As evening fell, Yan Mingli carried the sleeping Shen Baozhu back to the Drunken Lyre Tower.
Yan Mingli had taken Shen Baozhu to several places that day. Exhausted to the point of being unable to walk, Shen Baozhu fell asleep in Yan Mingli's arms shortly after.
Old Man Gu circled around Shen Baozhu a few times. With great interest, he asked, "This little girl is quite interesting. Whose child is she?"
"You sure had your fun. You almost got me into trouble today," Yan Mingli rolled his eyes in annoyance.
Remembering what had happened that morning, Old Man Gu shrank his head and let out a couple of laughs.
Yan Mingli covered Shen Baozhu with a light blanket. "Tell the people in the shop to be careful later. Don't wake Baozhu up. Come with me to the Shanjie Pharmacy."
Old Man Gu was taken aback. "What are we going to the pharmacy for? Are you seriously ill?"
This was an inauspicious remark, and it left Yan Mingli speechless. "You really are an old curmudgeon. Can't you wish me well?"
"When I went to the Shanjie Pharmacy to collect the rent today, I noticed that Baozhu really liked the medicinal herbs there. Maybe she's interested in this field. Let's have a talk with them. When Baozhu gets bored in the future, she can go there to play."
Old Man Gu grumbled, "You really care about Baozhu. I've never seen you treat Miao Chun so well."
Just mentioning this made Yan Mingli seethe with anger. Unfortunately, Old Man Gu failed to notice his mood and continued to chatter on.
Furious, Yan Mingli lifted his leg to kick him. Old Man Gu dodged nimbly and stuck his tongue out at Yan Mingli.
Seizing the opportunity, Yan Mingli grabbed Old Man Gu and left the Drunken Lyre Tower. "Do you think I don't want to? Miao Chun has Chen Ruxia and Shen Haiyan by her side. I can't even get close!"
Regarding Miao Chun, her long - lost elder sister, Chen Ruxia was extremely meticulous. From the temperature of the tea to be drunk to every aspect of food, clothing, housing, and transportation, she almost supervised the servants personally, fearing that there would be another situation like the servants in the Yong'an Marquis Mansion.
Old Man Gu didn't expect that the female marquis had such an experience. She had been ostracized by the servants. Stroking his beard, he asked, "What about Shen Haiyan?"
Shen Haiyan would examine all of Chen Miaochun's ornaments, including the gifts from Yan Mingli. Before leaving, Shen Heqing had instructed Shen Haiyan to keep a close eye on Chen Miaochun and not let her dress freely, as it would damage the reputation of the Jingning Princess Mansion!
Because of this remark from Shen Heqing, when Chen Miaochun went out, she would only wear the ornaments matched by others.
Old Man Gu raised his eyebrows. "That's not necessary for him to check the ornaments you bought for Chen Miaochun, right?"
Yan Mingli's eyes suddenly darted around. "Because I once gave Miao Chun a pure - gold hairpin. Shen Haiyan didn't check it, and Miao Chun wore it the next day. The hairpin was so eye - catching in the sunlight that even Baozhu avoided Miao Chun that day. Since then, Shen Haiyan has been closely monitoring the gifts I give."
Shocked by Yan Mingli's absurd behavior, Old Man Gu accidentally pulled out one of his own beards.
He felt extremely distressed. Carefully holding the beard, he put it into his bosom.
The two had reached the pharmacy. As they passed by a young man, Yan Mingli stopped in his tracks. "That guy looks a bit familiar..."
Old Man Gu also looked in the direction of the young man. "Is he an acquaintance of yours?"
"No, he looks a bit like Yu Tang." Remembering the reason for the familiarity, Yan Mingli didn't dwell on it and strode into the pharmacy.
Doctor Qian was standing behind the counter, counting money. He separated the rent and planned to send it to Young Master Yan that evening. Then he would buy half a catty of meat to supplement his children...
"Doctor Qian, you're busy?" Yan Mingli leaned against the counter and said casually.
Hearing the familiar voice, Doctor Qian looked up and saw Yan Mingli. He quickly handed over the silver for the rent to Yan Mingli.
Yan Mingli didn't expect Doctor Qian to be so quick this time. In just one afternoon, he had managed to gather the rent.
He put the rent into his bosom and discussed with Doctor Qian about letting Shen Baozhu come to the pharmacy to play.
Doctor Qian looked embarrassed. "I'm afraid this isn't appropriate. The pharmacy is a place for treating and saving people. How can..."
Yan Mingli slapped five taels of silver on the counter. "There's a backyard in this shop. Just let Baozhu recognize the medicinal herbs in the backyard. There are all sick people in the front. I'm not at ease."
"As long as Baozhu comes once a month, half of the rent will be waived. And it will still be paid monthly. I'll give you an additional five taels of silver..."
Doctor Qian's eyes lit up and he quickly replied, "Deal!"
He didn't want to agree, but Yan Mingli was offering too much.
Old Man Gu also leaned against the counter. Bored, he asked, "I heard from the people in the shop that someone caused trouble yesterday. Who was it?"
"Yu Tang's shameless fiancé. I heard there's a solution. It will be resolved today or tomorrow." Remembering that he hadn't counted the rent yet, Yan Mingli took it out and counted it in front of Doctor Qian.
While Yan Mingli was counting the money, Old Man Gu had no choice but to turn to Doctor Qian and chat. "How's the business of the pharmacy recently?"
Suddenly getting a huge sum of five taels of silver, Doctor Qian carefully stuffed it into his bosom. He casually replied, "It's still the same as before. Besides, as people who run a pharmacy, we'd rather the shop go bankrupt than have booming business."
"Just now, a man came and said that the rats in his house were too big. He bought a lot of rat poison. Would you like some, old man? It's free."
Yan Mingli suddenly looked up, his voice excited. "What did you say? That man just now came to buy rat poison?"
After getting a positive answer from Doctor Qian, Yan Mingli stuffed the rent into Old Man Gu's bosom and ran back to the Princess Mansion. But he was too late. Xu Yutang had already been taken away by the Xu family.
Because he had run in a hurry, Yan Mingli could hardly speak coherently. With difficulty, he said, "How... how could you let her go back!"
"Go and inform Shen Haiyan... Forget it. I'll tell him myself. I hope I'm just overthinking. The Xu family is really a nuisance."
...
In the Xu family's carriage.
The Xu family had specially sent Xu's father, who had a good relationship with Xu Yutang, to pick her up.
Sitting in the carriage at the moment, Xu's father looked at Xu Yutang wearing a lotus - pink long dress. A pure - gold hair crown was neatly placed on her head, paired with a matching hairpin. She looked like a fairy from the nine heavens.
Xu's father couldn't hide his disgust. "As a young lady from a noble family, how can you dress like this?"
Xu Yutang adjusted her hair crown and asked in confusion, "What do you mean by 'like this'? Isn't it nice?"
This was originally bought by Yan Mingli for Chen Miaochun and was worth a fortune. But Shen Haiyan had criticized it as being too tacky, like a newly - rich landlord.
It was a customized set of ornaments, and a lot of money had been spent on it. Yan Mingli was reluctant to melt it down and make something else. Chen Miaochun saw that Xu Yutang liked it, so she gave it to her.
Xu Yutang really liked it. Her clothes, hair bun, and even the shoes on her feet were all matched with this set of ornaments.
Xu's father sneered. "Yutang, father is doing this for your own good. Which young lady from a noble family swaggers around with fake gold? Aren't you ashamed?"
"What fake gold? The gold is all pure." At first, Xu Yutang also thought it was fake gold, but Yan Mingli had strongly refuted her.
Yan Mingli had also accused Xu Yutang of targeting him. When they first met, she had said that he was someone else's husband. Now she was slandering him for buying fake gold for Miaochun. It was simply too much!
Thinking of Yan Mingli's accusation against her, Xu Yutang shivered and firmly defended Yan Mingli's love for Chen Miaochun. "The hair crown and the hairpin are both pure gold. Don't talk nonsense."
Xu Yutang had always been obedient since childhood. This was the first time she had talked back. Xu's father was about to scold her, but then he remembered today's purpose and held back.
Xu's father held back, but Xu Yutang kept talking. "How many dishes will there be for the meal to sever ties? Will it be delicious?"
"You promised to give me Xiaotao's indenture. You can't go back on your word."
"This hair crown and hairpin were given to me by someone else. They are all pure gold. You can't say they are fake."
Xu's father frowned more and more tightly. "Rude! Who allowed you to talk to your elders without respect?"
Xu Yutang was frightened. Tears welled up in her eyes. She clutched the handkerchief in her hand. "I... I don't want to go. I want to go back to the Princess Mansion."
Seeing this, Xu's father could only soften his voice. "We just want to have a meal with you one more time. Don't cry."
"I've only had meals with Xiaotao. I don't want to go to the Xu family." After saying this, Xu Yutang got up to lift the curtain.
Xu's father stopped Xu Yutang and said many soft words, but Xu Yutang wasn't convinced. "If you don't go back today, just wait to collect Xiaotao's body!"
For Xiaotao's sake, Xu Yutang had no choice but to sit down. "Despicable!"