As soon as she stepped out of the door, she was stopped by Zuo Yan.
"Miss, are you going to settle the score with Cheng Zhiyue?"
"I'm going out for breakfast..." Cheng Xiran said speechlessly. After a pause, she continued, "Don't worry. No matter how much she stirs up trouble, I won't pay attention to her. Why bother with such a person? The more you do, the more energetic she'll be."
"Miss, tell me what you'd like to eat. I'll order the servants to prepare it. Just now I went to the palace to find the prince. After he learned about this, he told me to stop you from acting impulsively. For now, please stay in the prince's mansion in peace. Wait for the prince to come back and handle everything."
"You even bothered him about such a trivial matter. It's really unnecessary. Didn't I say that the innocent will prove their innocence?"
Cheng Xiran let out a long sigh.
But Xue Lianyu and Zuo Yan took this matter very seriously. After all, in ancient times, chastity and reputation were highly regarded, and Cheng Zhiyue herself was a living example of the opposite.
In the end, Zuo Yan and Xue Lianyu managed to persuade Cheng Xiran to go back.
Everyone sat in the front hall with worried looks on their faces, discussing countermeasures. Only Cheng Xiran was slurping the beef noodles just served by the maid.
"Maybe I should go and confess to them that I like Li Yin and that we've been in a relationship all along, and that Xiran and I are just good friends?"
Xue Lianyu was the first to speak up.
But Zuo Yan quickly refuted him: "Young Master Xue, if you really do that, you'll surely push the miss into another abyss. By then, others will think that the miss is interfering in your relationship with Miss Chu. In that case, the miss's situation will become even more dangerous."
Then he revealed his own opinion: "I think the most important thing now is to stop the loss in time and prevent this rumor from spreading indefinitely. In addition, we also need to negotiate with Cheng Zhiyue."
"She's in a good mood now. She really wants to have a good chat with someone." Cheng Xiran's words woke everyone up.
Actually, she really didn't care. She no longer cared about what others thought. She was more concerned about the people she cared about. For example, where was Helian Duo? What was he doing in the palace? Was the negotiation going smoothly? When would he come back? Should she go to the usual way he came back to pick him up? And so on.
So Xue Lianyu and Zuo Yan had a deep discussion on this issue and even started a debate.
As for Cheng Xiran, she waited there leisurely, propping her chin with her small hands and looking out of the courtyard boredly.
It was a sunny day today, a good day.
She didn't know how long she had waited. She had even dozed off for a while. When she woke up, she saw that Xue Lianyu and Zuo Yan were still arguing there without reaching a conclusion. She felt a bit bored, so she got up, stretched and said, "It's almost noon. Why hasn't the prince come back yet? I'll go out and have a look."
Seeing that she was about to leave, Zuo Yan quickly followed closely behind and tried to persuade her while following: "Miss, the prince will probably be back soon. Why don't you wait a little longer? It's not appropriate to go out now."
Just like this, they followed one after another to the gate of the prince's mansion and happened to meet Helian Duo getting off the carriage.
Seeing him looking dusty and his face a bit gloomy, Cheng Xiran quickly stepped forward, grabbed his arm and asked carefully, "Is there something bothering you?"
Helian Duo softened his tone and shook his head gently, saying, "It's nothing. I just still feel angry after dealing with them. I was just thinking whether I should go back."
Cheng Xiran was just confused when Xue Lianyu suddenly realized and said, "Oh, I see. You came back so late because you went to solve Xiran's matter, right?"
Seeing him remain silent as an answer, Xue Lianyu asked again, "Tell me quickly. What method did you use?"
"For dealing with such people, using force is already being kind..." Helian Duo said with a slightly cold face, and then continued, "Although I never lay a hand on women, they're not really human beings, so I don't count as breaking my rule."
Wow, what a far - fetched excuse.
"Sure enough. I said that all our brainstorming here is not as practical as what A Duo did. Now it's okay. I don't have to worry about Xiran anymore."
As Xue Lianyu said this, he was about to leave. Cheng Xiran quickly called him back, "Won't you stay for lunch?"
"I'm going to accompany Li Yin to the palace this afternoon to visit her sister, so I have to go back to the mountain villa earlier to make some preparations. I can't let others think that I don't take it seriously, right?"
Looking at Xue Lianyu's back as he left, Cheng Xiran thought for a moment that he was not so bad. Before, he used to dislike Chu Liyin for being annoying every day. Now, it was the other way around. He was chasing after her.
Wasn't it funny?
"Did you really lay a hand on Cheng Zhiyue?"
When entering the mansion, Cheng Xiran asked out of curiosity.
Helian Duo first nodded and then shook his head, saying, "It's not really laying a hand. I just intimidated her a bit. After all, she's pregnant now. No matter how much I hate her and want to take action, I can't hurt the innocent."
It seemed that people with power and influence were really different. Even intimidation was more effective than that of ordinary people.
Helian Duo sent people to retrieve all the newspapers that Cheng Zhiyue had sold in the morning and burned them in front of her one by one. Such a big move was naturally seen by those on - lookers. Coupled with the fact that Xue Lianyu didn't show up, they believed Helian Duo's words even more. After all, it was really rare for a man to do so much for a woman in this world.
Moreover, he was the powerful regent. How could he choose a woman of bad conduct as his princess? Anyone with a bit of sense could think of that.
This incident was over, but Cheng Xiran remained calm. Even if Helian Duo hadn't stepped in, she wasn't afraid because in her eyes, Cheng Zhiyue was nothing.
But when Helian Duo went out again in the afternoon and she was having tea leisurely in the courtyard after her noon break, she suddenly heard a servant report that Princess Hua Bairu of Yulin Kingdom had come to visit. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
The teacup in her hand trembled involuntarily, and a lot of tea spilled out.
She scalded her hand, but didn't feel the pain.
The next second, she pretended to be calm, nodded slightly and said, "Please invite the princess to the front hall. I'll be there soon."
As soon as her voice fell, a bright - colored figure flew towards her like lightning. There was a strong sense of killing in the air. Fortunately, Mu Li reacted in time, and the two exchanged a move in mid - air.
That bright - colored figure was Hua Bairu.
She fought with Mu Li, who was unarmed, with a long whip in her hand.
Cheng Xiran was dazzled by the fight. After just a few rounds, it was obvious that Hua Bairu was no match for Mu Li. Besides being able to use the whip, she was just a mediocre fighter and soon lost.
"A Li, stop. She's the princess of Yulin Kingdom. Don't hurt her."