The Yanbei Palace came to pick people up as soon as the morning hour arrived, and Ren Yaoqi got on Xiao Jinglin's carriage.
Seeing Ren Yaoqi get in the car, Xiao Jinglin's eyes lit up and he praised her generously, "Yaoqi, you look very good today."
Today, Ren Yaoqi wore the same peach blossom-patterned short jacket and white silk skirt the Yun family had gifted her last time. The colors, which might have seemed frivolous and voluptuous, looked soft and charming on her. The headpiece she wore was the same jade and pearl headpiece the Princess of Yanbei had gifted her last time, understated yet still gorgeous.
Ren Yaoqi pursed her lips and smiled, looking Xiao Jinglin up and down: "Mutual."
Xiao Jinglin was also dressed up today. She wore a lake green cross-collared long coat with gold piping and flying phoenix embroidery, and a pleated skirt of the same color. An emerald and gold-plated tassel hairpin hung on her forehead, covering her thick black eyebrows and making her look a little more gentle than usual.
Xiao Jinglin usually didn't care about her appearance, and when the princess watched her dress up early this morning, she had no choice but to do so. However, after hearing what Ren Yaoqi said, she was still a little happy. After all, her friend was so beautiful and eye-catching, and she couldn't lose face walking beside her.
Xiao Jinglin's carriage had taken a detour to pick someone up, and upon reaching the main road, it met up with the princess's carriage. The Yanbei Palace's motorcade was enormous, yet it made little noise as it passed. Other carriages, upon seeing the Yanbei Palace emblem, moved aside to make way. However, a number of pedestrians stood by the roadside, watching the excitement. However, they were so enchanted by the solemnity of the Yanbei Palace's motorcade that no one dared to make a sound. They all stood close to the side of the road, their heads bowed and their hands clasped behind their backs, waiting only to look up after the motorcade had passed.
Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but recall a time in his previous life, when he was in Kyoto. He happened upon the Empress Dowager's carriage leaving the palace. The Imperial Guards were almost completely deployed, and the crowds of onlookers were constantly thronging, creating a chaotic scene. An elderly woman was squeezed out by the crowd and fell onto the imperial road. The guards immediately impaled her limbs with spears and threw her aside. The terrified crowd was trampled, and several people were said to have died.
As they passed the main road of Guidongfang, Ren Yaoqi saw the Ren family's carriage parked in a nearby alley, waiting for the Yanbei Palace's carriage to pass first. Their villa was not far from Guidongfang. It seemed that Ren Yaoqi would arrive at the hot spring villa before the Ren family.
However, the people from the Yun family arrived earlier than the convoy from the Yanbei Palace. They must have come to make some arrangements earlier.
When Ren Yaoqi followed Xiao Jinglin out of the carriage, she saw from afar that Old Madam Yun and the female members of the Yun family were standing in front to greet the old princess and the others. Xiao Jinglin's carriage was at the end of the convoy, so it was a little far away from them.
Xiao Jinglin didn't hurry to catch up with the group. He continued to leisurely follow behind with Ren Yaoqi. Ren Yaoqi didn't want to step forward and attract attention, and Xiao Jinglin's approach was exactly what she wanted. She just casually asked, "Madam Yun didn't come today?"
Ren Yaoqi was asking about the old prince's concubine, Xiao Jinglin's biological grandmother.
Speaking of which, Ren Yaoqi had been to the Yanbei Palace so many times, but he had never met Madam Yun.
Xiao Jinglin said, "Grandmother rarely goes out and usually doesn't come to the Qianjin Banquet." After a pause, she continued softly, "Grandmother usually doesn't show up where the old princess is. She's away from the mansion most of the time, either guarding Grandfather's mausoleum or recuperating at the farm. She doesn't often see outsiders when she occasionally returns."
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