Dongsheng's words made Ren Yaoqi pause, and a rare look of surprise appeared on her face. However, she quickly calmed down, even sighing with a sense of wonder.
No wonder we haven’t found anything after searching for so long. It turns out we were looking for the wrong target.
Ren Yaoting must have been nervous when she saw the tablets, and the dim light might have caused her to misread them. The characters "Qu" and "Zhai" are very similar.
"Let's talk about this...the Zhai family." Ren Yaoqi said softly.
Dongsheng's steady voice came from behind a curtain.
"The Zhai family was considered a prominent family in Yanzhou decades ago, living in Baihe Town. However, there aren't many families with the surname Zhai in Yanzhou, and this one migrated from the south many years ago. While their population isn't particularly large, they're quite respectable. I heard they were a branch of a prominent clan. Unfortunately, the Liao invaded, and the Zhai family didn't have time to leave Yanbei. Ultimately, the entire clan was wiped out, with over a hundred people dead."
When the Liao people were plundering northern Yan, many families suffered the same disaster as the Zhai family.
"Was our clan wiped out by the Liao people?" Ren Yaoqi asked as if talking to himself.
"Yes, ma'am, that's what it says in the local annals."
"What is the connection between the Zhai family and the Han family?" Ren Yaoqi asked.
Dongsheng said with some regret, "There are countless families who suffered the same fate as the Zhai family. The local chronicles only briefly mentioned these few sentences, and there is no more specific information."
This was to be expected, Ren Yaoqi understood. But at least there was a target, which would make it much easier to investigate in the future.
"But..." Dongsheng seemed to remember something.
Ren Yaoqi knew that Dongsheng was not the kind of person who liked to keep people in suspense, so she didn't urge him and just listened to him carefully.
As expected, Dongsheng only paused for a moment before continuing, "There's not much recorded about the Zhai family in the local annals, but it seems like their residence wasn't far from the current Ren Mansion."
Ren Yaoqi's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. The local chronicles recording the Zhai family's location were surely only approximate, and Dongsheng's claim that it wasn't far away was unrelated. Could it be that the Ren family's house had originally belonged to the Zhai family? Her great-grandfather's generation had bought the Ren family's house from someone else, close to the time when the Zhai family fell on hard times.
But since the Zhai family had been destroyed by the Liao, what did this have to do with the Ren family? Although the Ren family always claimed to be a noble family, Ren Yaoqi knew that decades ago, the Ren family was just an ordinary family in Yanbei, while the Zhai family was already a prominent family in the area. What right did the Ren family have to make enemies with the Zhai family?
Is it just for that house?
Ren Yaoqi thought about it for a while, but couldn't figure it out for the time being.
But thanks to Dongsheng for being so attentive in helping her check, she thanked him sincerely.
Dongsheng said, "Actually, this time it's all thanks to Second Young Master Xiao."
Ren Yaoqi was stunned when he heard this, and Dongsheng then told him about the questions he had asked Xiao Jingxi and the things Xiao Jingxi had suggested to him.
Ren Yaoqi was speechless for a long time after hearing this.
Dongsheng was a little worried that Ren Yaoqi was blaming her for casually telling Xiao Jingxi about this. Just as she was about to apologize, Ren Yaoqi spoke up, "When you see Second Young Master Xiao, remember to thank him for me. Also, since you're already with him, you shouldn't be hiding anything from him. If he doesn't ask you, that's fine, but if he does, you absolutely mustn't lie."
Dongsheng breathed a sigh of relief and quickly responded.
Dongsheng was already Xiao Jingxi's man. Ren Yaoqi, in asking Dongsheng to run errands for her, was essentially borrowing his help. Xiao Jingxi was generous enough not to argue with her. Ren Yaoqi didn't want to be ungrateful. Therefore, she didn't worry about Xiao Jingxi finding out about anything she asked Dongsheng to do, and she wouldn't bring it up with Dongsheng when she needed it.
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