"The servant girl entered the mansion when I was a child. I've never seen such a big child before."
"Indeed. Grandmother really dumped a burden on me by asking me to raise the child."
Xie Fengran sighed and leaned against the carriage wall, closing her eyes to rest.
She had slept very uncomfortably on the arhat bed last night and didn't get a good sleep. She was feeling rather listless at the moment.
Seeing this, Liu Yi moved more quietly. She took out a cape and draped it over Xie Fengran.
The carriage was moving slower and slower, and the hawking sounds outside the window gradually became clearer.
In the capital, the area near the imperial city was the noble district. The Marquis of Dingguo's Mansion was right next to the imperial city.
The area around the imperial city was divided into four cities: the east, south, west, and north.
The south city had many merchants, so there were many entertainment venues such as restaurants and teahouses.
The Lingfeng Teahouse was already well - known in the south city. After Xie Fengran mentioned it at the Sun family last time, many young gentlemen came here out of curiosity.
For this reason, the Lingfeng Teahouse opened up a new floor of private rooms on the third floor, specifically for these distinguished guests. They even reserved a few private rooms for female guests.
Today, Xie Fengran had an appointment with Sun Yuelan at the Lingfeng Teahouse.
They entered through the back door. A young servant was waiting there. When he saw Xie Fengran, he didn't look her over but just led the way with his head down.
Xie Fengran was wearing a large cape and a veiled hat. As soon as she entered the private room, the veiled hat was snatched off.
"You're so mysterious. Did you sneak out?"
Xie Fengran snatched the veiled hat from Sun Yuelan's hand and gave it to Liu Yi. Then she untied her cape. After tidying herself up, she rolled her eyes at Sun Yuelan.
She said crossly, "Do you think I'm like you? Master Sun indulges you so much. You've been spoiled."
Sun Yuelan giggled and moved closer to Xie Fengran, coaxingly saying, "Oh, Eldest Miss, I was wrong, okay?"
Xie Fengran couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Seeing her laugh, Sun Yuelan reached out her hand. "Where is it?"
Xie Fengran was taken aback for a moment. She poked Sun Yuelan on the forehead angrily. "You're just here to collect a debt, aren't you?"
"It's not that I'm collecting a debt. Everyone is waiting for it. And you said you've written a new story. Who isn't looking forward to it?" After saying that, she urged, "Hurry up, take it out quickly."
Xie Fengran snorted. She took a thick envelope from Liu Yi and slapped it into Sun Yuelan's hand. "Here, here. Don't ask me for anything for half a year from now on."
Sun Yuelan waved her hand, indicating that she knew. She quickly handed the envelope to the maid behind her to put away properly.
Then she turned back to look at Xie Fengran. "Why did you come here in person today?"
Xie Fengran rolled her eyes at her and ignored her. Instead, she leaned against the window and looked downstairs.
In the main hall, a small stage was set up. An old man in a gray long gown was holding a folding fan and telling a story in a cadenced voice.
The story was about a scholar who had a childhood sweetheart. They promised that the scholar would come back to marry her after he passed the imperial examinations.
Unexpectedly, the scholar left and never heard from again for many years.
It was a typical beginning of a heart - breaker story, but the development of the story was a bit out of the ordinary.
The scholar did pass the imperial examinations and became the number one scholar. But he was so poor that he didn't have the money to go back to find his childhood sweetheart. He wanted to save up some money first, but when he had the money, he didn't have the time. Just when he was about to give up his promise...
He found that his childhood sweetheart had come to the capital and had become a newly - promoted martial - arts champion.
After that, the two got closer and closer, with some rather melodramatic plots.
But thanks to the good story script and the excellent storytelling skills of the storyteller, the people downstairs were completely engrossed. The whole teahouse echoed with the old man's voice.
Seeing that Xie Fengran ignored her, Sun Yuelan moved closer and squeezed beside her to look downstairs.
After listening for a while, Sun Yuelan suddenly remembered something. She leaned over and asked, "Did the scholar and the female general you wrote about end up together?"
Xie Fengran didn't turn her head. She said sullenly, "When have I ever written a tragedy?"
"True. But there are hardly such stories in real life."
"Yeah! Most of them are heart - breakers, right?" Xie Fengran, who had just resolved two marriage proposals, felt a bit melancholy.
"So, Miss Xie, which one do you want to choose?" Sun Yuelan moved closer to her and asked mischievously. "Actually, if you don't want to choose, there's another option. How about it?"
"Come on, stop making trouble. I've told Grandmother that I don't want either of them. My husband must be chosen by myself." A blush appeared on Xie Fengran's face, but her eyes were extremely bright.
Sun Yuelan was silent for a moment. After a while, she joked, "It seems that Miss Xie isn't interested in either of them."
"Don't talk nonsense. His Highness the Crown Prince is handsome and imposing, and the County Prince is valiant. I'm just a frail girl. I'm really not worthy of them. So, I'm planning to go to the women's college. I'll wait a few more years."
Sun Yuelan was stunned for a moment. After reacting, she let out a scream. "I knew you would go. Fengran, now we can be good friends openly."
"Yes, yes, yes. Now it's my turn to ask for your care. But if you go to the women's college, you can't get married for three years. Can your little bamboo horse wait?"
Sun Yuelan had an arranged childhood marriage with the son of a good friend of Master Sun. They had known each other since childhood and had a good relationship.
"He supports me. And my elder brother isn't married yet. There's no reason for the younger sister to get married first."
Mentioning Sun Jiming, Xie Fengran remembered what had happened in the palace that day. She lowered her voice and asked, "I saw your elder brother being pestered by the Third Princess in the palace that day. Did anything happen later?"
Sun Yuelan shook her head. "There's nothing. It's always the Third Princess who pesters my elder brother. Everyone with eyes can see it. Unless someone deliberately comes out to oppose my elder brother."
Xie Fengran felt relieved. Now that Master Sun was about to take office, he would surely come back.
Sun Yuelan remembered something and also lowered her voice. "Do you know? After the Third Princess was released from the palace banquet that day, she was locked up again. Even the Emperor knew about it. The Noble Consort wanted to plead for her, but she was also punished."
Xie Fengran's expression remained unchanged, but the corners of her mouth twitched slightly.
The marriage that was almost a sure thing was disrupted by the Third Princess. Now the marriage was off. The Queen must be very angry.
But now it seemed that the Emperor also approved of this marriage. At least the Emperor didn't want Qin Junxing to marry her.
In the end, the Third Princess became a scapegoat. It wasn't unjust.
Sun Yuelan glanced at Xie Fengran and saw that she didn't seem very regretful. She understood in her heart that it seemed that Xie Fengran really didn't want to marry the Crown Prince.
They changed the topic and chatted for a while.
Finally, before leaving, Sun Yuelan took out two silver notes from her purse. "This is last month's dividend. My elder brother said that the boss wanted you to write more, but he refused."
Xie Fengran nodded and put away the silver notes. She said softly, "Please thank Elder Brother Sun for me."
Sun Yuelan mumbled, "You might as well thank him in person."