transfer the painting to you."
Ren Yijun, however, couldn’t resist stirring up trouble, "How about you two compete in a game of Go?"
Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi gave him a half-smiling look, "Third Brother, should I go take the imperial examination and bring back the top scholar title to bring you honor?"
Han You couldn’t help but giggle beside them, then quickly covered her mouth with her sleeve, feeling she had been impolite.
If anyone else had spoken to Ren Yijun like that, he would have lost his temper. But hearing Ren Yaoqi say it, he merely coughed lightly and lowered his head to rub his nose.
"Did Eighth Sister not come with you?" Ren Yaoqi ignored Ren Yijun and turned to speak with Ren Yaoting.
Ren Yaoting replied somewhat absentmindedly, "I’ve been with You Jie’er the whole time and haven’t seen Eighth Sister.""Should we go back and look for her?" Han You asked with some concern.
Ren Yaoting was about to say something when Han You added, "Brother, could you accompany us to find Sister Yaoyu?" Ren Yaoting then fell silent and also turned her gaze to Han Yunqian.
Han Yunqian nodded. "Alright."
Ren Yaoting, however, said to Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yijun, "We’re going to look for Eighth Sister. Third Brother and Fifth Sister, why don’t you stay here and wait? That way, when Eighth Sister arrives, she won’t miss us. How about we meet back here in an hour?"
Ren Yijun naturally had no desire to follow them. He only wanted to ask Ren Yaoqi about the lantern maze, so he merely grunted in response.
Ren Yaoqi nodded and instructed Xiangqin, "Go and let Third Sister know I’ve already come out. If she doesn’t want to leave the carriage, have her wait there for us. I’ll go find her in half an hour."
Xiangqin acknowledged and withdrew. Han Yunqian bowed slightly to Ren Yijun and Ren Yaoqi. Ren Yaoqi’s eyes met his briefly in the air; she smiled faintly before naturally looking away.
After the three of them had left, Ren Yijun couldn’t wait any longer. "Fifth Sister, tell me how you managed to get out of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams lantern maze?"
Ren Yijun was wrapped in a heavy fur cloak, but the tip of his nose, still exposed, was red from the cold. Thinking that moving around would warm him up, Ren Yaoqi deliberately put on a coy act. "I’ll tell you, but only if you buy me a rabbit lantern!"
Ren Yijun rolled his eyes. "Just one? I’ll buy you ten or eight if you want."
Ren Yaoqi reached out to pull up his hood, earning a displeased glare from Ren Yijun.
Seeing him about to lower it again, Ren Yaoqi put on her own hood as well and said, "Let’s go buy lanterns over there. Don’t take off your hood. Aren’t you afraid people will laugh at a grown man like you buying a rabbit lantern?"
Ren Yijun curled his lip disdainfully. "Who would dare laugh at me!" Despite his words, he made no further move to adjust his hood.
Suppressing a laugh, Ren Yaoqi beckoned him toward the side alley next to the Guan Gong Temple, where a lantern vendor had set up a stall. She left two maids behind to wait.
The lantern market was filled with lotus lanterns, peony lanterns, lion lanterns, chrysanthemum lanterns, rabbit lanterns, and more, a dazzling array that left one’s eyes overwhelmed. Ren Yaoqi had only intended to get Ren Yijun moving to warm up his limbs, so she took her time carefully selecting lanterns while telling him about the maze.
As they strolled along, Ren Yijun didn’t even notice that someone had placed a whimsical rabbit lantern in his hand, and he carried it with him the entire way.
Finally, noticing the amused and teasing glances from passersby, Ren Yijun widened his eyes and glared back with a fierce, self-righteous expression. His gloomy demeanor successfully scared off the onlookers.
Ren Yaoqi doubled over with laughter beside him. She had never known that this Third Brother, who had always seemed so somber and brooding in her previous life, could have such a cute and childish side.
Ren Yijun shoved the rabbit lantern into Ren Yaoqi’s hands, turned around in a huff, and stormed off.
"Third Brother, wait…" Ren Yaoqi called out between laughs as she hurried after him, but Ren Yijun walked so quickly that he soon disappeared into the side alley.
Ren Yaoqi handed the rabbit lantern to a maid behind her and muttered with a smile, "So petty." Then, she leisurely followed after him.When they reached the exit of the lantern array they had passed earlier, Ren Yaoqi suddenly paused her steps.
She noticed a carriage parked not far away in a corner, hidden in the shadows. There was no one around it, and only the faint outline of the carriage body could be discerned. Even the horse pulling the carriage stood quietly without movement, so inconspicuous it would hardly draw attention.
Ren Yaoqi had passed by it twice earlier without noticing its presence. Could it have arrived after she left? Yet she hadn’t seen any carriage pass by on her way.
“Fifth Miss?” the maidservant called softly, seeing her stop.
Ren Yaoqi snapped back to reality and couldn’t help but laugh at herself. Why was she so fixated on a carriage?
Just as she was about to say they should continue, she heard the sound of footsteps.
As if guided by some unseen force, Ren Yaoqi stood rooted to the spot.
It was a strange sensation, as if all the noise and clamor of the world, the laughter and anger of countless people, were unfolding before her eyes and in her ears, yet she could only focus on those faint footsteps. They captured her entire attention, making it impossible to ignore them.
A tall figure appeared opposite her. If Ren Yaoqi hadn’t felt she’d heard footsteps, she might have thought this person had materialized out of thin air before her.
The ice lanterns cast a dazzling, kaleidoscopic glow on one side of his figure, yet it was so blinding that she couldn’t make out his features clearly.
He was entirely wrapped in a black cloak, with a fox fur collar covering his chin completely. At first glance, Ren Yaoqi sensed an elusive yet captivating aura about him. She couldn’t quite describe it, only feeling as though she couldn’t focus her gaze enough to see his face clearly.
Suddenly, she met a pair of eyes—extremely clear yet dark, as black as ink jade.
Ren Yaoqi felt her heart race. Just as she tried to see more clearly, his figure moved past the light and into the shadows beside the carriage.
He paused beside the carriage, not boarding immediately, and turned his head slightly to look over. Ren Yaoqi could almost feel his gaze lingering on her, and she grew somewhat nervous.
At that moment, someone lifted the carriage curtain for him, and he stepped inside.
The carriage slowly began to move, passing by Ren Yaoqi. Only after the sound of the wheels faded did she feel she could move again. It was as though she had just emerged from a nightmare.
“Fifth Miss, what’s wrong?” the maidservant whispered.
Ren Yaoqi shook her head and murmured softly, “It felt like sleep paralysis.”
“What did you say, Fifth Miss?” The maidservant hadn’t heard her clearly.
“Oh, did any of you get a clear look at that person’s face?” Ren Yaoqi asked.
The maidservants exchanged glances and shook their heads one after another.
“We couldn’t see clearly, Fifth Miss. The carriage was parked in too dark a spot.”
Ren Yaoqi nodded, setting the matter aside, and continued on her way to find Ren Yijun.
After locating Ren Yijun, Ren Yaoqi coaxed him out of his anger by offering to play chess with him.
In her mind, she silently added another note about Ren Yijun: easy to placate even when angry.
Thank you to angeljiang_s, Bingtang79, Najehida, and Bingshui77 for your pink votes!
Thank you to Puyu Xiaolou for the reward.Today's third update, the second one is around past 12, and the third one will be later~^^
(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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