Chapter 11 "Cang Shu, while I was unconscious, you and Xie..."

For a short drama actress like her, finishing work at 11 pm is not late.

Cangshu escorted her to the back door, where she saw her new carriage and driver already waiting for her outside.

The tall and strong new coachman was clearly skilled in martial arts. He respectfully placed the saddlebags down and invited her to get into the carriage.

Cangshu guessed that the new coachman was hired by Miss Xie herself. He was very surprised. Although Miss Xie was clearly being used by her new husband and sent to the Prime Minister's side as a substitute, she earned a large sum of money in just two days and quickly "recruited soldiers and horses" to build her own "camp".

He heard that Miss Xie had led a group of people to vandalize Madam Pei's courtyard that night...

It's hard to imagine that this was done by Miss Xie, an unfavored concubine's daughter from the Yong'an Marquis's mansion. He thought that even if it were Miss Jia Ning, she would find it difficult to do something like smashing up her mother-in-law's courtyard.

No one would believe it if word got out, that a newlywed daughter-in-law would dare to treat her mother-in-law like this.

Cangshu watched the carriage disappear before turning back to his residence.

At midnight, two bodyguards received their orders in the Prime Minister's courtyard and quickly left.

Cangshu knew that the Prime Minister had sent secret guards into the palace to meet Consort Zhang and to investigate the Emperor's condition.

He lifted the curtain and went in, hearing the Prime Minister's muffled cough, which was much better than before. "Prime Minister, please take a nap."

Before Miss Xie left, she had just taken care of the Prime Minister and given him his medicine. Now the Prime Minister's complexion is much better, and it seems that he has survived tonight's poisoning period.

Song Jie leaned wearily against the bed, looking down at the blue handkerchief in his hand. The plain handkerchief was embroidered with a jade plum blossom on one corner, and it was stained with some of his blood and Xie Yushu's fragrance.

The fragrance filled the bed curtains, but it no longer felt warm.

Xie Yushu had just left when the room seemed to grow cold again, and the blankets couldn't keep out the warmth she had left behind.

"Did Pei Shilin come to pick her up?" Song Jie asked abruptly.

Cangshu moved the heater closer to his bedside and replied, "The Pei family didn't come to pick us up; it was Miss Xie who hired the carriage herself."

Song Jie sneered, "That good-for-nothing Pei Shilin isn't even pretending anymore." The fragrance of the handkerchief lingered on his fingertips. He couldn't help but think that Xie Yushu's marriage to Pei Shilin was pitiful. She was sent to the Prime Minister's mansion by her own husband to serve another man. Did she hate Pei Shilin?

He ultimately instructed Cang Shu: "Send someone to take Pei Shilin to prison to see his useless younger brother, to warn the Pei family to be more polite to Xie Yushu during this time, after all, she is still of some use to me."

"Yes." Cang Shu accepted the order and gave the instructions. He then brought another hot water bottle to put the quilt under the Prime Minister's blanket. He noticed that the Prime Minister was playing with a handkerchief in his hand and paused slightly. It seemed to be the handkerchief that Miss Xie had left behind. He remembered that Miss Xie's handkerchiefs were always embroidered with flowers in silver thread.

I wonder if the Prime Minister intends to throw it away or burn it. It would be a pity to destroy such a fine handkerchief. Perhaps he could clean it up and return it to Miss Xie.

As Cang Shu thought this, seeing the Prime Minister raise his hand as if to throw the handkerchief into the brazier, he subconsciously reached out and said, "Prime Minister, let me deal with this handkerchief."

Song Jie stopped what he was doing, looked up at Cang Shu, and noticed that he was acting strangely tonight. "What? You can't bear to see me burn Xie Yushu's things?"

Cang Shu was taken aback, then quickly bowed and said, "This subordinate dares not. This subordinate only wanted to deal with it for the Prime Minister."

Looking at his reddened ears and disheveled belt, Song Jie couldn't help but be suspicious. "Cang Shu, what did you and Xie Yushu do while I was unconscious?"

Upon hearing this, Cang Shu immediately knelt down in a panic, his face burning red to his neck. He stammered, not daring to raise his head, "Prime Minister, while you were unconscious, Miss Xie and I were taking care of you the whole time. We did nothing wrong. Please enlighten us, Prime Minister."

Why is he blushing when he hasn't done anything? And why is he stuttering out of guilt?

Song Jie's face darkened, and he asked in a cold and light tone, "You didn't do anything, so what's wrong with your belt?"

Cang Shu subconsciously reached for his belt, and when he touched the loose belt, his face flushed red. He immediately lowered his head to the ground: "Prime Minister, I..."

“Cangshu, you should know very well that I cannot tolerate betrayal and deception.” Song Jie interrupted him, his words chillingly cold: “I’ll give you one more chance. What did you and Xie Yushu do?”

Cang Shu felt a chill run through him. He knew the Prime Minister's temper all too well. The Prime Minister was inherently suspicious and would never forgive those who betrayed or deceived him.

He dared not conceal the truth and answered truthfully, "Your Highness, I would never dare to deceive you. While you were unconscious, Miss Xie was busy taking care of you, and we didn't even exchange more than a few words. The belt... the belt was because Miss Xie instructed me to take off my outer robe to warm your feet... that's why I..."

He was on high alert and tried his best to explain, but before he could finish, Song Jie asked in surprise, "Did you warm my feet?"

Cang Shu was taken aback by the question and looked up at him: "It's me." Otherwise, who would the Prime Minister have thought it was?

But Song Jie's face turned cold, and he stared at him for a long while, as if frozen in place, before asking, "Did Xie Yushu cry while I was unconscious?"

"Crying?" Cang Shu shook his head in a daze. Why would Miss Xie cry?

He didn't understand what the Prime Minister meant. He only saw the Prime Minister turn pale with anger and throw the handkerchief into the brazier.

Song Jie was so angry he laughed at himself. What crying, what warming feet? It turned out he was just being presumptuous. He thought about how he had almost said to Xie Yushu several times: If you are willing to warm my feet, why can't you stay a few more minutes?

He felt ashamed of himself, as if he had been slapped in the face.

What was he thinking? Xie Yushu was just doing a job for money; she practically had the price of her fee etched on her face. How could he possibly think that if he didn't pay her, she would warm his feet for him? Or shed tears for him?

Song Jie couldn't tell whether he was annoyed that he had misunderstood or annoyed that Xie Yushu's acting skills had repeatedly led him into ridiculous "dreams." He was still not satisfied as he watched the handkerchief burn. He coldly ordered Cang Shu, "There's no need to bring her over tomorrow."

The thought that he had paid an extra two thousand taels of silver as a deposit when she left, asking her to come and keep him company during his illness the next two days, filled Song Jie with a deep-seated loathing. He couldn't tell whether he loathed her or himself.

"Prime Minister, you'll be past the peak of the poisoning in two more days." Cang Shu said in surprise, "You do feel better when Miss Xie is by your side..."

"Don't you understand what I'm saying?" Song Jie interrupted him, looking at him with a sharp, piercing tone: "Do you really want to see Xie Yushu again?"

"Your subordinate wouldn't dare," Cang Shu lowered his head as if avoiding the question. "Your subordinate only wants the Prime Minister to feel better."

"I can't feel good when I see Xie Yushu." Song Jie felt ridiculous that he was being upset by a fake who looked like Jia Ning.

Cangshu dared not speak again: "The deposit... Miss Xie said it's non-refundable."

※

"Congratulations, host, you have gained 1 point of 'charm' value, from Song Jie." The system's voice came suddenly.

Xie Yushu, who had been dozing off in the carriage, opened his eyes again upon hearing the sound, his mind filled with suspicion. How did Song Jie suddenly become so popular? Was he about to be won over by her?

The system analysis says: "The backend has seen that Song Jie has suddenly developed strong feelings for you. Although these feelings are not love points, he is now thinking about you constantly and cannot stop thinking about you, so you have gained 1 point of charm value."

Is Song Jie's mind filled with thoughts of her right now? Has he had another episode?

Xie Yushu didn't want to think about Song Jie, so she took the time to go back and tallied up the points she had accumulated over the past two days.

Her current "green hat value" is 7 points, and her "heartthrob value" is also 7 points.

She did a rough calculation and realized that the silver notes she had earned so far, including three 2,000 taels and one 5,000 taels from Song Jie tonight alone, plus the 2,000 taels deposit that Song Jie prepaid for tomorrow before she left, totaled 13,000 taels of silver notes.

Adding to the two thousand taels she had left, she now has fifteen thousand taels in cash.

"Fifteen thousand taels of silver, which can be converted into 9 million RMB." The system encouraged her, saying, "As long as you max out your health and complete the main quest for the female supporting character, you can convert the cash and bring it back to the original world at any time."

She had only been in this world for three or four days, and she had already earned 9 million yuan as a stand-in for acting. Good heavens! Xie Yushu used to only earn 9,000 yuan a day for filming short dramas. She heard that the top actress in the same production crew only earned 25,000 yuan a day. That was really a non-stop filming job, risking her life.

Now that she's transmigrated to ancient times to work, she only does two or three hours a day as a stunt double, easily earning millions. She's so moved that tears are almost streaming down her face. How can she only be someone's stunt double? Isn't the female lead, Xie Jianing, a heartthrob? Xie Yushu needs to seize the opportunity to develop more downlines; there's no such thing as too many leeks (victims).

She first converted all her "green hat" points into health points, instantly increasing her health points from [70 days] to [140 days].

Just as he was about to exchange for more "charm points," Zhao Feng, who was driving, suddenly called out in a low voice, "Madam."

Zhao Feng spoke quickly from outside the carriage curtain: "Someone is following our carriage. Should we go around and shake them off?"

Stalk her?

Xie Yushu immediately thought of the male protagonist, Xiao Zhen.

She guessed that Xiao Zhen must have noticed some clues at Song Jie's residence. In the original story, Xiao Zhen was always looking for Song Jie's flaws. Now that he had discovered that a woman was entering and leaving Song Jie's residence, wouldn't he have to follow and investigate to find out who it was?

They say chives are readily available, and they'll deliver them right to your door.

"Host, the more 'charm points' you have, the greater your chances of encountering the male lead, the villain, and important supporting characters," the system explained.

With only 7 points of "charm value," the male lead actively follows her. If she were to accumulate 100 points of "charm value," she might actually be able to defeat the male and female leads and dominate the world.

The system hesitated for a moment before replying: "No one has yet managed to accumulate 100 points of 'Popularity Value' by both spending the points and refraining from exchanging them for cash."

So, this possibility can't be ruled out? Not only do you have to accumulate 100 points of "popularity value," but you also have to resist the temptation of money and not exchange them.

Xie Yushu perked up and whispered to Zhao Feng, "No need to go around. Just pretend you didn't find anything and continue back to the manor."

She didn't care if people saw her entering and leaving the Prime Minister's residence. If anyone was going to lose face, it would be Pei Shilin's whole family and Song Jie. Anyway, her reputation was worthless.

"Help me comb my hair." Xie Yushu instructed Jin Ye to open the simple makeup box she had brought with her and touch up her smudged eye makeup.

"It's so late, is Madam still getting ready?" Jin Ye asked in surprise, but obediently combed her hair again. "Aren't we going back to the manor?"

I'm going back home and meeting a new client while I'm at it.

"Don't comb my hair into a bun." Xie Yushu stopped Jin Ye from re-combing her hair into a nun's bun and said to her, "Just let it down and comb it straight, and tie it up with a hair ribbon as you like."

She needs to recreate the look of the Fourth Prince Xiao Zhen when he first met the female lead Xie Jianing. Even though it's just a guess that the person following her is Xiao Zhen, she still needs to be prepared to start acting at any time.

The carriage sped along the quiet street and stopped outside the back gate of the Pei residence.

Another carriage turned into another alley. A lithe black figure leaped onto the rooftop, crouched down, and stared at the carriage at the back gate of the Pei residence. A maid jumped down from the carriage and helped a woman in a Taoist robe down. When the black figure on the rooftop saw the woman's face, he was extremely surprised and immediately jumped down.

"Have you seen who it is?" Xiao Zhen's voice floated out from inside the dark carriage.

“I saw her clearly, but…” the man in black outside the carriage said uncertainly, “That woman seems… seems to be Miss Jia Ning from the Yong’an Marquis’s mansion.”

The carriage curtain was suddenly lifted, revealing Xiao Zhen's handsome face hidden in the shadows. "Are you sure you saw it clearly? Xie Jianing has been missing for several years, how could she possibly appear at the back gate of the Pei residence?"

The identity of the man in black is also uncertain.

The night breeze lifted her loosely tied black hair, and the blue ribbon fluttered with her hair, revealing half of her face in the moonlight.

That half of his face alone was enough to freeze Xiao Zhen in place. Xie Jianing?

A note from the author:

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Xie Yushu: If I become the female lead, will I be able to control the emperor and command the princes?

system:……

I'm giving out red envelopes today too!