Chapter 52: Encounter

Xiang Qin cheered and said excitedly: “Fifth Miss, how long did it take? How long did we take?”

Ren Yaoqi kept walking out. Without turning her head, she replied, “We won’t know until we get out and check the time.”

Ren Yijun and Han Yunqian were already waiting not far from the exit of the lantern array. Standing with them were Han You and Ren Yaoting who had separated before. When Ren Yaoqi walked over, she just heard Ren Yaoting say: “Third Brother, Young Master Han, should we wait at the entrance? Fifth Sister should not be able to get out.”

However, Ren Yijun had already seen Ren Yaoqi, and couldn’t help but widen his eyes. He lowered his head to look at the pocket watch in his hand, and then shouted at Ren Yaoqi in disbelief: “One time a quarter.”

Everyone turned their heads and saw Ren Yaoqi walking over.

Ren Yaoqi stopped in front of Ren Yijun, took a look at the pocket watch from his hand, and breathed a sigh of relief. She turned her head and smiled politely at Han Yunqian who was staring at her in a daze: “Young Master Han, it is conceded.”

Ren Yijun laughed loudly: “Fifth Sister, it took you a quarter of an hour to enter the battle, and Young Master Han took two times a quarter. You are one quarter faster than him! Young Master Han, you lost!”

Han Yunqian saw that Ren Yaoqi didn’t speak, but Ren Yaoting said suspiciously: “Impossible! How could Fifth Sister beat Young Master Han!”

Ren Yijun stared and retorted unhappily: “Why can’t Fifth Sister win!”

Ren Yaoting opened her mouth and found that everyone was looking at her, she couldn’t help but blushed, and could no longer say anything to argue.

Han Yunqian withdrew his gaze fixed on Ren Yaoqi’s face, lowered his eyes slightly, and said softly, “I lost.”

Ren Yaoqi said modestly: “I was also lucky, and I came out of it by accident.”

Ren Yaoting gave Han You an expression of “as expected”, and felt a little more at ease for some reason.

Han Yunqian, however, knew how unlikely it was for someone could get out of the Nine Curved Dragon Gate Palace Lantern Formation so quickly just by good luck.

Ren Yaoqi looked around and asked doubtfully, “Where is Third Sister?”

“Sister Yaohua said she was a little cold, so she was going to wait for you in the carriage. She just left not long ago.” It was Han You who answered Ren Yaoqi.

Ren Yaoqi thought that Ren Yaohua must still be angry and thought she would be embarrassed so she would just turn a blind eye.

Thinking about her purpose of entering the battle, Ren Yaoqi turned to look at Han Yunqian: “Young Master Han, my father’s painting.” Han Yunqian was silent for a moment, nodded, and said, “I will go to the house tomorrow and ask Third Uncle Ren’s opinion first. If he has no opinion, I will pass the painting on to you.”

Ren Yijun who loves seeking trouble said, “Why don’t we compete again?”

Ren Yaoqi glanced at him with a half-smile when she heard the words: “Third brother, do you also want me to take an official examination to give you face?”

Han You laughed at the side but felt a bit rude after laughing, so he looked down and covered his lips with his sleeve.

If someone else talked to Ren Yijun like that, he would have flipped out. But hearing what Ren Yaoqi said, he just coughed lightly and lowered his head to touch his nose.

“Is the Eighth Sister not with you?” Ren Yaoqi stopped paying attention to Ren Yijun and turned around to talk to Ren Yaoting.

Ren Yaoting was a bit careless: “I’ve been with Sister You, I haven’t seen Eight Sister.”

“Shall we go back and look for her?” Han You asked with some concern.

Ren Yaoting was about to say something when Han You said again, “Brother, why don’t you accompany us to look for Sister Yaoyu?” Ren Yaoting stopped talking and also turned his eyes to Han Yunqian.

Han Yunqian nodded, “Alright.”

But Ren Yaoting said to Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yijun, “Then how about we look for Eight Sister, and Third Brother and Fifth Sister stay here and wait? In case the Eighth Sister comes and can’t find us later. How about we meet here in an hour?”

Ren Yijun naturally did not want to follow them, he only wanted to ask Ren Yaoqi about the lamp formation, so he just gave a “hmm”.

Ren Yaoqi nodded and instructed Xiang Qin to say, “Go tell Third Sister that I have come out. If she does not want to come out, wait for us in the carriage, and I will go to her in half an hour.”

Xiang Qin answered and retreated. Han Yunqian bowed toward both Ren Yijun and Ren Yaoqi. Ren Yaoqi’s eyes met his in mid-air, smiled, and then naturally turn back.

After the three of them left, Ren Yijun couldn’t wait to say, “Fifth Sister, tell me how you got out of the Nine Curved Dragon Gate Palace Lantern Formation?”

Ren Yijun was wearing a heavy fur cloak, but his nose was still red from the cold. Ren Yaoqi thought that walking around would make his body warmer, so she deliberately said, “It’s okay to tell you, but Third Brother has to give me a rabbit lamp!”

Ren Yijun rolled his eyes: “Just one? I can give you ten or eight.”

Ren Yaoqi reached out to help him put on the wind hat, causing Ren Yijun to glare at him with displeasure.

Seeing that he wanted to put his hat down, Ren Yaoqi put the hat over his own cloak, and said, “Let’s go over there to buy lamps, don’t put your hat down, you’re so old and still buying rabbit lamps, aren’t you afraid of being laughed at?”

Ren Yijun skimmed his mouth and said: “Who dares to laugh at this master!” Although said so, he did not move his wind hat.

Ren Yaoqi suppressed a smile and beckoned him to the side alley next to Guan Gong Temple, where there was a stall selling lanterns. Two servants were left waiting in their place.

There were lotus lanterns, peony lanterns, lion lanterns, jujube lanterns, rabbit lanterns, etcetera in the lantern market, which make people dizzy to see. Originally, Ren Yaoqi just wanted to let Ren Yijun walk around and exercise his muscles, so she talked to him about the light array while picking and choosing slowly.

After the two of them strolled all the way, Ren Yijun didn’t notice that a rabbit lamp full of childishness was stuffed in his hand, and he walked all the way with it.

In the end, he saw that everyone around him cast kind and joking looks at him. Ren Yijun’s eyes widened and looked back confidently and fiercely. His gloomy expression successfully scared away the passersby.

Ren Yaoqi laughed so hard at the side. She never knew that the Third Brother who was always gloomy in her eyes in the previous life had such a cute and naive side.

Ren Yijun stuffed the rabbit lantern in his hand into Ren Yaoqi’s hand, turned around, and left angrily.

“Third Brother, wait.” Ren Yaocheng laughed as she chased after him, but Ren Yijun’s steps were fast and he soon disappeared into the side alley.

Ren Yaoqi handed over the rabbit lantern to the woman behind her, and muttered with a smile, “So mean,” and strolled after him.

When she walked to the exit of the previous light array, Ren Yaoqi’s steps suddenly stopped. She noticed a carriage parked in a corner not far away. The carriage was parked in the shadows, there was no one around, but only the outline of a carriage could be vaguely seen, even the horses pulling the carriage were silent. It was standing there without any movement, very quiet and unobtrusive. Ren Yaoqi passed by it twice before but didn’t notice its existence. Could it be that it stopped after she left? But she didn’t see any carriage passing by along the way.

“Fifth Miss?” Seeing that she was stopping, the maid called softly.

Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help laughing when she came to her senses, wondering why did she care so much about a carriage. When she wanted to move on, she heard footsteps. Ren Yaoqi accidentally stood there without moving. This feeling is very magical, as if the whole world’s noise and clamor of people’s laughter and anger are in front of your eyes, your ears present, but you can only notice the slight sound of footsteps. It captures your entire mind, and you can not ignore it.

A tall figure appeared in front of her. If Ren Yaoqi didn’t just hear footsteps, she even felt that this person had appeared in front of her out of thin air. The ice lamp cast a colorful glazed light and shadow on one side of his body, but it was so dazzling that it was hard to see clearly. His whole body was wrapped in a black cloak, and the fox fur at the collar completely covered his chin. Ren Yaoqi took a look, and could only feel a very subtle attractive look about this man. She couldn’t tell what kind of feeling it was, but she just felt that she couldn’t focus her eyes to see his appearance clearly.

Suddenly she met a pair of extremely clear dark eyes, as black as black jade. Ren Yaoqi felt her heart beating fast, and when she wanted to see more clearly, that figure had already passed through the light and shadow and entered the shadow beside the carriage.

He stopped beside the carriage, did not get into the carriage immediately, but turned his head slightly to look over. Ren Yaoqi seemed to feel that his eyes were on her, and making her feel a little nervous.

Then someone lifted the curtain of the carriage for him, and he got into the carriage.

The carriage moved slowly, passing by Ren Yaoqi. After the sound of the wheels disappeared, Ren Yaoqi felt that she could finally move. She seemed to have entered a nightmare just now.

“Fifth Miss, what’s the matter with you?” the maids asked in a low voice.

Ren Yaoqi shook her head, and said in a low voice, “It seems like a ghost is pressing me.”

“Fifth Miss, what did you say?” Ren Yaoqi’s voice was too low, she didn’t hear it.

“Oh, did you see his face clearly just now?” Ren Yaoqi asked.

The maids looked at each other in blank dismay, and finally shook their heads. “This servant did not see clearly, the place where the carriage stopped was too dark.”

Ren Yaoqi nodded, put the matter aside and continued on her way to find Ren Yijun.

After finding Ren Yijun, Ren Yaoqi coaxed him to play chess with her as a bait and turned his anger into joy.

Ren Yaoqi silently added another note about Ren Yijun in her heart: It’s easy to coax him when he is angry.