Qī Yòu's sudden departure and return left Wén Yùdān astonished, immediately getting up to let someone lead him into the small flower hall of the inner mansion.

  "Yuán and Zhā are the ones who report everything to the Three Treasures Hall, let alone having just left and returned again. Don't wait for me, take a rest first. If it's not important, I'll come over later."

  The crown prince's consort helped him change his clothes while softly responding, "I originally got along quite well with that madam, I think it would be nice to invite her over to keep me company, what do you think?"

  "She's a kindred spirit, I've already acknowledged her kindness to me, but it's not convenient for me to thank her in person. You take good care of her for me, and with your influence, she'll be able to avoid being bullied by others in the Qi Manor."

  "Yes, I understand."

  He shook her hand and turned around to leave with big strides.

  In his heart, for now, Da Ye is still the most important thing.

  As soon as he heard the footsteps, Qi You stood up to greet him. Wen Yu Dan lifted the beaded curtain and came in himself, waving his hand: "Don't go through these empty formalities, what's so important that you'd leave and then rush back?"

  Qī Yòu didn't stand on ceremony and really accepted the gift, then told the truth about Jiang's family inviting Xiao's family's old lady to be a matchmaker.

  Nature, as well as the initial response, has been said one by one.

  It's not that he wants his wife to leave a deep impression on the crown prince, but rather he needs to use her words to reiterate the Qi family's attitude.

  Wen Yuandan's face was already extremely ugly at this time, "You're saying that the Jiang family has defected to the Second Prince?"

  "Let's have someone investigate and see how it goes. However, the Chiang family is no longer trustworthy, and there's no need to try to win them over anymore."

  "Now that they've already surrendered to Wen Yuanyang, why are they completely accepting my offer of peace? Are they preparing to do something else? Ah? Making two-handed preparations? Wallhead grass, what this palace hates the most is the wallhead grass that sways back and forth."

  "It could also mean Second Prince."

  Qī Yòu didn't say anything at first, but after speaking, Wén Yùdān became even angrier. Is Second Brother trying to make a fool of him?

  He actually let him see it, damn the Jiang family, damn it. If not for Er Ge's move to expose the Jiang family, he might have suffered a big loss here in the future.

  However, they coincidentally found their way to the Qi Manor.

  Does Second Brother really want to be the master of both the original and the fake?

  If Yuan and Zhen betray their lord, Old Two will just take him seriously again, how dare he use it?

  Close your eyes and suppress the intense anger.

  Lao Er, you lost by one move, I don't believe anyone except Yuan and Yi.

  You may know that if it weren't for him, I would have died long ago when I was a child.

  You only saw his loyalty, but behind his loyalty, how much did he pay?

  If it weren't for him, Yuan Yu would not have become what he is today.

  He wouldn't smile when he should be smiling, and he wouldn't cry when he should be crying, for fear that others would see something in his face that would harm this young master.

  He is such a careful and cautious person, struggling all the way to today, how could he be defeated by your despicable means!

  He was worried that his new wife would hold him back, but it seems he was worrying for nothing.

  In the original and non-existent situations, she did very well, not only cutting off the Jiang family's thoughts, but also making the two old men of the Qi family naturally acknowledge the marriage that had not been settled yet.

  I'm afraid even Lao Er didn't think that the so-called oral agreement with Yuan Rui was a lie.

  Qī Yòu simply lowered his eyelids and stood quietly on one side, waiting.

  After a long while, the crown prince's deep voice finally sounded: "Yuan Ji, your sister's marriage must be settled immediately. The candidate will be chosen from those three people. You choose the best one. As long as I don't lose face, no one will dare to belittle your sister."

  Qī Yòu then bowed down and said, "Thank you, Your Excellency, for your kindness."

  Wen Yu Dan bent down and lifted the person up with both hands, "There's no need to say these things between us. If we really have to thank each other, it's hard to say who should be thanking whom. Yuan Ji, your wife is very good, very good."

  Qiu You's eyes softened, "Yes, she's fine, with her around, even if I'm away from home, I can be at ease."

  He patted him on the shoulder a few times, and Wen Yudan didn't say much.

  Everything is in silence.

  Not mentioning their future wealth and glory, at least during their shared hardships, they have an emotional bond that is no less than that of brothers.

  "Now that the serious matters are settled, Wen Yuandan smiled and said: 'The other day, you had just left, and Zhen Qin went to see your wife. She actually wanted to go support her, but the gift your wife gave was a bit too heavy-handed. I'm sure you can't guess what it is.'"

  Qī Yòu didn't ask, but urged with his eyes instead.

  "You're such a boring person, talking to you is so unenthusiastic, I always feel like I'm the only one speaking. Although I complain about this, Wen Yudan didn't continue to play dumb and said: "It's a pair of purple jade earrings that have been ground into shape, Zhenqin likes them so much, wears them every day, and even asked someone to find purple jade in the warehouse to make several pieces of jewelry, which made the housekeeper heartbroken."

  Qī Yòu is even more reluctant to speak, who has a piece of purple jade that isn't carefully kept and hidden on their body? How much waste will it take to grind it into jewelry? Only the lady with gold at the bottom of her trunk doesn't think this is a big deal.

  "Isn't this too extravagant?" Wen Yudan burst out laughing, "I think it's quite good. The purple jade is still jade after all, and if we just leave it as is, it would be a waste. Turning it into jewelry brings out its value instead. You haven't seen how beautiful it looks."

  "After she goes back, I'll take a look at her jewelry box and see just how extravagant she is."

  "Haha, you're really a spendthrift! What can you do to her? Her family is wealthy and influential, just one sentence 'this is her dowry' would shut you up. He patted Qi You's shoulder again, Xun Yudan's mood improved a lot, "Go back now, in two days let your wife come to the mansion, the Crown Prince's consort wants to have a talk with her."

  "Yes, I'll withdraw."

  Until the footsteps could no longer be heard, Wen Yudan was still standing in place without moving, only, the smile was gone.

  A face covered with frost.

  Old Second, let's see who can laugh last.

  What you owe me, one day I will collect it all back bit by bit.

  This night, some candles burn till dawn, some spring nights are short, some... toss and turn thinking.

  No matter how busy ordinary people are, dawn still arrives on time.

  Closing her eyes and rolling over, Hua Ruoyi really wanted to hug the quilt and continue sleeping. She had been disturbed for more than half the night and was afraid that even the maids outside would have heard.

  Fortunately she didn't have the habit of keeping a maid in the house to attend to her, otherwise she wouldn't even need to see anyone.

  "Are you awake?"

  You can tell without looking that this person is in a good mood, they've eaten their fill and had enough to drink, she understands.

  It's just that she paid a bit more, now her whole body is sore.

  Turned over and ignored him.

  His expression was relaxed and pleasant, although he didn't smile, but that good mood couldn't be concealed.

  He wrapped his long arms around her and pulled her into his embrace, but she still had her eyes tightly closed, yet her eyelashes trembled uncontrollably, and her eyeballs rolled wildly under her eyelids, as lively as when she had her eyes open.

  Pinched her nose, "Didn't you say we were going out? We'll have breakfast and then leave."

  Hua Ru Chu immediately opened her eyes and sprang up from bed, "Let's go wash up."

  She must have been suffocating at home, Qiyou leaned against the bed. Seeing her put on a light green bellyband, that half-concealing and half-revealing appearance made last night's lingering passion suddenly sweep over his entire body.

  Avoid eye contact. Qi You secretly sighed and wasn't a young man who had just experienced his first love affair, but this behavior was really not good.

  After covering up all the bruises on his body, Hua Ru Chu took out a set of pure white golden silkworm undergarments for Qi You to wear.

  "Is this the golden brocade you spoke of?"

  "Well, I had the girls make two sets for you. This one won't be so hot in summer."

  It feels light and thin when touched, soft and smooth. Wearing it on the body doesn't feel stuffy at all.

  No wonder it was sold at a sky-high price in Yangzhou.

  Put on a sky-blue outer shirt, and put on those small accessories, took a step back and looked. Ah, hair not tied up.

  Pushing Qiyou to the dresser and having him sit down, she quickly combed his hair and styled it for him. As she worked, she said, "My skills are getting better and better."

  "This kind of words should be spoken by others as praise, but if said by oneself, it can only be..."

  "What is it?" His hand tightened, and Qi You felt like his scalp was about to be blown off.

  "If you say so yourself, then your craftsmanship is really good."

  This is almost done, relaxed her grip, Hua Ru Chū put up her hair and tied it with a golden crown.

  She has a lot of jade there, why not pick out a few suitable colors to make him a few jade crowns, anyway his birthday is coming soon, just consider it a birthday gift.

  Looking at the man in the mirror, he is not a Yangzhou man with elegant eyebrows and eyes. His facial features carry a sharp and overbearing aura, which is hidden under his calm appearance. Ordinary people only feel that this person is difficult to approach and would never think that beneath his calm exterior lies an absolutely non-calm temperament.

  Lowering her gaze, she avoided the man's focused stare and hastily ordered: "Those outside, come in to serve."

  The door opened with a creak, and Yun Shu led four little maidservants into the room in single file.

  The unfamiliar smell in the room made the maids' faces turn red, and after hearing the sounds from last night, they didn't even dare to lift their heads.

  Looking at their appearance, Yun Shu could only let them serve the two masters to wash and dress, while she went to tidy up the bed.

  Hua Ru Chu was sitting there dressing up when Qi You took over her makeup box and flipped through it, confirming that none of the boxes had seen Zi Yu, so she knew she should still have some makeup boxes that hadn't been put on the table.

  The purple jade he sent was also not among them.

  "I heard from the Crown Prince that you gave a pair of purple jade earrings to the Crown Princess."

  "She's come all this way just to support me, so it's only right that I give her a thank-you gift. By the way, since you mentioned the prince, has he said whether the princess likes it?"

  "Who wouldn't like such an ornament? The prince says you're too extravagant."

  Yun Shu's hand tightened into a fist as Hua Ruochi let out a cry of pain.

  "Miss, forgive me, I was lost in thought."

  "Give me a massage, don't tie your hair too tight or too loose."

  "Yes."

  Qī Yòu silently glanced at Yun Shū, and Yun Shū felt a chill on his back, his hands numb.

  Fortunately, he quickly shifted his gaze and swept it over the dressing table.

  Bian asked: "Now that you've sent the person away, do you still have any use for it? Do you want to take that purple jade and make a piece of jewelry out of it?"

  "Don't you think it's a waste of money?"

  "As long as you like it."

  Careless words unexpectedly sound especially sincere, Hua Ru looked at herself in the mirror, smiling, very happy.

  All women like to hear such words, she says to herself.

  "Let's keep that purple jade for now, and set aside the earrings. I still have a pendant and a hairpin, but they're both too showy, I don't want to use them."

  As she spoke, she pulled open the secret compartment in her dresser drawer that was completely seamless, inside were a few exquisite pieces of jewelry and the purple jade he had given her.

  PS: Thanks for subscribing to the official version, love you guys. En, those who were attracted by the chapter title, please face the wall, haha.

  Bookworm Building updates the fastest, no pop-up window, please collect Bookworm Building (.co).