Suddenly, Hua Bairu shot to her feet. Her eyes were fixed directly on Yun'er, making the girl feel a chill run down her spine. But with her mistress, Cheng Xiran, right there, Yun'er wasn't overly afraid.
"Your Highness, why get so angry? Do as you please. We won't stop you," Cheng Xiran said without even looking at Hua Bairu. She even turned to the side. Seeing this, Hua Bairu was about to raise her whip when she suddenly heard someone call out, "Your Highness?"
Both of them looked in the direction of the voice and saw Helian Duo walking gracefully towards them. To be precise, he was walking towards Cheng Xiran.
The hostility in Hua Bairu's eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a sneer on her lips. "You're finally back. Have you decided where to take me next? I heard that the Drunken Immortal Tower in the capital is quite good. How about we go there for dinner tonight?"
Before Helian Duo could reply, she pouted and said on her own, "You have no idea. I've been eating dry rations on the road these days. I can hardly taste anything anymore. And the food in our Yulin Kingdom is not half as good as here. This time, I'm going to have a good feast. You don't mind, do you?"
Helian Duo's eyes were always on Cheng Xiran.
"Since it's the Emperor and the Empress Dowager's wish, I'll surely act as a good guide for Your Highness. Your Highness can feel free to give orders if there's anything you want to do..." Helian Duo changed his previous cold tone and smiled tenderly at Cheng Xiran. Then he continued, "Grandmother will come tonight. Have a good meal in the mansion. I'll come back early."
"You went to the Cheng Mansion?" Cheng Xiran asked, a bit surprised.
Helian Duo nodded slightly. "I know you've been worried about Grandmother, so I went to the Cheng Mansion to invite her in person."
Cheng Xiran felt a warm current in her heart. She obediently replied, "Okay. Take good care of Your Highness and yourself too. I'll wait for you to come back."
Although there were no excessive physical gestures or displays of intimacy, this simple exchange of words was enough to show their affection for each other. Everyone present felt like they had been hit with a wave of sweetness.
Only Hua Bairu sneered off to the side.
Hua Bairu threw a tantrum and wanted to leave. She deliberately acted coquettishly in front of Helian Duo. Cheng Xiran saw all this but didn't really care. After watching them leave, Cheng Xiran called a maid over and listed a few dishes that Grandmother liked, instructing them to prepare the meals.
"Miss, you're really magnanimous," even the butler couldn't help but praise her.
Cheng Xiran just smiled. After sitting quietly for a while, she finally decided to go to the newspaper office.
When she arrived at the newspaper office, everything was as usual. It seemed that the incident in the morning hadn't had any impact. Or perhaps, because of Helian Duo, everyone had chosen to selectively forget about it, as if it was just a fleeting moment in their minds.
This was the sense of security that Helian Duo gave her.
The shopkeeper, who had been doing accounts, saw her standing at the door. He quickly put down the ledger in his hand, got up, and walked towards her. He asked with concern, "Miss, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. What could possibly happen to me? I've been eating and sleeping well," Cheng Xiran replied.
She looked back at the newspaper office across the street. She didn't see Cheng Zhiyue, which was rather strange.
The shopkeeper followed her gaze. After they walked into the inner room, he lowered his voice and said, "Miss, you may not know this, but Cheng Zhiyue probably won't show her face for a few days."
"What happened?" Cheng Xiran was a bit puzzled.
She sat down and took a sip of tea. Then she heard the shopkeeper patiently explain, "Well, somehow, someone brought up the fact that she's about to marry the Prince of Qi. Everyone started speculating why the wedding date had been moved up so much. Eventually, the public opinion turned into rumors that she got pregnant because she spent the night with the Prince of Qi last time. Some people even said they saw her go to the medical clinic, and the date on the doctor's prescription matched the time. There were also rumors that her recent dressing style had become looser and her makeup had become more plain. So, she left the newspaper office at noon and hasn't come back since."
Cheng Xiran couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Helian Duo really keeps his word."
The shopkeeper suddenly realized that this wasn't just a baseless rumor. It was a move by Helian Duo to avenge his future princess.
"Normally, I should go and congratulate her on such a happy occasion. But I don't want to go back to that home anymore. Otherwise, I really would like to see her furious expression!"
"The Prince is really sincere to you, Miss. You weren't here this morning. You should have seen the scene..." The shopkeeper started to recall and vividly described, "The Prince brought a whole army with him. The spectacle was like going to war. But unfortunately, there were too many people. I couldn't squeeze to the front. But I heard from Aunt Qian next door that Cheng Zhiyue was so scared that she collapsed on the ground."
Cheng Xiran could already imagine that scene. It must have been extremely funny.
"She's really stupid. She just loves to play with fire and burn herself..." Cheng Xiran snorted softly and continued, "The Prince of Qi is part of the royal family after all. She'll have to enter the palace in the future. Does she think she has so much power, or that her father and her family are so wealthy and noble? In fact, none of these matter in the eyes of the royal family. It won't stop her from being neglected and abandoned in the future."
Moreover, Cheng Zhiyue was a concubine's daughter. The fact that she spent the night with the Prince of Qi had already brought shame to the royal family. Her life would be tough from now on. She wondered if Cheng Zhiyue had realized this yet.
She originally thought that Helian Duo would just teach Cheng Zhiyue a lesson, but this incident had escalated seriously. By late afternoon, the whole street was talking about it. The popularity of this topic didn't seem like it would fade away quickly.
It was said that there were crowds of people in front of the Cheng Mansion. Cheng Zhiyue's incident was like a slap in the face for her father.
Soon, Sun Yanyan came to visit.
"Your father hopes that you'll move back home today. Since Cheng Zhiyue has already lost face, you can't let him be completely disgraced."
As the saying goes, three strikes and you're out. Besides, she didn't want to live according to others' wishes anymore.
"Please tell Father that I'm not Cheng Zhiyue. I won't do such shameless things. Please tell him not to worry."
Sun Yanyan seemed to have expected this result. Since she was just here to deliver the message, she didn't bring up the matter again. Instead, she started talking about Cheng Zhiyue's embarrassing situation.
"After all, she's marrying into the royal family. But the betrothal gifts from the Prince of Qi are so meager. Even I feel it's not right."