/
Chapter 93: Astonishing News
With Xiao Jingxi’s background and reputation, it was naturally a matter of joy to be taken up by him. Although Zhu Ruomei had been forced to work as a miner for the Ren Family, he still wanted to make a career out of it, otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to the Yuan Family all these years to train in martial arts and beg Steward Yuan to teach him to read and write.
Now that the opportunity was in front of him and he owed his life to Xiao Jingxi, it was not too much to work for him for ten years.
But Ren Yaoqi and the Third Master Ren were also kind to him. Although he did not know the reason for what Ren Yaoqi had asked him to do this time, he could guess that Ren Yaoqi might have some grudge against the Han Family.
He was privy to the Han Family’s activities and understood that both Old Master Han and Han Yunqian were not ordinary people. If Ren Yaoqi truly orchestrated the Han Family’s upheaval, and the Han Family was aware of it, it would be painful for her in the future.
If he stays by her side, although he can’t be of great help, he can still help with some small errands like this one.
Ren Yaoqi naturally saw the struggle on Zhu Ruomei’s face.
Although she had not had much contact with him, Ren Yaoqi knew that Zhu Ruomei was a righteous person who knew what was right and wrong. When she first decided to help him, it was not because she wanted to take him under her wing to order him around. After all, in her position, Zhu Ruomei would have been a steward of one of her dowry shops in the future, but in her previous life, Zhu Ruomei was a fierce general under the Second Young Master of Yanbei.
What she thought was that one day, if Zhu Ruomei had the same fortune as in her previous life, he would be able to help her out at a critical moment for the sake of her kindness.
Now Zhu Ruomei is willing to work for Xiao Jingxi, so what reason does she have to stop him?
“It’s a good thing I suggested previously that you should move to Yunyang City to find work and care for your mother and sister.” Ren Yaoqi smiled and gave Xiao Jingxi a glance, “Second Young Master Xiao has a discerning eye for talent, and based on his good reputation for treating people well, he will certainly make good arrangements for your family so that you can have no worries. This will put my mind at ease.”
Xiao Jingxi was stunned, looked at Ren Yaoqi with a half-smile, but nodded in kind, “What Fifth Miss Ren said is reasonable.”
“You should go back and rest. I should go too,” Ren Yaoqi looked at the sky and said to Zhu Ruomei.
Zhu Ruomei didn’t know what to say. He hesitated for half a second, knowing that there were things he couldn’t say in front of Xiao Jingxi, so he struggled and bowed before being helped back by one of Xiao Jingxi’s servants.
Xiao Jingxi suddenly turned his eyes to look at Dongsheng, who also wanted to follow him down, with a somewhat meaningful look.
Dongsheng lowered his head and dared not to raise it.
It was he who was worried about Ren Yaoqi. That’s why he went to remind Zhu Ruomei, seemingly unintentionally, that Ren Yaoqi was coming. He was already Xiao Jingxi’s attendant, but he still missed his old master in his heart. He knew that this was a taboo for his masters, so he felt guilty to meet Xiao Jingxi’s insightful eyes.
Fortunately, Xiao Jingxi merely stared at him and raised his hand to let him go down.
Dongsheng turned around and found his back shirt was wet.
When Dongsheng went down. Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment and said sincerely to Xiao Jingxi, “Second Young Master Xiao, if a person is indifferent to the safety of his old master after he follows you, do you dare to use such a person?” With the expression on Dongsheng’s face just now, and Zhu Ruomei’s sudden appearance, she naturally guessed the reason.
Xiao Jingxi smiled faintly, “Then tell me, Fifth Miss Ren. If one day his new master turns against his old master, whose camp should he be on to be considered loyal?”
Ren Yaoqi thought for a moment and also smiled, “People indeed generally don’t dare to use other people’s subordinates. Only you, Second Prince Xiao, can have this kind of courage. So I guess you must be confident that there won’t be any kind of problem in the future, am I right?”
Xiao Jingxi pondered over Ren Yaoqi’s words and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He gave Ren Yaoqi an inscrutable look, “Is Fifth Miss Ren wanted to dig a hole for me to jump?”
The hidden meaning in Ren Yaoqi’s words was that since Xiao Jingxi had already used people from Prince Xian, he had no intention to tear faces with Prince Xian and became an enemy of him in the future. Otherwise, what he did was the same as slap himself in the face.
She was taking the opportunity to ask him to make a stand.
Xiao Jingxi did not take this bait. Smiling, he changed the subject, “Then it’s a draw?”
Ren Yaoqi accepted the stand down and did not dwell on it, nodding her head and smiling, “Please forgive me, Young Master Xiao. You are too good at chess and if I did not cheat I would not have won.” She frankly admitted that she was not as good at chess as Xiao Jingxi and didn’t want to lose, basically admitting defeat.
“As my third brother used to say, chess is often like a battlefield. If you can not lose you have to think of ways not to lose. That’s why pawns don’t tire of deception.” Ren Yaoqi said jokingly.
Xiao Jingxi could not help but smile at her words, “Your third brother once played a game against me, his chess skill is… ahem, not bad.”
Ren Yaoqi suppressed a smile and remained silent. Although Ren Yijun loved to play chess and could win more than lose against ordinary people, against a master like Xiao Jingxi, it was a miserable game.
“It’s getting late, my mother should be coming out soon, so I’ll take my leave.” Ren Yaoqi said as she observed the sky again.
Xiao Jingxi didn’t stay either and smiled as he rose to see her off.
Ren Yaoqi turned to leave, but she heard Xiao Jingxi say, “Are there any grievances between the Han Family and you?”
Ren Yaoqi’s footsteps lurched, but she did not turn around to return.
According to Zhu Ruomei’s nature, even if he had defected to Xiao Jingxi, it was unlikely that he would tell the truth about the Han Family. Therefore, Xiao Jingxi’s statement was probably just a guess on his part. Combined with Zhu Ruomei’s movements, and the recent events of the Han Family in Jizhou, he came to that conclusion.
“Sort of.” After a moment of silence, Ren Yaoqi still turned around and replied.
Xiao Jingxi was a little surprised by her frank admission and frowned after thinking about it, “What kind of grudge does the Han Family have against the Ren Family?”
Ren Yaoqi’s heart was moved when she heard the words. She looked at Xiao Jingxi, shook her head, and sighed: “There are some things I don’t want to say too much, the Han Family and the Ren Family have no grievances, but the Old Master of the Han Family just…”
Xiao Jingxi thought for a moment, “You asked Prince Xian’s men to go to Jiangnan just to check Han Dongshan’s details?”
Xiao Jingxi even knew about this?
Although it was true that the Yanbei Royal Family did not care about the Xian Family, given the sensitive status of the Xian Family, it was impossible for the Yanbei Royal Family to totally ignore the Xian Family.
Now that he had spoken up, Ren Yaoqi nodded and said, “That’s right, I was the one who asked Xiasheng to check on Han Dongshan.” Now she understood that just because she didn’t say anything didn’t mean that Xiao Jingxi would not be able to check and guess.
“So that’s how it is.” Xiao Jingxi nodded with a sudden understanding, then he smiled slightly again, blinked, and said softly, “The reason why I asked about this matter is that the Yanbei Royal Family wants to use the Han Family.”
Hearing this, Ren Yaoqi was shocked and stared at Xiao Jingxi, repeating, “The Yanbei Royal Family wants to use the Han Family?”
Xiao Jingxi smiled lightly and did not say anything.
Ren Yaoqi suddenly remembered that this year the Han Family undertook to print the Yanbei Imperial Calendar. Because of the misprint of the Imperial Calendar the year before, Yanbei’s bookstore did not dare to print it, but a little-known Han Family dared to do so. If Xiao Jingxi’s words were correct, the Han Family had long been associated with the Yanbei Royal Family, and they were highly appreciated by their master.
No wonder the Han Family had made a name for themselves in a short period, it was because of the backing of the Yanbei Royal Family. If that was the case, how could she still fight against the Han Family? The position of the Yanbei Royal Family in Yanbei was like that of the Li Royal Family in Jiangnan.
Noticing that Ren Yaoqi’s face was not right, Xiao Jingxi sighed lightly and said after some thought, “Since we are tied today, you can naturally not tell me this, so I will pretend that I don’t know anything about this matter.”
Ren Yaoqi looked at Xiao Jingxi and said, “Was it Han Dongshan who requested the Yanbei Royal Family to look into who plotted against the Han Family?”
Xiao Jingxi looked at Ren Yaoqi and said nothing.
But Ren Yaoqi understood.
The Yanbei Royal Family was the master of the Ren Family, and since the lackeys had suffered a secret loss and couldn’t find out for themselves, they begged to go to their master.
That was why Xiao Jingxi had asked her to come here.
Xiao Jingxi did not do it out of boredom or deliberate trickery.
“Fifth Miss Ren, take care of yourself.” Xiao Jingxi smiled as he kindly mentioned.
This time he had inadvertently saved Zhu Ruomei and happened to know that someone from the Yanbei Royal Family was investigating this matter, which was why he had inadvertently intervened.
Ren Yaoqi was silent for a moment, but said keenly, “Just now Second Young Master Xiao said that the Han Family was the one the Yanbei Royal Family wanted to use, but the Han Family is not Young Master’s people, right?”
Xiao Jingxi raised his eyebrows, “What difference does it make? I am also a member of the Yanbei Royal Family.”
Ren Yaoqi smiled, “I would feel more relaxed thinking like that.” Saying that, Ren Yaoqi curtsied towards Xiao Jingxi and bowed, “I was rude today, thank you, Second Young Master Xiao.”
With that Ren Yaoqi turned around and walked away.
She did not beg Xiao Jingxi to give up the Han Family.
Xiao Jingxi was right. He was also a member of the Yanbei Royal Family, so naturally he had the interests of the Yanbei Royal Family at heart. She had only met him twice and did not have much of a friendship with him, so why should she ask him to do something that went against the family’s interest decisions for her petty grudges? It was imposing.
But the reason why the Yanbei Royal Family uses the Han Family was because the Han Family has value and can be used for the Yanbei Royal Family. If this matter can be investigated, it is not impossible to bring down the Han Family.
The fact that the Han Family was used by the Yanbei Royal Family was only known from Xiao Jingxi today, and she didn’t even know about it in her previous life. This shows that the Han Family is likely to be the hidden pawn of the Yanbei Royal Family. What the Han Family was tasked to do is secret, so Xiao Jingxi would not reveal it to her.
She kept reminding herself to be calm and not to let this news mess her up.
But today Xiao Jingxi was willing to cover up for her, which meant that the Han Family and the Yanbei Royal Family’s interests were not too deeply entangled, and that the Yanbei Royal Family only wanted “to use the Han Family”.
When she thought of this, she couldn’t help but be grateful to Xiao Jingxi. The little bit of discontent she had towards him before also vanished. If not for Xiao Jingxi’s advice, she might not have known how she would have been defeated in the future.