Never mind that she has Qiang Wanzhou serving her, but Master has even lost his status as her fiancé now… Yan Qing lowered his gaze, hoping that his master would treat him as invisible. I heard nothing… I heard nothing…
“Yan Qing,” called Rong Xiu coldly.
Yan Qing hurriedly responded, “Yes, Your Highness?”
“How long has it been since I left the Imperial City?”
“27 days, my lord.”
Rong Xiu frowned slightly at that. “I left the Imperial City the same day as Yue’er, which means that it’s been 27 days since we last met.”
Although his tone was calm as if he was just talking about an ordinary matter, Yan Qing felt the temperature around him drop. The latter quickly scanned his surroundings, only to realize that the puddle of tea on the table had actually frozen. He then stiffly replied, “…Yes.”
…
Downstairs.
…F-friends?! Didn’t Master say that she’s our Madam?! Why did their relationship become only friends on her end? Shocked to hear what Chu Liuyue had said, Yue Ling found himself struggling to ask, “It shouldn’t be an ordinary friend, right? It’s such an expensive item…”
“Why are you so curious about my affairs today, General Manager Yue?” interrupted Chu Liuyue with a smile.
One glance at her somewhat wary look, and Yue Ling knew that she must’ve misunderstood him. I just wanted to ask those questions on Master’s behalf and had no other intentions.
Despite his wish to clear things up, he was afraid that he might make things worse in this situation. Thus, he could only force himself to smile and reply, “Don’t be mistaken, Ms. Chu. It’s just a random question.”
Right at that moment, a pageboy brought over the herbs Chu Liuyue had ordered.
Chu Liuyue had no intention of pursuing the matter, so she just took the herbs from the pageboy and put them in her Cosmic Ring. “Oh right, there’s another reason for my visit. I’d like to seek your help on a certain matter. The herbs I ordered previously aren’t enough, so I’d like to… double my order. I wonder if you can—”
“Of course! No problem at all!” Yue Ling agreed to it right away.
Seeing that her purpose of visit was accomplished, Chu Liuyue didn’t linger around any longer and quickly left soon after.
It was only after watching her figure disappear from his sight that Yue Ling turned around and proceeded upstairs. But the moment he walked to a certain room’s entrance, he could sense an icy aura even before he could enter it. He quickly looked up and exchanged a brief look with Yan Qing.
There were hints of sympathy in Yan Qing’s eyes. Out of all things to talk about, Yue Ling just had to talk about the Cosmic Ring and even ask who the giver was. Now look at what he’s done! Look at the answer he received from her!
Yue Ling became even more apprehensive. Just as I guessed—Master heard the entire conversation! But I really didn’t expect her to give me such an answer! I really shot myself in the foot this time.
“…Master…” said Yue Ling in trepidation, his back drenched with cold sweat.
Rong Xiu lightly asked, “She asked for more herbs just now?”
Yue Ling hurriedly answered, “Yes, Ms. Liuyue wanted twice as much as before…”
“Do we have so much stock in Hundred Herbs Building?”
“Uh… Yes, for now. But in order to keep supplying them to her, we have to quickly get people to find more herbs.”
Most of the herbs Chu Liuyue wanted were inexpensive and common, save for a few particular ones. Still, it wasn’t easy even for Hundred Herbs Building to supply so many herbs continuously.
“Don’t worry though. I won’t dare to delay Madam’s orders and will make sure to fulfill her requests!” said Yue Ling with conviction.
Rong Xiu’s smile deepened slightly. “Oh?”
Yan Qing closed his eyes once more. How did I not realize before that Yue Ling is somewhat of a dimwit in this aspect?
By now, Yue Ling finally sensed that something was wrong, and a thought hit his mind all of a sudden. Most of those herbs are prepared for Qiang Wanzhou. Her doubling the order means that she’s helping him even more than before!
Upon comparing Qiang Wanzhou’s situation to his master’s—where the latter didn’t even have a proper title as her fiancé—Yue Ling swallowed his saliva with much difficulty. I think… I just dug my own grave even further…
Rong Xiu then stood up and left the room.
…
As Chu Liuyue walked out of Hundred Herbs Building, she kept thinking about what happened earlier. She had a rather good impression of Yue Ling so far, but she found him behaving really oddly today, asking questions that people usually wouldn’t ask. As Hundred Herbs Building’s general manager, he surely knows that it’s inappropriate to ask such questions, yet he did it anyway… If I hadn’t stopped myself in time, he probably would’ve asked more. I wonder what he’s up to…
Deep in thought, she soon arrived at the place where she requested her letter to be delivered. She walked in and immediately spotted the person she had asked to help deliver the letter previously.
Delight sprouted in her heart as she thought that there might be a reply letter. Thus, she quickened her pace and walked over to that person, asking, “Hello, may I ask if there’s any reply letter to the message that was sent to Country Yao Chen?”
The man ceased what he was doing and looked over at her.
The smile on her face instantly stiffened when she met the other’s gaze. His eyes… This is—
The man seemed to know what she was thinking, and he said calmly, “I just returned and haven’t sorted out my things. I’d like to trouble you to wait by the side first.”
That pulled Chu Liuyue back to her senses, and she nodded. “Sure.”
After that, she walked to wait by the side.
The man then skillfully sorted the pile of letters in his hands and handed them to different people.
A man broke into laughter, roaring loudly, “Qin Qi, your efficiency has increased by a lot since you came back!”
When Qin Qi merely smiled in response, the man chuckled and retracted his gaze as if he was used to this display.
The other people were all doing their own things, and the man named Qin Qi worked in silence.
About 15 minutes later, he finally walked over to Chu Liuyue’s side with a letter in hand. “This is the reply letter.”
Chu Liuyue took a look at the envelope, which had Mu Hongyu’s name written on it. Hongyu’s parents must’ve written a reply letter to her.
She then turned her gaze to Qin Qi. “Thank you.”
