Even though she was a bit scared inside, she didn't show it at all on the surface. She pretended to twitch the corner of her mouth, tilted her head slightly, with a dull and cold look in her eyes, and imitated his tone to reply, "Gu Yuanqing, who do you think you are? Do you think you're qualified to control my life?"
Gu Yuanqing was about to say something when the guests outside started to come in one after another. So he withdrew the coldness in his eyes and gave Cheng Xiran a gentle smile. "You're Zhiyue's elder sister. From now on, you'll be like my elder sister too. Everything I said today is for your own good. But if you don't listen, you'll surely be in big trouble. You'll have your hands full."
After dropping these words, he mingled with the crowd. Cheng Xiran couldn't stand his disgusting look. Afraid that it would ruin her appetite, she went to the backyard. All the way there, she felt a chill on her back. She didn't want to think too much, but Gu Yuanqing's words kept ringing in her ears, forcing her to face the reality.
"Maybe I should talk to Helian Duo about this?"
But this thought was quickly dismissed by herself. She loathed that she had started to be scared by someone else's words. If Gu Yuanqing was just trying to scare her, wouldn't she have fallen for his trick?
Moreover, Helian Duo had told her that he would be busy these days and had asked her to keep a close eye on the newspaper office. How dare she bother him? Xue Lian was completely unreliable. It seemed that this time she really had to handle things on her own.
She thought she could calmly deal with whatever might happen next, but what happened at the newspaper office the next day left her stunned.
Not only on West Street, but also in all the alleys and streets of the capital, there were people spreading all kinds of bad remarks in the name of "Capital Anecdotes". Before, the problem was only in the area of West Street, and it was still under their control. They could manage the situation. But now, it involved all kinds of workshops and even beggars. This had suddenly increased the difficulty for them. For a moment, they didn't know where to start the investigation.
The population flow was too large, and it was really hard to find the core of the problem.
Cheng Xiran worried in the newspaper office for the whole morning but couldn't come up with any solution. She watched as more and more people gathered outside. The shopkeeper was so anxious that he paced back and forth in the hall. He was in a daze and wanted to remind the frowning Cheng Xiran several times, but seeing her ugly face, he had to give up.
After about another quarter of an hour, the shopkeeper couldn't sit still anymore and finally spoke up. "Miss, why don't we go and ask the prince for help? Or Master Xue. How can you, a young lady, solve such a problem on your own?"
Seeing that Cheng Xiran didn't say a word, he continued, "If we let those people behind this keep causing trouble, this matter might even reach the palace. Although what they're saying now is just on the surface, I'm afraid they'll expose all kinds of secrets next. That's the most terrifying thing... If the emperor blames us in the end, our whole newspaper office will surely be finished!"
Cheng Xiran looked at him. At that moment, he seemed like a sparrow to her, chirping non - stop in front of her and preventing her from thinking. She immediately shouted, "Stop!"
The shopkeeper obediently shut up, and the atmosphere in the newspaper office dropped to freezing point.
"Don't panic first. You find someone unfamiliar to secretly send a message to the prince's mansion. Make sure no one notices... " Cheng Xiran bit her lower lip tightly. After a moment, she continued, "In addition, close the newspaper office first. I'll disguise myself and mingle with those people to find out what's going on."