"Lord Zhou! I'm so sorry! Terribly sorry!" The madam wailed, bowing repeatedly to the young man on the bed.
"Get out, all of you!" The man on the bed roared in a fit of rage.
Wei Dongling swaggered over and plopped herself down beside Lord Zhou, who was in a disheveled state. She took out a stack of silver notes and offered them to him, saying apologetically, "Lord Zhou, I'm really sorry. I have something urgent to discuss with Miss Ruochen. Could I borrow her for just a quarter of an hour..."
Lord Zhou, who was qualified to be the lover of the top courtesan in the Night Fragrance Pavilion, was a powerful and wealthy man. Having his amorous encounter interrupted, he was already seething with anger. Seeing Wei Dongling take out the silver notes as if to insult him, his face contorted with fury. He slapped away Wei Dongling's hand and shouted, "Get out!"
Seeing that the silver notes didn't work, Wei Dongling pinched the corners of her eyes hard and squeezed out two tears. Her voice choked with sobs as she pleaded pitifully, "I know Miss Ruochen only has eyes for you! But Lord Zhou, you may not know that Miss Ruochen has had a very rough life. Now, I've finally managed to track down some news about her parents after much effort. I'm here to tell her about it. I promise, I'll be out of here in less than a quarter of an hour. I won't delay your intimate time with Miss Ruochen!"
Hearing that Miss Ruochen only had eyes for him, Lord Zhou's anger subsided a great deal. Then, upon hearing about her difficult life, he couldn't help but feel a pang of pity. Looking up, he saw Ruochen covered in a sheer veil, her charm overflowing, with a look of hesitation and tenderness on her face. Instantly, his protective instincts soared. He scowled at Wei Dongling and growled, "Then hurry up and finish your business and get out!" With that, he straightened his clothes and walked out.
The madam and Yu Haiming outside stood there, stunned. Miss Wei's ability to make up stories on the spot truly impressed them.
The madam was quick-witted. Seeing Lord Zhou come out, she bowed and invited him to sit in the next room. She also ordered someone to serve good tea and tried to soothe him.
Ruochen gave Wei Dongling a half-smile and got up to wash her hands as if no one else was around. Her delicate feet were especially eye-catching on the red carpet. She sneered at Wei Dongling, "What brings Miss Wei here? Has my useless junior sister caused another problem?"
Wei Dongling knew that Ruochen was mocking her for making things up, but she didn't mind. She followed Ruochen closely and got straight to the point in a low voice, "Today, Cuihuan and I fell into the hands of the Crown Prince and suffered a bit. What troubles us is that the Crown Prince actually knows that Yu Zixi has gone to the northwest!"
"Really?" Ruochen wasn't surprised. She picked up the handkerchief in the wooden basin to wipe her slender hands. The curves of her chest rose and fell with her movements, making even Wei Dongling, a woman, couldn't help but stare. Ruochen gave Wei Dongling a sideways glance with her charming eyes and said coldly, "You came all the way here just for this? And offended my benefactor?"
Wei Dongling felt a bit embarrassed. She stuffed the silver notes into Ruochen's palm, took a deep breath, and said sullenly, "The Crown Prince claimed that Yu Zixi fell off a cliff more than ten days ago and there was no trace of his body left."
Ruochen's hand holding the silver notes froze. Her face turned deathly pale instantly. She grabbed Wei Dongling's lapel and asked in a deep voice, "Are you telling the truth?"
Wei Dongling pried open Ruochen's slender fingers one by one and frowned, "I haven't received any news about Young Master Yu in the past month. That's why I'm so anxious. I came here to ask if you have any information."
Ruochen felt flustered. Her face was as white as a sheet as she gasped, "Half a month ago, I received a letter from Tian Qi saying that he was safe and sound in Hanzhong. After that, there's been no news. Miss Wei, can you confirm whether what the Crown Prince said is true?"
Wei Dongling remembered the way the Crown Prince showed off in front of her. She took a deep breath and said, "The Crown Prince has no reason to lie."
Ruochen hesitated for a moment and said tremblingly, "I'll send someone to inform Master right away and see what he thinks."
Wei Dongling nodded, bowed, and then turned to leave.
The madam finally let out a sigh of relief when she saw Wei Dongling leave. She quickly went to invite Lord Zhou back.
Outside the Night Fragrance Pavilion, Yu Haiming mounted his horse and said awkwardly, "Next time something like this happens, you'd better ask the girl to come out and see you. As an unmarried girl, it's not very appropriate for you to go in and out of such places."
"Okay." Wei Dongling nodded absent-mindedly and rode away.
When they returned to the Su Mansion, all the uncles were still awake, waiting for Wei Dongling.
When Lin Baiwan saw Wei Dongling take her seat, he rushed forward and said, "Girl, tonight we visited three paper mills respectively. A smaller workshop said they were willing to try taking our order. They'll present samples for our inspection within three days."
Wei Dongling nodded and said, "As long as they can replicate it and the quality is up to standard, we're willing to cooperate. But for a small workshop, safety issues must be taken seriously. If the products are unhygienic and cause diarrhea or something, it'll ruin our reputation! After all our hard work, no one wants to see such a situation."
Lin Baiwan nodded repeatedly, "You're right! Once their products are of good quality and we sign the contract, I'll go and supervise them from time to time."
Wei Dongling thought about how the Crown Prince had spent 100,000 taels of silver just to stop the paper mills from cooperating with her. She felt a bit aggrieved. She lowered her eyes and said to Lin Baiwan, "If necessary, Uncle Lin, buy that workshop and strictly control the quality."
Lin Baiwan paused for a moment, then stroked the huge gold rings on his fingers and smiled, "It's not impossible!"
Yu Haiming stepped forward and asked, "Long and I had two carts of bamboo tubes transported back. Should we send them to Lan Shan Temple early tomorrow morning as an emergency measure?"
Wei Dongling nodded and said, "Until the paper cups from the workshop are ready, we'll use bamboo tubes. After the contract is signed, we'll switch to paper cups collectively."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Wei Dongling turned to Jingzhe and asked, "You mentioned tonight that the people from the Zhao Mansion were picked up. What exactly happened?"
Jingzhe coughed lightly and said, "After the Zhao family was exiled to the border to serve in the army, I was ordered by the Crown Prince to secretly investigate. Unexpectedly, the hundreds of people in their family seemed to have evaporated. They all disappeared."
Wei Dongling's face changed. She murmured to herself, "How could this be? Didn't the court send people to escort them?"
Jingzhe sighed and said, "According to them, when the group escorting the Zhao family was crossing the mountains, they encountered a rockfall. Many people were killed or injured, and some even fell off the cliff. I secretly went down to investigate, but I didn't find the bodies of the Zhao family members!"
Wei Dongling was stunned and asked, "Then how do you know that someone hijacked them?"
Jingzhe paused for a moment and replied, "Just when the male members of the Zhao family disappeared, the female relatives who were supposed to be exiled were attacked by bandits on the way. All of them were taken away. I don't believe this is just a coincidence."
Wei Dongling sighed silently in her heart. She didn't believe it either.
Uncle Li sneered and said, "So Zhao Chuanyi is still alive?"