After arriving at the newspaper office, Cheng Xiran distributed all the lanterns in the basket. As she passed by several children on the way, there were no lanterns left in the basket in the end. Moreover, she didn't even prepare one for Helian Duo.
Really.
How could the majestic Prince Regent care about such a small thing? Besides, it was the Lantern Festival today. Presumably there would be many girls going to send lanterns to the Prince Regent's Mansion. The front of the mansion would probably be swarming with people. How could it be her turn?
Thinking of this, Cheng Xiran suddenly sighed for no reason. After struggling for a while, she burst out laughing and mocked herself, "Cheng Xiran, you're really crazy, always thinking about all sorts of nonsense all day long."
She busied herself with things, from major matters to trivial ones, from complex to mundane. She handled everything properly one by one. The shopkeeper thought she was like a person full of energy today, so he joked, "It seems that Miss is going to take a good rest and have a good time in the next two days."
"Yeah." She replied casually. She sat alone in front of the window in a daze for a while. When she saw that the time was about right, she prepared to return to the mansion.
On the way back, she saw countless couples showing their affection for each other. She felt that the air was filled with the sour smell of love, so she had to quicken her pace and finally even started running.
After returning to the mansion, she went straight to her grandmother's courtyard. After chatting casually with her for a few words, a servant came to inform them that it was time for lunch.
The atmosphere was as tense and solemn as usual. Even with a guest like Chu Liyin there, Mrs. Liu and Minister Cheng didn't act nice to her anymore. Instead, Cheng Xiran felt quite relieved. She just focused on eating heartily and occasionally picked up some dishes for her grandmother and Chu Liyin.
Cheng Zhiyue was still absent. From their conversation, it could be inferred that she was probably with Gu Yuanqing again.
When the meal was almost over, Cheng Xiran finally took the initiative to speak, "Grandmother, I'm going to go to the Lantern Festival with Liyin tonight, so I won't come back for dinner."
The old lady nodded with a smile and gave her permission, "Okay, enjoy yourselves to the fullest, but also pay attention to your safety. After all, there will be a lot of people coming and going."
However, Minister Cheng frowned, "Just the two of you?"
Chu Liyin was so frightened by his cold expression that she didn't dare to continue eating. Then she looked at Cheng Xiran with some concern. But Cheng Xiran remained calm and said, "Mr. Xue will also be with us. Father, don't worry. We'll take good care of ourselves and won't cause any trouble."
"Just ask yourself. Haven't you caused enough trouble in the past two days?"
Cheng Xiran was already used to her father's accusations. Seeing Mrs. Liu looking like she was enjoying the show, she couldn't help laughing, "Father is so busy with affairs in the court all day long, yet he still has the time to take care of me. I'm really flattered."
Hearing this, Mrs. Liu quickly comforted Minister Cheng, "My lord, Xiran has always been like this. Besides, she's still young, so it's common for her to cause trouble. Don't argue with her."
It was such a nice day and she was in such a good mood, but these two people had completely spoiled it.
Chu Liyin was directly stunned on the spot. She had always thought that the Cheng Mansion was a harmonious family. But today's experience had completely changed her view. It turned out that Cheng Xiran, who was always full of energy, intelligent, and straightforward, also had her own difficulties.
Every time her father would pick on her, but then do nothing about it. It was as if he was taking out his frustration on her because of his work. This really annoyed Cheng Xiran. But considering that Chu Liyin was still there, she didn't want to say too much to these people and was afraid of scaring Chu Liyin. So she stood up and said, "With mother here, I'm sure that even if father has a lot of setbacks in the court, he can feel at ease when he comes back, right?"