Chapter 40 You are the one who used me
The red hairpin on her head made sounds with her steps, like a kingfisher splashing water, or a nightingale singing. Step by step, she followed that beautiful figure and disappeared into the night.
It was nearly midnight when Lu Tingwan returned to the Cheng residence. Cheng Xianzhi saw Han Zhou off and went to Yingyue Pavilion. Gongsun Xue accepted the ten jars of Jade Dew Cream and, as a token of her gratitude, played music for him. Cheng Xianzhi was a master of rhythmic music, but since taking up the post of Minister of State, he had lost interest in playing the zither and listening to music.
For two consecutive months, he did not stay in Yingyue Pavilion. He only stayed to accompany Gongsun Xue for a few songs to comfort her.
What people in the mansion saw was that Cheng Xianzhi doted on her, the two of them lived in harmony, his wife and concubine were friendly and not jealous of each other, the master was ambitious and had a bright future, and no matter how you looked at it, the Cheng family was on the rise.
On the way back to the study, she met Lu Tingwan who was returning home at night. Lu Tingwan sobered up briefly, but Luo Yunchu's behavior also made her distracted. The drunkenness was about to come back at any time. The whole way in her mind was full of the image of the two of them leaning on each other, and even her cheeks seemed to still have the warmth.
She couldn't tell what kind of emotion it was. She wanted to avoid it but was also curious about it.
Even when the guards greeted her upon entering the mansion, Lu Tingwan was completely oblivious. Now that Cheng Xianzhi was right in front of her, it was as if she couldn't see him, her mind lost.
Until Cheng Xianzhi stopped and blocked his way, Lu Tingwan hit his forehead hard and couldn't help but take a few steps back. Her limbs went limp and she became increasingly powerless. The force almost made her lose her balance. Cheng Xianzhi was quick to grab her wrist and pulled her forward. Lu Tingwan fell into his arms again, shaking her head.
"Lu Tingwan!" The intimidating voice brought her back from her thoughts, and the smell of alcohol on her body rushed towards him.
"S-Sir..."
Cheng Xianzhi noticed her drunken state and said coldly, "Have you been drinking?"
"Yeah." Lu Tingwan rubbed his eyebrows and opened his eyes to see him clearly, but he was confused.
"Although I allow you to go out and do business, and I agree to divorce you, as long as you are still a member of the Cheng family, if your actions or words are too excessive, I don't mind clearing out your outsiders."
"Hmm?" Lu Tingwan listened to the threat and tried to open his heavy eyelids again.
Or perhaps because he was already feeling weak and drunk, his words became incoherent: "What? You want to clean up the family? I haven't done anything to let the Cheng family down, and I won't do anything to let Cheng Xianzhi down. Who are you trying to clean up?"
Seeing her drunk, Cheng Xianzhi said, "If you get drunk again and walk in and out of the house so arrogantly, I'll have you thrown out."
"You don't want to be decent anyway."
"You obviously have a pretty face," Lu Tingwan shook her head a few times, "Why do you say such cold words..."
"Drunkard." Cheng Xianzhi said harshly.
"Drunkards are no longer a nuisance to adults..."
Lu Tingwan wanted to leave, but the road was blocked. She tried to go around, but Cheng Xianzhi refused to move. So she raised her eyes and stared at him, commanding, "Get out of the way, sir."
The man who stood still had a gloomy face and refused to give way.
Lu Tingwan could only step on the grass to avoid people. How could she still tell the direction?
Seeing the fork in the road between the study and Yansheng Hall, she stopped to ponder for a moment, then turned right. Cheng Xianzhi followed behind her without a word.
He entered the study and shouted to the courtyard, "Feng Xin, Feng Xin, I'm back."
"Your boss is back, come and meet him."
But there was no answer from inside, so Cheng Xianzhi leaned against the doorpost, folded his arms and watched her go crazy while drunk.
If Han Zhou saw this scene, he would probably mock it again.
Waiting for no one to greet her, she set off on her own. She felt dizzy and her vision was blurry, so she could only rely on her memory to find her bedroom. As she walked, she was blocked by an osmanthus tree. Pointing at it, she demanded, "Feng Xin, are you using your abacus again? Why did you just come out?"
She thought she was being told by the wind, but it didn't work out for her. Lu Tingwan simply hugged the tree with her arms and said, "Today, today are you going to settle the accounts in Zhichunli? Have you finished?"
The wind blew and the leaves rustled. She took it as an answer and said to herself, "Okay, take it, show it to me..."
"That Cheng Xianzhi has bad intentions and is deliberately making things difficult for me. He even threatened me in the courtyard just now," she ripped off a few leaves and brought them close to her eyes, trying to read the words. "He told me not to embarrass him. Today, I'm so majestic and awe-inspiring in Zhichun. Even if I tell everyone that I'm the Second Madam of the Cheng family, it's just flattery for him. He'll just be secretly happy."
The man on the doorpost scoffed and smiled slyly, "So that's what you think."
"Feng Xin, speak up," she said in a scoundrelly tone, "I'm happy today, but I'm also sad..."
Seeing that she didn't seem to be upset, Cheng Xianzhi watched her to see what kind of smile she would make.
As she spoke, she started crying again for some reason, "Luo Yunchu kissed me tonight..."
The person leaning against the doorpost suddenly straightened up. As expected, she had gone out to fool around.
Then he muttered a few unclear words. Cheng Xianzhi couldn't hear clearly, but his expression was not good.
"He kissed me," Lu Tingwan said with a silly smile, "but I haven't divorced yet..."
Cheng Xianzhi gritted his teeth, strode over, and grabbed her by the collar. "Lu Tingwan, don't push your luck. If you say a few more words, the entire Cheng family will know you've been fooling around outside and meeting other men. It's fine with me, but you'll be branded as an unvirtuous woman, ruining both your own reputation and that of the Lu family. Then, there'll be no need for a divorce. I can legitimately kick you out, the pawn planted by the Queen Mother."
"Shut up!" She yelled in annoyance. Lu Tingwan was grabbed and her collar was stuck in her throat. She was already drunk and in a bad mood, and she felt suffocated and irritable.
Seeing that she ignored him, Cheng Xianzhi became even more furious, but he could only restrain his demeanor. Lu Tingwan wrapped herself in the shawl, her clothes were messy, and her hairpin was askew. "Feng Xin, tell Cheng Xianzhi to hold the remaining jade dew cream. Take the silver first."
"Tell him to mess with me. Does he think I don't know what's on his mind?" Lu Tingwan met Cheng Xianzhi's gaze, and Cheng Xianzhi also looked at her. "He wants to laugh at me, embarrass me in front of everyone, and make me lose my credibility."
Cheng Xianzhi couldn't tell whether she was drunk or sober. If he said she was sober, she couldn't recognize people. If he said she was not sober, she could still understand what happened during the day.
"What good will it do him if I'm embarrassed? We're clearly allies, yet he's trying to trip me up from behind, to provoke me, and then show off his power to me. Don't be fooled by his handsome looks, he's a cunning man." Lu Tingwan chattered on and on.
"It was you who took advantage of me, and now you feel wronged." Cheng Xianzhi grabbed the person's hand and pushed her out of the study.
Lu Tingwan couldn't stand and tried to find a foothold with her hands, but couldn't find any, so she finally landed on his chest.
His hands were still scratching around restlessly, as if he had touched a hidden place. The feel was pretty good, solid and reliable. Then he was satisfied with this posture and was about to lean down.
Cheng Xianzhi could no longer bear it, and his eyes were sharp, but the drunkard could not see or understand his emotions, and just thought he was a piece of wood.
The crooked red hairpin fell into Cheng Xianzhi's arms. He caught it and put it back into her bun, then pushed her out of the study door, called Cang Zhu, and sent her back to Yansheng Hall.
Feng Xin heard the noise and quickly helped him into the house. Lu Tingwan fell asleep as soon as he lay down on the soft couch.
Feng Xin took advantage of her sleep to gently change her dirty clothes, remove her hairpins and rings, and wipe her cheeks before blowing out the candles in the room, leaving only the glass cup on the bedside. Because she had drunk some wine, he was worried she would be thirsty at night and poured a cup of tea outside the bedside.
Lu Tingwan slept well all night. When she woke up the next day, she felt dizzy. Feng Xin brought her some sobering soup. Lu Tingwan only remembered that after leaving Luo Mansion, she took a carriage back to Cheng Mansion. She seemed to have met Cheng Xianzhi in a daze, and she didn't remember anything after that.
"Feng Xin, when did I come back last night?" She rubbed her forehead and tried hard to recall, but she could not remember anything.
"It's midnight." Feng Xin handed over the sobering soup, "Madam, you are drunk. It was Cang Shu who was with the master who brought you back."
"Cang Shu sent me back?" Lu Tingwan asked in surprise. She clearly remembered that after meeting Cheng Xian, she returned to Yansheng Hall by herself.
I don’t remember what happened after that.
"Madam, you must have lost your memory," Feng Xin said. "You were still mumbling in your sleep last night."
"What did I say?"
Feng Xin chuckled, "Second Madam said in her dream that Young Master Luo kissed you."
"What?" Lu Tingwan screamed in surprise, and the sparrows in the yard flapped their wings and flew away.
She tried to calm herself down, "Did I say these words when Cang Shu sent me back?"
"No, you said that after you went to bed."
Hearing this, my heart finally settled down.
Fortunately, fortunately...
If this was heard by other people in the mansion, she would probably be in big trouble. She lost her composure yesterday and was distracted by Luo Yunchu's behavior. She slapped her face a few times and was now completely sober.
Then Lu Tingwan stretched comfortably, got off the bed, and put on his clogs. The morning light shone over the eaves, and a few rays of light from the branches hung in the courtyard. A few sparrows, having recovered from their fright, returned to their nests. Lu Tingwan broke off a dry branch and whistled, trying to entertain the sparrows, looking relaxed and at ease.
After freshening up, Lu Tingwan looked completely refreshed. She quickly drafted a detailed document about the discussion she had with Luo Yunchu yesterday regarding recruiting shop agents, including every detail, such as the location of the proposed shop, the size of the shop, the operating hours, its reputation among the public, the main categories of goods sold, and its annual revenue and profit.
In the end, it took two days and I wrote dozens of pages of documents, almost like a booklet.
Zhichunli's business was getting better and better, with guests coming here for its reputation. The farm was short of staff, so she recruited people from outside the city. The supply and demand of Yulu Cream could barely catch up with the amounts set before the opening, but the goods were still in short supply.
If we want to be an agent for various shops, the output will have to be doubled. The supply of raw materials for the farm is not a problem, but the lack of manpower and necessary tools is what slows down the progress. Once the manpower problem is solved, the tool problem must be solved.
She asked Fengxin to purchase a batch of new equipment from the city, greatly increasing the inventory.
The document was delivered to the Chamber of Commerce. Luo Yunchu organized important members of the Chamber of Commerce to discuss and finalize it. The Chamber of Commerce issued a recruitment order. All major shops in Kyoto that met the requirements submitted their business cards. The desk in Luo Yunchu's Chamber of Commerce was piled with business cards and rubbings of store-related documents submitted by the shops.
It was not an easy task to select twenty shops from a hundred or so. He spent seven days screening out fifty shops, and finally compared and evaluated them one by one before selecting the twenty shops that he thought were most suitable.
Tianshu held up the seals of the twenty shops and asked, "Young Master, you've been working day and night these past few days, carefully considering and finally choosing. If Shopkeeper Jiang knew how much you've put into this, he would surely be deeply distressed and grateful for your hard work."
"This is no longer a personal matter. Since we're doing this in the name of the Chamber of Commerce, I'm not only worried about Zhichunli. This is an opportunity for both the Chamber of Commerce and me."
"Young Master is right. Tianshu will send these lists over and have his men draft a notice and post it outside the Chamber of Commerce for the public to vote."
"Um."
"These are the snacks that Shopkeeper Jiang sent. Young Master, please try them," Tianshu said, passing the snacks that Lu Tingwan had brought forward. "Young Master, you've been sitting at your desk for a long time. It's time to go out and stretch your legs. Tianshu thinks the autumn weather is pleasant..."
"Sure, go to Zhichunli."
Tianshu stood there in a daze. When did his young master become so receptive to advice?
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