"Miss Xie, this is from the prince."
The moment the curtain of the carriage fell, a guard quickly put a food box in and then swiftly stepped back to the door.
Xie Fengran quickly lifted the curtain and unexpectedly met Qin Junxing's teasing eyes. For a moment, she had no idea what this man was up to.
As if sensing her confusion, Qin Junxing raised his eyebrows and explained, "I heard you have a younger brother. I think kids would like this flavor."
Xie Fengran paused. Thinking of Xie Chenghui, she swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue, nodded at Qin Junxing and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Then she put down the curtain and ordered, "Uncle Feng, let's go! To Guanlin Bookstore."
The carriage started moving. Xie Fengran motioned for Liu Yi to bring the food box over.
Liu Yi opened the lid behind her and took a look. On the top layer was seafood egg custard, and below it was a plate of crystal buns, looking crystal - clear.
"Miss, why did the prince suddenly send something for the young master?"
Xie Fengran also suspected that Qin Junxing might know Xie Chenghui was in her yard and that's why he bought these things.
But if he could know this, did it mean there were his people in the inner courtyard of the Marquis Mansion?
Just thinking about living under someone else's watchful eyes made Xie Fengran shiver.
Liu Yi just asked a question, but unexpectedly, Xie Fengran's face suddenly turned grim. She felt a bit uneasy and carefully asked, "Miss, is there something wrong with the food?"
"The food is fine. I hope I'm just overthinking."
Xie Fengran looked at the food box, forcing herself not to think about it, and then said, "Chenghui will surely be happy when he sees this."
Liu Yi nodded and sighed, "Actually, the young master is quite pitiful. It's because someone spoiled him that he acts so naughty."
"What did you find out?"
Liu Yi looked at Xie Fengran's expression and carefully said, "Your maid chatted with the maidservants who serve the young master yesterday. They all said that usually the wet - nurse serves the young master personally and never hands it over to others. When he was in the madam's yard, as long as he didn't bother the madam, the madam usually didn't care much about him."
"Moreover, the wet - nurse just spoiled the young master, and over time, he became like this."
"She doesn't even care about her own daughter. How could she care about a child who didn't come from her own womb?"
A hint of mockery appeared on Xie Fengran's face. She had long seen through her mother's cold - natured personality. Over the years, except for her father, no one else could catch her eye.
Liu Yi knew her young mistress's knot in her heart and advised, "Miss, the madam has her own difficulties. When you were still young, Concubine Yuan often whispered in the marquis's ear. The madam was also helpless."
"I know she has her difficulties. So now I respect and honor her, and I will be filial to her in the future." But she would never be close to her again.
Xie Fengran looked down again. A stranger she had only met a few times knew to be polite and bring a snack for the child in the family.
But she had never received such care from her parents since she was a child.
Actually, Xie Fengran really misunderstood Qin Junxing. He really didn't know that Xie Chenghui was now placed in Xie Fengran's yard.
He just heard that the only son of the Marquis of Dingguo was raised under the knees of the Marquis's wife, so he assumed that the boy had a good relationship with Xie Fengran. Currying favor with his future brother - in - law was also part of his plan!
On this side, after seeing off Xie Fengran, Qin Junxing turned around and met the Crown Prince's gaze.
Just now, all his attention was on Xie Fengran, and he really didn't notice there was someone behind him. He didn't know how long this person had been standing there.
But seeing his frosty face, it seemed that he had been standing there for a while.
Qin Junxing bowed his hands and said, "Greetings to Your Highness, the Crown Prince."
"Cousin, was that the eldest miss of the Xie family just now?"
"Your Highness has seen it. Why ask such a redundant question?"
The Crown Prince's face was as dark as if ink would seep out. He took two steps forward, stood beside Qin Junxing, and lowered his voice, "Do you have to compete with me for this person?"
Qin Junxing shook his head, "Miss Xie is a living person. The right to choose is in her hands. We can't use the word 'compete'."
"Then why did you force her to come? You know she didn't want to come."
Hearing this, Qin Junxing's hand paused. He squinted his eyes and slightly turned his head to look at the Crown Prince, "You've been following me?"
"Cousin, you think too highly of yourself." The Crown Prince mocked, "But if I really followed you, I would never let you invite her here."
These words were said through gritted teeth, as if he was extremely regretful that it wasn't him who invited Xie Fengran to dinner.
"Your Highness, if she didn't want to come, I couldn't have invited her, could I?" Qin Junxing retorted, and successfully saw the other's face change. He nodded in satisfaction, "I still have something to do. I won't accompany Your Highness anymore."
After saying that, he brushed past the Crown Prince and walked towards the backyard.
The Crown Prince took a deep breath, glanced at the direction where Qin Junxing disappeared, then turned around and walked out of the gate. He ordered the people beside him, "Send someone to follow Qin Junxing. If he contacts Miss Xie again, inform me immediately."
The eunuch beside him hesitated for a moment, pondered, and carefully asked, "Your Highness, the Emperor has ordered you to entertain the prince well. If you send someone to follow the prince and the Emperor finds out, would it be... inappropriate?"
"Then don't let Father know. Do I need to teach you this?"
"The servant dare not. I'll send someone right away."
The Crown Prince put down the curtain and said, "Return to the palace."
On the other side, Xie Fengran also arrived at Guanlin Bookstore.
This bookstore was the largest in the capital city, with all kinds of books.
On the first floor were ordinary books, and on the second floor were rare books and ancient classics.
However, those rare books were for people to read but not for sale.
For book lovers, those rare books and ancient classics were priceless treasures.
There were also conditions to go to the second floor here. One was to have one's literary talent recognized by the bookstore, and the other was to spend a certain amount of money in the bookstore.
Xie Fengran was a book lover, but this time she just wanted to buy the collected works and policy discussions of Scholar Sun.
The written part of the entrance exam for the women's college was set by Scholar Sun. Her enlightenment teacher didn't approve of Scholar Sun, so she had never had the chance to understand his writing style.
Xie Fengran took Liu Yi to select two collections of works and policy discussions, paid the bill, and asked the bookboy to carry them. While waiting, Xie Fengran glanced to the side and happened to see a row of story - books at the main entrance of the bookstore. The pen name was "Big Machete".
Liu Yi followed Xie Fengran's gaze and laughed, "Miss, this name is quite interesting. It seems that the author must be a gentleman. I wonder what the story in this book is about?"
Just then, the bookboy finished packing the books. Hearing this, he picked up the conversation, "Ladies, you may not know that Big Machete is the gentleman who writes scripts for Lingfeng Teahouse in the south of the city. These books are compiled from the scripts sent by Lingfeng Teahouse."
"I see. Are they selling well?"