The next morning, Leng Qingning got up half an hour early to practice her horse stance. Cang Yuan had said that to learn martial arts, one must first practice basic skills. One must proceed step by step.
After Leng Qingning went to the Imperial Academy, someone from the palace came with the Emperor's decree, rewards, and another person.
Imperial College -
During class, Xue Tong from Class 2 of the intermediate level brought her friends to play with Leng Qingning.
Xue Tong introduced, "Your Highness, this is Xie Yun, the second daughter of General Xie's family, and my best friend."
Xie Yun, a woman from a military family, had a bold and generous personality that suited Leng Qingning's taste perfectly. The group of friends chatted and laughed, and even made plans to have a banquet at Langya Mansion that evening.
The group of friends were chatting happily, while every now and then a jealous glance would fall from their right. Leng Qingning pretended not to notice.
In the evening, after Leng Qingning returned to the mansion, she instructed the kitchen to prepare a dinner banquet. Mo Shuang then reported that after she left, the Emperor sent someone to deliver a reward, along with an imperial edict.
Lin Xianzhi was appointed as a Vice Minister, and Lu Shiyi was appointed as a Worthy Attendant.
(The ranks of the princess's husbands were as follows: principal husband, secondary husband, attendant husband, attendant, virtuous attendant, and maidservant.)
Steward Qiu Shui also brought Lu Shiyi and their indentures as well. Lu Shiyi is currently at the mansion asking Leng Qingning how to settle things.
Leng Qingning was so shocked upon hearing this that she almost jumped out of her chair. She checked with Mo Shuang again to confirm. Once she was sure she hadn't misheard, Leng Qingning put one hand to her forehead and sighed.
What is her father doing? Giving Lin Xianzhi to her is exactly what she wanted, but what's with that Lu Shiyi?
They quickly summoned the maid who had delivered the letter to the palace the previous night for questioning. It turned out that after the letter was delivered last night, the maid had just left the palace gates when she was summoned back in, where the Emperor personally questioned her.
The maid only knew that her master had invited Lin Xianzhi and Lu Shiyi to his housewarming banquet, and she also mentioned that Lin Xianzhi's personal attendant had come to plead for him.
After the maid left, the Emperor immediately sent people to Fengyajian to investigate thoroughly. Everyone was questioned one by one. The slaves of Fengyajian said that Leng Qingning had been there several times, and that Lin Xianzhi and Lu Shiyi had both received care from Leng Qingning.
Leng Qingning even spent a fortune on Lin Xianzhi, giving him a gold hairpin bestowed by the emperor, and also mentioned that the Fourth Princess later humiliated Lin Xianzhi.
There were also long-term bullying incidents by the supervisors, and Lin Xianzhi was severely beaten, etc.
The Emperor is enraged! Anyone who dares to touch someone my daughter has taken a fancy to is courting death!
He immediately ordered the steward to be beaten to death, the thugs to be sold off, and sent an imperial edict to deduct half a year's salary from Consort Min at Chunhui Palace, on the grounds of lax discipline.
Leng Qingning was feeling annoyed when Xue Tong and Xie Yun arrived. She temporarily put aside her own business, invited them to sit down, and instructed the servants to serve the food.
After the meal, Xie Yun ordered someone to carry the gift into the flower hall and present it to Leng Qingning. It was a cluster of red coral ornaments.
The red coral, over half a person's height, was vibrant in color and emitted a long-lasting, mellow fragrance with multiple layers of aroma that calmed the mind. Xie Yun explained that a small amount of agarwood had been embedded during the later processing.
Leng Qingning was captivated by the red coral ornament. She had never seen such a large red coral before, especially since it was natural and extremely rare.
He swept away his previous unpleasantness and pulled Xie Yun to sit down.
"Sister Yun, please tell me where you got such a large cluster of red coral."
Xie Yun smiled and said, "Your Highness, this coral was bought by my mother from the East at great expense. She obtained it from a Japanese merchant she met during her mission to the East a few years ago. It was not easy to get this coral. I am presenting it to Your Highness in the hope that you will like it."
Leng Qingning smiled sweetly, becoming more and more satisfied with the look, and replied softly, "I like it, I like it so much, thank you Sister Yun."
After chatting for an hour, the group prepared to take their leave and return home. Leng Qingning personally selected several gifts as return gifts for the two of them.
After seeing Xue Tong and Xie Yun off, they went to visit Lin Xianzhi.
Today, Lin Xianzhe was able to get up on his own. Leng Qingning sighed that the people of the Hidden World Continent were indeed different. He was so badly injured, but he recovered in just one night. It was amazing.
Back in her room, after washing up and lying down, a cold draft blew through the gaps in the bed curtains, causing Leng Qingning to shiver. She then got up and closed the window. It seems the temperature has suddenly dropped; could it be going to snow?
As a southerner, Leng Qingning naturally has a strong attachment to snow and looks forward to it every year.
When she was little, it used to snow in her hometown. She remembers having snowball fights with the neighborhood kids, building snowmen, and lying in the snow, rolling around in the snow – those were the most beautiful times. Later, for some reason, it almost never snowed anymore, or only a little bit.
"I wish it would snow... snow..."
She murmured as she drifted off to sleep.
On the fourteenth, Xue Tong and Xie Yun invited Leng Qingning to dine at Jiangnan'an, the largest restaurant in Changle City. Unable to refuse their hospitality, Leng Qingning brought Leng Huaichuan along to the appointment.
Inside a luxurious private room on the south bank of the Yangtze River, Xue Tong mysteriously pulled a man in. Leng Qingning took a closer look and exclaimed, "Good heavens, isn't this the young master I saw at the entrance of the Imperial Garden last time?"
She even mistook him for Gu Nanshu at the time. A hint of embarrassment flashed across Leng Qingning's face, but she quickly regained her composure.
Xue Tong led the man in, her face flushed with shyness, and said, "Come, come, let me introduce you. This is Young Master Fu Wen, my childhood sweetheart, and also the owner of this Jiangnan Riverside business."
Although Fu Wen was somewhat apprehensive, he still respectfully bowed to each of them.
Leng Qingning and the others exchanged a few polite words with him, telling him not to be nervous, it was just a private gathering and everyone should enjoy themselves.
Xue Tong smiled and arranged for the group to sit down. She then called the waiter to serve the dishes and poured wine for them. Anyone who didn't know better would think that Xue Tong was the owner of the restaurant on the south bank of the Yangtze River.
At the dinner table, Xue Tong frequently served Fu Wen his favorite dishes. Fu Wen kept his head down, his face flushed.
Leng Qingning and Xie Yun exchanged a smile and couldn't help but say, "Tongzi, are you inviting us to eat dog food? That's not very ethical of you."
Leng Huaichuan: "What does 'eating dog food' mean?"
"The problem is that none of the three of us are married, we're all single, and she's showing off her love here, making us feel like we're eating dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection)."
Xue Tong chuckled awkwardly, "Your Highness, please stop teasing me. Aren't you getting married soon? You're not single anymore. Yun-jie and I might be watching you two show off your love every day."
Xie Yun: "So it's just you and His Highness showing off all that, and I'm a single dog, so I guess I deserve it!"
Leng Huaichuan: "...Have you forgotten there's someone else...?"
Xie Yun: "...I'm sorry, Young Master, I spoke too quickly. Please listen to my excuses..." She got up to pour wine for Leng Huaichuan...
Leng Qingning looked at the two of them with a mocking expression, a thought suddenly forming in her mind, but she wasn't sure whether she should say it...
After a pleasant dinner, Leng Qingning had an idea to open a shop, so she asked Fu Wen about it.
"Young Master Fu, I've heard that your family is the number one imperial merchant in Dayue. I'm also thinking of opening a restaurant. How about we cooperate and pull off a big heist together?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com