"Miss, here is the list of betrothal gifts the young master sent before. These are the title deeds of all the shops in the betrothal gifts. Please take a look and see if there's anything else you need." Steward He was very efficient. As soon as Wen Yu told him her requirements, he brought what she needed over in no time.
On the wooden tray lay a one - finger - thick booklet and a stack of title deeds.
Seeing this, Wen Yu quickly took the things and put them aside. Then she casually asked, "Have you compiled the roster of the new servants I asked you to find last time?"
"Oops, look at this old servant's memory. Miss, please look through these first. I'll go get the roster right away." Steward He exaggeratedly slapped his forehead, then withdrew from the room and went back to find the roster.
The Wen and Pei families were originally of comparable social status. However, by Pei Qing's father's generation, for some ill luck, the head of the Pei family, who was supposed to hold up the family, contracted a serious illness at a young age and passed away soon.
When he died, Pei Qing and Pei Shen were still very young. For a while, there was no one else in the Pei family who could take charge.
Even more tragically, not long after the head of the family died, the mistress also died of melancholy.
Seeing that the Pei family was on the verge of collapse, each branch of the Pei family began to demand a division of the family property, hoping to get a share of it before the whole family ran out of resources.
At that time, Pei Qing and Pei Shen were still young, and the elders in the clan were all stingy. In the end, the property left for the two brothers was pitifully small.
If it weren't for the fear of public criticism, those people wouldn't even have left the current Pei Mansion to them.
After the division of the family property, the various branches of the Pei family left Shengjing one after another and returned to the Pei family's ancestral home.
Fortunately, the old steward of the Pei Mansion was loyal to his master. He managed the remaining assets of the Pei Mansion in an orderly manner and even expanded several shops.
However, no aristocratic family had ever thrived just by doing business.
Therefore, it wasn't until Pei Qing grew up and officially passed the imperial examination to obtain an official position that the decline of the Pei family was finally reversed.
However, although Pei Qing was somewhat talented, he was still young and had no family support, so his official career wasn't going very smoothly.
So when the Pei family proposed to marry a daughter from the Wen family, it was actually Wen Yu marrying down. To show his sincerity, Pei Qing's betrothal gifts were extremely generous at that time.
He gave more than a dozen shops alone.
[What is our baby sister planning to do? Checking the shops and the servants of the Wen family. Could it be that she has noticed something?]
[Impossible. Pei the Puppy and his elder brother are very cautious in their actions. Didn't baby sister say that she's been having nightmares recently? Maybe she's just taking a casual look.]
[Makes sense. In the original story, baby sister didn't find out the truth until the middle and later parts. By that time, baby sister was completely inseparable from the male leads. Even if she knew what Pei the Puppy had done, she would only be glad that it wasn't the Pei family that had fallen.]
[This is truly a two - way devotion.]
When Wen Yu got tired of looking at the list of betrothal gifts and was rubbing her neck, she happened to see these bullet - screen comments. She rolled her eyes and then sat upright as if the previous action was just to relax her muscles.
By now, Wen Yu had fully accepted her identity as the female lead of the flower - market story. However, seeing these spoilers still made her angry.
Why should she revolve around these men and value them more than the family that had raised her?
It was impossible.
She was a noble lady carefully raised by the Wen family. The concept of sharing weal and woe was engraved in her soul. How could she ignore her family's life and death for a man?
She gently shook her head to get rid of the angry thoughts in her mind and then quickly scanned through the remaining title deeds.
Among these title deeds, there were clothing shops, jewelry stores, and even flower shops, but there was no mention of a restaurant.
What was the deal with the restaurant mentioned in the bullet - screen before?
"Miss, I've found the roster. Please take a look." Steward He said as he handed over a roster.
Since the bullet - screen was still watching, Wen Yu didn't open it immediately after taking it. Instead, she returned the list of betrothal gifts and the title deeds to the steward. "I've already looked through these. Thank you, Steward He. I'll return this roster to you after I've finished reading it."
"Take your time, Miss. This roster was compiled separately according to your instructions. It's not urgent." Steward He put the things away and then withdrew from the room.
It was getting late. Wen Yu looked up at the sky, carefully put away the roster, and then bid farewell to the Wen family.
When she returned to her room in the Pei Mansion and just put the roster away, she heard a few bird calls outside.
This was the secret signal she had agreed on with Ji Yundan.
Wen Yu's eyes flashed. She knocked over the teacup with her hand, took off her outer robe, and then tapped on the window sill three times with her knuckles.
"Miss Wen, it's been a while. How have you been recently?"
Ji Yundan flashed into the room. He smiled amiably, but there was not much sincerity in it.
Wen Yu replied perfunctorily and then frowned. "Your Highness, why did you come to the Pei Mansion in person today? If you have something to say, you can just send the secret guard to pass the message. If someone sees you here, our plan might be exposed."
"Moreover, since Your Highness has the time to come here, doesn't it mean that Pei Shen will be back soon?"
"Miss Wen can rest assured about my skills. As for Pei Shen, he's discussing matters with the third imperial brother. He won't be back for a while." Ji Yundan was like a smiling fox. As he spoke, he took out a porcelain bottle. "This is the other part of the Luoshen Poison. Take it."
Hearing this, Wen Yu didn't hesitate at all. She directly took it and swallowed it.
The Luoshen Poison was very powerful. Taking it in two doses was also for Wen Yu's health.
After seeing her swallow it completely, Ji Yundan's smile deepened. "I'm here today to make an additional deal with Miss Wen. My third imperial brother has been quite restless recently. I wonder if Miss Wen has any way to make him quiet down?"
"Then what reward will Your Highness promise me?"
Wen Yu was very direct in her speech and didn't beat around the bush at all.
Seeing her so straightforward, Ji Yundan's smile faded a bit. A cold light flashed in his eyes. "As long as Miss Wen can really help me, what reward can't I give?"
"Moreover, Miss Wen, I'd like to remind you that my third imperial brother is not a kind person. Are you really going to agree without thinking it over?"
These words sounded rather hypocritical to Wen Yu. She didn't answer but rolled up her sleeve, showing the scabbed wounds. "Would I have a good life even if I didn't offend him? I told Your Highness before that both Pei Shen and Ji Yunqing are the people I hate."
"Judging from Your Highness's tone, you're still testing my sincerity in this cooperation. This is really sad."
When they met before, Wen Yu didn't tell Ji Yundan too much truth. They both had their own secrets.
"Tsk, my third imperial brother is really not a decent person. It doesn't matter. Once Miss Wen proves her worth to me, I'll help you get your revenge." Ji Yundan smiled carelessly. His tone carried a hint of ambiguous affection. Coupled with the tear mole beside his fox - like eyes, he was extremely charming.
But Wen Yu could see clearly that there was not a trace of lust in this guy's eyes. All he had was shrewd calculation.
Trying to seduce with his looks when he couldn't even feign affection. This guy was not as good as Pei Shen at pretending.
"Your Highness can rest assured. Your Highness's ambition is the throne, while I'm just a small woman. I only want to avenge myself. I don't have the time to be a double - agent and threaten Your Highness. So Your Highness doesn't need to try to seduce me with your looks."
"If I really fell for this, I wouldn't have bothered to cooperate with Your Highness, would I?"