Chapter 13: The Man is in Love, the Woman is Interested
How could Tang Xinuan be confused?
She had lived her whole life in a daze, and had never been so clear-headed before.
"Xiaoqian, I'm not joking. If you want to leave, I'll take you with me. If you don't want to, then I'll leave on my own."
Xiaoqian pressed the person down to sit on the bed and observed them carefully.
The young lady certainly didn't seem to have drunk fake alcohol.
She thought that the young master was indeed very good to her, and she had always believed that the young master would be a good match for her.
The longer she lived in the Marquis's mansion, the more suffocated she felt.
As the person directly involved, the young woman's feelings must be even deeper.
Although the young lady didn't say anything, didn't complain, didn't tattle, and didn't get angry, she knew that the young lady was sad inside.
If we can leave, that would certainly be a good thing.
But……
"Miss, do you really think the two of us can escape?"
Tang Xinuan's fair face showed an unprecedented determination and seriousness: "I definitely will."
Xiaoqian was still worried: "But if we escape, how will the two of us live?"
Not to mention that the two women were destitute and alone, they even had trouble finding food and shelter.
What if you encounter bad people...
With a woman this beautiful, countless men would covet her, and her safety is not guaranteed.
Xiaoqian brought up the key point: Tang Xinuan had never considered such a thing before.
"What do we need to live peacefully after we escape?"
Xiaoqian noticed that her mistress was seriously considering this matter, and naturally, she wouldn't hold her back.
"Money, banknotes, we need lots and lots of money. We can find a place to buy a house to cover our daily expenses, clothing, food, everything will cost money."
Tang Xinuan agreed with Xiaoqian, "How much do you need?"
Xiaoqian carefully calculated that buying a house would cost at least a thousand or a hundred taels of silver.
Even if Miss can find someone she can rely on in the future, she still needs to set aside two or three years' worth of expenses.
They definitely can't stay in the capital. The young master won't let the young lady go, and leaving the capital would also be an expense.
She couldn't calculate the exact amount.
But we can get a rough estimate.
"If the two of us save some money, it will still cost several thousand taels."
Tang Xinuan has never saved any money.
Her daily expenses were all covered by the household, and she didn't need to buy anything herself.
However, the household would give her five taels of silver every month, most of which she gave to her servants.
She opened the box and roughly calculated that it wasn't even worth a hundred taels.
"Is that all?" Xiaoqian frowned deeply. "This is probably not even enough to hire a carriage to escape the capital."
Tang Xinuan was not discouraged. Although she had no money, her aunt, cousin, younger cousin and older cousin had given her many gifts over the years.
Since it was a gift to her, she can naturally use it to exchange for some money now that she's in trouble.
She opened the jewelry box. "Look at these, how much can I sell them for?"
They're all gemstones or jade; each piece is very valuable.
You can take it out to sell, but you might not be able to get much for it.
Xiaoqian wasn't sure either. "Should I take it out and get it appraised?"
Not satisfied with that, Tang Xinu checked herself over again.
She noticed that the jade pendant someone had given her when she entered the palace a few days ago seemed quite valuable. After a moment's hesitation, she took it off and put it in her jewelry box.
"Let's sell this one too."
Xiaoqian knew about this jade pendant; a few days ago, her mistress returned from the palace with an extra jade pendant on her person.
She asked the young lady where it came from, and the young lady said that she had helped someone and it was a thank-you gift from that person.
Xiaoqian didn't think that her mistress could help others in any way; she probably just picked her up from somewhere.
"Good, the jade looks pretty good, it should sell for a few more taels of silver."
Before long, Xiaoqian put all the gold and silver jewelry she had sorted out into her bundle, planning to sneak out of the mansion the next day to ask the pawnshop about the prices.
If it's a good fit, go for it; if not, look at a few more options.
With the money issue resolved, Tang Xinuan asked, "Besides money, what else do we need to prepare?"
Xiaoqian thought for a moment and said, "We are two weak women, and I'm afraid we can't protect ourselves. If all else fails, we can buy two servants, but I'm worried that they might be wicked and try to take advantage of us after we pay them."
Tang Xinuan understood; she needed to protect herself.
She quickly came up with a solution.
I rummaged through drawers and cabinets and found a book.
It's full of detailed diagrams of various weapons.
“Miss, what do you need this for? Neither of us knows martial arts, so even if we had weapons, we couldn’t use them. Take the silver spear that the young master usually wields, for example, neither of us can lift it.”
Tang Xinuan took her cousin's gun; it was indeed very heavy.
She didn't intend to buy a long spear to carry with her.
"Don't worry about me, you'll see once I've got it done."
For the rest of the night, Tang Xinuan sat at her desk writing and drawing.
Xiaoqian couldn't understand what her mistress wanted to do, so she found a shoe pattern and planned to make several more pairs of embroidered shoes.
It saves you from having to buy things when you're out and about.
...
Princess Chaoli ate lunch outside before returning to the palace.
As soon as I entered the palace gate, my third brother dragged me to the Hall of Diligent Governance.
Zhou Chuanxing seemed somewhat distracted while handling official business today.
I kept glancing towards the door, never before had I longed to hear my little sister's voice as much as I did today.
"Second brother, your little sister is back."
Zhou Chuan paused, picked up his teacup, rose from his chair, and strolled leisurely to the front of the hall.
"Did he go crazy for so long before coming back?"
Princess Chaoli snatched his teacup and took a big gulp first.
"Yes, the Third Miss and I went to the teahouse to listen to storytelling and also strolled around North Street."
Zhou Chuanxing visibly cooled down.
He glanced at Prince Duan with a look that said, "How could you do this?"
Prince Duan could easily understand his second brother's meaning.
"Little sister, didn't you go to the Marquis's residence?"
Chao Li said naturally, "Yes, I went there first. I went to the Marquis's residence and met with the Marquis's wife and the heir."
Feeling uneasy, Prince Duan pressed further, "You only saw these few people?"
Chao Li always felt that he had done something wrong.
But the second brother's meaning was very clear: he had taken a liking to the third young lady of the Chu family and wanted her to go and find out more about her.
She not only went to the Chu family, but also invited the third young lady out to play, so as to get to know the third young lady thoroughly.
I was just thinking of coming back to ask for a reward, but it seems like my second brother's mind isn't on this.
"Second brother, third brother, who else do you want me to see?"
She suddenly realized, "Do you want me to meet the young master? Forget it, the young master and Miss Wei like each other, and the marriage will probably be settled in the next couple of days."
Chao Li no longer suspects that his second brother likes the third young lady, but rather that his second brother arranges for her to spend more time with the crown prince, intending to make the crown prince of Chu his consort.
That won't do.
"Not long after I arrived, Miss Wei went there. It was obvious that she had made an appointment with the young master. The two of them chatted and laughed together in the garden for a long time. When I left, she was still there."
Zhou Chuanxing's expression finally softened a bit.
"You're saying that the Crown Prince of Chu has betrothed a young lady from the Duke of Wei's mansion?"
Chao Li nodded: "At least the two of them are mutually attracted, but I don't know if the Duke of Wei will agree."
“I definitely agree, I definitely agree,” Prince Duan gave Zhou Chuanxing an extremely ambiguous look.
Even if the Duke of Wei disagrees, my second brother has a way to make him agree.
"By the way, doesn't the Chu family have a cousin? What's her attitude?"
As soon as Prince Duan uttered those words, Zhou Chuanxing clenched his fist.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Regent:
Good news: My cousin is planning to run away.
Bad news: I didn't expect him.
Good news: The young lady keeps the jade pendant he gave her close to her body.
Bad news: They're planning to sell it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
