The chill emanating from Lu Yuanchuan made Qiao Zhen shiver involuntarily. Taking advantage of the moment when Qiao Zhen slightly loosened her grip, he pulled his leg away. He had heard about what had just happened in the courtyard, but he couldn't be bothered to care. "Is there anything else you need?"
Qiao Zhen immediately stopped crying. She sobbed, "I'm still missing a jade ruyi, a black jade pendant, and fifty taels of gold. I'm so miserable right now. I have no father's love and no mother's affection. That black jade pendant was a token of love from my father to my mother. If I lose it, my father and mother will be furious if they are watching from heaven!"
As she was talking, she slipped up and started tugging at Lu Yuanchuan's leg, then started crying hesitantly.
Lu Yuanchuan remained unmoved by her cries. "I will send someone to fetch it from my mother."
With teary eyes, Qiao Zhen looked up at Lu Yuanchuan with expectant and adoring eyes, "Husband, you are so good to me, I'm so touched, waaaah..."
Lu Yuanchuan, his expression unchanged, bent down and brushed away Qiao Zhen's hands that were clinging to his leg. "You should go back now."
"Mmm!" Qiao Zhen left Lu Yuanchuan's study reluctantly, turning back every few steps.
They've made their presence felt, latched onto a powerful figure, so what's next? Right, Xiao Ling hasn't announced the mission yet!
Xiao Ling: […Sorry, I forgot because I was playing ranked matches. The mission is to make Lu Yuanchuan love you to the point of obsession, and then brutally torture him.]
Qiao Zhen: [Hey, you called me a scumbag in the last mission, how come this mission is making me abuse him?]
Xiao Ling: [The tasks announced by the main system are all correct.]
Qiao Zhen: [You brainless fan.]
Now that the mission has been set, let's do it well. The most important thing right now is to get Lu Yuanchuan emotionally affected, and we'll have to clear Qiao Zhen's name later.
Qiao Zhen took the silver notes from her dowry and went out of the mansion to buy clothes, all of which were bright and expensive. She was by no means a virtuous wife and loving mother; on the contrary, when she started acting like a demon, even her mission targets couldn't stop her.
Qiao Zhen bought back large quantities of cosmetics, hairpins, and other precious items.
In the afternoon, when Qiao Zhen returned to the Prime Minister's residence with her spoils, the First Madam was lecturing Lu Yuanchuan in his courtyard. She was saying that he hadn't disciplined Qiao Zhen properly, and that she had dared to take advantage of him. She was also saying that he dared to send people to Lingguang Courtyard to ask for something for Qiao Zhen.
Qiao Zhen noticed that Lu Yuanchuan's hand, hidden in his sleeve, was trembling slightly, and the First Madam clearly noticed it as well. The First Madam's expression was somewhat... mocking with a hint of smugness? It certainly didn't look like a mother's expression towards her own son.
She handed everything she was carrying to Chunzhu, saying, "Put your things back; you don't need to come any closer."
Qiao Zhen skipped and hopped to Lu Yuanchuan's side, smiling innocently and feigning naivety. She grabbed Lu Yuanchuan's trembling and cold hand, "Husband, I'm back!" She looked at the First Madam, "First Madam, you don't need to lecture my husband. If he won't ask for it, I'll go to the palace myself. If you don't respect the younger generation, then don't act like an elder and swagger around."
The First Madam looked at Qiao Zhen with amusement: "Speaking of showing off, you are nothing but a princess of a fallen kingdom, and now you are just a concubine in the Prime Minister's mansion. What gives you the right to show off in front of me?"
Qiao Zhen didn't get angry but laughed, and her laugh was a bit smug. "Because I'm shameless, is the First Madam as shameless as me?" She raised her right eyebrow. "As the saying goes, a tree without bark will surely die, and a person without shame is invincible. So the First Madam and I are kindred spirits. My apologies."
"You!" The First Madam was so angry that she couldn't speak. She placed the jade ruyi, a box of fifty taels of gold, and a black jade pendant on the table. "I am not as shameless as you."
Qiao Zhen chuckled and made a veiled attack, saying, "I also think that some people, they clearly do shameless things, but they just won't admit it, as if they haven't done it if they don't admit it. But everyone isn't blind, so I'll admit to being shameless. I've already done it, so why can't others talk about it?"
"Sharp-tongued!" The First Madam stood up and looked at Lu Yuanchuan. "Keep an eye on the people in your courtyard."
After saying this, the First Madam left.
Qiao Zhen looked at the First Madam's retreating figure and called out meaningfully, "Oh dear, First Madam, please don't make things difficult for your husband. If he could discipline me well, he wouldn't let you manage my dowry. Aren't you contradicting yourself?"
The First Madam's walking speed noticeably increased as she left.
Qiao Zhen grinned and lifted Lu Yuanchuan's hand to rub it. "Are you feeling cold? It's so cold. Let me warm it up for you."
Lu Yuanchuan looked at Qiao Zhen expressionlessly, his eyes like a dry well, filled with stagnant water. He tried to pull his hand away, saying, "It's none of your business."
Qiao Zhen pretended not to understand and continued to hold his hand, shamelessly following him into the study.
When Lu Yuanchuan looked at the writing brush and ink on the desk, Qiao Zhen tactfully let go of his hand. "I'll lay out the paper for you, grind the ink for you, and I can even warm your hands!"
She laid the Xuan paper on the desk, pressed it down with a paperweight, poured some tea into the inkstone, and ground out ink.
This is ink with a distinct flavor, and it also contains a few tea leaves.
Qiao Zhen glanced up at Lu Yuanchuan and saw that he was writing intently. Then she used her fingernail to flick the tea leaves in the inkstone, but she used a little too much force and the arc was a little too clever, and the tea leaves flew right onto the Xuan paper that Lu Yuanchuan was writing on.
She quickly lowered her head, pretending not to know anything, and continued grinding.
Lu Yuanchuan didn't say anything, but silently changed to another sheet of Xuan paper and continued writing something with his head down.
But if both of them remain silent, then Qiao Zhen's mission will be completely doomed.
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