Chapter 170 Hanging? You all go first!
Li Qingluo didn't even look up: "No."
She felt it was bad luck to even touch anything belonging to Li Kechuan!
Madam Pei said with some regret, "That horse looks quite nice. Did he used to ride it himself?"
Unfortunately, he has lost one leg and can no longer ride a horse, let alone mount one.
Therefore, if he were to offer up his own horse, it would be clear that he is genuinely trying to curry favor with Luo'er.
The groom said, "After the young master's horse broke its leg, he... he came and killed it himself..."
"This white horse was raised by the eldest young master... who said he wanted to give it to the eldest, no, to the eldest daughter of the Liu family."
Before Li Qingluo could get angry, Old Madam Pei was already furious.
"What a despicable thing! Do you think Luo'er would bother to pick up the things that Liu Qingzhu didn't take?"
"He's incredibly stupid! If he wanted to please his sister, he shouldn't have done it so perfunctorily!"
"Go, sell this horse!"
Madam Pei was afraid that Li Kechuan, that madman, would come again and kill the horse.
Therefore, we decided to deal with this horse first.
Then she deftly picked out an even more beautiful black horse for Li Qingluo.
"Luo'er, don't worry about this. If you want to talk to him, then talk to him. If you don't want to talk to him, just treat him like a pile of cow dung or horse manure!"
Li Qingluo was amused by her grandmother.
"Yes, Luo'er has always adhered to this principle."
Soon, the days passed quickly, and it was already the seventeenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
The snow stopped for two or three days, and the snow in Nanjing is melting, so it's so cold outside that you can't stand still.
Sparrow grumbled, "Can't we wait until spring to go horseback riding? My hands are sore and itchy. Yesterday I couldn't even hold a pen properly. I don't know how uncomfortable I'll feel outside!"
"That princess is really something. Does she think all the girls in the world are like her? She grew up in the Northwest, so she's not afraid of the wind and snow in Jinling."
"Young lady, why don't you just pretend to be sick and not go? Besides, you don't even know how to ride a bike. The ski slopes are icy and slippery. What if you fall?"
Li Qinglu shook her head: "No. Nanping sincerely sent me this invitation. If I don't even go, she will be disappointed."
Cui'er was carefully applying and rubbing the ointment onto Li Qingluo's hands.
Hearing Que'er's words, Cui'er said, "Miss, I think what Que'er said makes sense. It's so cold today, I'm afraid not many girls will go to the gathering. Why don't you just not go either?"
Granny Deng, who was busy nearby, interrupted them, saying, "You two, shut up! The young lady has her own ideas. Do you think you can make decisions for her?"
“Miss, you’ve only been back in Jinling for a few months. You haven’t even had a chance to get on your feet properly yet. It’s so rare to have a princess so eager to associate with you. And you’re always cooped up in your house thinking about those things. Now that there’s a lively banquet, I suggest you go!”
"Besides, it's not just you guys who feel cold, don't the other girls feel cold too?"
"I heard it's horse riding at a horse farm in the suburbs. It's all grass and not dirt roads, so you won't fall if you really run."
"If you still say you can't ride, there are other forms of entertainment that you can't ride horses for."
"Doesn't the princess have anything new and fun to do?"
"A young lady should go out and about, lest she become old and dignified all the time."
Li Qingluo: "..."
Is she old?
Neither Que'er nor Cui'er dared to utter another word.
And quickly do Li Qingluo's makeup.
Granny Deng came over with a smile, put away the ointment, and asked Li Qingluo, "Miss, the old lady asked yesterday if the ointment you've been using has helped you a lot these past few days?"
Li Qingluo: "Much better."
Now that she's living a life of luxury and privilege, how could she not get better?
As they went outside, a biting cold wind blew by, and both Que'er and Cui'er couldn't help but shrink their necks.
Granny Deng tightened the rabbit fur collar around Li Qingluo's neck, then hugged her cloak and wrapped her arms around her, quickly leading her outside.
Seeing the two girls beside her shivering from the cold, Li Qingluo realized: it seemed that she was the only one who didn't really feel that cold.
She thought back to her childhood, when she was often hungry and cold, and she still had to go up the mountain to collect firewood even on snowy days.
If you don't collect enough, you won't even have a hot bowl of soup when you get home.
She was used to going up the mountain, and one time when it got dark, she simply found a cave to hide in and didn't go back.
That cave is so warm.
Li Qinglu started a fire and then managed to catch a fat rabbit.
That night, she ate the whole rabbit herself.
But the next day, it snowed heavily on the mountain.
She carried a bundle of firewood home alone. As she walked, Li Qingluo, who was only wearing two layers of thin clothes, felt as if her hands and feet were about to freeze to death.
I don't know what kind of willpower got me down the mountain.
After returning home, she tried to warm herself up by the stove under the pretense of starting a fire, but she couldn't get warm and ended up getting sick with a high fever.
If it weren't for Wang taking care of her that time and stubbornly asking a doctor to treat her, Li Qingluo might not have made it through.
However, since then, she seems to have become less afraid of the cold.
The carriage arrived in the suburbs.
Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Li Qingluo heard Princess Nanping's voice: "Sister Luo'er, you've finally arrived!"
Princess Nanping led Li Qingluo into the crowd.
Unexpectedly, quite a few noble ladies came today, as many as seventeen or eighteen.
Most of them were people I had met before at the princess's residence.
Li Qingluo also saw a familiar face; it was Pan Li.
Pan Li looked at her as if she didn't know her at all, and turned her head away indifferently.
Princess Nanping pulled Li Qingluo to sit down by the fire: "Don't pay any attention to her. I didn't want her to come at all, but she's my cousin. As long as she goes to my father and acts cute, it's like all the girls in our princess's mansion become hers."
Princess Nanping pouted, still acting like a child.
Li Qinglu patted her head and took the plate of snacks he had prepared for Princess Nanping from Que'er's hand.
"Would you like to try some?"
Nanping picked it up and stuffed it into her mouth. The personal maid standing next to her was shocked and didn't have time to stop her or say anything about testing for poison before her young master swallowed it whole!
After all, their young master didn't even pay attention to the things that were served at the entrance!
If something goes wrong, wouldn't the eldest princess have to make them lose their heads?
The nannies looked nervous, but Nanping exclaimed, "This is so delicious! Sister Luo'er, what did you use to make it? The texture is so smooth and creamy, sweet but not cloying, it melts in your mouth, it's even better than the pastries made in our Princess's residence. I want more!"
Seeing that she liked it, Li Qinglu smiled.
"This is made with taro."
Que'er chimed in, "Your Highness, this was made for you by our young lady herself this morning. She said she wanted you to try it, and that it would be sold at her restaurant later."
Princess Nanping asked excitedly, "A restaurant? Sister Luo'er, you're opening a restaurant?"
Li Qingluo: "We've set the opening date for the 25th at the Zhenxiu Tangguo Restaurant on West Street. If the princess doesn't mind, why don't you come and join us that day? I'll treat you to hot pot and lots of pastries."
Li Qingluo's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for all the women present to hear.
Nanping happily agreed and then ate two more pieces.
A disheartening sneer came from the side: "How shameless! After what happened at home, you still have the nerve to show your face in public. Moreover, for a noble lady to stoop so low as to become a businesswoman, you really are from a backwater. Don't you know how to spell 'shame'?"
Li Qingluo knew without looking up that it was Pan Li's voice.
Immediately, someone echoed her: "Yes, if I were her, I would have hanged myself at home long ago. How dare she show her face?"
"The scandals of her family are all over Nanjing. Who doesn't know them? The reputation of the women in the General's Mansion is already rotten to the core."
"I heard that the Marquis of Zhongyi's family no longer mentions the marriage between the two families."
"Who would dare marry their daughter?"
"How shameful! They actually dared to loudly proclaim their restaurant business. What respectable girl would do such a thing?"
Li Qingluo: "So your mother really doesn't do business anymore? Doesn't she count as a proper woman?"
The ladies in the inner quarters of wealthy and powerful families all owned several, a dozen, or even dozens of shops.
Some are just rented out, but do most families not have any business at all?
This is something that is tacitly understood.
But if we bring it up, it would be shameful?
Li Qingluo continued to warm her hands by the fire, and said calmly, "You've managed to distance yourself so completely now. What, you're not the one who used to be as close as Liu Qingzhu as sisters anymore?"
"If we're talking about hanging, I think you guys are more suited to go first."
"After all, you are much closer to her than the other girls in our General's Mansion. Isn't that something that everyone in Jinling knows?"
"Do you really know nothing about the shameful things she did?"
Pan Li and the others immediately turned pale. Thinking about what Liu Qingzhu had done and with whom she had done it, they were filled with shame and anger.
How would we know what she's doing?
"We don't live with her all the time!"
Li Qingluo: "Then what does her scandalous affair have to do with me?"
"Liu Qingzhu and I were switched at birth. Over the years, she has lived a life of luxury in my family in my place. How should I be implicated in her shameful deeds?"
"As for the reputation of the other daughters of our General's Mansion, she is not a daughter of the Li family, so there is naturally no question of her being involved!"
Pan Li retorted angrily, "Stop making excuses! This is a matter of upbringing in your General's Mansion..."
Li Qingluo: "What excuse do I have?"
She turned to look at Pan Li, her gaze cold and sharp: "Since I returned to the manor, I have been personally raised by my grandmother, who has been living in seclusion for many years and has only recently returned home from the mountains. It has only been half a year, so my reputation is really irrelevant."
"But anyone with eyes who can distinguish right from wrong cannot implicate my grandmother!"
"As for the rest, how do you know it's that others don't want the marriage, and not that my family is unwilling?"
"Besides, I'm just earning my own living through my own abilities. After all, I'm not like you, who have been pampered and rich since childhood, with gold and silver readily available. I came from a remote mountain village, and I've never seen money before, so my perspective is limited and I don't know what it means to be shameful."
Li Qing retorted without holding back, making Pan Li and the others so angry they were practically mad.
"you--!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
