Seeing that she was about to leave, Helian Duo quickly stepped forward and grabbed her, whispering, "Did you misunderstand something? She caught a chill yesterday. She just wanted me to accompany her to see a doctor."
"Why did you bring her to see a doctor right in front of me? It's really an eyesore." Cheng Xiran snorted, shook off Helian Duo's hand, and walked straight into the house, paying no heed to Helian Duo, who was standing behind with a dark face.
A few days passed. Since Cheng Xiran was in a very irritable mood, she only published one issue of her story and then couldn't write anymore. She stayed alone in the courtyard, bored.
Zhuque prepared the meal and sent it to the courtyard. Seeing Cheng Xiran lying asleep on the soft couch in the courtyard again, she quickly put down the meal and walked over to drape a quilt over her.
Although the movement was slight, it still woke Cheng Xiran up. She opened her eyes reluctantly, propped herself up weakly with both hands, and sat up. "Is there a problem with the newspaper office?"
Zhuque shook her head and handed her a cup of hot tea. "There has been nothing unusual recently. But just now when I passed by the front hall, I heard that the people from Liuzhou will arrive tomorrow. Miss, what shall we do?"
"What do you mean 'what shall we do'? Let them come if they want." Cheng Xiran replied casually.
Zhuque looked at Cheng Xiran with a hesitant expression and whispered, "Miss, have you forgotten that last year, because of the second miss, you had an argument with the cousin miss. With that cousin miss's character, she won't let it go so easily."
The cousin miss mentioned was Ren Ning'er, a distant relative of the Cheng Prime Minister's Mansion. Her family was in business and had only moved to Wujin Town outside the capital in recent years. With their great wealth, she had developed an arrogant and domineering personality.
Last year, when Ren Ning'er came to the Cheng Prime Minister's Mansion as a guest, for some unknown reason, she broke an agate lamp belonging to the old lady and even shifted the blame onto Cheng Xiran. Coupled with Cheng Zhiyue's testimony, this led to the old lady having a bad impression of her.
After that, Cheng Zhiyue went to apologize to Cheng Xiran and gave her a letter. The original owner believed Cheng Zhiyue's words and went to report it. Unexpectedly, that letter was the one about Ren Ning'er eloping with someone. When Mr. Ren saw his daughter making a fool of herself, he left in a hurry without even attending the birthday banquet.
Since that day, the Ren family had developed rapidly. Ren Ning'er was confined for half a year, and the lover she had been in love with left her. The feud was deeply rooted.
Cheng Xiran felt a headache just listening to this. Did the original owner have any brains at all? Cheng Zhiyue helped Ren Ning'er testify against her one moment, and then came to show her kindness the next. It was clearly a trap, but she still jumped into it blindly. It was really exasperating.
"You go and say later that I'm sick and can't receive guests. When Ren Ning'er comes these days, just turn her away. I'll come out after she leaves." Cheng Xiran ordered.
Zhuque showed a hesitant expression and shook her head. "I'm afraid it won't work. The master has already given the order that when the people from the Ren family come, we must go out to receive them. Even if we're sick, we still have to go."
This was a disaster. It was clearly pushing her into a corner. No wonder Cheng Zhiyue hadn't come to cause trouble for her these days. It turned out that she had found someone else to deal with her. She didn't get her own hands dirty. Whenever something happened, she could just shift the blame onto Ren Ning'er and keep herself clean.
"You find a smart maid to keep an eye on what's going on in Cheng Zhiyue's room in the side courtyard. Report to me immediately if there's any movement."
Zhuque took the order and withdrew. Cheng Xiran couldn't sit still in the courtyard either. The Ren family was wealthy and powerful. Even the Prime Minister Cheng had to show them some respect. Even if something happened, Prime Minister Cheng would make her swallow the bitter pill.不得不说程栀月这一步棋走的好。不得不说程栀月这步棋走得高明。Cheng Zhiyue really played a smart move.