He Lian'an pushed his hand away and said: "Why don't you think about it from start to finish, who provoked whom first!"

  Xiao Qi's eyes widened, and the tense arm relaxed, her soft and warm wrist fell like a fluffy dog tail grass, itching into the skin and reaching the heart, suddenly he turned his hand over and grabbed her struggling hand again, his voice sank into the deep abyss like a stone, hard and suppressed: "My sister is dead, on the day we left the city, I still advised her not to be foolish, she clearly agreed, but still died..."

  He grasped her struggling hand tightly, and she could see the clear veins bulging on his fingers as he frowned and said, "The dead cannot be brought back to life."

  "If it were Cheng Shuwei who had died, would you still be so calm?"

  "I will be sad, I will investigate, and I will take revenge on the scoundrel who killed my sister, but I won't turn rumors into facts without any evidence to prove who killed her, and involve innocent people in hatred!" He Lian said with a frown.

  "Xiao Qi, the imperial harem is already a deep and unfathomable dye vat, let alone the palace that devours people without spitting out their bones. I also feel sorry for Xiao Shi's untimely death at such a young age, but how can you selfishly use your own grief to harm others without any evidence? Don't you think this behavior of yours is excessive?"

  Xiao Qi's hand tightened around her arm, "You're just standing there talking without any consequences."

  He Le'an was so angry that he was about to cry, gritting his teeth and saying: "I'm not only standing up talking without a sore waist, I'm also sitting down talking without a sore waist. How can I talk without a sore waist? Let me go quickly!" She just felt her arm super hurt!

  Xiao Qi looked at her fragile appearance, his already uncomfortable heart felt even more so. At this time, Xiao Si's mother hurried over and said, "Seventh brother! Let go of An An quickly!"

  "Hmph!" Xiao Qi let out a low, cold snort and took advantage of the situation to release his hand.

  He Le'an hastily retreated, rubbing her lips and almost shattered arm. Xiao Si Niang walked over and said, "An An, are you okay? I'll have the maid call for Miao Miao to come and examine you."

  "She's not made of paper, how can she be so fragile?"

  "Shut up!" Xiao Si Niang interrupted Xiao Qi's sarcastic remarks, glaring at him fiercely before turning to He Le An and saying, "He's always been a rough and rude little scamp. I'll make sure to teach him a lesson when we get back. Don't bother with him, just hurry back and let your mother take a look at you, don't strain yourself."

  She nodded to Xing Yu beside her to support He Le'an away, and then scolded Xiao Qi's wrongdoings without any politeness.

  Xingyu returned to the courtyard and took a look, He Le'an's pale arm was purple in a circle, and she said discontentedly: "That Xiao Qiuzi is really excessive, no matter what happens in the capital, it can't be related to Miss, he actually blamed you too, Third Madam is also wrong, should let Xiao Qiuzi apologize to you, how can one sentence 'don't mind' erase the harm he inflicted on you?"

  He Le'an didn't care about Xiao Qi's insincere apology, and besides, the Xiao family was in trouble, so it was only natural that Xiao Si's daughter would be upset when she left the Xiao household. It wasn't surprising if she overlooked some things, even a small place like this would be wary of rumors and gossip spreading from the capital to Fengzhou City, it could be imagined that someone was trying to use a borrowed knife to kill her, wanting to take Chang Shu's life through this.

  First and foremost, isn't it Wen Yibo's second wife and the ambitious collateral branch? She can see through the twists and turns of this matter, but others will only think that the powerful are bullying the merchants in the palace, causing public opinion to boil over and condemn Cheng Shuwei.

  "Alright, Xing Yu, Third Aunt has just married into the family, don't spread these words around and make things difficult for her." He Le An leaned against the carved wooden railing at the side of the bed and said softly, "Send someone to deliver a message to the Xi manor, let Young Master Xi put an end to the rumors and gossip in the streets about Mei Jie, especially those coming from the Wen Yi Bo manor, don't let these petty people get their way."

  "Yes, miss."

  **

  He Le'an had a habit of taking naps, and was just dozing off while reading when Xiao Qi came in with a scowl on his face. He dropped off a jar of ointment and left, but awkwardly blurted out a brief and vague apology, as if remembering something, turned back and said: "I am me, Fourth Sister is Fourth Sister, you are you, Cheng Shuwei is Cheng Shuwei!!" After speaking, he disappeared like the wind.

  Xiao Qi was probably the most arrogant person she had ever met, being both overbearing and sentimental, but not having any ill intentions. He Le An was never a petty person, so seeing him get taught a lesson by Xiao Si's mother was enough. After waking up from her nap, Xiao Si's mother brought some snacks over and apologized: "If it weren't for me, Xiao Qi wouldn't have been able to enter the Hou Manor, he was too rude to you, I should apologize."

  "We don't need to speak in two different households, Third Aunt's reserve has made An'an feel embarrassed."

  Xiao Si Niang admired this concubine who was favored by Old Lady He, yet never became arrogant. She knew the ways of the world but didn't follow them, and treated the servants in the mansion with kindness and humility. Since she married into the family, she had never intentionally or unintentionally been cold to anyone. Several times, she even helped Xiao Si Niang out when Old Lady He was present. She was a straightforward and clean girl who knew how to treat others just right, making it impossible for anyone to dislike her.

  "It's always been Xiao Qi's nature, and you're being magnanimous by not taking it seriously."

  After several tugs, the maid sent Xiao Si Niang out of the door.

  At night, Xie Ye descended from the sky again, silently and without a sound. He was filled with thick alcohol fumes, and with his scorching body temperature, he pulled He Le'an into his arms, who had intentionally put on a disgusted expression. "You can't drink, smell it too, I'm attending the provincial Chamber of Commerce for the first time, there are all kinds of cunning people inside, what kind of monsters they have, at this time they actually set their sights on the Xiao family's industry, the way they eat is really ugly."

  Xiao Qi came to the Hou Mansion today to discuss family matters with Xiao Si. He Le An smiled and said, "With your belly full of evil intentions, you'll definitely make them unable to eat well. I heard that this time's Provincial Merchants Association meeting is discussing the increase in taxes."

  "Merchants toil and accumulate wealth, but also pay a lot of taxes. Year after year, they support the imperial court, but their status has never been valued since ancient times, and are even despised. The nobles truly do not know the hardships of making money themselves, and yet they constantly propose that Your Majesty increase taxes. We haven't even swallowed our hot rice, and we have to spit out half of it first. It's really frustrating." Xū Xié Dào said, "No wonder the Xiao family wants to take a shortcut, but unfortunately, there is no easy path in the world."

  He Le'an burst out laughing, "You, a young master who has grown up in a wealthy and noble family, with everything at your fingertips, now know that being a merchant is not easy, do you? You've even started to care about money." She truly felt how hard he had worked to become a merchant just to marry her.

  "It's just that someone has taken my money and still complains that it's not clean enough, it's infuriating." Xū Xié sighed, "Money was originally not vulgar, but greedy people pretend to be ungreedy, they will be dressed in ugly clothes. What's disgusting is that there are always people who scold money as a bad thing, while constantly putting bad things into their own pockets. Their faces are so ugly, it's unbearable to look at. Fortunately, you won't have to face these demons and monsters in the future. Just spend your money and be done with it."

  "Okay, you take care of making money and supporting the family, I'll take care of being beautiful."

  March passed neither quickly nor slowly, and by mid-September, the Hou estate's secondary residence was bustling with activity once again. In He Lao Tai Tai's Xuan Su Residence, a joyful atmosphere filled the air as He Le An's face turned bright red from being scrutinized while trying on her wedding dress. Xue Hui Yu, who was participating in the event, smiled and said: "An An looks great in this outfit, it really brings out her curvaceous figure."

  "I also think Sixth Sister looks best in this outfit." He Le Yan said with a mouthful of pastry.

  Xiao Si Niang chimed in, "If paired with the ruby headdress made by Mother, it will surely be the most stunning in all directions."

  After chatting and laughing for a while, they finally settled on the phoenix crown and auspicious decorations. He Le'an was so exhausted that he broke out in a cold sweat, and stayed at Xuansu Residence to chat for another half an hour before she returned to Fuliu Courtyard with Xue Huiyu.

  "I really didn't think that Xie Ye would be able to keep the tradition of not seeing each other for a month before marriage." Xue Hui covered her mouth and smiled, then slightly pursed her lips. "You can marry a man who puts you in his heart, I... am also at ease." The Duke's older brother can rest assured too, the person he has been thinking about will be getting married on October 10th.

  He Le'an knew she had paused because she wanted to say something, so she smiled lightly and said: "Ye Ming indeed treats me like a treasure."

  Xue Huiyu couldn't help but laugh and said, "If he dares to treat you badly, this fist of mine will not let him off."

  After dinner in the evening, Xue Huiyu slowly said in a soft voice, "My marriage has been settled, and it is indeed Prince Wang's son."

  He Le'an raised her lips as if to speak, and then said: "Brother said that people look good, the only child but usually not arrogant and provocative master, I... thought about it, and followed my mother's words. As a child, I shouldn't let my parents worry about those obsessions in my heart."

  "My aunt asked for an imperial edict to grant a marriage, so that I could marry into the capital with great fanfare at that time."

  "Mother can rest assured that I will marry into the capital city, also because in the future I can rely on the Qian Guo Gong Fu and not be bullied by anyone."

  She spoke very slowly, every word and sentence was carefully chosen, those helpless words made He Luo's heart ache, especially when she knew that the bamboo horse in her heart still existed. She saw her smile, "A friend once appeared in my dream, encouraging me to move forward bravely, although everyone wants me to forget him, but I know, I won't forget him, it's good this way."

  By the end of September, the imperial edict for the arranged marriage arrived, and everyone in the world knew that the eldest miss of the Jin Ning Marquis's manor would be marrying the Crown Prince of Xuan Qin next year.

  This enviable beautiful thing, Xue Huiyu responded calmly, but she was eager for the two cars of gifts that Cheng Shu Mei had specially sent to He Le'an. She looked at the bright red and smiled: "Sister Mei's intention is really luxurious, now not only the entire Fengzhou City, but also the people all over the world will know that the first lady of Fengzhou City is a close friend of Mei Guifei, hurry up and open it to see what's inside!!!"

  "You take whichever one you like, I'll give it to you." He Lan said with an uncontrollable smile.

  Xue Huiyu's laughter was like a galloping wild horse, "I won't be polite with you, oh~"

  **

  On October 1st, He Le Yan and He Le Xuan, who had just returned from the study room, pulled He Le An out of the house.

  He Le smiled and said: "My brother and I have thought about it, we want to give a gift that Sixth Sister likes, that would be more festive." And so, he pulled He Le'an out the door, to go pick out some jewelry at those shops.

  "What you send, I'll be happy with, no need to go to extra expense." He Lian said with a smile.

  He Le Xuan said, "I know you don't mind these things, but getting married is different from usual, so don't be polite to us."

  He Le'an genuinely thought it was enough after buying a bunch of things. However, He Le'yan blinked her eyes and said, "Sixth sister, don't worry, our wallets are bulging. Father and mother have added their share, so let's indulge in this trip."

  Feeling tired from wandering around, I entered a teahouse to rest, but the overflowing joy was temporarily frozen by a deliberate hum of discontent.

  Cheng San Dao said as he went out with several young ladies, "Isn't this the Flower Fairy that everyone in the city is praising? You should be happy now. Poor Zhuo Yi Bo's estate was ruined by you to such an extent!"

  He Le'an furrowed his brow, only to hear He Le'yan retort: "Hmph! I've been crawling around in the streets for years. I've seen shameless rascals who don't care about their reputation trying to swindle people out of money, but never have I seen someone as despicable as you, who can't bear to see others do well and will stop at nothing to stir up trouble! What's with this 'Sixth Sister' nonsense? Everyone in town knows what kind of place the Zhuo Yi Bo estate is. If you're going to slander others, at least have some standards!"

  "A mere commoner girl, who would care about slandering her?" Cheng San sneered, "He Liu, your heart is truly black and poisonous, harming so many people, yet you don't feel the slightest bit of guilt. You really aren't afraid that after He Shi is executed, she'll come back to haunt you for revenge."

  "She brought it upon herself, her evil deeds will not be tolerated. What is there for me to fear? If she dares to come, I'll dare to scatter her soul and make her unable to cling to me again. Time and time again, I've let her off lightly, not bothering to settle accounts with her." He Lian coldly interrupted:

  "She was repeatedly getting more and more outrageous, I'll let the law deal with her. It's not me who sentenced her, she harmed so many concubines back then, it wasn't me who forced her to do that, you want to take her side, why don't you go kneel at the government office? Isn't this just bullying me because I'm easy to bully?! She's not some kind of White Lotus, in front of everyone, what is she pretending to be so noble and flawless about?"

  He Le Yan suppressed the urge to applaud He Le An, and suddenly exposed Cheng San Dao's uncontrollable anger: "If you had a conscience, you wouldn't have never visited He Shi and Shao Yingxiu in prison. When the dignitaries mentioned their mother and daughter at the banquet, didn't you hastily clear your relationship? In public, you pretended to be close sisters, how could you deceive the masses like this? Do you really think the masses are all fools?"

  "Others play their roles fully, but you're quite something! You have one set of tricks for the powerful and another for the masses. With such slick acting skills, why don't you become a performer on stage?"

  "You! You all!" Cheng San was so angry that his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys were all trembling. He suddenly stood up and rushed towards He Lejuan, but unfortunately, he was blocked by He Lexiong before he could reach her. However, the crowd had underestimated the extent of her shamelessness. She suddenly burst into tears and shouted, "Waaah, this man is molesting me!"

  He Le'an rolled her eyes and glanced at the young ladies behind her, "You all saw it clearly, my brother didn't even touch her a bit. Such a shameless person, are you sure you still want to associate with her?"

  The women who were with Cheng San looked at each other in dismay, gradually revealing their disgusted expressions. They began to defend He Le Xuan, which made Cheng San so angry that she was almost bursting with rage. She glared at He Le An with hatred. "You see, she's really a seductress! Even my friends are being charmed by her! I just saw that her eyes were red and green, she must be a fox spirit, here to harm people!"

  He Le'an was too lazy to bother with her nonsense, pulling He Le'yan and He Le'xuan down the stairs. Unexpectedly, Cheng San'e deliberately broke off his own wrist jade chain, causing He Le'yan to accidentally step on it and slip down the stairs. As a result, He Le'an grabbed one hand of hers and one hand of He Le'xuan, and under the sudden loss of control, all three rolled down the stairs together.

  In their panic, a deep smoke-colored figure intercepted them.

  In a flurry, He Le Xuan turned back to see Xue Shi Zi helping up He Le An and He Le Yuan who were almost unable to stand. He let out a sigh of relief as He Le Yuan angrily rushed towards the stairs where Cheng San was standing with a disappointed face:

  "I think the most venomous, frightening and cruel person in this world is you, Cheng Mari. I...I...I" She turned her furious yet somewhat restrained profanity into a curse, "May you live to be a hundred years old, may every year have today, and may every day be like being a maiden in the boudoir!!!"

  In the burst of laughter that erupted after being stunned, Cheng Mari's face turned red and then pale, pale and then black. "You actually cursed me to never get married for my whole life, you..."

  "I just hope you stay young forever, it's you who thinks you'll never get married in your life, don't blame me for that!" He Leiyin coldly snorted: "In broad daylight, you, surnamed Cheng, don't easily change to surname Lai, losing the face of Wen Yibo's household!!"

  She didn't want to bother with Cheng Mari anymore, but Cheng Mari wouldn't let her off easily. In a fit of rage, she charged towards her, but a tragic thing happened - she accidentally stepped on the jade beads she had scattered earlier and lost control, tumbling down the stairs in a state of panic. She couldn't even cry out for help as she rolled down the zigzagging staircase, landing at the bottom with a thud, sprawled out in a ridiculous dog-eating-shit pose!

  The crowd that had gathered to watch was shocked at first, but then burst out laughing like a flood. However, Cheng Mari fainted from the intense hatred in her heart. He Le Xuan looked at He Le An and then at He Le Yuan, before looking at Xue Shi Zi again. Before he could say anything, Xue Shi Zi innocently said: "I do know martial arts and I can indeed save her, but since she's already falsely accusing others in front of so many people, I'm afraid that if I touch her, she'll just say it was me who made her fall on purpose. I...can't afford to take such a risk."

  "... " made a lot of sense, He Le Xuan was speechless and nodded in understanding.

  The women who went out with Cheng Mari, although they did not want to bring the embarrassing Cheng Mari back, after all, they had gone out together, and no matter how disgusted they were, they had to send her back. The tea house incident was thus enthusiastically discussed by the surrounding crowd, and soon spread throughout the entire Fengzhou City.

  On the bustling street, He Le asked Xue Shizi how he happened to meet him at the tea house. Xue Shizi smiled and said: "I met an acquaintance and went in together for a sit, didn't expect to hear a noise coming out, and it turned out to be you guys."

  He Le Yan thought of Cheng Mari, who was simply disgusted with her, and sniffed exaggeratedly at He Le An beside her. She hummed: "Sixth sister doesn't have the smell of meat bones on her body either, how come she goes wherever she wants to bite? The more I think about it, the smaller the eyes of the nobles in Fengzhou City are than needles. Every single one of them is a thousand gold miss who thinks they are right and puts their jealousy on their face, not knowing shame, but instead wishing that everyone in the world would know!"

  "They themselves are not good, yet they blame others for being good. They themselves don't look good, yet they resent others for looking good. With all the time spent on envy and jealousy, why don't they reflect on themselves? Is it because I grew up in a poor neighborhood that I can understand this?"

  He Le'an was amused by the remarks of others, "Everyone's heart is different, they want to hate and resent, let them hate and resent, I will insist on doing what I think is right, and don't care about their opinions or words."

  Xue Shizi gazed at her, who seemed to be radiating light, and a smile naturally blossomed on his lips, but he said with a nonchalant tone, "You're about to get married, it's not good to be so showy." For some reason, after saying this, he felt a pang of loss.

  He Le'an said, "It seems like it's true but actually isn't." "Seems like it, yeah. From now on, I'll be a walking silver ticket. What if I get kidnapped?"

  "Pfft pfft pfft, what nonsense is Sixth Sister spouting?!" He LeYing cut in speechlessly, "May you have good fortune and prosperity! May the gods bless you!!"

  In the midst of their carefree laughter and chatter, Xue Shizi took the opportunity to send them back to the Hou Mansion's separate courtyard.

  The next evening, He Le'an received a gift from Xue Shizhi through Xue Huiyu, which was an exquisitely crafted pure gold box in the shape of a pair of intertwined branches. She had thought it would contain some jewelry or jade, but when she opened it under Xue Huiyu's curious urging, it turned out to be three thousand taels of silver notes.

  Xue Huiyu, who had searched for the silver ticket several times, said with a complex expression: "My brother is indeed a down-to-earth man."

  He Le'an couldn't help but laugh, "...... Indeed."

  When mentioning her elder brother, Xue Hui suddenly remembered something and said: "Auntie brought news from the capital that His Majesty intended to grant my brother a marriage to a princess, but almost all of them were at or near the age of marriage, only those few who were notorious for being willful and arrogant. Fortunately, the King's residence has some weight in their words, otherwise, the Hou residence would have been in trouble."

  Xue Huiyu chatted about some miscellaneous things and left after dinner.

  On the ninth day of the morning, He Le'an received a wooden box about the size of a medicine chest from her maid, Tong. When she opened it, she found that it was filled with old and valuable recipe books. Facing her puzzlement, Tong also looked bewildered and said:

  "The maid wasn't clear about the specifics, but the gatekeeper's servant said it was a young man who looked very clean-cut who delivered it, and after the doctor checked it out and confirmed there was nothing suspicious, they brought it over to Feng Liu courtyard."

  He Le'an suddenly thought of the young master of the patrol office, but then she thought that if it was him who sent it, he should have left his name. The relationship between the patrol office and He San's uncle is getting better and better, and they were also invited to her wedding tomorrow. If someone with a good heart sent such an expensive gift, they should have left some information so that she could thank them properly. "Nothing else, you can go now."

  She had barely finished speaking when Old Lady He arrived, supported by He Le Yan and He Le Xuan, with Xiao Si Niang on the side and a large group of maidservants carrying things behind her. He Le An knew that tomorrow's wedding would start 'official preparations' from today, thinking that she would soon see Xi Ye, her heart skipped a beat...