Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 238: The Prince Consort's Friend
"Who is Xi Mei?" Ren Yuan had no choice but to ask again.

"She is the younger sister of Empress Xi and the emperor's sister-in-law." Xie Xi replied, "She is extremely beautiful and talented, and is known as the most beautiful woman in the south. It's a pity that you were born too late and didn't see her. But people of my age know her name, and many people even compare her to Xie Daoyun of our Xie family."

"Tell me what's going on, Daoyun." Ren Yuan nodded.

"It is said that the emperor has always liked her, but with Empress Xi around, he naturally did not dare to act rashly. After Empress Xi passed away, the emperor wanted to marry her as the new queen several times, but Xi Mei refused every time. This was known to everyone at the time."

"Although the Xi family is not as well-off as our Xie and Wang families, it is still higher than the Xiao family. Xi Mei doesn't even want to be the queen." Nowadays, the emperor's sacredness has long disappeared, especially these aristocratic families, who don't take the emperor seriously at all. Xie Xi said sarcastically without any hesitation.

Ren Yuan just listened but didn't say anything, because he was the emperor's lackey. At least on the surface, he couldn't pick up the bowl to eat and put down the chopsticks to curse.

"Later, I don't know how the word got out, saying that she rejected the emperor because she liked your father." Then Xie Xi continued.

"What?" Ren Yuan was stunned when he heard this: "Why does it sound so confusing?"

According to Xie Xi, he and 'Ren Bi' were classmates and good friends. They should be of similar age, both under 40.

The emperor was already over sixty years old, at least twenty years younger than Ren Bi. I don't know if the emperor was too old to date young girls, or if Xi Mei just liked to date young men.

"She is called the sister-in-law, but Xi Mei is more than 20 years older than the emperor, a whole generation apart..." Xie Xi explained quickly.

"So that's how it is." Ren Yuan suddenly realized and motioned for Prince Consort Xie to continue.

"The emperor also heard this rumor. Although he did not openly attack it, he still sent your grandfather to be the governor of Xin'an. So your father had to leave the capital with him." Xie Xi sneered and said:

"The emperor's plan was very clever, but it didn't work out - Xi Mei went to see your father off, but she disappeared in Dongshan on the way and has not been heard from since." Xie Xi sneered with a gloating look:
"In order to find her, the emperor dug deep inside and outside the capital, but still found nothing. It is said that after this incident, the emperor learned from his mistakes and asked General Chen to set up the Gou Chen Division."

"Really?" Ren Yuan didn't expect that the Gou Chen Division was established in this way.

"Master Tao was still alive at the time, and the emperor asked him to tell fortunes, and the result was that the person was still alive, but his whereabouts were unknown." Xie Xi said, looking at Ren Yuan, and said word by word: "It's exactly the same result this time!"

As he spoke, he raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice: "So it can be proved that the disappearance of Xi Mei was also done by these two brothers!"

"You can speculate this way, but it's too far-fetched to use it as a counter-evidence." Ren Yuan touched his nose and asked again: "When did this case happen?"

"Twenty years ago." Xie Xi replied.

"Hey, it's been so long..." Ren Yuan's interest immediately waned, thinking that this was even more unreliable than the princess's disappearance case. At least the latter was still fresh and hot.

But he asked calmly, "Where did you hear that, Prince Consort?"

"You can ask the other consort. He knows more clearly." Xie Xi said in a deep voice, "His surname is Yin, and he married the current eldest princess."

"Okay." Ren Yuan nodded. He was willing to try his luck. He then asked, "Please help me introduce you to someone, Prince Consort."

It's not easy to get into a rich family these days. Prince Consort Xie agreed to meet him because of his 'father'. It's impossible to be so lucky every time.

"No need." But Xie Xi said unexpectedly: "You just need to introduce yourself, and he will definitely meet you, and his attitude will definitely be better than mine." "Really?" Ren Yuan couldn't believe it.

"Of course, the prerequisite is that you have to admit that you are Ren Bi's son." Xie Xi nodded and replied.

"I see..." Ren Yuan also nodded to indicate that he had taken note of it.

~~
After saying goodbye to Prince Consort Xie, Ren Yuan and his senior sister left Mingyuexuan.

The two men wore straw hats, raincoats, and wooden clogs. They walked slowly in the rain and talked in low voices.

"A Yuan, is it really possible that your father's name is Ren Bi?" A Yao asked impatiently.

"I don't know." Ren Yuan shook his head and said, "I told you a long time ago that my memory before taking the Kaiqiao Pills has completely disappeared."

"Then don't you want to know your origins?" A Yao pushed up his hat to see Ren Yuan's expression clearly.

"I'm really not interested in my origins." He looked calm, without any disturbance in his eyes, and said, "But since Xie Xi said so, I still have to learn more about it. Otherwise, I won't even know who my enemy is, and I might get caught in the trap."

"Yes, that's the truth." A Yao nodded vigorously and said, "Maybe it's not a coincidence that you are in Xiejia Village."

"That's what I thought, too." Ren Yuan nodded and said, "When I was in Xiejia Village, I asked around, but no one knew my father's name. At the time, I thought I was kidnapped to Xiejia Village, and the name was just randomly given by them. But now it seems that there must be another hidden story..."

As they were talking, the two walked into a secluded alley.

The stone road was washed clean, and the ditches beside the road were full, with lavender neem petals floating on them, naturally mixed with weed debris.

A flower seller was squatting under the eaves at the end of the alley. In the basket in front of her, the freshly picked gardenias had turned yellow due to the rain.

The two continued walking in the alley and saw a small stall at the entrance. A skinny fortune teller sat under a tarp. The jute paper talismans written on the stall were also soaked with moisture. The four characters "Fuxi Divine Gua" on the signboard had turned into a dark, mournful face.

There was also a peddler carrying a peddler's pole, taking shelter from the rain under the fortune-telling stall, chatting with the fortune-teller...

When the two reached the middle of the alley, a family suddenly opened the gate.

Ren Yuan and his senior sister were startled out of nowhere. After they calmed down, they saw that it was a man carrying a bucket, who seemed to be preparing to pour the dirty water from his home into the canal.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew through the alley, ringing the copper bell on the peddler's shoulder pole. The crisp sound of the bell broke the silence in the alley.

Amid the sound of bells, the man carrying the bucket suddenly raised the bucket and poured the full bucket of black dog blood infused with magical powers at Ren Yuan and the other two!
The fortune teller also threw all the talisman papers on his stall at Ren Yuan. At the same time, the peddler drew his weapon from his pole, turned it into a streak of silk, and chopped at Ren Yuan's head.

Even the seemingly weak flower girl turned the flowers in the basket into countless flying needles, shooting towards Ren Yuan and A Yao!

(End of this chapter)