Miss Zheng looked at An'er haughtily and said, "You were so clingy to Prince Wen back then. How can you have the nerve to show up in front of everyone now?"
After hearing Miss Zheng's words, An'er suddenly raised her head and stared fixedly at Miss Zheng. She never expected that the person who bumped into her today was actually related to Prince Wen. What a coincidence!
"My sense of shame has nothing to do with you. All I know is that you're extremely shameless!" An'er retorted without backing down. Today, she was going to prove that she was no longer the old An'er. She had been reborn.
"You! How dare you talk back to me! Do you know who I am? I'm the eldest miss of the Zheng family!" How dare this bitch!
"I wondered who it was. So it's the eldest miss of the Zheng family whose mother had an affair. I'm so sorry. It's my fault for being blind and offending you today." An'er looked at Miss Zheng sarcastically.
It was like hitting a snake right at its most vulnerable spot and stabbing at someone's heart. An'er had completely stepped on Miss Zheng's sore spot. Looking at Miss Zheng's changing complexion, An'er felt much better.
Seeing An'er about to turn around and leave, Miss Zheng immediately ordered her servants to surround her.
"Come on, seize her! I'm going to sell this bitch to a brothel!" Miss Zheng said angrily, glaring at An'er.
An'er looked at the servants around her warily. She was so unlucky. She happened to go out without any attendants. It seemed that she was going to be in trouble today. She felt she had let her master down. She hadn't even managed to get the princess to take her as an apprentice.
An'er closed her eyes in despair. Just as she was about to fight to the death, someone came to her rescue.
A young man rushed out of the crowd. He scattered a handful of copper coins on the ground. While people were scrambling to pick up the money, he grabbed An'er's hand and started running like crazy.
When the two of them reached the small river outside the city, out of breath, An'er finally had a chance to take a good look at the person who had saved her.
"Why is it you?" An'er never expected that the person who saved her would be him, her childhood sweetheart, the one who always claimed to be her elder brother.
"An'er, are you okay?" the young man asked worriedly as he checked her all over. Only after he was sure she was unharmed did he feel relieved.
"How did you find me?" She had been so careful not to let her family find out, but somehow she was still discovered.
"An'er..." the young man looked at An'er with a complicated expression. In fact, he had been following An'er since the day she went to see Prince Wen, and he had been secretly following her these days.
"An'er, I want to ask you something." When the young man said this, his face showed a look of determination, as if he was asking a very important question.
"Ask." If Prince Wen had been nice to her with ulterior motives, then the man in front of her was truly kind to her. She remembered that when she was a child, before she met Prince Wen, she often didn't have enough to eat at home. It was always him who secretly helped her.
She once asked him if he liked her, but his answer was that he only regarded her as a younger sister.
"I want to ask... do you still like Prince Wen?" After asking this question, the young man felt much more relaxed. He no longer felt so depressed as before.
"Brother Muzi, do you think I still like Prince Wen now? I've already woken up." An'er sneered sarcastically and then said, "Now I just want to be myself."
Muzi looked at the longing for a new life on An'er's face. He nervously tightened the corner of his clothes and asked, "Then... do I still have a chance? An'er, I've been lying to you! In fact, I've always liked you. I've never regarded you as a younger sister."
Muzi looked at An'er nervously, while An'er looked at Muzi in shock. She never expected Brother Muzi to ask her this question. But if the person she liked was him, it might not be a bad thing.
"Brother Muzi, I can only say that I haven't completely forgotten about Prince Wen yet. Are you willing to wait for me? I'll try my best to love you. Are you willing to wait for me?" An'er looked at Muzi cautiously.
Muzi was excited about this answer. "Yes, I'm willing." How could he not be willing? He had liked her since childhood. It was a pity that she later met Prince Wen. Now it was all right. He would surely hold her hand tightly!
An'er smiled looking at Muzi's silly smile. Maybe it would be quite happy to live like this in the future. The two of them strolled by the river until nightfall before returning.
However, as soon as An'er returned, she was questioned by the people sent by Mu Fengqie.
It turned out that the incident on the street today had already been reported to the Princess Regent, who immediately informed Mu Fengqie.
When An'er saw Mu Fengqie vow to avenge her, her eyes welled up with tears. It was really great to have such a master.
"Master, what should we do with Miss Zheng?" Zhu Fei asked curiously.
"What should we do? I need to think about it carefully." How dare she touch her apprentice! She really needed a lesson. She should have stayed at home instead of causing trouble outside.
"I remember that the Zheng family seems to be in some financial difficulties now." Mu Fengqie squinted her eyes and said.
"Indeed, they are. Since Lord Zheng divorced his wife, the expenses of the Zheng Mansion have dropped significantly. They can only afford the normal meals, and they've even been in arrears with the servants' wages." Zhu Fei reported truthfully.
"In that case, aren't there a lot of people who want to quit?" Mu Fengqie said slowly as she lay on the small couch.
As soon as Zhu Fei heard this, she understood what Mu Fengqie was planning. "I understand, master. I'll make the arrangements right away." If they were out of money, why should they still hire servants? They should just let them go.
That day, all the servants in the Zheng family went on strike collectively, shouting for their wages. They refused to work without pay. The butler had no choice but to report this to Lord Zheng.
"Isn't this kind of thing the responsibility of the women in the inner courtyard?" Lord Zheng frowned and asked.
"That's right. But since the former mistress left, the expenses in our mansion have never been in order. And it's all outgoings with no income. We've... we've already run out of silver to pay the servants." The butler looked at Lord Zheng with a worried face.
After hearing this, Lord Zheng's face turned completely dark. He had never bothered with such things before. He never expected that his mansion had become so strapped for cash.
"Go to the inner courtyard and take some of their jewelry to sell for some emergency money." After thinking for a long time, this was the only solution Lord Zheng could come up with. He would never be able to bring himself to borrow money.