Bai Zheng lowered her head and looked at him from a superior position, her eyes devoid of any emotion. She said coldly, "Slander? Your Highness may go back and investigate thoroughly why you caught an illness before setting off to deal with the plague that was supposed to be your task, simply because you met Young Master Chu. As a result, His Highness the Third Prince, who seized the opportunity, gained great fame!"
After saying that, she turned around, walked back to Feng Jingye, and bowed. "I'll trouble Your Highness with the matter of annulling the engagement. This humble girl takes her leave."
Without waiting for Feng Jingye, who was stunned by her words, to nod, Bai Zheng got up and stepped out of the room.
Outside the room, a servant in green clothes was standing respectfully on guard.
As soon as the servant saw Bai Zheng coming out, he stepped forward and whispered, "Miss Bai, the steward asked me to convey a message. Our boss still has some matters to attend to, so he said that he hopes to have a chat with Miss Bai another time if fate allows."
Bai Zheng nodded. She wasn't surprised by this result. "Thank you, young man."
By this time, many people had left Jizhen Tower. Bai Zheng strolled to the second floor and found Bai Yinan standing at the staircase waiting for her.
Seeing her coming down, Bai Yinan glared at her. "You girl!"
Bai Zheng quickly stepped forward, hugged Bai Yinan's arm, and flattered him. "It's Zheng'er's fault. I made Father worried. Father, please don't be angry."
"Did you just come from His Highness the Crown Prince?" Bai Yinan sized her up and asked.
"Yes. With so much silver in my hands, I was afraid that any delay might lead to trouble. So I decided to offer it to His Highness immediately," Bai Zheng said with a smile.
Bai Yinan nodded. "Today's papermaking technique has probably caught the attention of all the noble families in the Great Zhou Dynasty. The two hundred thousand taels of silver would only be a hot potato in our hands. It's good to hand it over."
Most of the people on the first and second floors had left. Seeing some movement on the third floor, Bai Zheng quickly said to Bai Yinan, "Let's go quickly, Father. I'm starving."
She was afraid that if they ran into someone from the General's Mansion or the Minister's Mansion and her kind - hearted father found out what had happened just now, she would surely have a hard time tonight.
There were still many things to do next. It would be better to have a good rest tonight and avoid causing any more trouble.
Urged by Bai Zheng, Bai Yinan got into the returning carriage with her and headed back to the Bai Mansion.
It wasn't until the last carriage left the entrance that Jizhen Tower, which had been bustling for half the night, returned to its usual tranquility. The lights on both sides were extinguished, and only the full moon of the fifteenth day illuminated the cold ground. It made people can't help but feel a sense of desolation after the hustle and bustle.
At this moment, the most desolate one was Song Yiqing, who was leaning against the window in a red robe, knocking his forehead against the window frame one by one.
Feng Linyuan was sitting leisurely by the brazier, shelling chestnuts. The crisp sound of the shells cracking made Liufeng impatient, and it circled around his feet.
"Why didn't you accept the twenty thousand taels? If you didn't want it, you could have given it to me. You shouldn't have let that girl take advantage of it!" Song Yiqing suddenly turned around and complained discontentedly.
Feng Linyuan smiled slightly, picked up a chestnut, and threw it over. "Do you think she can extort the remaining twenty thousand taels from anyone else?"
"You!" Song Yiqing was momentarily speechless with anger. "What kind of troublemaker have you saved!"
"My lord." Suddenly, a figure of a black - clothed man appeared in the room. He knelt on the ground, holding a gold ingot in his hands. "This was sent by Miss Bai through someone."
Looking at the gold ingot, Song Yiqing felt his heart twitch slightly.
"Buy a cake? Three thousand taels? Linyuan, you've really saved a golden miss!"
"I'd like to see how she can come up with three thousand taels of silver. This is three thousand taels!"
His joking words from before still echoed in his ears, but he didn't know why the onlooker of yesterday had become the one being made a fool of today.
Feng Linyuan picked up the gold ingot and said cheerfully, "This Miss Bai is really a woman of her word."
"Linyuan," Song Yiqing looked up, looking longingly at the gold ingot. "Why don't you give this three thousand taels back to me? Anyway, you know where this money came from. Considering our relationship..."
"Our relationship is one thing, and this is another." Feng Linyuan coughed lightly and looked down at the white wolf. "Liufeng, you agree, don't you?"
Liufeng swallowed the chestnut in its mouth, raised its head, and bared its teeth at Song Yiqing.
Song Yiqing picked up the chestnut just now and threw it at Liufeng. "You ungrateful wolf! I've been feeding you rabbit meat for nothing!"
Liufeng's big, chubby head was hit hard. It whimpered in pain and nestled aggrievedly behind Feng Linyuan, only showing half of its head.
Song Yiqing bared his teeth at Liufeng's big head that was sticking out. Then, as if he remembered something, he said bitterly, "That girl offended Feng Jingxuan today. Feng Jingxuan will surely not let her go."
Feng Linyuan comfortingly rubbed Liufeng's head but didn't say a word.
The black - clothed man beside him interrupted, "The secret guards that my lord sent to protect Miss Bai have been placed around the Bai Mansion."
"Feng Linyuan!" Song Yiqing stamped his foot angrily.
Feng Linyuan gave him a cold look. "I'm doing this so that your two hundred thousand taels won't be wasted in vain. If something happens to her, who will you learn the papermaking technique from?"
What he didn't say was that with just a few words, this girl had sown discord between Feng Jingye and Feng Jingxuan and helped Feng Jingye gain great popularity. Feng Jingxuan probably didn't have the energy to pick on her for the time being.
"The production method has already been written on the paper and given to me," Song Yiqing said defiantly.
"The recipe she gave may not be the best." Feng Linyuan curled his lips. "Look at the words in those books. Every page is exactly the same. Obviously, she didn't copy them by hand."
Hearing this, Song Yiqing quickly opened the books he had bought at the auction and took a close look. The words in them were indeed exactly the same.
The black - clothed man said, "Miss Bai first carved the words on a wooden board, brushed it with ink, and then printed them on the books."
Song Yiqing took a deep breath. This girl really had one trick after another!
Feng Linyuan said with a smile, "This girl is very shrewd. I'm afraid that carving words on the wooden board is also a way to deceive the public. She may not have revealed the better method yet."
Looking at the books in his hands, Song Yiqing couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Feng Linyuan's gaze, however, passed over Song Yiqing and looked out of the window, which was shrouded in darkness.
On this seemingly calm night, how many undercurrents were surging, and how many people would lie awake all night?
For the next three days, Bai Zheng leisurely stayed in the Bai Mansion. She either ate or slept every day and also rummaged through all the books in Bai Yinan's study. Her life was quite enjoyable.
The only fly in the ointment was the food here.
People in this era's research on food was still at a very elementary stage. The cooking methods were only boiling and steaming, and the seasoning was just a little salt. It wasn't hard to swallow, but it was also rather tasteless.
Just when Bai Zheng was racking her brains about cooking, Emperor Feng Linche issued an imperial edict that shocked the entire court of the Great Zhou Dynasty.