Hearing Chuntao's voice, Shen Mingzhu immediately sensed that there must be an unexpected guest outside. She frowned instinctively but still calmly asked, "Who's outside?" As soon as she finished speaking, it went quiet outside. Then came the regular sound of footsteps, which stopped in front of the door. There were three knocks, and a gentle voice came through the door, "Your Highness, it's me."
It was Zhou Chengyu's voice.
Shen Mingzhu couldn't help raising her eyebrows slightly, a hint of suspicion in her eyes.
What was Zhou Chengyu doing here?
She was silent for a moment and then asked through the door, "What do you want?"
"Your Highness..." Zhou Chengyu's voice sounded a bit helpless. He sighed and continued, "Have we really come to this point?"
Without waiting for Shen Mingzhu's reply, Zhou Chengyu went on, "Your Highness, may I come in?"
Shen Mingzhu couldn't even skip the formalities. So she said to the outside, "Come in."
Qingzhu unconsciously tightened his sleeves. He lowered his eyes and put on a gentle and harmless expression before looking up following Shen Mingzhu's gaze.
Seeing that it wasn't Xie Lang, Qingzhu unconsciously let out a sigh of relief, and the last trace of uneasiness in his heart disappeared completely. But he didn't expect that Zhou Chengyu first bowed to Shen Mingzhu, then sat down, and only then turned to look at him calmly. With a gentle smile, he asked, "Is this the deputy manager of the shop?"
Shen Mingzhu had never heard the manager mention this. So a faint look of confusion appeared on her face.
"I just heard from the manager that the deputy manager was upstairs, so I made an assumption." Seeing Shen Mingzhu's reaction, Zhou Chengyu knew that this was the first time she'd heard about it from him. So there was a faint smile in his eyes. He said to Qingzhu, "If I'm wrong, please forgive me, sir."
This guest was not friendly.
When Qingzhu locked eyes with Zhou Chengyu, he sensed the hidden emotions in his eyes. So the relaxed heart in his chest tightened again instantly, filled with a bit of nervousness and uneasiness. He was secretly amazed as Zhou Chengyu managed to shift Shen Mingzhu's attention to him with just a few words.
This man was just as difficult to deal with as the son - in - law. But he seemed to prefer underhanded tactics, making him seem especially sinister.
After listening, Shen Mingzhu was also silent for a moment. Finally, she said to Zhou Chengyu, "What do you want to say, Mr. Zhou?"
Hearing Shen Mingzhu's words, Zhou Chengyu looked at her with a somewhat gloomy look in his eyes. But he still smiled and continued, "Your Highness, can you not be so heartless?"
Shen Mingzhu raised her eyebrows and continued, "Heartless?"
"If I were really heartless, Mr. Zhou would be outside the shop by now. How could you still be sitting here enjoying this cup of hot tea?"
As Shen Mingzhu spoke, her gaze towards Zhou Chengyu also became more vigilant, and there was a cold and solemn look on her face.
The atmosphere in the room instantly turned cold. The faint smile on Zhou Chengyu's face gradually disappeared, finally turning into a soft sigh.
Seeing this, Shen Mingzhu's expression remained unchanged. She raised her hand and took a sip of tea.
After a long silence, Zhou Chengyu looked at Shen Mingzhu and asked, "Mingzhu, are you really willing to stay in the Xie family now?"
"If you marry me, I guarantee you'll get much more." Zhou Chengyu sighed and then continued, "After I returned from the Xie family that day, I carefully investigated all the clans attached to the Zhou family. I've sent you everything you wanted."
"Can't you see my feelings for you?"
Shen Mingzhu stared at him silently. After listening, she let out a soft laugh and shifted her gaze to the spices on the table.
Zhou Chengyu was indeed not an ordinary person.
But Shen Mingzhu's heart was not as calm as her face showed. Instead, there was a kind of indescribable anger in it.
Zhou Chengyu was used to pretending to be a gentleman in front of her. If Shen Mingzhu were really an innocent little princess, she might really be attracted to him.
But...
But Zhou Chengyu's grandfather, the old fox who had dominated the officialdom for half his life, would he really leave nothing for Zhou Chengyu and instead let his useless son take over all the power?
Shen Mingzhu believed that Zhou Chengyu might have faced some difficulties at first, but she didn't believe that he would always be controlled by his father.
This incident was a statement. Zhou Chengyu had sent what Shen Mingzhu wanted and even went against Prime Minister Zhou to show his feelings.
But Shen Mingzhu really couldn't trust the man in front of her. She even instinctively felt a bit of guard against him.
"Otherwise?" Shen Mingzhu smiled. Looking at the disbelief in Zhou Chengyu's eyes, she said, "Seeing is not necessarily believing. Mr. Zhou, you're too dangerous. I'm a timid person, so I naturally dare not believe what I see and hear."
"Xie Lang is my son - in - law. If I can't even trust him, who else should I trust at this moment?"
As Shen Mingzhu spoke, her gaze casually fell on the spices in front of her.
Qingzhu was very good at reading people's expressions. Seeing Shen Mingzhu's attitude, he stepped forward and continued to introduce the spices to her, pretending that Zhou Chengyu wasn't even in the room.
Looking at their actions, a bitter feeling gradually welled up in Zhou Chengyu's heart. But he still sat there stiffly, his eyes fixed on the people in front of him.
Shen Mingzhu thought she had made her attitude clear enough and expected Zhou Chengyu to leave on his own. But unexpectedly, the man just sat there shamelessly. A look of impatience flashed in her eyes.
Sensing Shen Mingzhu's thoughts at the moment, Qingzhu looked up at Zhou Chengyu and said with a faint smile, "Is Mr. Zhou also interested in these items?"
Saying this, Qingzhu gave him some spices and began to introduce them to him gently.
Zhou Chengyu's expression remained unchanged, but the hand hidden in his sleeve tightened gradually. His knuckles turned white from the force.
After Qingzhu finished speaking, he noticed that Zhou Chengyu's gaze towards him even carried a bit of murderous intent. So he pretended to be innocent and continued, "Does Mr. Zhou want to see something else?"
Hearing this, Zhou Chengyu looked up at him and curled his lips, saying, "Then I'll have to trouble the deputy manager."
As he spoke, Zhou Chengyu emphasized the last three words, making the meaning of this sentence suddenly ambiguous, as if implying that there was some unclear relationship between Shen Mingzhu and the man in front of him.
Qingzhu didn't expect that the man in front of him had such amazing patience. So he sighed and said, "I'll go and get them. Your Highness and this gentleman, please wait a moment."
Sighing, Qingzhu walked to the door. Only then did he pretend to have just seen Chuntao and said, "Could you please tell the manager to bring some more spices?"
Chuntao stared at him for a few seconds. Finally, she unconsciously looked up at Shen Mingzhu and then said to Qingzhu, "Sure."
The smile on Zhou Chengyu's face suddenly disappeared. The corners of his mouth drooped little by little. Looking at Shen Mingzhu's attitude, he could hardly hide his inner emotions.
"You..."
Zhou Chengyu took a deep breath, suppressing the words that were about to blurt out. He looked at Qingzhu, his eyes as cold and sharp as a sword, with a bit of fierce murderous intent.
Qingzhu lowered his eyes, pretending not to see.