He asked Pingguo to give Zhu Ruoju thirty taels of silver to arrange for Luo Pozi to bury her, and also sent two maids to help. He also sent someone to Baoping Hutong to fetch Shui Ai. After Zhu Ruoju left, Ren Yaoqi lay down on the kang and read for the entire afternoon.
The next day, shortly after Ren Yaoqi finished her breakfast, Xiao Jinglin sent someone to pick her up.
The Yanbei Palace is located in the center of Yunyang City, facing south. It has four main gates in the east, west, south and north, plus eight auxiliary gates. It covers an area of more than 500 acres. All buildings are distributed on the three axes of left, middle and right. It looks very magnificent from a distance.
Although the Yanbei Palace is not as large as the Kyoto Imperial Palace, it was built according to the regulations of the imperial palace and is divided into the front hall and the back hall.
Ren Yaoqi rode in the Yanbei Palace's carriage, so the journey was smooth. He couldn't look around too much in the carriage, so when he got off, he took a casual look and realized he was headed to a place near the western axis of the palace.
The buildings of the Yanbei Palace rarely used gold bricks, white marble, or colored glaze. Instead, they were mostly constructed of large, dark bluestone. It wasn't exactly magnificent, but it exuded a sense of dominance and timelessness.
Xiao Jinglin's residence is located in Yanjuyuan, west of the palace. Although the name is beautiful, there is nothing special about the yard. The courtyard is very large, but there are no flowers or plants planted there, only two old sycamore trees.
When Ren Yaoqi entered, Xiao Jinglin was waiting for her in the courtyard, holding a spear in her hand. Her face was calm and sweat-free, and Ren Yaoqi didn't know whether she had finished practicing with the spear or was just about to practice.
Seeing Ren Yaoqi coming, Xiao Jinglin's eyes flashed, and then, to everyone's surprise, he raised the gun in his hand and suddenly rushed towards Ren Yaoqi, with the tip of the gun pointing directly at Ren Yaoqi's face.
Apple, the maid who was walking beside Ren Yaoqi, was startled and screamed as she was about to stand in front of Ren Yaoqi, but Xiao Jinglin dodged and pushed her away, using his clever strength to push her several steps away, and then the spear continued to move towards Ren Yaoqi.
During this process, Ren Yaoqi kept looking at Xiao Jinglin with a smile, until the tip of the gun stopped at the tip of her nose, and Ren Yaoqi didn't even blink.
Before Xiao Jinglin even took away the gun, he started laughing: "You're so brave."
Ren Yaoqi shook his head and watched Xiao Jinglin move the gun away: "I was also scared at first, but I knew I couldn't dodge it, so I simply didn't hide."
Xiao Jinglin threw the gun to his maid, looked at Pingguo again, and praised her rarely: "The maid is good, but she is a little stupid." This was definitely a compliment.
Apple wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, bowed to Xiao Jinglin, and retreated behind Ren Yaoqi.
"I'll take you to see my mother." Xiao Jinglin took Ren Yaoqi's hand and was about to walk out.
"Jinglin, don't you want to change your clothes?" Ren Yaoqi looked at the men's clothes she wore for the convenience of practicing martial arts.
Xiao Jinglin looked at himself, thought for a while, then pulled Ren Yaoqi back to his room and said, "Then change your clothes." His tone was really reluctant.
Aside from the plaque inscribed with "Shude Shunhe" (Shude De Shunhe) hanging in the middle of Xiao Jinglin's boudoir, it was completely unrecognizable as a woman's boudoir. Its decor was shockingly spartan.
Xiao Jinglin quickly changed her clothes and then took Ren Yaoqi away: "The teacher who teaches the piano is with my mother. Didn't you bring the piano?" Xiao Jinglin saw that Ren Yaoqi's maid was empty-handed.
Ren Yaoqi shook his head: "My piano is at home, it's okay, I'll watch you practice."
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