Even after returning to her own courtyard, Liu's pleading cries still lingered in her ears, refusing to fade away for a long time.
"This is the perfect time to seize the opportunity."
Cheng Xiran took the teacup from Zhuque and suddenly said this.
Zhuque couldn't help but look confused. "What is Miss talking about?"
"Never mind. By the way, do you know what happened next?"
She asked playfully. Then she saw Zhuque sigh regretfully. "Yes, everyone in the capital has heard about Young Master Gu being beaten. Everyone feels sorry for him. He unexpectedly got involved with a good - for - nothing like Qian Youliang."
Cheng Xiran suddenly felt bored. After taking a couple of sips of tea, she couldn't sit still any longer. She simply went into the room to sleep. After all, there would be a big show tonight. She might as well recharge her energy first.
She slept until half an hour before dinner.
Seeing the bright moon outside the window and having slept soundly, her mood improved. To her surprise, Liu didn't show up for dinner. After inquiring, she learned that Liu had been punished to kneel in the ancestral hall...
It seemed that her father was really angry this time.
The old lady didn't even try to plead for her. Instead, she listed all of Liu's misdeeds. "At first, she wanted that boy Qian Youliang to be with Xiran. I told her that the boy was no good, but she just wouldn't listen. Now that it's about the second girl, she suddenly starts to feel sorry and even made a big fuss about it. Where in the world is there such a heartless mother?"
Prime Minister Cheng kept silent and just nodded perfunctorily.
The old lady didn't care about his impatience. She continued, "In my opinion, why don't you visit the Qian Mansion in person tomorrow and lower your status to clear things up."
"Since she started this mess, let her handle it herself!"
The angrier Prime Minister Cheng thought about it, the less he wanted to eat. He threw down his chopsticks and got up to leave.
The old lady sighed. Cheng Xiran felt sorry for her grandmother. She moved closer to her and gently patted her on the back, consoling her softly, "It's okay, Grandmother. This matter will surely be resolved properly. I'll think of a way later."
"You've really suffered, child. No matter what, we can't let your younger sister marry into the Qian family..."
It took the old lady a while to calm down. Only then did Cheng Xiran learn from her that she had sent several silver notes to the Gu family so that Gu Yuanqing could recuperate well.
Cheng Xiran was also thinking about how to deal with this matter. But after wracking her brains, she could only come up with one solution. That was to find someone more powerful than Lord Qian, someone with great persuasive power, someone whom even Qian Youliang would have to obey. Apart from the current emperor, that person could only be Helian Duo.
Obviously, if she could think of it, the old lady must have thought of it too.
"Xiran, although Liu was wrong from the start, this concerns your younger sister's lifelong happiness. It's no joke. If she marries into the Qian family, her life will surely be full of hardships. Although the mother - daughter pair often pick on you, after all, we're all family. Don't you think so?"
The old lady said meaningfully. What she meant was for Cheng Xiran to ask Helian Duo to intervene as a middleman. After all, it would only take one word from this powerful figure to solve the problem.
This was her own grandmother. How could she just stand by and do nothing? Since the old lady had put aside her dignity to ask, if things really got out of control, she really had no choice but to ask Helian Duo for help.
After finally calming the old lady's emotions, Cheng Xiran returned to her own courtyard. After changing into men's clothes with Mu Li, she put on the same makeup as the day she went to Huayan Pavilion with Xue Lian.
Mu Li was stunned when she saw it. "Miss's makeup skills are comparable to the prince's."
What did that mean?
Just as Cheng Xiran was about to ask, there was a commotion outside.
"What's going on? What happened again?"
She muttered to herself. Then she saw Zhuque running back from the outer courtyard, out of breath. "No one knows what the prime minister and Liu talked about in the ancestral hall. Anyway, the prime minister has started to beat her."
Cheng Xiran paid no attention. "Oh, that's good. He should have taught Liu a lesson earlier."
She was indifferent, but Zhuque's next words really shocked her. "No. No one knows what madness Liu has gone into. She grabbed a long sword from the ancestral hall and started waving it around. I heard that she has already injured several servants. But the prime minister doesn't dare to go forward to subdue her. So now they're in a stand - off."
But after a moment, she suddenly understood. A sneaky person like Liu wouldn't go crazy just because of such a small thing. It clearly didn't make sense.
"Seeing that things weren't going her way, she had to pretend to be crazy to divert attention. Liu's trick is quite good."
Cheng Xiran concealed the surprise in her eyes. After getting up, she fetched a brocade cloak and wrapped herself up tightly.
"I may come back late. You all stay on guard at all times."
Just as she was about to go out, she accidentally caught sight of a dark figure on the eaves of the front courtyard in the thick night.