After the memorials of the imperial censors were read out, there was a dead silence in the morning court.
The emperor rubbed his temples. He felt so exhausted!
"I've heard what all of you gentlemen have said. The Third Princess is so naughty and has insulted the common people. She is unworthy to be an example for the royal family. Her fiefdom shall be confiscated and she shall be confined to her quarters for a month. No one is allowed to visit her!"
After punishing the Third Princess, the emperor paused for a moment. His eyes swept over Prime Minister Zhang who was standing at the front. His tone was not very pleasant. "Prime Minister Zhang has failed to discipline his daughter properly. He is ordered to stay at home in reflection for half a month. He may not return to court until he has managed to discipline his daughter well!"
Prime Minister Zhang quickly knelt down. "Your subject thanks Your Majesty for your grace!"
...
On this side, the Third Princess was still thinking about how to explain herself in front of the emperor. But unexpectedly, before the morning court was over, someone sealed her bedroom and brought the emperor's edict.
"It's impossible! Father Emperor loves me the most. How could he punish me for those lowly commoners? It's impossible!"
The Third Princess was panicking now. Seeing this, her personal maid quickly said, "Princess, why don't you go and plead with the Imperial Concubine? Ask her to put in a good word for you!"
"Right! I still have my mother. Hurry up and go find her." The Third Princess grabbed the maid's wrist tightly. "You must ask Mother to save me. Tell Mother that I will surely be obedient from now on. I will surely listen to her and Second Brother!"
The maid endured the pain and nodded. "Don't worry, Third Princess. This slave will surely convey your words."
While there was chaos in the Third Princess's place, the Marquis of Dingguo's Mansion seemed to be enjoying a peaceful time!
Since Xie Yunxi didn't come to cause trouble and the grandmother didn't question her, Xie Fengran was very leisurely reading books in the study without any interruption.
Tomorrow was the interview day of the academy, but she wasn't that panicked.
On the paper that Qin Junxing had sent over a few days ago, there wasn't only the private gossips of the teachers, but also their preferences in writing styles. The information was very comprehensive.
Since she had a clear idea in mind, she naturally wasn't panicked.
After turning a few pages of the book, Zhuqing came in with a letter in her hand.
Xie Fengran looked up from the book and glanced at Zhuqing. "Is this a letter from your senior brother?"
Could it be that Qin Junxing already had some clues so soon?
Zhuqing shook her head and handed over the letter. "It was sent by a waiter from the Lingfeng Teahouse."
"The Lingfeng Teahouse?" Xie Fengran took it over with some confusion.
It shouldn't be. All the scripts for this month had been sent over and the silver had also been paid. What else could there be?
She pulled out the letter, and at the same time, a silver note fell out. Zhuqing bent down to pick it up. Her eyes swept over the denomination on it, and she let out a little exclamation. "One thousand taels!"
"One thousand taels?" Xie Fengran took it over and saw that it was indeed a silver note from the Sihai Bank. "Old Cheng, that stingy guy, how could he be so generous?"
He who offers kindness for no reason must have some evil intention. Making money from Old Cheng was like pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth. Why did she feel that there was a trick here?
Xie Fengran opened the letter and read it carefully. She was confused. "Just this? Giving me one thousand taels?"
The letter asked her to add an ending after the part about the young lady and her childhood sweetheart fiancé. It was such a simple thing but they were giving one thousand taels?
Xie Fengran wasn't willing to believe it. She read the letter again and found that they had even specified the ending, which was about the matter that Cousin Zhang had privately promised to marry Zhang Yao in the Lingfeng Teahouse yesterday.
No wonder they were giving so much money!
"If this script comes out, Zhang Yao will surely be tied to Cousin Zhang. Then she won't go to cause trouble for Qin Junxing anymore."
Spending one thousand taels to solve the trouble of Zhang Yao once and for all. And maybe the Prime Minister's Mansion would even pay them to withdraw this script later. Tsk tsk, they were really good at doing business!
Originally, she thought that one thousand taels was too much, but now Xie Fengran had no psychological burden at all.
She deserved to earn this one thousand taels!
"Give it to Lanfang to put away."
Since she had taken their money, Xie Fengran didn't want to wait for a moment. She just had an idea in her mind, so she immediately started writing.
Seeing that she was busy, Zhuqing quietly retreated and went to find Lanfang.
Xie Fengran wrote until it was time for dinner.
Someone from the Green Pine Courtyard came to invite Xie Fengran to have dinner, and Lanfang came in to call her.
The room had already darkened. Under the dim yellow candlelight, Xie Fengran was lowering her head and writing furiously. She didn't even notice that the door had opened.
Lanfang looked at her young lady's appearance and felt a little heartache. She walked over and said in a low voice, "Miss, it's time for dinner. Someone from the old madam's place has come to invite you."
"Okay!" Xie Fengran didn't look up. She didn't put down her pen until she had finished writing the current paragraph. She rubbed her stiff neck. "Don't put it away. I'll just organize it when I come back and then it can be sent over."
"Yes!" Lanfang took back her hand and tidied up Xie Fengran's clothes. Seeing a ink stain on her chest, she reminded her, "Miss, go and change your clothes!"
Xie Fengran didn't want to move. She lowered her head and followed Lanfang's line of sight. Sure enough, there was a big ink stain. She sighed. "Okay, go and change my clothes!"
In the inner room, Hexiang found a water-blue gossamer silk dress and served Xie Fengran to put it on.
Lanfang took out the pair of purple jadeite bracelets that the old madam had given last time and was going to put them on for Xie Fengran.
Xie Fengran glanced at them and suddenly said, "Put these away. Take out the colorful glass bracelet that the Crown Prince sent yesterday."
Lanfang was a little surprised, but she still answered yes and turned around to get the bracelet.
The gossamer silk dress was floating like a fairy. The water-blue color was pure and elegant, setting off Xie Fengran's picturesque features. The colorful glass bracelet on her hand was shining brightly, very eye-catching.
It would be more suitable to wear that pair of light purple bracelets!
Xie Fengran caught a glimpse of the hesitant expressions of the two maids and smiled. "You two... That purple bracelet was given to me by grandmother. Father and Xie Yunxi will surely be there today. If I wear it out, Xie Yunxi will surely ask about it. Then if Father says that grandmother is partial or helps Xie Yunxi to ask grandmother for it, won't it make grandmother lose face?"
She lifted her arm. "But this one is different. If Xie Yunxi has the ability, let her go and ask the Empress Dowager for it!"
Anyway, the Crown Prince said that this was a reward from the Empress Dowager. Even if she wore it, others couldn't say anything.
The most important thing was that grandmother would surely be very happy to see her wearing this bracelet!
Lanfang and Hexiang looked as if they had learned a lot. They tidied up Xie Fengran's clothes and accompanied her to the Green Pine Courtyard.
When they reached the door, Xie Fengran suddenly stopped. "Come with me to see how Nanny Shen's injury is."
Hexiang and Lanfang looked at each other and didn't dare to make a sound. They followed Xie Fengran to the back courtyard.
Nanny Shen had been tripped by Qin Junxing that day and had lost four front teeth. Her knee was also injured. She had been recuperating these days.
Nanny Su had sent someone to check on her twice, but didn't say anything, which made her feel a little uneasy.
When she saw Xie Fengran coming today, she wanted to ask for resignation.
But unexpectedly, before she could say anything, Xie Fengran directly started to ask about her well - being, from her injury to her food and clothing, being very meticulous. She couldn't even get a chance to speak.
In the end, she still couldn't say a word and could only watch helplessly as Xie Fengran left with her maids!