Just as they left the palace and headed to the newspaper office, from afar, Cheng Xiran saw quite a few people gathered at the entrance of the office. They seemed to be the servants from the Cheng Mansion. So she quickly told the coachman to stop halfway and urged Helian Duo, "Why don't you go back to the prince's mansion first? After all, the secret that you're the biggest shareholder of this newspaper office can't be revealed yet. I guess it's Cheng Zhiyue who's come here to cause trouble. It's nothing serious. I can handle it. You'd better not show up. It's not appropriate."
Helian Duo's eyes seemed a bit hurt. "What's inappropriate about me protecting my woman? Is it so hard for me to buy a newspaper office?"
He was such a smart man. Why couldn't he understand this matter?
Cheng Xiran was speechless but had to patiently explain to him, "I know you're very rich. You could buy ten newspaper offices with just a little of your money. But you can't have any financial connections with the newspaper office. If the empress dowager finds out, not only will the newspaper office not be able to operate, but it might also cause trouble for you."
What she said seemed reasonable.
Helian Duo hadn't expected that just for Cheng Xiran, he no longer seemed as decisive and ruthless as before.
"A Li, protect her well. I'll go back to the prince's mansion first. There are still some official documents to deal with."
After Cheng Xiran got off the carriage, she rushed straight to the newspaper office.
As she expected, the one causing trouble today was indeed Cheng Zhiyue, and the rough men behind her were really the servants from the Cheng Mansion.
She could bring out so many people at once. It seemed that Prime Minister Cheng must have given his permission.
Now one after another, they were all eyeing her newspaper office, and one after another, they were all so stupid.
"I'm telling you, I'm going to smash this newspaper office today!"
Cheng Zhiyue roared. Her shrill voice hurt Cheng Xiran's ears.
She coughed lightly, then pushed through the crowd and walked inside. After taking a look at the pretentious Cheng Zhiyue, she looked at Xue Lianyu, who was sitting in a corner calmly drinking tea. Among all the people present, only the shopkeeper was being very careful, afraid of causing any unhappiness.
"I own most of this newspaper office. If you dare to smash it, you're slapping the face of my Feiyu Mountain Villa..." Xue Lianyu didn't even look sideways and continued, "If you've made up your mind to do it, then go ahead. You'll have to bear the consequences yourself."
When she saw Cheng Xiran, Cheng Zhiyue ordered arrogantly, "You said yourself that most of it is yours, but there's also a small part that belongs to Cheng Xiran. Can I smash her part?"
It was simply unreasonable!
"Cheng Xiran, I have to say that only you and your grandmother in the Cheng Mansion live so clearly. Unlike this one in front of me who can't understand a word. If it weren't for you, I would have stepped in long ago. How could I let her make a ruckus here?"
"Did Father send you here?" Cheng Xiran stepped forward and asked.
Cheng Zhiyue ignored her and just ordered the people behind her, "Go and smash the second floor!"
The servants immediately rushed to act. Xue Lianyu slowly whistled. Suddenly, fifty or sixty people rushed out from the backyard, forming a strong contrast with Cheng Zhiyue's group.
The two sides confronted each other. Who was right and who was wrong?
Since Xue Lianyu was here, it had nothing to do with her. So Cheng Xiran picked up an apple at hand and took a bite. She found a clean place not far away to sit down and watched everything unfold with her own eyes.
The shopkeeper admired her calm way of dealing with things in the face of danger.
"I, Xue Lianyu, am putting it clearly today. If you dare to damage even a bit of this newspaper office, I'll return ten times the damage to your Cheng Mansion. If this matter gets to the emperor, we'll go to court and see who's in the right!"
Xue Lianyu spoke righteously. Cheng Xiran tilted her head slightly and looked at him. She always felt that he was especially handsome today.
If this appearance of his was seen by the little girl Chu Liyin, she would surely be extremely happy.
"You're still as passionate as ever..."
Prime Minister Cheng walked out from somewhere, as if he had been hiding in the dark for a long time.
Cheng Xiran got up slightly and saluted. Xue Lianyu just sat there motionless, with one leg crossed over the other. He didn't show any respect to the left prime minister at all.
"How did you see that I'm so passionate? I don't remember that we're old acquaintances."
Even Xue Lianyu's father would show some respect to Prime Minister Cheng. But now, Xue Lianyu was just like a newborn calf not afraid of tigers. He was even more unruly than his father when he was young.
Prime Minister Cheng was at a loss for words. After a moment, he said seriously with a straight face, "Your father and I are old friends. We've just been out of touch for the past few years."
"Oh, don't blame me for being talkative. I've never heard my father mention your name..."
Seeing that Xue Lianyu was getting more and more excited, Cheng Xiran was afraid that he would go too far, so she quickly coughed to interrupt his words.
Fortunately, this guy wasn't that stupid. He understood.
He stopped in time and changed the topic, asking, "I wonder if you've sent so many people here to cause trouble for me just to vent your little daughter's anger?"
Prime Minister Cheng avoided his gaze. "It's nothing. It's all a misunderstanding. I just found out the truth."
Just found out the truth... It meant that the news from the person in the palace had reached him, so he stopped?
It seemed that the speed of news dissemination in ancient times wasn't slow.
"A misunderstanding. This can't be cleared up with just the word'misunderstanding'..." Xue Lianyu pointed at a broken incense burner in the corner. With a pained look on his face, he said, "Look, this incense burner is a rare item I brought back from the border two years ago. Although it looks ordinary, its workmanship is extremely exquisite. It uses colored glaze, and there's a lot to say about this colored glaze..."
Prime Minister Cheng interrupted his words with a cold face. "How much is it? I'll pay for it. I'll send someone to give it to you later."
Xue Lianyu immediately got excited, his eyes shining. "I bought it for 500 taels of silver back then. Since it's been used for some years, let's count it as 400 taels. I know you're very wealthy, so I won't be polite to you."
He even got up and bowed to Prime Minister Cheng.
Cheng Xiran called this being money - crazy.
"In that case, then this matter ends here..." Prime Minister Cheng gave Cheng Xiran a meaningful look, then motioned for Cheng Zhiyue to leave with him.
After they left, the shopkeeper finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Xue Lianyu was overjoyed. "Hey, I'll treat everyone tonight. Let's go to the Drunken Immortal Restaurant and have a good meal!"
"I remember that you bought that incense burner from a street stall for just a few taels of silver a few days ago..." Cheng Xiran sighed and then said, "It's really a good thing that the Feiyu Mountain Villa will fall into your hands in the future. Just by faking things like this, you can earn a lot of silver. Maybe you'll become the richest man in the capital soon."