Ren Yaoqi gazed out the window, lost in thought.
The air was still damp after the rain. A swallow emerged from somewhere, swooping low across the courtyard before suddenly dropping to the ground, letting out faint chirps.
Li Tianyou wandered out from somewhere, hands clasped behind his back, and crouched down where the swallow had fallen. He gently poked the poor little bird with his right index finger as it fluttered helplessly, unable to take flight. Tilting his head, he looked around until his eyes settled on the eaves. Then, he scooped the swallow into his hand.
"Dongsheng, is there a ladder in this courtyard? A clumsy bird fell out of its nest," Li Tianyou's cheerful voice rang out in the yard.
Dongsheng excused himself to Ren Yaoqi and hurried out, approaching Li Tianyou to reply in a hushed tone.
Li Tianyou handed the fluttering little creature to Dongsheng and waved dismissively. "Then put it back."
Dongsheng carefully took it, bowed his head, and scurried back inside.
Ren Yaoqi watched as Li Tianyou stood in the middle of the courtyard, hands behind his back, enthusiastically giving random instructions with animated expressions.
After a while, Dongsheng returned, holding a coarse cloth handkerchief he had just used to wipe his hands.
Outside under the eaves, the sounds of Ren Yaohua and Li Tianyou bickering over something grew lively and noisy.
"Who intercepted the imperial secret letter?" Ren Yaoqi asked softly.
White Cloud Temple was located midway between White Crane Town and Yunyang City, right near the official road that connected north and south.
Dongsheng returned to stand beside Ren Yaoqi, lowering his head and speaking quietly. "I didn’t witness the fight, so I shouldn’t speculate. But the letter was about the court’s plan to reduce the Yanbei Army’s military pay."
Ren Yaoqi was startled by this.
Related to the Yanbei Prince's Mansion?
Although the Yanbei Army was nominally part of the Great Zhou dynasty’s forces, in reality, it was the Prince of Yanbei’s direct army—essentially the "Xiao Family Army."
Ren Yaoqi had once heard Mr. Pei mention that most of Yanbei’s taxes were handed over to the court, but the court only provided a small portion of the Yanbei Army’s pay each year. In fact, the majority of the military expenses were shouldered by the Yanbei Prince's Mansion itself.
She recalled that in her previous life, there had been a mutiny in Yanbei. At that time, some lower-ranking soldiers, dissatisfied with the court’s reduction of their pay, banded together to loot wealthy households and shops in the city, causing unrest.
Eventually, someone submitted a memorial accusing the Yanbei Army of being too large—like a small temple with too many monks—and claimed this was the root cause of the turmoil, demanding that the Yanbei Army be downsized.
Not long after, a small-scale border conflict broke out in Ningxia when the Tangut tribe attempted to seize pasture-rich horse farms. The Yanbei Prince's Mansion, at the request of Ningxia Regional Commander Wu Xiaohe, dispatched Yanbei troops to Ningxia to help quell the unrest. For several years afterward, that portion of the Yanbei Army remained stationed in Ningxia, and the court’s plan to reduce the army was quietly shelved.
However, at that time, Ningxia Regional Commander Wu Xiaohe was the son-in-law of the Old Yanbei Prince and the brother-in-law of the current Prince of Yanbei, Xiao Yan.
Thus, many believed that sending the Yanbei Army to Ningxia was actually a strategy by the Prince of Yanbei to preserve his forces and divert the court’s attention.
Unfortunately, three years later, Ningxia Regional Commander Wu Xiaohe died, and the court sent Zeng Pu, who dealt a crippling blow to the Yanbei Prince's Mansion.At that time, Zeng Pu was still unknown, and Yanbei believed he had only obtained his position through the nepotistic connections between his family's Xichang Marquis Mansion and the Empress Dowager's maternal Yan family. Attention was focused instead on Lu Dexin, the military supervisor appointed alongside Zeng Pu.
However, Zeng Pu's performance ultimately took everyone by surprise. He absorbed the majority of Wu Xiaohe's forces, catching the Yanbei Prince's Mansion off guard.
And the rise of Zeng Pu marked the beginning of disaster for the Ren Family.
Ren Yaoqi lowered her gaze slightly at this thought.
Since awakening, she had been constantly thinking about how to change the outcome of her previous life.
But the affairs of the court were too distant from her.
If events followed their original course, Zeng Pu would still be sent to Yanbei as a pawn for the court to oppose the Yanbei Prince's Mansion. Given Zeng Pu's capabilities, the Ren Family would still seek to curry favor with him.
The mere thought of this gave her nightmares.
In this life, even if she did not wish to seek revenge for her past life, what could she do if her enemies still came knocking? As a woman confined to the inner chambers, her efforts would be as futile as a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
The outcome was difficult to predict.
She could no longer recall the exact timing of the court's plan to reduce the Yanbei Army in her previous life, but by estimation, it should be around these two years. The secret letter Dongsheng mentioned was likely a precursor to this matter.
How could she prevent Zeng Pu from succeeding as the Ningxia Regional Commander? Or how could she ensure that even if he assumed the position, he would hold the title in name only?
Ren Yaoqi's heart pounded fiercely.
"Young Mistress?" Dongsheng called softly, noticing Ren Yaoqi's pale complexion.
Ren Yaoqi took a deep breath, steadying her racing heart. She reminded herself not to rush—to take things slowly. She refused to believe she had been reborn only to repeat the mistakes of her past life. There must be a way.
"Young Mistress, the person who intercepted the court's secret report was likely sent by the Yanbei Prince's Mansion. The report mentioned instructing the recipient to incite unrest among the lower-ranking soldiers of the Yanbei Army when the court orders a reduction in military provisions. I heard the Second Young Master of the Yanbei Prince's Mansion is recuperating at a nearby villa. Do you think he might have sent someone..." Dongsheng whispered.
Ren Yaoqi looked up, frowning. "Are you referring to the Second Young Master of the Yanbei Prince's Mansion, Xiao Jingxi? He's near White Dragon Temple?"
Dongsheng nodded.
Ren Yaoqi suddenly recalled the man she had encountered earlier in front of the Dragon King Hall at White Dragon Temple. She and Xiangqin had mistaken him for the lover of the nun those women were searching for.
But afterward, Ren Yaoqi had grown suspicious of his identity. His demeanor and bearing did not seem like that of someone who would be a kept man. Especially when he gave her that string of gold-stone wooden beads—her doubts only deepened.
She had seen fine things before, and that bead string was undoubtedly a rare treasure. Yet he had casually handed it to her, merely to repay a favor that was not even a significant help.
Later, when Li Tianyou appeared and admitted to being the nun's lover, who was that man then?
Why had he wanted to avoid those women?
He was also dressed in white—could he have been mistaken for Li Tianyou by those chasing Dongsheng? And what was he doing near White Dragon Temple? Why had his sleeve been torn?
Thinking of the legendary appearance of the Second Young Master of the Yanbei Prince's Mansion, Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but suspect he was Xiao Jingxi. But was he the one who had sent someone to intercept the court's messenger?Thinking this, for some reason, Ren Yaoqi still shook her head based on her intuition: "I've heard that the Second Young Master of Yanbei Prince's Mansion is exceptionally intelligent and talented. Even if he wanted to intercept the imperial secret report, he wouldn't use such extreme methods. For such an important matter, the court must have sent more than one messenger to Yanbei. What could Xiao Jingxi achieve by intercepting just this one messenger? The letter would eventually reach its intended recipient, while Yanbei Prince's Mansion would only alert the enemy."
If she could think of this, she didn't believe that Xiao Jingxi, whom Mr. Pei had praised, would fail to consider it.
Dongsheng thought for a moment, also at a loss: "Then who could it be?"
"I said it wasn't Second Young Master Xiao, but I didn't say it wasn't someone from Yanbei Prince's Mansion." Ren Yaoqi wasn't entirely certain either; all of this was merely her speculation.
With too little information, she couldn't make a judgment. Besides, if the person she had encountered was indeed Xiao Jingxi, the timing of his appearance seemed far too coincidental.
While Ren Yaoqi and Dongsheng were speculating about the identity of the person who had ambushed the imperial messenger and later disposed of the body, others were also investigating the whereabouts of the secret letter.
A youth who had changed into a blue wide-sleeved robe stood by the window, listening to the report from a black-clad man kneeling on one knee. His ink-black eyes calmly watched the continuous rain outside gradually lighten and thin, his gaze seemingly shrouded in an indistinguishable mist.
Raindrops still dripped intermittently from the gaps in the roof tiles, plopping into a pair of somewhat worn granite fishbowls with three-sided openwork lotus patterns placed under the eaves. The water in the fishbowls overflowed.
The youth's low, soft, and slightly hoarse voice gently filled the room, quiet yet somehow overriding the sound of dripping water outside: "Take the body to Xiao Jingyue and ask him how to handle it. I'm only here at White Dragon Temple to recuperate."
The kneeling subordinate was taken aback, cautiously glancing up at his master before tentatively asking, "What if Third Young Master denies that the man was sent by him?"
Hearing this, the youth tilted his head slightly, giving his subordinate a look that was half-smiling, half-surprised: "Could he still deny it?"
The subordinate immediately lowered his head: "This subordinate understands. However, the letter Third Young Master intended to intercept has fallen into someone else's hands. Should I send someone to..."
The youth withdrew his gaze from outside the window, seeming to ponder for a moment before asking lightly, "Are you certain that person is from the Li family?"
"This subordinate is certain. That person was an attendant of the former Prince Xian's heir, Li Tianyou. At the time, there was also a young lady with him—the daughter of the Ren Family from White Crane Town."
"The Ren Family?" The youth's tone remained calm and gentle, though a trace of contemplation flickered between his brows. After a brief moment, he nodded with a faint smile, "Understood. You may go."
The black-clad subordinate was puzzled—did his master not intend to intervene?
But given Third Young Master's character and methods, many would likely be implicated and lose their lives, including that heir of the Li family...
The previous chapter had repeated content at the end before revision; refreshing should resolve it.
Written too hastily during initial posting, some details were unsatisfactory, so it has been revised.
This does not affect the main plot, only to make the writing smoother.To ensure some readers don't feel uncomfortable, this 67th chapter will be charged as a 2000-word chapter ｀（∩_∩）′.
PS: A child in my family had to return to school after the holiday ended today, so I came back late. My apologies.
(It's not my son, don't speculate randomly (~>__
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