Princess Five rarely revealed her life outside the palace to the palace servants. Now that she was willing to talk to La Mei about it, La Mei was, of course, extremely delighted. She nodded repeatedly and said, "Naturally. Since the princess is back, of course, the business should resume! How can I assist the princess?"
Wei Dongling gave La Mei a sidelong glance. She had become much smarter. Wei Dongling lowered her eyes and said, "I don't have enough hands outside the palace. It's unnecessary to buy servants temporarily."
La Mei nodded with a smile and said, "All the maids and eunuchs in the harem are quite idle. They can be seconded there first. How many people does the princess need? I'll go and arrange it right away."
The two of them thought it over carefully, and then La Mei took her leave to carry out the order.
Wei Dongling tossed and turned on the couch alone and couldn't fall asleep. Cui Huan, who usually shared the pillow with her, had now married someone else. She was left alone in the bed, and even her feet couldn't get warm! The more Wei Dongling thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. In the end, she simply got up, dressed, and headed for Taiji Hall.
The Taiji Palace that had been burned by the fire had been mostly renovated by the Imperial Household Department. It seemed even more exquisite than before.
Wei Dongling went straight to the brightly lit Taiji Hall beside it. Inside the hall, Murong Xuan was still bending over his desk, reviewing memorials. His originally bright eyes were now bloodshot from staying up late.
Hearing from the servant that Princess Five had come, Murong Xuan quickly put down his pen, got up, and walked to greet her. He raised his eyebrows slightly and said with a smile, "Why did you come back to the palace so late?"
Wei Dongling said aggrievedly, "Brother Xuan, I... I'm out of money."
What?
Murong Xuan was stunned. He quickly reached into his robe and sleeves, rummaged around, and took out a few silver notes from his money bag. He handed them over and asked, "How much do you need? I'll send someone back to the prince's mansion to get it."
Wei Dongling looked at him with teary eyes but didn't reach out to take the silver notes. She choked out word by word, "As a princess of the country, I'm so poor that I can't even make ends meet. I have to worry about the national treasury every day. I've been so poor recently that I have no money to spend. I had to ask Uncle Li and the others to open the milk tea shop tomorrow. Brother Xuan, I feel so tired living like this... wuwuwu..." She had been working so hard, yet Yu Zixi, that scoundrel, was still avoiding her! Just thinking about the big bag of gold ingots on Cui Huan's bed, Wei Dongling couldn't hold back her tears any longer. Tears and snot flowed down together.
Murong Xuan was at a loss for words. He thought that Wei Dongling must have been stimulated by something today. But thinking about her hard work on a daily basis, which was obvious to everyone, Murong Xuan quickly put down the silver notes and stepped forward to comfort her in a low voice, "Dongling, don't cry. A lot of shops were confiscated during the last raid and haven't been dealt with yet. I'll send someone to pick out some well-located shops as a reward and transfer them to your name."
Murong Xuan quickly sent someone to summon Xu Shun from the Inner Court Department and asked him to handle this matter.
Wei Dongling knew that she was being a bit unreasonable. She lowered her head and wiped her tears embarrassedly with her sleeve.
Seeing that Wei Dongling's emotions had stabilized, Murong Xuan waved his hand to ask the servant to prepare some pastries. He asked her carefully, "Did something happen to you today?"
Wei Dongling sat down at the table, took a sip of the fragrant tea, and asked pitifully, "Brother Xuan, if that person is still alive, why would he avoid seeing me?"
Murong Xuan was extremely shocked to see Wei Dongling looking so confused. It turned out that this girl was troubled by love?
Wei Dongling murmured to herself, "Brother Xuan, if it were you, what would you do?"
Murong Xuan sat up straight. His slender fingers were clenched so tightly that they turned slightly white. He gritted his teeth and said, "There are so many men in the world! What does it matter if one is missing?"
Wei Dongling lowered her eyes and smiled. Yes, there are so many men in the world. The earth will still rotate without anyone.
Wei Dongling laughed at herself, got up, bowed, and took her leave.
Murong Xuan looked at the untouched pastry on the table, sighed silently in his heart, and watched Wei Dongling leave.
When the milk tea shop in Tingfeng Tower opened, La Mei transferred eighteen nimble young eunuchs from the harem early in the morning to help make milk tea. A Cheng and the others were so happy that they couldn't close their mouths. They were beating gongs and drums at the door to attract customers.
Yu Haiming, Old Brother Qin, Jingzhe, Cheng Hao, and Lv Kou also volunteered to go back and help. Anyway, Uncle Li and Pin Hao were always by Wei Dongling's side in the palace, so there was no need to worry about her safety.
The Tingfeng Tower had been closed for a long time. With the hunger marketing and discount, the business was extremely booming. Cheng Hao and Jingzhe stood at the door of the kitchen for a long time. The young eunuchs from the palace were good at everything, such as chopping firewood, boiling water, making tea soup, and rolling glutinous rice balls. They tidied up the kitchen properly and were busy going in and out to serve tea. It seemed that there was no need for them to help.
Lv Kou, who was sitting in the shop busy collecting silver, didn't forget to wave at them and shout, "You two, stand farther away. Don't block the kitchen door!"
Lv Kou was very puzzled. Were these two here to cause trouble?
Cheng Hao quickly pulled Jingzhe to the side of the patio. Looking at Lv Kou's busy back, he asked Jingzhe, "How far have you and Miss Lv Kou gone?"
Jingzhe was stunned and asked, "What do you mean by 'how far'?"
Cheng Hao lowered his voice and said, "Don't think that I'm a rough person. I can see it clearly. Your eyes when you look at her are different."
Jingzhe's face darkened, and the tips of his ears instantly turned red. He said unhappily, "Don't talk nonsense!"
Cheng Hao spat lightly and said, "Even that stupid Pin Hao dared to go to Miss Qi Jinlan at night to show his affection! Don't tell me that you haven't made any progress with Miss Lv Kou at all since I haven't been back to the capital for so long?"
Pin Hao went to see Qi Jinlan at night thanks to him. Cheng Hao pulled Pin Hao and exaggeratedly described how Qi Jinxuan had rolled on the ground and made a scene. He also described Qi Jinlan as being so pitiful that she was almost fainting. Pin Hao was so anxious that he jumped three feet high. He couldn't hold back any longer and didn't care about the gender taboo. He just wanted to see if she was okay.
Looking at Jingzhe, he was just like a wooden stake! He was not even half as good as Pin Hao.
Jingzhe said awkwardly, "I... Miss Lv Kou and I are not what you think."
Cheng Hao: Oh, I understand. You just have a one-sided crush and don't dare to say it.
Seeing Jingzhe's face turn slightly red and still pretending not to care, Cheng Hao sneered and said, "Oh? So I misunderstood the two of you?"
Jingzhe neither admitted nor denied it. He turned his head to the side and ignored him.
Cheng Hao raised his eyebrows and said with a naughty smile, "Since it's like this between you two, I'm relieved. My mother said that Lv Kou is a very good girl! She's a good woman who is suitable for living a life. If you're not interested in her, then I'll make an appointment with her tonight..."
Jingzhe's face changed drastically. He quickly covered Cheng Hao's mouth to stop him from continuing.
This made Cheng Hao push his hand away and burst out laughing. Jingzhe was so angry that his face turned green. He glared at Cheng Hao unhappily and said, "Everything should follow the order of first come, first served, right?"
Cheng Hao spread his hands and said, "In matters of the heart, does the one who has known each other longer have an advantage? Maybe Miss Lv Kou dislikes your being reserved and just likes a gentle, considerate, and eloquent man like me!"
Jingzhe couldn't bear it any longer. He stepped forward and pretended to kick him.
Cheng Hao ran away at full speed and hid behind Lv Kou. He pretended to complain, "Miss Lv Kou, Jingzhe is being unreasonable and bullying me! You have to protect me!"
Jingzhe was so angry that he ground his teeth.