Gu Ziyu couldn't help but laugh when she saw her like this, "Sister Wanwan, I think you walk like a duck."
As he spoke, he even imitated her taking a few steps.
Su Wanwan glared at him.
Seeing his exaggerated movements, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh, and her tense emotions were suddenly relieved.
Gu Ziyu chuckled and performed a set of funny boxing moves, making Su Wanwan laugh.
In the middle of the fight, he suddenly pulled something out from behind him.
They conjured up a little white dove that was flapping its wings as if about to take flight and handed it to Su Wanwan.
"Sister Wanwan, do you think we should keep it as a pet or make soup with it?"
Su Wanwan glared at him, "Such a cute pigeon, and you actually want to stew it?!"
Gu Ziyu was a little embarrassed by the questioning and scratched his head:
"I think so too, so I stole it from the kitchen to ask what you think."
Zhou Wanxiu came over, lifting her skirt, and said angrily,
"So that's why the pigeons in the kitchen went missing! It turns out you were the one who did it!"
"Hmph, I brought this especially for Aunt Wan to help her recover. Give it back to me!"
As he spoke, he reached out to snatch the white dove from his hand.
Gu Ziyu nonchalantly dodged it.
"I won't give it to you! I'll make you ten more later. As for this one, I'm going to give it away as a gift."
Zhou Wanxiu was furious and insisted on having the pigeon, chasing Gu Ziyu all over the yard:
"Gu Er, you really are a shameless scoundrel!"
Su Wanwan watched them chasing each other, covering her mouth and laughing so hard she was shaking.
Gu Ziyu got even more excited.
She hopped and skipped around, deliberately teasing Zhou Wanxiu, and circled around Su Wanwan.
On a summer morning, the air in the farm is fresh and cool, filled with a joyful atmosphere.
Lu Xingjian stood on the second-floor corridor, looking down quietly at the laughter and chatter in the courtyard, his face expressionless.
Steward Li, standing beside him, lowered his eyes and remained silent.
The Emperor and the three downstairs have known each other since childhood.
However, he was given high expectations from a young age, so such joyful and playful times were few and far between.
The last time Chief Eunuch Li could recall the Emperor playing so freely was before the fire at Qingning Palace.
He and Miss Su were so close back then.
We practiced calligraphy together, studied together, chatted about everything under the sun, and even rested together for lunch when we got tired.
The two of them always had endless whispers to share, laughed without a care in the world, and their eyes shone like the stars in the sky.
From some point onward, he became increasingly silent, and his thoughts became more and more unpredictable.
Since the master was not home, Zhou Wanxiu prepared breakfast.
She set out a large table with four sets of tableware and personally went upstairs to invite Lu Xingjian over for breakfast.
When Su Wanwan inadvertently turned around and saw Lu Xingjian coming downstairs, she felt a chill run down her spine and was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.
Feeling his gaze, she avoided meeting his eyes, but still went to meet him.
"Is this convenient? I... need to talk to you about something."
Her heart pounded, and she whispered something.
Lu Xingjian stopped in his tracks and glanced at her.
"Come on up, to my room."
His expression was somewhat indifferent.
After saying that, he turned around and went upstairs again.
A lone man and a lone woman, alone in a room...
Su Wanwan hesitated for a moment, but still lifted her skirt and followed.
She wanted to return the 500,000 taels of silver notes to him.
Once inside the room, Lu Xingjian sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and gestured for her to sit down on the other side.
What kind of tea would you like?
Su Wanwan's heart was pounding even faster as she stood at the door. Instead of sitting down, she took out a small box she had prepared and placed it on the table.
"No need for tea, and I don't need these silver notes."
“I’m a little short on cash right now because of the land and shops I pawned. I’ll make it up to you once the profits from this year’s Jiangnan project are realized.”
In recent years, she has been carefully managing her dowry in Jiangnan, and has built silk workshops and cotton cloth workshops in the mulberry fields of Huzhou and the cotton fields of Suzhou, respectively.
They also reached an agreement with jade merchants in Yunnan and opened several jade shops in Jiangnan, and business became increasingly booming.
The total annual profit from all sources amounted to over 100,000 taels of silver.
This was thanks to the generous dowry given to her by the late Empress Dowager Zhou, which included the finest farmland and shops.
Of course, there are many other businesses that cannot be discussed openly, such as the highly profitable overseas smuggling fleet, which need not be brought to the forefront.
Lu Xingjian looked at the small box on the table, his face calm and expressionless.
Su Wanwan paused, but didn't look up, and continued in one go:
"I offended you before because I was ignorant, but I won't do it again."
Please don't take it to heart.
"From now on, just pretend you don't know me. In public and in private, let's... have nothing to do with each other anymore."
After saying these words, she stood there curled up in a ball, waiting for his reaction.
The atmosphere in the room was inexplicably tense, stifling, and oppressive.
Su Wanwan felt like she could hardly breathe.
Lu Xingjian's face was covered by a shadow, his expression indifferent, revealing no emotion.
"what ever."
He took the small box without even looking up: "Take care."
Su Wanwan left, her face pale.
Five hundred thousand taels of silver can be used to test it out.
He was somewhat interested in her, but that was all.
Once his dignity is touched, she becomes nothing.
Relying on him to deal with the Marquis of Qingyang's mansion has little chance of success.
She wanted to go back to her room to have breakfast alone, but Zhou Wanxiu stopped her with a smile:
"Auntie, let's join in. It'll be more lively. We're just eating simple country food."
"No need," Su Wanwan said absentmindedly.
"Auntie Wan, I haven't seen you in so long. Can't I even have a meal with you?"
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