"County Lord, can you slow down?" Ren Yaoqi held her hand and could only follow her pace, unable to help but be authentic.
Xiao Jinglin paused in her footsteps, turned her head to look at Ren Yaoqi, and slowed down a bit.
The two of them were speechless along the way.
Xiao Jinglin took Ren Yaoqi to the direction of the guest house of Bailong Temple. When she was about to reach a relatively large independent courtyard, Xiao Jinglin said to Ren Yaoqi: "Leave one or two people by your side, and the rest are waiting outside. I don't like too many idle people and so on."
Xiao Jinglin said this very confidently. But it's no wonder that there is no entourage by her side. With the pomp of her outfit, people walking outside will definitely not recognize her as the princess of the Yanbei Palace.
Ren Yaoqi complied with her intentions with a good temper, and said to the maids and old ladies who were following behind him: "Xue Li, go and tell Mammy Zhou that I am drinking tea at the county master's place, and Apple will serve you. The rest Everyone is waiting outside."
The crowd answered yes. Xiao Jinglin continued to pull Ren Yaoqi forward, and Apple quickly followed.
Compared with the one where Ren Yaoqi lived last time, this guest house not only looks wider, but also the courtyard when you enter the door. A leaf does not show the variety.
There is also a grape shelf in the corner on the left. There is a small table made of tree roots under the shelf. rocking chair.
Xiao Jinglin took Ren Yaoqi and walked straight in, but when she reached the main room, she did not stop, but went around the small hole on the left to the backyard.
After coming out of the cave door, Ren Yaoqi realized that his vision suddenly widened. There is no house in the backyard, but a place like a garden, but this "garden" doesn't seem to be carefully taken care of, only some wild flowers and weeds that are not well-known, and there is not a single precious flower and grass.
"Bah—" A strange cry made Ren Yaoqi turn his head in surprise.
I saw a round table and a round bench made of very rough stone on the right side of the back garden, and a little goat was grazing beside the round bench.
And on the stone stool, facing them, sat a boy in white.
The young man looked down at the goat grazing, his face seemed to be very focused, the soft sunlight of the spring hit half of his side face, and the perfect facial contour was so beautiful that people couldn't bear to startle him and ruin his moment. Rest in peace.
Hearing the movement here, he turned his head and looked over, and seeing that it was Ren Yaoqi and Xiao Jinglin, he was not surprised, only seeing them smiling slightly, the sudden smile made Ren Yaoqi's heart skip a beat.
Xiao Jinglin let go of Ren Yaoqi's hand and went to the boy's side. Seeing that the little goat lightly pressed its head against the stone bench beside it, it seemed to be wrestling. Xiao Jinglin bent down and grabbed the goat's horn in her hand. Pulled it out and pulled it away.
"Bah—" The goat ran to the side, turned his head and screamed.
"This is for you to eat, don't feed it too much." Xiao Jinglin clapped her hands and sat down with her robe up, but unfortunately she was wearing a skirt, so this action could not be completed.
Ren Yaoqi looked at Xiao Jinglin's words and deeds, which seemed to be somewhat different from the previous ones. She walked over and bowed to the boy who was looking at her, "Second son Xiao."
Xiao Jingxi nodded with a smile, and pointed at the stool opposite him with a gentle expression: "Miss Ren, please take a seat."
Ren Yaoqi bowed his head in thanks and sat down.
At this time, a boy dressed as a servant brought a tea tray over, put the tea in front of him without saying a word, and then quietly withdrew.
Xiao Jingxi's right thumb gently rubbed the tea cup in his hand, with a small smile hanging from the corner of his mouth, quietly looking at Ren Yaoqi.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Ren Yaoqi didn't speak, and he didn't seem to notice his gaze, he just lowered his head and took a sip of tea, in fact, it was just a little bit of lips.
The tea cup in his hand is made of black glaze and white peony pattern, which looks very elegant, but Ren Yaoqi knows that most of these tea sets are ancient relics from the previous dynasty, and they are worth thousands of dollars. The courtyard looks simple and unadorned, and the two in front of them are also dressed in simple and relaxed manners, but a set of tea cups for entertaining guests is expensive and luxurious.
Seemingly unable to bear the silent atmosphere here, Xiao Jinglin patted the skirt and stood up. She frowned and looked at Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi, and said softly, "I'll go to the front yard. go."
Xiao Jingxi turned to look at her, but did not make a sound to stop it.
Xiao Jinglin took a few steps and then suddenly stopped. She turned to look at the apple, which was stuck behind Ren Yaoqi like a wooden stake: "You also come with me."
Apple glanced at her, then lowered her head to look at her toes, but didn't move.
Xiao Jinglin frowned and looked at Ren Yaoqi again.
"Go down." Ren Yaoqi ordered.
Apple then lowered his head and followed Xiao Jinglin away.
For a while, only Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi were left in the backyard, and there was not even a single person to serve. This was originally out of place, but no one would stand up and say it was wrong.
"I've always been curious..." Xiao Jingxi was the first to break the silence, his voice was low and hoarse, and his special rhythm could easily attract the attention of others.
Ren Yaoqi put down the tea cup and met his gaze. The bright and pure eyes are calm and clear, like a shallow stream that is bottomless under the bright spring light.
Xiao Jingxi paused, and the smile on the corner of his mouth was a little deeper: "Miss Ren is good at walking lanterns, playing chess, guessing puzzles... what else?"
Xiao Jingxi said that the light array reminded Ren Yaoqi of the carriage and the man in black whose face he could not see clearly on the night of the Lantern Festival.
She couldn't help but look at Xiao Jingxi carefully. The two were about the same height. The man was wearing a lot of clothes, so he didn't look as thin as Xiao Jingxi, but if Xiao Jingxi wore a thick cloak...the two looked a bit similar and not like him.
However, Ren Yaoqi didn't ask "Have we met before?" It was originally a chance encounter and just passed by, not a friendship.
"Is Zhu Ruomei okay?" So Ren Yaoqi asked directly.
Xiao Jingxi looked at Ren Yaoqi and smiled, but said nothing.
Ren Yaoqi thought for a while, and said again: "I can write and draw, both taught by my father."
Xiao Jingxi chuckled softly and said in a low voice, "He's fine, but he was injured a little bit, and his right tibia was broken."
Is this still good? Ren Yaoqi was speechless. However, when she finally got the exact news of Zhu Ruomei, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Many thanks to Second Young Master Xiao for saving him." Ren Yaoqi sincerely thanked him.
Xiao Jingxi was noncommittal, but asked, "Why did you send him to Jizhou?"
Ren Yaoqi was speechless when he heard the words.
Xiao Jingxi looked at Ren Yaoqi with smiling eyes, waiting patiently without rushing.
"Sorry, this is my housework." Ren Yaoqi lowered his head and said.
Xiao Jingxi thought for a while, and said in a deep voice: "Well, let's play chess. If you win, I won't ask, Zhu Ruomei will go with you. If you lose, tell me the reason and Zhu Ruomei will be me in the future. People, life and death have nothing to do with you."
His voice was still unhurried, gentle and leisurely. What he said made Ren Yaoqi stunned.
However, although the curvature of Xiao Jingxi's mouth was elegant and perfect, those words were not like a joke.
Ren Yaoqi was slightly angry, and the smile on his face became more gentle by three points: "Second son Xiao, it's hard for you to be a strong man like this, right?"
Xiao Jing smiled and asked kindly: "Where is the hardship for strongmen? Zhu Ruomei was rescued by me, otherwise he would have fallen off the cliff and would be dead. As for the housework you mentioned..."
Xiao Jingxi glanced at Ren Yaoqi with a half-smile but not a smile.
Ren Yaoqi was speechless again.
Since she opened her eyes again, she hadn't eaten at Shang Who. But this person is Xiao Jingxi.
Others describe him as always stunning and intelligent. But now Ren Yaoqi thinks that this person must be the essence of a thousand-year-old fox.
Ren Yaoqi bit his lip secretly, Xiao Jingxi seemed to know that Ren Yaoqi had agreed, and said with a smile, "Bring my chess."
His voice was not loud, but the servant who brought the tea earlier heard it. After a while, he came out with a chessboard. Walking behind him was a man of medium stature who was dressed similarly to him. Ren Yaoqi raised his head and glanced at him and couldn't help but be slightly stunned.
With two chess pots in his hands, Dongsheng walked behind the boy.
Dong Sheng and the servant both gently placed the things in their hands on the stone table without squinting, and then quietly retreated. It's just that Dongsheng couldn't help raising his eyes before he left, and glanced at Ren Yaoqi.
Xiao Jingxi noticed Ren Yaoqi's gaze, and said with some playfulness, "My servant Tongxi also has some relationship with Fifth Miss Ren."
Happy? He also changed Dongsheng's name
Ren Yaoqi took a few white chess pieces and looked at them for a while, and found that it was exactly the same as the pair of toad stones "Snow Seals" she had seen from Master Abbot before.
"That's really an honor for a little girl." Ren Yaoqi replied calmly.
Xiao Jingxi didn't think it was a pestle, and smiled slightly: "How about letting you be in the dark?" It was with the connivance of coaxing children.
Ren Yaoqi smiled back at him: "No, guess what."
She didn't dare to take advantage of him, and Zhu Ruomei was a lesson from the past.
Xiao Jingxi didn't care, he smiled and signaled the start of Ren Yaoqi.
Ren Yaoqi grabbed a few more white seeds and glanced at Xiao Jingxi.
"Shuang." He slowly lowered his head and took a sip of tea, without even looking at the authentic.
Ren Yaoqi opened his hands and counted: "It's an odd number." She held black.
Mr. Pei is a chess idiot. In the last life, Ren Yaoqi accompanied Mr. Pei in countless games. He also studied some endgames recorded in the isolated book with him. The chess skills were honed overnight.
So Han Yunqian is not her opponent either.
However, after only a few moves, Ren Yaoqi felt that Xiao Jingxi was different from any opponent she had ever encountered before.
Every time he made a move, Ren felt a kind of power, not aggressive, but it was impossible to avoid.