At a critical moment, Cheng Xiran was suddenly pulled into Helian Duo's arms. She was enveloped in a strong scent of sandalwood. Different from the feeling when Mu Li had carried her flying before, she no longer felt weightless. Instead, she felt a sense of solidity.
The wind whistled past her ears, and her heart began to race. However, it wasn't because of the potential danger she might have faced.
It was entirely because of Helian Duo.
Her face flushed red. After Helian Duo stopped, noticing the inquisitive gaze from above, she buried her head deeper to prevent him from seeing her like this. But she forgot a very important thing - this action was enough to make Helian Duo have all sorts of thoughts.
After the blush on her face faded, she quickly broke free from Helian Duo's embrace and then trotted all the way back to the prince's mansion.
Once she arrived at the mansion, she went straight to the steward and explained her purpose. The steward took out a money - bag full of silver from his waist and smilingly handed it to Cheng Xiran.
She weighed it in her hand and was surprised, "Even if an extra hundred taels were added, it's still much more. There must be at least fifty taels more. Are you sure this is for me?"
The steward nodded without hesitation, "The prince personally gave the order. I wouldn't dare to deceive you. Maybe the prince thought the young lady had been working hard recently, so he gave you more."
Well, then she'd just take it. It would be stupid not to take advantage of such a good thing.
"Please thank the prince for me. I'll go back first."
She left in a hurry, afraid that Helian Duo with his long legs would catch up with her.
Thankfully, she didn't meet Helian Duo on her way back. So, she went to the Drunken Immortal Restaurant, ordered a roast duck and some marinated dishes, and then returned to the mansion. Since she'd received her salary, it was natural to celebrate.
When she got back, it was just time for lunch. Chu Liyin had also returned and was accompanying the old lady out from the back yard.
Not seeing Mrs. Liu and Cheng Zhiyue, she casually asked, "Grandmother, are there only the three of us for lunch today?"
The old lady nodded slightly and said in a flat tone, "The mother - daughter pair went to the Gu mansion. They probably won't be back until evening."
She was overjoyed for a moment and asked the maidservant to put the dishes she'd bought on the table.
Seeing her like this, the old lady couldn't help but be curious, "Xiran, why are you so happy today?"
Cheng Xiran served some dishes to them both. A smile involuntarily spread across her face, "It's nothing. I just earned a little money with my own ability, so I thought I'd celebrate."
"That's really good news."
The old lady laughed cheerfully, and Chu Liyin also giggled along.
After the three of them finished lunch, Cheng Xiran and Chu Liyin accompanied the old lady and chatted for a while. After the old lady went for her afternoon nap, Cheng Xiran stuffed some silver into Zhuque's hand and asked her to go to the pawnshop to redeem those jewelry.
"The young lady usually gets the labor fee at the end of the month. Why is it so early this month?"
Although Zhuque was suspicious, there was still a hint of joy on her face when she took the silver.
Cheng Xiran was rummaging through the old clothes she was already tired of wearing and murmured in reply, "I'm not sure either. Maybe the prince suddenly had a conscience and gave it to me early, and also gave me more."
"The prince is really kind to the young lady. If the young lady in the past knew how good the prince was, she would have been overjoyed."
Actually, she wanted to say that she was also a bit overjoyed now...
She first laughed and then said insincerely, "It's only natural for him to be good to me. Who asked me to work so hard for him?"
Zhuque echoed a few words. After a while, as if thinking of something, she suddenly changed the topic, "By the way, young lady, recently I've noticed that the Liu mother - daughter pair have been acting very strangely. I heard from Nanny Jin that Miss Xiao Qi from the Xiao family came. Do you think they're plotting something bad?"
"Definitely. Otherwise, how could there be a Qian Youliang all of a sudden..." Cheng Xiran frowned slightly and continued, "Even though I'm quite well - known, I'm not in the same circle as those playboys. It's obvious that they're the ones pulling the strings."
"What's your plan, young lady?" Seeing her frowning, Zhuque also got nervous.
"Grandmother will go to the Qian mansion this afternoon. It should be okay, but we still need to make preparations in advance..."
Then, her gaze fell on a box of unremarkable rouge on the corner of the table.
But this wasn't the most urgent thing for now. Helian Duo was right. She didn't even have a proper set of clothes. So she added some more silver and gave it to Zhuque, asking her to go to the embroidery workshop to make a few fashionable dresses for her. The colors should be bright, but not too eye - catching. She was afraid that being too beautiful might cost her life.
"I remember that the young lady used to like plain colors the most. Now that you've become more cheerful, the colors you like have also changed."
Zhuque mentioned it casually, and Cheng Xiran just let out a couple of "heh heh" laughs.
To meet the requirements of her many fans, in the newspaper to be published tomorrow, she specially gave a perfect ending to the regent and the female spy: Actually, the regent and the female spy were just acting out a play to make the dark forces in the dark relax their guard so that they could be completely wiped out. Two years later, the regent let go of everything and returned to her hometown to find her. The two got married and lived a happy life for half a lifetime.
After finishing writing the manuscript, she went to the newspaper office again. Since she hadn't seen Gu Yuanqing for a few days, she asked about the situation of the newspaper office on West Street. As expected, although they'd been imitating, the common people had seen through them and no longer bought their newspapers. Their business was getting worse and worse. It was estimated that they would face bankruptcy after struggling for a few more days.
"Although there are many people around who want to open a newspaper office like ours, they don't have the young lady's talent. No one wants to read the stories they write. So, young lady, you can rest assured. Our newspaper office is definitely the number one in the capital."
The shopkeeper boasted without shame, and Cheng Xiran just smiled without saying a word.
After chatting for a while, she wanted to go back home.
The shopkeeper had just sent her to the door when he suddenly called her back. Looking full of apology, he said, "Look at my forgetful head. I was chatting with you and forgot about an important thing. Young lady, don't leave yet. An hour ago, a servant claiming to be from the Qian mansion brought a brocade box and said it was from Young Master Qian for you."