The two of them started bickering again. Cheng Xiran didn't step forward to persuade them. Anyway, that's how relationships developed.
Helian Duo seemed to have something on his mind. She wanted to ask but felt it inappropriate. Not long after, she followed Chu Liyin back to the latter's bedroom. Chu Liyin dragged her to tell her about her recent progress with Xue Lianyu.
Chu Liyin described it vividly. Every time she told something, her elder sister would analyze it. After all the analysis, the final conclusion was that Chu Liyin and Xue Lianyu were on the verge of getting married.
She had a sleepless night. It wasn't just because Chu Liyin slept restlessly and kept turning over. The main reason was Helian Duo. Her intuition told her that he was hiding something, but what exactly was it?
She kept thinking and finally fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up again, it was already the next morning.
Chu Liyin was already putting on makeup in front of the mirror. It was a budding red plum.
"The ladies in the capital are all wearing this makeup recently. Sister, do you want to try one?"
Seeing Cheng Xiran shaking her head slightly, Chu Liyin pouted and changed the subject. "Sister, why did you wake up later than me?"
"You're so restless when you sleep and you always grab the quilt. I'm lucky I didn't catch a cold from the cold."
Cheng Xiran said while looking at her with a mix of amusement and helplessness.
After the two of them washed up, they came to the front hall. All kinds of breakfast were already on the table. Xue Lianyu had prepared them specially for the two of them.
"Let's go out of the city to play after breakfast. The weather is nice today, very pleasant..."
Xue Lianyu suggested, but was quickly rejected by Helian Duo.
"You guys go. I still have official business to attend to. I don't have time to go out."
"I won't go either..." A flash of disappointment crossed Cheng Xiran's eyes. After taking a bite of the rice cake, she continued, "I've been neglecting writing these days, and the sales are not very good. I have to go back and change my thinking."
As soon as money was mentioned, Xue Lianyu immediately agreed. Even though he noticed something strange between Helian Duo and Cheng Xiran, he still nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right. Making money is the kingly way!"
Chu Liyin gave him a disdainful look and thought to herself how she could have fallen in love with such a stinky man.
Helian Duo took her to the east street intersection but didn't go to the newspaper office with her.
His figure was still so prominent in the bustling crowd. Even though she always had him in her eyes, until his figure disappeared into the autumn scenery, Cheng Xiran didn't wait for him to look back even once.
Was her love a bit too humble?
She kept thinking about this question on the way back to the newspaper office, so she didn't notice the people pointing at her.
The shopkeeper was waiting at the door from afar, pacing back and forth. Apparently, there was something urgent.
"Shopkeeper, what's going on?"
When Cheng Xiran got closer, she noticed that the shopkeeper's face looked very bad.
After following him into the hall, she saw him take out several different newspapers from the desk and hand them to her. "It's just a new newspaper office that has emerged in the market in recent days. I thought they were just small vendors, so I didn't take them seriously. But I realized today that I was wrong!"
The big words on the newspaper, "There may be a hidden story behind the betrothal of the Regent and the eldest daughter of the Cheng family. In fact, his true love is not the female spy but the princess of Yulin Kingdom", made Cheng Xiran's scalp tingle.
The headlines of the other newspapers had similar meanings, but when you looked closely at the content below, they were different. It was nothing more than a story about how Hua Bairu, the princess of Yulin Kingdom, and Helian Duo got to know each other. Although their feelings were not mentioned, the plain words now looked extremely eye - catching.
Cheng Xiran casually threw the newspapers aside and sat down to pour herself a cup of tea.
The shopkeeper didn't notice the unhappiness on Cheng Xiran's face and began to say in detail, "Early this morning, these small vendors suddenly started selling newspapers, using the secret news of the Regent as a headline. The number of newspapers they sold is almost catching up with ours. If we let them continue like this, our newspaper office may lose its prestige."
What's the use of prestige? What's the use of money?
Cheng Xiran sighed softly. After a moment, she slowly replied, "Let them be. How long can they keep this up? I don't believe that they can make up many more stories just to become popular with this opportunity."
The shopkeeper said bluntly, "I heard that it was the princess Hua Bairu who said this herself, and some people said that she is already in a certain place in the capital."
At this time, Cheng Xiran's face was very gloomy, and the corners of her mouth drooped.
She drank the warm tea in the teacup in one gulp and said coldly, "Let them do as they please. When that person can't stand it anymore, he will naturally take action. Isn't he always the most capable? Let him handle it..."
Only then did the shopkeeper realize his mistake, but it was too late to take back his words, and Cheng Xiran believed them completely.
At the same time, he also understood who the "he" in her words referred to.
Just as he was thinking about how to remedy the situation, he heard Cheng Xiran say firmly, "Send someone to the prince's mansion and tell them that because of this incident, the sales of our newspaper have dropped sharply. I'm so stupid that I can't come up with a good solution. Ask that person to give us some advice."
After saying this, she got up and went to the second floor. Following Helian Duo's example, she didn't look back and was as cold as ever.
The shopkeeper was so anxious that he rubbed his hands, but since it was Cheng Xiran's order, he had to follow it and sent someone to deliver the message.
About half an hour passed, and Cheng Xiran couldn't write a single word. However, she had scribbled several strokes on the rice paper with a vermilion brush. Some were heavy and some were light, but most were heavy, which showed her state of mind.
The shopkeeper hesitated for a while before opening his mouth. "Miss, the prince is not in the mansion now, and neither is Guard Zuo. I waited for a while but didn't see anyone, so I left a message with the guards and asked them to pass it on."
Cheng Xiran snorted. "Of course. He has his beauty to accompany him. Naturally, he has no time to care about us little people."
The shopkeeper regretted it very much. He regretted not observing the situation at the beginning, which led to such a mess.
"Who do you think the Regent really likes?"
Suddenly, a voice came through all kinds of noises and reached her ears.
Looking closely through a corner of the window, she found that it came from two old ladies doing mending work outside the newspaper office.
Even though it was noisy downstairs, because of their high - pitched voices, they could hear clearly upstairs.
The shopkeeper wanted to close the window in advance, but was stopped by Cheng Xiran. "I want to listen."
The shopkeeper withdrew his hand.
"Who knows? We never saw him involved in so many scandals with girls before. But recently, one after another, it's really a surprise. But after all, the prince is the prince. With his status, power, wealth, and influence, he can marry as many wives as he wants. There's nothing wrong with that."