CH 79

Chapter 79: News of the Inquiry

When Liao came out, Ren Yaoting was still standing quietly under the porch, dazed.

Turning her head, she saw Liao’s face full of complacency. Ren Yaoting’s eyes lit up, and she went forward to help Liao: “Grandmother, how is it? Did Granduncle agreed?”

Seeing that it was her only first granddaughter, the smile on Liao’s face grew bigger and bigger, and she patted Ren Yaoting’s hand that was holding her, “Naturally, he agreed.”

Ren Yaoting was so ecstatic that she became somewhat incoherent, “Then Third Sister and Young Master Han’s marriage… won’t work out?”

Liao looked at Ren Yaoting a little strangely at her words, “How did you learn that I was here to talk about this matter?”

Ren Yaoting stammered, “When I saw that you were in a bad mood this morning, I asked the people in your courtyard.”

Liao didn’t think it was a bother, instead, she was happy that her granddaughter cared about her.

“Then Third Sister, she…”, Ren Yaoting wanted to know the exact news.

Liao said unconcernedly, “The marriage between the two families is not a child’s play, how can they say that it will not work? I don’t think it will take long for the Han Family to ask the matchmaker to come.”

Ren Yaoting was struck by lightning at her words, “What did you say? Young Master Han is still engaged to Third Sister?”

Liao gave Ren Yaoting a strange look, “What are you doing so loudly?”

Ren Yaoting’s face turned pale, and she followed Liao’s heartlessly.

A few days later, Ren Yaoqi had just come out of the study in the west courtyard when her maid, Sang Shen, reported to her, “Miss, your grandfather’s family is here, and Madam is inviting someone to talk in the main room.”

Ren Yaoqi turned around and went to the main room, asking, “When did they arrive? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s not even a quarter of an hour since I came in. You were in the study at the time, and Master did not allow servants to enter or leave the study at will, so this servant did not dare to go in.” Sang Shen replied as she followed Ren Yaoqi’s footsteps.

Ren Yaoqi did not say anything more and went straight to the main room.

Li’s two maids, Xi’er and Que’er, were guarding the door, and there were no other maidservants around. Ren Yaoqi knew at a glance that it was Matron Zhou who had ordered no one else to come near.

When Xi’er and Que’er saw Ren Yaoqi approaching, they looked at each other. Xi’er was about to go in and report, but Ren Yaoqi had already waved her hand and lifted the curtain to go in.

Xi’er and Que’er looked at each other again but finally stood still with their hands tied.

When Ren Yaoqi entered, there was no one in the bright room, but there was a faint sound of voices talking from the east wing on her right. She went under the curtain and heard a female voice inside saying: “…Xia Sheng also found out that the Old Madam of the Han Family was originally a capable one too. Because Han Jianping only had one daughter, and his wife died young, she was the one who took charge of all the big and small matters in the family. However, after marrying Han Dongshan, she rarely went out, and only spent her days in the inner house teaching her children…”

Ren Yaoqi stood there and listened for a moment. She did not go in, but turned around and came out again.

Gesturing for Xi’er to follow her to the side, Ren Yaoqi asked, “Is that Miss Yi Hong who is here? She didn’t come alone, did she?”

Xi’er was a little surprised that Ren Yaoqi had come out so quickly. And it looked like she hadn’t gone in yet, but she still whispered back extremely quickly, “The one who came was Miss Yi Hong, and with her was that martial artist called Xia Sheng. But he’s a man and cannot enter the inner courtyard, so Matron Zhou arranged for someone to lead him to tea in the outer courtyard.”

Ren Yaoqi nodded, “They are still talking inside, so I won’t go in.” With that, she turned around and left.

When she reached the gate of Ziwei Courtyard, Ren Yaoqi beckoned a servant to come, “Go to the outer courtyard and bring the man called Xia Sheng from my grandfather’s house to the Yiran Pavilion outside the second gate.”

Technically, the Yiran Pavilion was not located in the inner courtyard. However, it was in extremely close vicinity to the second gate. It was where the maidservants met people from the outer courtyard. Because the pavilion had an excellent view and there were people walking around, there is no fear of any shady business. If the masters wanted to go out, they would wait in the pavilion for a while if the sedan or carriage had not yet arrived, so Ren Yaoqi’s visit there would not be considered inappropriate.

Ren Yaoqi went back to her room and changed into her going-out clothes. Then she took two maids and two servants to the second door.

Xia Sheng was already being led to wait at the Yiran Pavilion.

When he saw that it was Ren Yaoqi coming out, Xia Sheng was still a little surprised. He thought it was Matron Zhou who had called him.

“Miss.” Xia Sheng bowed low.

Ren Yaoqi nodded: “Was it you who went to Jizhou this time?”

Xia Sheng arched his hand and returned, “Back to Miss, it was indeed this young one.”

“I have a few questions I would like to ask you, and I am afraid that what Yi Hong relayed is not as clear as yours.” Ren Yaoqi looked at Xia Sheng and said with a smile.

“Please ask, Miss.”

“The former patriarch of the Han Family, Ren Jianping, only had one daughter, and Han Dongshan could not take over the position of patriarch, so who is the current patriarch?”

“The current patriarch of the Han Family is Han Jianxin, a distant cousin of Han Jianping. He is nearly twenty years younger than Han Jianping and is about the same age as Han Dongshan. Because he is the senior, Han Dongshan elected him to be the patriarch. Although Han Jianxin was the patriarch, he relied heavily on Han Dongshan and would discuss all the major and minor matters of the clan with him before making decisions. In previous years, it was Han Dongshan who proposed the establishment of the clan school and was responsible for the costs of the school, so Han Dongshan’s prestige in the clan was even higher than Han Jianxin’s.”

“Oh? Then the clan didn’t say anything bad about him?” Ren Yaoqi raised his eyebrows slightly and said.

Xia Sheng thought for a moment, but said, “That’s not true. In reality, Han Jianping has one or two cousins who are a little closer, and their attitude towards Han Dongshan is not as bad as those who are a little further away. I heard that Han Jianping had planned to succeed his youngest son in the family business, but for some unknown reason, Han Jianping gave up the idea. Not only he handed over all the family’s properties to his son-in-law Han Dongshan to take care of, but he also raised Han Dongshan’s prestige in the clan.”

“Later when Han Jianping died, Han Jianmin originally planned to join hands with several clan brothers to expel Han Dongshan, but Han Dongshan preemptively punished him. After a few years, Han Jianmin passed away, and no one from the Han Family took the lead in stirring up trouble. After all, Han Dongshan still took care of those clansmen of the Han Family. When I went to Jizhou this time, the people of the Han clan were almost overwhelmingly saying good things about Han Dongshan, and a few of the nearer branches did not dare to say anything bad about Han Dongshan. But Han Jianmin’s youngest son, Han Zuwang, seemed to be very unhappy with Han Dongshan and said a lot of bad things. I have also checked what he said, and most of them are slanderous words.”

Xia Sheng was a bit dismissive when he said this, and he had some intention of looking down on Han Zuwang.

However, Ren Yaoqi could not help but think about it. It was none of her business what Han Zuwang’s character was like, she only wanted to stir up the marriage between the Han and Ren families.

“What is the situation of this Han Zuwang’s family?”

Because Han Zuwang was one of the few people in the Han Family who was willing to say anything bad about Han Dongshan, Xia Sheng thoroughly checked into this man’s affairs and answered when asked, “Han Zuwang’s father, Han Jianmin, had three sons. After the three brothers split up, he took his family with him and refused to leave the ancestral home that the elder had been given, relying on his two older brothers for help from time to time. When he was drunk, he would always say that everything that Han Dongshan had now should have been his and that an outsider was not entitled to the Han Family’s assets. He should be displeased with Han Dongshan for this reason as well.”

“Oh? Han Dongshan just let him talk nonsense like that?” Ren Yaoqi asked with a smile.

Han Dongshan was so capable and could put the Han clan at ease, how come he couldn’t put a single Han Zuowang at ease?

Xia Sheng shook his head, “Han Zuwang wholeheartedly believed that Han Dongshan’s property belonged to him, and he gained face to go out. It can be said that he will not accept the soft and the hard persuasion, making his two brothers have a big headache with him. This man is a thorn in the side. He once said that his father had died because of his opposition to Han Dongshan, and that if anything happened to him someday, it would be Han Dongshan who had done it. So no one would dare to touch him.”

Ren Yaoqi smiled and became interested in this man, who did not seem to be completely brainless.

“In the last letter, apart from mentioning for you to check these relatives of the Han Family, you were also asked to check the details of Han Dongshan, did you find out anything?” Ren Yaoqi asked again.

She was very satisfied with Xia Sheng’s answer before. She had been in contact with Xia Sheng for some time in her previous life, so she knew a little about his methods. She knew that although he looked rough, he was a very meticulous person. So she specifically asked Xia Sheng to go to Jizhou in the last letter.

“I asked an old man who used to work for the Han Family, and Han Dongshan did flee from the south. In the 32nd year of the Qinglong reign, there was a drought in the south, followed by a locust plague, which killed many people by starvation. Many fled to Yanbei, which was relatively less affected. It was at this time that Han Dongshan fled to Jizhou with a group of people. Once when Han Jianping went out, he met a few victims who were about to starve to death and came out to rob money. He was rescued by Han Dongshan, and then brought back to the Han Family by Han Jianping. According to Han Dongshan, his family had all died and he had some distant relatives from his mother’s side in Yanbei, so he came to join them. But after a long time and the invasion of the Khitans, he could no longer find his distant relatives, so he stayed with the Han Family. After that, he won the admiration of Han Jianping and recruited him into the family.”

“Apart from that, nothing else can be found out?” Ren Yaoqi frowned, “He truly never mention his previous family?”

She didn’t believe that Han Dongshan had popped out of a stone, nor did she believe that he hadn’t left any flaws after all these years.