Gu Wangchen saw that no one was around Xu Lanyin, so he walked over and said with a gentle smile, "Sister Yin, you're becoming more and more capable. Congratulations. We had so many misunderstandings in the past, I..."

Before, Xu Lanyin's gaze on Gu Wangchen's gentle and affectionate eyes reminded her of the descriptions in the book, and she felt contempt and amusement. But now, she was simply fed up with it. She interrupted him and said coldly, "You don't need to congratulate me. I'm capable, and you won't gain anything from it." With that, she walked away.

Seeing the beautiful figure go to the backyard, Gu Wangchen gritted his teeth in anger and had to adjust his facial expression before going upstairs.

As the crowd grew, the players and referees were almost all present. Princess Nanyang and Commander Chai arrived soon after, followed by Minister Cao, the Minister of Rites; Li Jijiu; the renowned and talented Lady Li; the Fourth Prince Liu Zhaohou; and the Crown Prince of Wu, Liu Yuanming.

Except for the Fourth Prince who requested to compete with the top chess players in Western chess and military chess in order to become the King of Wu Mian, all the others were there to watch the game.

Princess Nanyang and Lord Cao gave opening speeches, and then the chess players began the competition.

Princess Nanyang and others were drinking tea and resting in the side rooms in the backyard. Xu Lanyin mostly accompanied the Princess and Madam Li, and occasionally went to the teahouse to check on the situation and give Wang Sanni some advice on what to do.

On the right side of the first floor lobby was a checkers competition, with many parents watching. The Zhou family's grandmother and two daughters of the Zhou family were also there, not only to watch the two children of the Zhou family compete, but also to see Zhou Ziyou as the referee.

Miss Zhou Zimei, from Zhou San, also arrived. The moment Xu Lanyin saw her, she remembered how she had looked down on Zhao Wu and how she had deliberately orchestrated a "chance encounter." She secretly laughed at the fact that most of the girls in the mansions were calculating, plotting their futures.

However, this girl also became the subject of other people's gossip. Several young wives gathered together and whispered about her: she was beautiful, had a good family background, and was talented, but unfortunately she was a widow, unable to marry a man of high status or low status, and still unmarried at nearly twenty...

It was almost noon, and Xu Lanyin went to invite Liu Zhaohou and Liu Yuanming, who were watching the chess game, to go to the backyard. These two people were noble and could not afford to go hungry, so they and the eldest princess wanted to eat on time.

Walking into the lobby, she seemed to see a wave of light merging in the air, and on one end of the wave was Gu Wangchen, standing in the corner. His gaze was gentle, warm, and filled with infinite pity. It was the same look Gu Wangchen had given Su Qing in her previous life in the book. It was this look that made Su Qing remember two lives.

Xu Lanyin shuddered and looked at the other end of the radio wave. It was Zhou Zimei. Zhou Zimei had just lowered her eyes, but she could still see her face flushed, shy, aggrieved and moved.

Xu Lanyin was confused for a moment. Gu Wangchen wouldn't use the same trick on Zhou Zimei again. Even if he hooked her up, Zhou Zimei was the granddaughter of Grand Tutor Zhou and the cousin of the King of Wu. She couldn't possibly be a concubine. If she became a wife, what would happen to Miss Su?

Xu Lanyin suddenly had another flash of inspiration, remembering a plot in the book she had overlooked. It was Su Qing's previous life. Before her death, Gu Wangchen's then-wife, Su Qing's cousin, had died during childbirth, resulting in two deaths. The book also mentioned that Gu Wangchen was heartbroken and cried for a long time...

Did Gu Wangchen, in that life, kill his wife and unborn child because he had hooked up with the Grand Tutor's granddaughter? If so, Gu Wangchen was even worse than previously imagined.

Xu Lan looked at Gu Wangchen with contempt and disgust. This man was too heartless, too selfish, too bad, and had no moral bottom line at all...but he was good at pretending and had a harmless face.

Miss Su is no longer able to help Gu Wangchen rise higher and higher, having become a discarded pawn. She caused so much trouble for the young original owner in order to keep Gu Wangchen as her backup, but it is always tragic to let her die at Gu Wangchen's hands.

Xu Lanyin thought again. Su Qing had lived a second life and experienced so many ups and downs. She shouldn't be as easily tricked by Gu Wangchen as her sister. If she saw through Gu Wangchen's true face, she wondered whether she would choose to escape or fight...

Although Xu Lanyin disliked Zhou Zimei, she didn't want her to become Gu Wangchen's next prey, and even less wanted Gu Wangchen to become the Zhou family's son-in-law. She was thinking of finding an opportunity to expose Gu Wangchen's past with Zhou Ziyou. Of course, she couldn't say he had any connection to her, just that he was greedy and had a bad reputation in the countryside. Plus, since Gu Po was already well-known in the capital, the Zhou family would probably believe her. She also wanted to warn Xu Qingyan and Xu Lanzhou, asking them to hint to the Zhou family about Gu Wangchen's impropriety. Fearing that Xu Lanyin's reputation would be damaged, they never mentioned Gu Wangchen in the capital...

"Sister Xu, if I get two more uncrowned kings, what will you give me?" The Fourth Prince interrupted Xu Lanyin's thoughts.

Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "I'll give you a membership card. You can get a 20% discount on every purchase."

Liu Zhaohou pouted and said, "I don't like membership cards. I like the beautiful checkers that Sister Xu gave to my grandfather and Little Star."

Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "That's called Sanbao Checkers. I was going to give you a set, and I brought it with me."

Liu Zhaohou grinned happily and made another condition, "I also like to listen to Sister Xu talk. You have to talk to me more."

At the end of the evening at the hour of You, all the competitions ended. Liu Zhaohou then competed with the top chess players in Western chess and military chess. In the end, Liu Zhaohou won the uncrowned king of both chess games as he wished.

In just one day, Xinyu Tea House became a top teahouse in the capital.

After finishing this important matter, Xu Lanyin began to busy herself with matters related to returning home and sorting out Qin's dowry, as well as buying some of her own dowry. She also moved back to the Xu family.

Two days ago, Xu Lanzhou received a secret letter from Zhao Wu, sent by Ma Zi. One part was kept secret: Zhao Wu had already used an official matchmaker to propose marriage, and Qin had agreed. The wedding was scheduled for the second day of March next year. Another part was kept secret, using a code word: Zhao Wu had uncovered some misdeeds from Wang Yi's early years and had asked Chai Jun, an official at the Ministry of Revenue, to help investigate the ministry's old records.

Xu Lanyin went to see Chai Jun, who agreed despite his embarrassment. Ancient account books were different from modern ones. If one wanted to check the accounts from five years ago, they had to do it secretly. This not only required a lot of time, reliable people, but also a proper excuse.

Qin's dowry, including property, silver, and other goods, ultimately amounted to only about 43,000 taels of silver, more than half of which had been squandered. The remaining items included 1,500 mu of land, two farms, three shops, the mansion previously occupied by the second branch of the Chai family, as well as ornaments, jewelry, fabrics, and other goods, plus 12,000 taels of silver.

Even with so much, plus the 20,000 taels of silver given by Qin Che and himself, Xu Qingyan, who came from a poor country boy, also married a small banker.

Xu Lanyin solemnly knelt down to pay his respects to Qin Ru, and Xu Lanzhou bowed deeply to the ground to thank him for his hard work and arguments over the past few days.