As soon as Hongye finished speaking, she inexplicably felt a chill.
Cui Ming laughed dismissively, "I'm afraid the Marquis doesn't know about the Qi Prince's mansion raising prices. It's said that Gu Shiqi was inquiring outside, but we haven't seen him reply yet. I wonder where he went to ask."
Qin Yuan nodded, shook her fan, and looked at Hongye with a smile: "The Marquis probably doesn't have time to deal with such trivial matters. You're probably overthinking it. I suspect that Gu Shiqi has gone to the nearby prefectures to inquire."
Hongye grunted twice and stopped arguing.
Qin Yuan lowered her head and silently drank her tea. After a while, she said, "Since the Qi Prince's Mansion will not get involved in the pepper business, but has raised the price, there is something we can do about it. Maybe we can buy it at a lower price."
Hongye hurriedly asked, "What brilliant plan does Miss have now?"
Qin Yuan said, "Those who have a large amount of pepper in hand will naturally expect prices to drop when they hear that wealthy merchants are going overseas to search for it. Although the Prince Qi's mansion is reluctant to sell because of this, they are still a little uneasy."
"right."
"If they later learned that the Prince of Qi's household no longer wanted pepper, and that the wealthy merchants had also found pepper, they..."
"Then there will definitely be a massive sell-off."
Hongye exclaimed excitedly at first, then asked in panic, "But Miss, if we had bought a lot of pepper at that time, wouldn't we... also lose money?"
Qin Yuan smiled but didn't say anything.
Cui Ming remained silent.
Hongye paused for a moment, then stammered, "I will do whatever you say, Miss."
Just then, a commotion broke out outside. Hongye was about to ask what was going on when the little maid rushed in and said, "The Marquis is back."
Before she could finish speaking, the maid guarding the door lifted the curtain and announced, "Greetings, Lord Marquis, Madam. The Lord Marquis has returned to the manor."
For some reason, Hongye shrank her neck.
Qin Yuan glanced at her, pursed her lips, stood up, and went to greet her.
Lord Gu strode in, his handsome face revealing neither joy nor anger. His narrow, sharp eyes glanced at Hongye, then quickly looked away, asking Qin Yuan, "Is Madam alright?"
Qin Yuan slightly curtsied, then stood up and smiled, "I'm perfectly fine at home, with my mother taking care of me. You've already interrupted me. I was just about to ask if my husband is alright, or if something happened that made him rush back?"
As she spoke, she stepped forward, stood on tiptoe, and gently straightened Gu Jinghui's clothes.
Gu Jinghui's expression softened considerably. He took Qin Yuan's hand and said, "The Seventh Princess and the Ninth Princess are going to the Jokhang Temple to pray for blessings. The Emperor suddenly sent me to lead the Imperial Guards to accompany and protect them early tomorrow morning. So I brought a few of my personal attendants back with me. It will be more convenient to leave from here to the palace tomorrow morning."
Qin Yuan asked softly, "Has my husband eaten yet?"
A smile appeared in Gu Jinghui's eyes. "I ate a little something, and I'm a bit hungry."
Qin Yuan thought for a moment and said, "The small kitchen can only cook some noodles right now. It's not impossible to ask the main kitchen to cook, but it will take some explaining. Husband has been traveling a long way and has to get up early tomorrow, so it would be better to eat early and rest."
Gu Jinghui said, "I will follow Madam's arrangements."
Qin Yuan said, "Then I'll go check on the small kitchen. They'll bring water later, so you can take a bath and change your clothes. By then, the food should be ready."
Gu Jinghui asked in surprise, "Does Madam intend to cook herself?"
Qin Yuan said, "Cooking is not my forte, but I have learned it at home. Husband, please try my cooking."
Gu Jinghui smiled and agreed.
Hongye felt flustered when Gu Jinghui looked at her as he entered the room. Not daring to stay inside and serve him closely, she quickly huddled against the wall and went to the door with Qin Yuan.
Gu Jinghui glanced at her again.
Cuiming hurriedly went out to call the maid to fetch water, and then went inside to get Lord Gu's change of clothes.
Lord Gu asked, "Has Madam already brought all my clothes here?"
Cuiming hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the Marquis, the Madam moved over as soon as she heard what you said, and then reorganized the clothes and accessories. She also made a list of the Marquis's clothes and accessories. I'm afraid the Marquis will need to buy some more clothes this year. The Madam said that she will take the measurements and choose the colors when the Marquis takes a break."
As Cuiming spoke, Lord Gu nodded in agreement.
Lord Gu sighed softly, "Madam is truly thoughtful."
Cuiming quickly replied, "Madam is thinking of the Marquis with all her heart, so of course she is thoughtful."
Lord Gu said with satisfaction, "You really know how to talk."
Cui Ming: "..."
Lord Gu then asked, "Where do you keep the poems that your young lady writes?"
Cui Ming was startled.
She thought the matter was over, so why was the Marquis asking again?
“…Miss…Most of the poems that Madam wrote on a regular basis have been burned.”
Qin Yuan has always been cautious in her actions and has never wanted to stand out or compete for the title of talented woman.
Lord Gu pondered for a moment, then asked, "Why were they all burned?"
Cui Ming: "..."
Why keep asking her this question?
"...Madam doesn't like to be in the limelight..."
Lord Gu said with some regret, "I once heard my sixth brother say that he had heard that the lady was very talented, especially good at writing poetry, and had a great talent for it."
Cui Ming was startled.
The young master is always steady and would never mention his sisters in public.
The young master, considering himself the legitimate son, would not boast about his mistress in public, lest he outshine the second young lady.
The only one who could have heard about it was Lin Ziqi.
Cui Ming felt a surge of resentment. No wonder Lord Gu kept asking questions. She carefully said, "This servant doesn't know much about it. Madam rarely shows it in front of others. This servant once heard the young master praise her, saying that Madam is very intelligent and has a quick wit when composing poetry. The young master is still young and rarely composes poetry, so he rarely talks about poetry with Madam."
Lord Gu responded softly.
Fortunately, the maids quickly brought the hot water, so Lord Gu stopped asking questions and went to the bathing room to take a bath.
Cuiming hurried to the small kitchen, where Qin Yuan was directing the cook to stretch noodles with her sleeves rolled up. Hongye was slicing the beef that had been braised during the day, holding a handful of coriander in her hand, unsure whether to add it or not.
"Miss, the Marquis is asking again..."
Hearing Cui Ming's words, Qin Yuan was not worried at all, and even smiled and said, "I thought it was something serious. It's just some people praising me indiscriminately. The poems I wrote are really mediocre and don't deserve praise."
But in her heart, she had already decided to make Lin Ziqi do a good somersault.
Cui Ming realized she had gone too far and quickly covered up by saying to the cook, "I see that the Marquis looks travel-worn and may be hungry tonight, so it would be better to add more oil and sauce."
Hongye said, "Then add more beef."
A little while later, a bowl of beef noodles, piled high, was placed on a plate, with some flavorful condiments arranged in small dishes around it.
Gu Jinghui changed his clothes and came out. When he saw such a big bowl of beef noodles, he exclaimed, "How can anyone eat this?"
Qin Yuan said, "Eat whatever you like. Cui Ming was worried you'd be hungry after coming all the way from the camp, so Hong Ye even cut up some extra braised beef. I wasn't sure if I should put in the coriander, scallions, and garlic, but I just put them all on the plate. You're going to escort the princesses to the Jokhang Temple to pray for blessings tomorrow, so are you going to fast?"
If you are fasting, you can't eat these flavorful things.
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