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Chapter 75: Finality
“If the land is good, the seedlings will flourish, and if the house is lucky, the people will prosper. When my great-grandfather was alive, he believed in these Feng Shui techniques.” Ren Yaoqi returned in a light voice.
“Oh? Does Fifth Miss also believe in these?” Han Yunqian smiled faintly and turned his head.
“Doesn’t Young Master Han believe in it?”
Han Yunqian was silent for a moment, seemingly in thought.
Ren Yaoqi looked at his back from behind. Han Yunqian’s body was like a slender bamboo, his back straight, and when he was not speaking there was a silent and heavy aura about him.
Half a second later, he slowly said, “My grandfather didn’t believe in this. I remember a few years ago when the ancestral house in Jizhou was to be renovated, the uncles in the clan all said they wanted to find a Feng Shui master to take a look so as to prosper the descendants, but my grandfather refused.”
“I don’t really believe in that either.” Ren Yaoqi smiled faintly, “This house is not the ancestral home of the Ren Family, it was bought by my great-grandfather from a wealthy family at the time. If the Feng Shui was really good, wouldn’t they have been able to sit at home without any problems? Why did they have to move their family south?”
Han Yunqian looked at Ren Yaoqi. Because the back light, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t see his expression.
After a moment he smiled and nodded in agreement, “What Fifth Miss said makes sense.”
“I heard that the Han Family has settled in Jizhou for generations?” Ren Yaocheng asked casually.
“That’s what’s written in the Han Family tree.” Han Yunqian said gently.
“I have never been to Jizhou, so I don’t know how far the people of Jizhou differ from us Yanzhou people in their habits. But I have seen that you and You are not very different from us Yanzhou people. Do you have anyone in your family who was born in Yanzhou?”
Han Yunqian smiled as he looked down and thought, “No. But my grandfather’s family is from Yanzhou. My grandfather’s ancestral family seems to be from around Yanzhou, but after decades, I can’t find any relatives from Yanzhou. They probably moved south too. I heard that when the Yanbei was in turmoil, nine out of ten houses in Yanzhou were empty.”
Ren Yaoqi was thinking, Han Yunqian’s answer really didn’t have any flaws. Even his grandfather’s occasional accidental accent from Yanzhou could be explained.
“Is Fifth Miss here for a stroll through the garden?” Han Yunqian asked with a smile as he looked at Ren Yaoqi.
Ren Yaoqi said casually, “I was passing by the corridor and saw someone in the garden, and from the looks of his back he looked like my second cousin from the East Mansion. I originally wanted to come and say hello, but I didn’t expect it to be you.”
Ren Yilin, the concubine son of the Second Master of the Eastern House, was about the same height as Han Yunqian. Judging from the back, there were really some similarities between them.
Han Yunqian lost his smile and looked at Ren Yaoqi, “So that’s how it is, it was Yunqian who was abrupt, so please forgive me.”
Suddenly the sound of several people’s footsteps seemed to be coming from behind. Ren Yaoqi turned around, and she saw Ren Yiyan and Ren Yihong coming this way. Behind them were Ren Yaohua, Ren Yaoting and Han You.
“Fifth Sister, when did you come? I was just about to ask someone to call you to come over with my Eighth Sister.” Ren Yiyan saw Ren Yaoqi and Han Yunqian, stunned for a moment then smiled.
Ren Yaohua, Ren Yaoting, and Han You also saw Ren Yaoqi. Ren Yaoting’s gaze stopped on Ren Yaoqi and Han Yunqian for a long time before he suddenly said with a bit of a smile, “Fifth Sister is out for a stroll through the garden? What a coincidence.”
Ren Yaohua said lightly to Ren Yaoqi, “Didn’t I tell a maid to told you to wait in the pavilion in front?”
The implication of these words was that she had asked someone to call Ren Yaoqi to come.
Ren Yaoting glanced at Ren Yaohua suspiciously, and then at Ren Yaoqi who had an upright face, her face looked better.
Han Yunqian smiled and said, “It was me who heard someone coming and thought it was Brother Yiyan, so I came over to say hello, but I didn’t expect to run into Fifth Miss. It’s my fault for being rude.”
Ren Yaohua glanced at Ren Yaoqi and slightly turned her head away, not knowing what she was thinking.
Ren Yaoqi walked over to them. Smiling, she asked Ren Yaoting, “When did Seventh Sister come over?”
“I heard that Sister You’er was here, and my mother had gone to Jizhou because of Second Brother’s wedding, so I came over to take a look too.” Ren Yaoting turned her head and smiled at Han You.
“Second Aunt has gone to Jizhou?” Ren Yaoqi was slightly surprised.
“Yes. She left early this morning and will probably not be back for a couple of days.” Ren Yaoting said casually.
Ren Yaoting said that the Second Madam had gone to Jizhou for the marriage of her concubine son, Ren Yilin, but Ren Yaocheng knew that the Second Madam had actually gone to withdraw from the marriage.
The Second Madam, Su, was a perfectly good mother in the eyes of outsiders. She ruled her family well, was gentle and modest, and was not jealous. The concubines of the Second Master of the East Mansion were all well-behaved with very few troubles. The two concubine sons, Ren Yilin and Ren Yixin, had great respect for their main mother.
So it was not surprising that she would campaign for the marriage of her concubine son.
But Ren Yaoqi was wondering if the girl from Liu Juren’s[1] family in this life would still kill herself because the marriage cancellation.
“Now that spring is in full bloom, how about going to sit in that pavilion?” Ren Yiyan suggested.
“Sister Ting said she would play the zither for us, so it would be a good idea to go to the pavilion.” Han You said happily.
Ren Yaoting pursed her lips and smiled, “I’m here to make a fool of myself, why are you shouting so loudly that everyone knows?”
Han You winked, “You’ll hear it all later anyway.”
“That’s good, I’ll send someone back to fetch the zither.” Ren Yiyan laughed.
“I’ve already sent the maid back to marry it.” Ren Yaoting hurriedly said.
She had come prepared.
Several people walked together and sat down in the pavilion.
Ren Yaoqi noticed that Ren Yaoyin, who was supposed to come, had not come. So she asked a question.
Ren Yiyan said, “Fourth Sister has caught a cold and her voice is a bit hoarse, so she said she would apologize to Young Master Han and Miss Han next time.”
Ren Yaoting’s zither was indeed quickly fetched. She burned incense to purify her hands, sat down in the courtyard, and played the zither with her plain hands.
In all fairness, Ren Yaoting’s zither playing was quite good. It was no wonder she dared to make a fool of herself. Everyone was sitting or standing, listening quietly.
Han Yunqian was originally standing facing the lotus pond. when suddenly there was a “clang, clang, clang” sound. Han Yunqian frowned and looked back, but he met the affectionate eyes of Ren Yaoting who was playing the zither.
Han You suddenly laughed, and when she saw everyone looking at her, she said with some embarrassment, “I told Sister Ting that my brother has a very good ear, and that he can hear the slightest mistake in the sound of the zither. Sister Ting didn’t believe me, so she gave it a try just now. You see, I was right, right? If you play well, he won’t notice, but if you make a mistake, he will frown at you.”
The audience, who were well versed in music, recalled that just now Ren Yaoting had really played a wrong note. Although it was not obvious, but Han Yunqian had really noticed it immediately.
But this was a reminder of the phrase: “There is a mistake in the song, Mr. Zhou will take care of it.”
Legend has it that this Mr. Zhou is as proficient in rhythm as Han Yunqian. Even when he was drunk, he would immediately notice when someone who played the zither was wrong, look towards the person, and give them a slight smile. There have been many women who have been in love with him who have deliberately played the wrong notes just to attract the attention of Mr. Zhou.
Was this a blatant hint from Ren Yaoting that she was interested in Han Yunqian?
Han You was so simple-minded that she hadn’t thought about it, but when she saw the strange looks on everyone’s faces, she thought about it carefully and realized.
It was Ren Yiyan who smiled gently and relieved Han You: “So you have this problem too, brother Han? My third brother is also fond of music. Someday when he listens to the zither, I will certainly try it out too. If he doesn’t like it, I’ll laugh at him for being pretentious.”
Ren Yiyan, the eldest brother, was usually very much an elder brother, and was also popular among his sisters and brothers, so everyone laughed facetiously.
Han Yunqian did not seem to notice anything. He smiled lightly, gentle and courteous, but his eyes were waveless.
As he was saying this, a maid ran over and said to Ren Yaoqi after saluting, “Fifth Miss, the Third Master says he wants you to go to the Nuan Pavilion.”
The Nuan pavilion that the maid said was the place where Han Yunqian had last played with Ren Shimin and Ren Yijun. It was in the northwest corner of the garden, not too far from the Huxin Pavilion.
“When did Third Uncle come back?” Ren Yiyan asked in surprise.
The maid said, “The Third Master has just come to the Nuan Pavilion, and when he heard that several young masters and ladies were here, he asked this servant l to come and invite the Fifth Miss over.”
Ren Yaoqi got up, apologized to everyone, and followed the maid to the Northwest Pavilion.
As soon as she entered, she saw Ren Shimin standing in front of the window with his hands behind his back. When he saw her enter, he turned his head and said, “Come and play a few games of chess with Father.”
Ren Yaoqi followed Ren Shimin and sat down in front of the chessboard before she raised her eyebrows and asked, “Father asked me to come here just to play chess?”
Ren Shimin glanced at Ren Yaoqi and suddenly sighed, saying helplessly, “I have just returned from the outer courtyard, and your grandfather is talking with Han Yunqian’s father about the marriage between the two families.”
Ren Yaoqi was startled, how could it be so soon?
When Ren Shimin saw Ren Yaoqi’s expression, he couldn’t help but shake his head: “I heard that the two families negotiated the salt well matter very smoothly, both the Ren Family and the Han Family have invested a lot, so
”
So continue a marriage to strengthen the relationship between the two families?
Ren Yaoqi frowned.
Perhaps she was biased against the Han Family, why did she think it was the Han Family that desperately needed a marriage to gain the trust of the Ren Family?
“Your grandfather just called me over, and from what he said, the person the two families have settled on should be your sister Yaohua.”
Ren Yaoqi’s face became increasingly ugly.
This engagement had come so quickly that she hadn’t had time to think of a way to stop it. She had thought that without the stirring of Ren Shimin and Ren Yijun in this life, it would be a while before the Han and Ren families could tie the knot even if they wanted to.
After all, it was only today that the Han Family came to the door for the first time for this matter.
Was this what called fate?
“Your grandfather’s decision can’t be changed. I asked if the other Ren daughters would be okay. He said he had all the arrangements, and then sent me out.”
All the arrangements? Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but sneer.
If they really had to listen to his arrangements, none of them would end up well.
“Things have come to this, so you should stay away from Han Yunqian in the future.” Ren Shimin suddenly said seriously.
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[1] Juren (䞟äșș)
Juren refers to the person who is recommended. In the Han Dynasty, there was no examination method for selecting scholars. The imperial court ordered the prefects and state guards to recommend talents, because the candidates were called ‘juren’. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, there was a Jinshi department, and those who had a tribute examination for their subjects were commonly called Juren. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, those who took the provincial and mid-level examinations were called Juren, also known as the General Assembly and Dachunyuan. Winning Juren is called ‘fajie’ and ‘fafa’. It is customary for Juren to be commonly called ‘Master’, and elegantly known as Xiaolian. From ‘The Analects of Confucius – Wei Ling Gong’.