Rumors of a change in tone

  Rumor of pitch change: 50

  Miss Ye San, the future queen consort, was kidnapped by bandits. The news caused a stir in the capital city. Not long after Miss Ye Li was kidnapped, rumors began to circulate in various circles in the capital. Trying to forcibly suppress such rumors would only make them spread more wildly. Therefore, neither the Ye family, Xu family, nor the Imperial Palace publicly commented on the matter. The next morning, when Miss Ye Li returned to the Ye residence in a carriage with gifts from the palace, escorted by the second and third young masters of the Xu family, people's doubts about the rumors began to dissipate. After all, those who caught glimpses of Miss Ye San as she passed by saw that her expression and physical appearance seemed perfectly fine, not at all like someone who had just been kidnapped. Even the two young masters of the Xu family, including the notoriously hot-headed and emotionally expressive Third Young Master Xu, appeared normal. So... was yesterday's news just a vicious rumor?

  Ye Li listened absent-mindedly to Qingfeng's chatter, hearing the comments from outside. She secretly smiled in her heart. Third Brother can now come out and meet people with a calm attitude because he had already vented most of his anger on those bandits who didn't know better last night. Thinking back to last night when she and Mo Xiu Yao went down the mountain, the stronghold was filled with a strong bloody smell, and Third Brother's appearance was full of killing intent. Ye Li believed that the scholarly Xu family might indeed produce a military general. As for how Mo Xiu Yao dealt with those bandits, Ye Li didn't plan to ask. No matter whether they were bandits who flowed into the capital from outside or local bandits, it was still a good thing that there were fewer of them.

  "Miss Ye San."

  A clear male voice came from outside the window, and Qing Luan immediately drew his sword, pointing at the young man who suddenly appeared outside the window. Ye Li smiled and pressed down Qing Luan's arm, turning her head to smile: "Young Master Han, it's been a while?" Outside the window was none other than Han Mingyue, the bandit leader they had parted ways with just last night. Han Mingyue let out a helpless bitter laugh, "Third Miss, do you think I look okay like this?" As soon as he entered the courtyard, he could feel the piercing gaze of eyes watching from the shadows, and he didn't doubt for a moment that if he made any sudden movements now, the master of Tianyi Pavilion would silently disappear from the world.

  She took out a wooden carved box from her sleeve and placed it on the windowsill, saying: "This is to calm Third Miss's nerves, and also serves as a congratulatory gift for Third Miss and Xiu Yao's wedding. I don't know if I'll be able to make it in time to have a cup of celebratory wine."

  Ye Li nodded and didn't look at the box, asking: "Is Lord Han preparing to leave the capital?"

  Han Mingyue smiled and said, "Lately, I've had a lot of frightening experiences. Staying in Jiangnan makes me feel more at ease. Welcome, Miss Ye, to come with Xiu Yao to Jiangnan when you have time. At that time, I will definitely treat you as a host should." Ye Li smiled and said, "Han Gongzi's words make us feel a bit ashamed." Han Mingyue raised an eyebrow and said, "So... the previous misunderstanding, can we just forget about it?" Ye Li's eyes flickered slightly, and she smiled, saying, "The misunderstanding between you and me is forgotten." As for what misunderstandings there are between you and Mo Xiu Yao, that's your own business. Han Mingyue felt a slight disappointment but also knew not to force the issue. He somewhat admired Ye Li for knowing her limits and didn't delay any further, cupping his hands in farewell and saying, "I bid you farewell."

  "Don't see off someone who is leaving slowly."

  Waiting for Han Mingyue to leave, Qing Luan stepped forward and took the box from the windowsill, saying in a dissatisfied tone: "Why was Miss so polite to that kind of person?" Ye Li turned around and sat down, smiling: "He was also very polite to us yesterday." In her heart, Ye Li knew clearly that if Han Mingyue hadn't been considerate of Mo Xiuyao's relationship from the start, they might not have had the opportunity to leave unscathed. She believed that Han Mingyue did fear Mo Xiuyao, but she didn't really believe that Han Mingyue was very afraid of him.

  "If it weren't for him, Miss would... those people outside are still spreading rumors about Miss being kidnapped, and they're saying some really terrible things..." Qingyuan didn't think that Han Mingyue was being polite to them, if it weren't for him, how would Miss be the subject of gossip and ridicule. Ye Li said calmly: "It's not necessarily him, it could have been someone else, but not everyone is acquainted with the prince." She took the box from Qingyuan and opened it, and was also surprised. Inside the box were stacks of silver notes, neatly arranged. There were two 10,000-tael gold notes and over a dozen 1,000-tael silver notes. Qingyuan looked at them and couldn't help but exclaim, "Miss... this..."

  Ye Li raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat embarrassed. The two million two gold tickets were equivalent to over twenty million two silver coins, such a large sum of money that even Ye Li didn't dare to really accept it. Next to the silver ticket was also placed a pair of top-quality white jade dragon and phoenix pendants, just by looking at the quality of the jade, one could tell that it must be extremely valuable. After thinking for a moment, Ye Li re-covered the box and handed it over to Qingfeng: "Get ready, I'm going to make a trip to the Ding Wang Fu."

  Qingfeng carefully held the box, she had just seen it too. From young to old, she hadn't seen so much money before, wu wu, so scared...

  "Yes, miss."

  "Ah Rui! Ah Rui……" Mu Rong Ting's voice came from outside before she even entered the door. Ye Rui smiled and stood up to welcome her. Qin Zheng, Hua Tian Xiang, and Qin Yu Ling, the younger sister of the Metropolitan Governor of Beijing, Qin Mu, who had only met twice before, accompanied each other to visit Ye Rui. Mu Rong Ting rushed in first, grabbing Ye Rui's hand and asking repeatedly: "Ah Rui, are you okay?" Ye Rui smiled and replied: "If I wasn't okay, how could I be standing here? What brings you all here?"

  Qin Zhen covered her mouth and smiled: "Ting'er came to me early in the morning, pulling me and Tian Xiang to come find you. I told her that nothing was wrong with you, but she insisted on coming over to take a look. We met Miss Yu Ling on the way and came together." Mu Rong Ting hugged Ye Li and waved her fist: "If I knew who spread those rumors, I would beat him until his parents couldn't recognize him! It's too much, even worse than that bastard Leng Huan Yu!" Everyone burst out laughing. Ye Li smiled at Qin Yu Ling: "Thank you for coming to see me, Miss Qin."

  Qin Yuling smiled somewhat shyly and said: "Actually... I'm here to apologize to Miss Ye on behalf of my brother. He's been the prefect of the capital for a short time and something like this happened, affecting Miss Ye's reputation..."

  Ye Li shook her head, looking at Qin Yuling's expression, she knew that she must have come secretly without telling Qin Mu. In fact, it was unreasonable to blame such things on Qin Mu, the prefect of the capital city. Even in a place with advanced technology in the previous life, there were always crimes, let alone now when human energy was limited and couldn't be everywhere at once?

  "Magistrate Qin is the guardian of the people in the capital, known for being a just and fair official. However, those are just rumors, Miss Qin doesn't need to take them seriously. Rumors stop at wise people, if you ignore them, they will naturally lose interest and won't spread further."

  After hearing Ye Li's words, Qin Yuli also breathed a sigh of relief. She had been dependent on her brother since childhood, and although he didn't say it, she knew that this matter involved the Dingguo Wangfu, Shangshu Fu, and Xu family. Her brother was just a third-grade prefect, and the Qin family didn't have any powerful backing either. If they weren't careful, they might be pulled in to be scapegoats. "Thank you, Miss Ye."

  Hu Tianxiang smiled and said, "Miss Qin, you don't have to thank her either. Those petty people are jealous of Ah Li in private and want to ruin her reputation. Lord Qin can't control everyone's mouth, right? Ah Li, look at your outfit, are you going out?" Hu Tianxiang noticed Ye Li's clothes and asked, "Won't we be coming at a bad time?"

  "I was just going to go to the King's Palace for a bit, it's nothing important, I can always go back later." Ye Li said.

  "Oh?" Murong Ting's eyes rolled over, smiling with ill intent, "So it turns out that our Ah Li is already so familiar with Wang."

  Ye Li gave her a cold glance, but Murong Ting didn't care and chuckled: "Why do you have to go to the Dingguo King's palace in person? Can't you just send an invitation to ask King Ding to come out for a visit? It's also convenient to let those gossiping and sinister people know that no matter how hard they try, they can't break up Ye Li and King Ding!" Qin Yuling looked at Murong Ting with some doubt: "Miss Murong, do you know who did it?"

  "Just call me Murong. Who else could it be? It must be that Li Wang who can't stand seeing Ah Ling happy. I've never seen a man with a smaller heart than him in my life, and he's really a perfect match for Ye Ying!"

  Ye Li was silent, Mo Jing Lei this time really was wronged. However, this should be considered as his character being too poor to be so easily suspected by others. The other three people looked at each other in dismay, but after seeing Mu Rong Ting's determined expression and thinking about the grudges between Mo Jing Lei and Ye Li, they unanimously agreed with Mu Rong Ting's speculation in their hearts. Even Qin Yu Ling had an expression of not expecting that the King of Lei would be such a person.

  The temper of the Prince of Lei was not good, and this was no secret among the nobles in the capital. However, if someone observed carefully, they would find that after the grand wedding, the Prince of Lei's temper had become even worse than before. Especially today, early in the morning, he heard people discussing Ye Li, a woman who should have made him feel extremely happy and content. But instead, he found that whenever he passed by, people would intentionally or unintentionally give him strange looks, or quickly change the subject to talk about unrelated things. Even when drinking tea, he could feel the eyes of everyone in the teahouse on him, as if they were trying not to be obvious. It should have been Ye Li who was being ridiculed and laughed at, not him! Why did he feel like everyone was laughing at him?

  The people of the capital are mostly kind-hearted, so when they saw Mo Jing Lei appear for the first time, even though they knew they couldn't afford to offend the emperor's younger brother, they still gave him a look of disdain. Ugh! What kind of person is this? Not only did he unjustly break off someone's engagement, but he also can't stand seeing them do well. Previously, he had already ruined the girl's reputation, and now he's even spreading such vicious rumors? If it were an ordinary commoner's daughter, she would have been driven to death! This kind of person, even if they are a member of the royal family, is still scum!

  "King... King Ye..." The people following Mo Jing Lei were also intimidated by the low pressure around their own king.

  "What's going on?!" Mo Jing Lei gritted his teeth and asked.

  Guard A looked around and sadly found that only he was closest to the king. The others, B, C, and D, had already slipped away, trembling with fear as they said: "Your Majesty... everyone is discussing Miss Ye's affair."

  "This king knows they're gossiping about that woman! What does gossiping about that woman have to do with this king?! They all look at this king with those kinds of eyes, thinking this king didn't see? Shouldn't they be mocking and ridiculing that woman instead? Shouldn't they be laughing at Mo Xiu Yao, that useless thing, for being cuckolded?! (Do you still know you're a piece of trash?!)"

  "This... someone said, someone said it was you who couldn't stand Ye San Miss and hated Ye San Miss, who is about to happily join the Dingguo Wangfu. And previously at Chuxiang Pavilion, she was rude to you, so intentionally spread rumors... Cough cough, ruining Ye San Miss's reputation..." The guard A's face turned bright red as he tried to speak quickly, but before he could finish, he looked at his own king in horror and crushed the folding fan in his hand into powder.

  "What did you say?!" Mo Jing Lei's body emitted a wave of dark energy, causing passersby to subconsciously detour around him.

  "It's not me who said it, but the people of the entire capital... 'King... King Ye...' The guard, A, thought to himself in frustration. In short, the reputation of the Li Wang Fu had reached a new low after King Ye's affair with his fiancée's sister and refusing to pay for goods."

  "Ah Li, Qian Er, come up quickly. Since there's no one upstairs, let's sit outside." A clear and melodious female voice saved the guard from freezing to death. When he saw his master's gaze swiftly turn towards the staircase, Guard Jia hastily curled himself into a ball and hid in a safe place. Mu Rong Ting, wearing a stunning red dress, led the way up to the second floor, turning her head to beckon to her friends behind her. The little servant leading the way almost wanted to cry, Miss Mu Rong, where is there no one upstairs? This is one of the best tea houses in the capital! Everyone has been scared away by Lord Li!

  "Huh?" Turning around, Mu Rongting saw Mo Jinglei with a face as black as inkstone. She couldn't help but turn her head to look at the back and consider changing to another teahouse, but in this brief moment, Hua Tianxiang and others also came up, so the five girls were left staring at each other in dismay. Ye Li was even more frustrated, wondering if she really had some kind of fate with Mo Jinglei from a past life. No matter where they went, it seemed that as long as they went out, they would run into him. Ye Li didn't know that this wasn't actually too strange, because although the capital city was the most prosperous in Da Chu, compared to the big cities she remembered, it wasn't actually that large. And the nobles wouldn't go to the same places as ordinary people, basically only going to a few specific places. So unless you were someone like Ye Li who didn't often go out, or Mu Rongting who was always running around everywhere, basically everyone in a store would be familiar faces.

  "Ah, Lian..." Murong Ting looked at Ye Lian with an apologetic gaze. She really hadn't expected that the newlywed King of Lei wouldn't be home accompanying his doting wife and would instead run to a teahouse alone in broad daylight.

  "It's okay, just here." Ye Li also knew it wasn't Mu Rongting's fault, and besides, she didn't have any intention of avoiding Mo Jinglei. They were all in the same capital city, from noble families, and had a familial relationship - where could they avoid each other? Calmly nodding at Mo Jinglei, Ye Li led Qin Zheng and Qin Yuling to a quieter spot in the corner.

  Murong Ting stuck out her tongue and pulled Hua Tianxiang along with her as she quickly followed.

  "Alas, do you think King Ding will come?" Murong Ting asked in a low voice. She wasn't raised in the capital and didn't know King Ding well. Hua Tianxiang was full of confidence, nodding her head: "Don't worry, my grandfather said King Ding is a good person. Since he received the invitation, he'll definitely come."

  "Let's withdraw early and not disturb Alu and Ding Wang's conversation."

  Murong Ting chuckled and said, "It's still early, we came out earlier than Wang, he definitely hasn't come out yet. When people arrive, we can change places, it won't be late. Hehe, did you see the faces of those people downstairs just now? As soon as they saw us coming in, they looked very strange. I was afraid they would stare their eyeballs into the teacups." Hua Tianxiang hummed softly, "Those people probably thought Ah Lian was hiding at home crying, and suddenly seeing us appear, of course, they would be startled."

  Qin Zhen covered her mouth and smiled: "I've never seen so many people staring blankly at the same time, this is my first time being stared at like this in my life."

  Ye Li looked at her friends discussing their feelings about going out today, and could only smile and shake her head. Actually, the rumors seemed to be not as intense as she had expected, probably because Mo Xiu Yao and her uncle had done something behind the scenes. At least most people's eyes showed surprise or sympathy when they saw her, rather than the contempt and disdain she had anticipated. It seemed that most people didn't believe the news about her being kidnapped.

  Ye Li sat in a relatively remote corner, chatting idly with others. Mo Jing Lei sat alone by the window, his face sinking as he drank tea like wine. Because of the distance, he didn't hear what they were saying, but he could still feel their good atmosphere and mood. It seemed that they were completely unaffected by the rumors. Mo Jing Lei couldn't help but grit his teeth, Ye Li was the one who caused trouble, yet she acted as if nothing had happened, while he had to take the blame. Now, even if he wanted to rush over and reason with Ye Li, Mo Jing Lei still felt that it would be beneath him. So he could only let the gloomy atmosphere scare away the surrounding customers, then continue pouring tea into his mouth.

  "Ah, Ye Lian! Ding Wang has arrived!" Just as everyone was feeling depressed, they heard Mu Rong Ting's loud voice shouting from not far behind, loud enough for the entire second floor to hear. Everyone looked up and saw Mu Rong Ting excitedly leaning against the windowsill looking down. Qin Zheng pulled her down with a sigh and turned back to smile at Ye Lian: "Lian'er, go downstairs and greet Wangye." Hua Tian Xiang covered her mouth and giggled, waving her hand in jest: "It's fine if you don't come back, we'll finish our snacks and go shopping on our own. Besides, there isn't any extra space for Ding Wang to sit here anyway."

  Upon hearing this, the few guests remaining on the second floor began to regret their decision to sit in the inner seats due to their fear of King Lei's cold demeanor. Now they could only perk up their ears and try their best to listen to the conversation of the girls at that one table in the corner. Ye Li couldn't help but laugh at the sight, gossip was indeed an indispensable nature of people from all walks of life. As everyone watched Ye Li get up and head downstairs, either openly or secretly. When passing by Mo Jing Lei's table, he clearly sensed Mo Jing Lei glaring at him with a fierce gaze, Ye Li thought to himself: some people are just not meant to be on the same wavelength, can't force it.

  As Ye San Miss descended the stairs with ease, the gazes and expressions of the diners upstairs towards Mo Jing Lei became even more complex. Seeing Ye San Miss appear so calmly in public and attend Ding Wang's appointment with composure, it really didn't seem like anything had happened to her. On the other hand, Li Wang's face was gloomy and his expression ferocious, clearly showing the anger of a failed conspiracy. People exchanged glances secretly, engaging in silent discussions. Mo Jing Lei seemed to finally be unable to bear such an eerie atmosphere, heavily putting down his teacup on the table, standing up and opening the half-closed window to glance at the streets below, before turning around with a gloomy face and heading downstairs.

  The moment Ye Li came down from upstairs, the entire hall downstairs fell silent. When Ye Li walked out with a warm expression and a smile on his face, people were about to open their mouths to discuss when they saw Mo Jing Lei coming down with a gloomy face, followed by another silence. However, seeing the performance of these two, at least the people present were more inclined to sympathize with Ye Li.

  Ye Li walked out of the teahouse just as the Ding Wang Fu's carriage had stopped, Ah Jin was about to lift the curtain to invite Mo Xiu Yao down. "Xiu Yao," Ye Li called out softly, Ah Jin saw Ye Li and stood aside with great respect. Ye Li stepped up onto the carriage with ease, Mo Xiu Yao looked at her with raised eyebrows, "Why did you come down?" Ye Li sat down across from him, smiling, "Tian Xiang and the others said there were too many people and no place to sit, so they chased me out. It's all their nonsense, originally I wanted to go to Ding Wang Fu again tomorrow."

  Mo Xi Yao smiled, "They made a fuss at just the right time."

  "What does it mean?" Ye Li asked, puzzled. Outside, Ah Jin had already restarted the horse carriage and was moving forward. Ye Li thought for a moment and then leaned out to report the location of their destination. Just in time to see Mo Jing Lei standing at the entrance of the tea house, his eyes gloomy as he stared at their carriage. Mo Xiu Yao said: "Early this morning, the entire capital city was spreading rumors that Jing Lei intentionally wanted to make things difficult for you and that's why he spread it out."

  Ye Li was stunned, and somewhat understood why Mo Jingli's face was so difficult to look at. With a personality like Mo Jingli's, being wronged wouldn't make him feel comfortable, it was no wonder. Thinking back to Mu Rongting's confident guess earlier, it turned out that she hadn't just made it up after all.

  "Ah Lian found me, is there something you want to say?" Mo Xiuyao asked, looking at Ye Lian's delicate face that seemed to be lost in thought.

  Ye Li came back to her senses, nodded and said: "This morning, Han Mingyue sent over 20,000 taels of gold tickets and more than 10,000 taels of silver tickets, as well as a pair of jade pendants. Originally, I was going to bring them with me when I went to the Dingguo King's mansion tomorrow, but it wouldn't be good to carry them on my person while following Tianxiang and the others out." Mo Xiu Yao shook his head indifferently: "Those are gifts he gave you, just accept them." Ye Li was speechless. With a single move of her hand, tens of millions of taels of silver would be spent, Han Mingyue dared to give it to her but she didn't dare to accept it out of embarrassment. "I'll have someone send it to the Dingguo King's mansion tomorrow, you take care of it." Mo Xiu Yao sighed helplessly: "A Li...Han Mingyue sending those things to your place means they're yours now, just put them away and don't worry about it. You also don't need to feel like you owe him a favor, Han Mingyue is the kind of person who would be reluctant to spend even one or two taels of silver, if he's willing to send those things over as an apology gift then it means he thinks they're worth giving. You also don't need to promise him anything."

  Ye Li smiled and said, "I didn't intend to promise him anything." Ye Li had secretly suspected that Han Mingyue had done something wrong to Mo Xiuyao in the past, and now he was involved in this matter again. Unexpectedly, Mo Xiuyao let him off so easily, Han Mingyue was probably feeling guilty or apologetic, but couldn't find a way to make amends, so he tried to curry favor with Ye Li at no cost. Unfortunately, Ye Li didn't plan to do anything to revive the friendship that had once blossomed between them, so Han Mingyue's money would likely be wasted.

  "So you asked me out today just for this matter?" Mo Xiuyao asked.

  Listening to Mo Xiuyao's low and pleasant voice, Ye Lixuan's heart skipped a beat for some reason. He said with some embarrassment: "Indeed, it's not a big deal, I'm disturbing you?" Seeing that Mo Xiuyao seemed really uninterested in the things Han Mingyue had sent over, Ye Lixuan couldn't help but feel curious about just how wealthy and extravagant the Dingguo Royal Manor was.

  "I'm usually quite idle too." Mo Xiuyao shook his head. "Since you're already out, would you like to accompany me to a place?"

  Ye Li nodded, "I'm not too familiar with Beijing either, you decide then."

  With Ye Li's permission, Mo Xiuyao gave a command to Ah Jin who was driving the carriage, and Ah Jin immediately turned the carriage around and headed in another direction.

  In the carriage, Ye Li curiously asked: "Feng Hua Lou? You wouldn't be planning to give me some jewelry, would you? I already have a store that specializes in selling jewelry myself."

  Mo Xiuyao smiled and looked at her, "Isn't it normal for a fiancé to give his fiancée jewelry? Can't I?"

  Ye Li shut her mouth and didn't speak, could she say that you still don't care about my Treasure Pavilion, and the fat water doesn't flow to the fields of others? Even if she hadn't had a proper love affair, she knew this was very unpleasant. However... was Mo Xiu Yao trying to win her favor? Ye Li inexplicably felt a bit annoyed in her heart, but looking at Mo Xiu Yao's gentle and composed expression, she couldn't see what he was thinking, so Ye Li could only helplessly give up. Having a not-so-objectionable man who is still her future husband send jewelry to please herself should be a pleasant thing, right?

  Feng Hua Lou is a very famous jewelry store in the capital, and most of the jewelry sold here is made of jade. The reason why it is loved by the ladies of the capital is not only because of its high price and exquisite products but also because each piece of jewelry sold here has never been exactly the same style. Every single one is unique, which makes the noblewomen who dislike to be identical with others particularly fond of it. Ye Li had once considered taking Cang Zhen Ge on this high-end route as well, but unfortunately, Cang Zhen Ge did not have outstanding designers and master craftsmen, and Ye Li himself only knew a little about jewelry design, so he could only give up reluctantly.

  As soon as they entered the Wind and Flower Pavilion, the shopkeeper immediately came to greet them. Even when he saw Mo Xiuyao entering in a wheelchair, he only hesitated for a brief moment before revealing a polite smile to welcome them. "So it's Duke Ding and Miss Ye. It's an honor to have you both visit our humble Wind and Flower Pavilion. Please, come inside."

  The two were welcomed in, and immediately a pretty young girl brought them fragrant tea for the New Year. Ye Li smiled as she drank her tea, taking in the elegant and comfortable decor of the room, and couldn't help but feel that this was indeed the treatment of honored guests. No wonder Feng Hua Lou could become the favorite haunt of the nobles of the capital. Just thinking about this meticulous service, would they be afraid of not being able to earn back their investment?

  Perhaps because of Mo Xiuyao's identity, the shopkeeper personally stood in front to serve, "Is the king looking to choose accessories for Miss Ye San? Miss Ye San seems to be visiting our small store for the first time, I don't know what kind of accessories she likes?"

  Ye Li looked at Mo Xiu Yao, and Mo Xiu Yao sipped his tea softly saying: "First pick a few good ones to bring over and take a look."

  The shopkeeper nodded and turned around to get something himself. Ye Li asked in confusion: "Are we really here to buy jewelry?"

  Mo Xiuyao smiled and said: "A Li, you're thinking too much. Since we've come out, what's wrong with buying a few things that catch our eye?"

  Ye Li asked with some doubt, "Is it because my usual attire is embarrassing you?" Thinking about it, it's not entirely impossible. Ye Li's accessories weren't few in number and were all left behind by Lady Xu before she passed away. However, Ye Li had always disliked being overly elaborate, so her attire, especially her headpieces, generally maintained a level that wouldn't be considered rude. Given the status of the Dingguo Kingdom's royal family, it was indeed possible that they might think the future queen's attire was too plain and felt embarrassed.

  Mo Xiu Yao shook his head helplessly and looked at Ye Li seriously: "If you really wear a full head of pearls, I won't be able to take it. To be honest, I don't know where to go either, so I brought you here to take a look. Feng Zhi Xiao said the accessories here are not bad."

  Ye Li looked at him suspiciously, trying to find a hint of unease on his face. However, he was too calm and collected, even when saying such pure and innocent-sounding words, his expression remained elegant and composed as he read an ancient book in the study. Ye Li could only tell herself she was overthinking it. After all, although he now seemed refined and gentlemanly, it was said that in his youth, he had also been reckless and impulsive, riding horses and leaning against bridges, with red sleeves waving from the tower.

  The shopkeeper came back with two boxes soon. He carefully opened them on the table and said, "It's rare for Master Wang and Miss Ye to visit our humble store. This set of jewelry is designed and made by our boss himself, and it's probably the only one this year. What do you think, Miss Ye?"

  Yelü was also somewhat curious when he heard the shopkeeper speak so solemnly.

  This is a top-grade celadon jade set, although the value of celadon in jades is not the highest, but the quality of this set is even better than those seen by Ye Li in Shen De Xuan and Cang Zhen Pavilion. More importantly, its simple yet elegant style is like a delicate jade orchid blooming quietly on a moonlit night, evoking a sense of serenity and subtlety from deep within. There's no woman who can resist the allure of exquisite jewelry, Ye Li sighed to herself.

  "This set of ornaments includes two jade hairpins, a bracelet, a ring, and this headpiece." The shopkeeper saw Ye Lian's admiring gaze and immediately opened another box to reveal the headpiece inside. The pale green jade had no intricate patterns or gemstone inlays. It was simply a beautiful ornament composed of delicate orchids, quietly lying on the silk-lined brocade box and radiating a soft glow.

  "Do you like it?" Mo Xiuyao looked at Ye Li and smiled: "Very suitable for Ah Li."

  "It's really beautiful." Ye Li nodded.

  "As for this matter, go back to my mansion and fetch a silver note."

  Seeing that both parties were satisfied, the shopkeeper who had made a big deal was also very happy. "Yes, Miss Ye will take it away or we will send it over?" Mo Xiuyao said lightly: "Just send it directly to the Ye Mansion."

  Digression

  Ah, I've read the comments and many of you are very dissatisfied with Nan Zhu's attitude before. Actually, it's like this, Nan Zhu's current identity has destined that he can't openly take revenge on anyone. His father, mother, and brother were killed by someone and he still hasn't avenged them; his ex-fiancée died and he still hasn't avenged her either. Everything is for one word: endurance.

  Additionally, Nanzhu and the female lead are not in a romantic relationship at present, and neither of them has fallen in love with each other. Therefore, the female lead's attitude towards Nanzhu is nonchalant, and she thinks that as a former special forces operative, it was her own responsibility to get into such a situation and wouldn't think of blaming anyone for not protecting herself. From the male lead's perspective, he definitely has good feelings towards the female lead, but not to the extent written in the synopsis, and similarly, it is absolutely impossible for him to disrupt his plans and arrangements for the sake of the female lead. However, this may change later on. Haha. There will be protection and abuse of the bad eggs too~ If there are any parts that you don't understand, please leave a message, and I'll take another look to see if it's because something was written incorrectly.