Noble Lady

"Xue Xiaoyu, I was just joking, are you serious?"

After seeing clearly what was in the box, Du Jingyuan jumped up.

Xue Chenyu calmly took a sip of tea and said, "Don't you want a thank you gift? But you're not happy after I gave it to you."

"No, I..." Du Jingyuan was so excited that she was speechless. "How could I be so greedy? Do you want to see what you took out?"

Xue Chenyu glanced at it calmly and said, "It's not something special. It's just a manor outside the city."

Du Jingyuan's face darkened. "Lizhu, listen to me, is she speaking human language?"

Chen Lizhu couldn't help laughing, but she still took a closer look at the deed and said, "Sister Xue, in my humble opinion, you have another use for this farm, right?"

Du Jingyuan: “?”

It's just a land deed, but I can see that it has other uses. Am I the only one who is stupid?

Xue Chenyu nodded, picked up a piece of crystal cake with silver chopsticks, and placed it on the plate in front of Du Jingyuan, "Try it."

Du Jingyuan looked at her for a moment in confusion, but still accepted her fate and ate.

It is soft, sweet, and not greasy.

The pastries in the north are a little different from those eaten by people in the south, and Shengjing is located in a place that is neither south nor north.

This pastry is obviously not the taste of Shengjing area.

After she finished eating, she came to her senses and asked, "Is this a snack from Lingnan?"

"Yes, it's from Lingnan. Yuzhu used to make some. After a trip to Lingnan, she consulted the chefs there and learned how to make it. The taste has become even more authentic."

Then he asked her, "What do you think?"

"It's delicious. It's soft and chewy, but not mushy or sticky. It has a light sweetness that's not overpowering. Even I, who don't like snacks, like it."

Xue Chenyu picked up another piece for Chen Lizhu, "Miss Chen San, try it too."

Chen Lizhu took a bite and nodded in satisfaction. "I've eaten many tea snacks made by the imperial kitchen in the palace, and they were all on the sweet side. Sometimes I even had to drink a lot of tea to overcome the sweetness."

"But this one has a moderate sweetness and is more palatable. It also doesn't leave a sticky feeling in your throat."

Chen Lizhu was a person who frequently went in and out of the palace and ate a lot of imperial meals, so this evaluation can be said to be very high.

"Thank you for your valuable advice, Miss Chen San. I plan to leave this snack at the farm later."

"What farm? Why would these snacks be placed on the farm? Aren't there only tenant farmers on the farm?" Du Jingyuan was confused.

After she finished speaking, her usually quiet brain began to work. "Wait, which Zhuangzi are you talking about?"

Xue Chenyu understood her riddle and nodded slowly.

"I've been thinking about splitting a farm on the outskirts of the city into a place for recreation."

"It's okay in the winter, but in the summer, the sun is scorching hot. Going outside is like being scorched. There are so few places to go in the city, so I can only stay indoors to cool off. It's boring."

"My farm is at the foot of the North Mountain. It's in an excellent location, with a clear spring. As long as we build a tent, we can soak in the spring water and eat crispy noodles in the summer while feeling the cool mountain breeze. It must be very comfortable."

Xue Chenyu finished speaking and looked at Du Jingyuan and said, "The target of the Marquis' Mansion is too big. Before, many people were targeting my mother because of her business, and now my father is being targeted by the Han family. It's not easy for me to intervene in this matter."

"You are now the young lady of the Duke's Mansion. I want you to take charge of this manor."

"No, I can't do it. How can I do business?" Du Jingyuan denied it three times without thinking.

Chen Lizhu was also stunned when she heard this, and then she looked at the deed carefully.

If she remembered correctly, this farm was in an excellent location, and with that clear spring, it had been favored by a noble lady a few years ago. She had always wanted to buy it, but had never found out who the owner was.

I didn’t expect it to be Sister Xue’s thing?

"This was a coming-of-age gift from my mother when I turned fifteen." Xue Chenyu met her gaze and immediately saw through her thoughts.

"When my mother bought it, it was still a wasteland. It was only later that she discovered this spring and built a farm on it, and it has grown to its current size."

Chen Lizhu was a little bit unbelievable. Shengjing was the place with the most expensive land in Dasheng. Even though it was located in the suburbs of the capital, the land price was much more expensive than that in other provincial capitals.

How could such a large piece of land be left abandoned?

She thought so in her heart, so she said so, but Xue Chenyu smiled and did not answer.

Chen Lizhu felt it was inappropriate to ask further questions, so she changed the subject.

She came today not only for herself, but also on behalf of the Imperial Concubine.

"Aunt said that when something happened in the Marquis' Mansion, it wasn't that the Chen family and she were unwilling to lend a hand, but that she really couldn't help. She also asked Sister Xue to forgive her."

Xue Chenyu waved her hand and said, "Since the Duke's Mansion took my sister in, it doesn't count as a lack of help."

Her meaning was very clear. Not everyone in the Duke's Mansion was stupid. How could they not notice the addition of two people as old as Xue Luoyan and Weng Xuemei?

The person was brought in by Du Jingyuan herself, and she had not come out for so many days. In addition, given her relationship with Du Jingyuan, they could have found her in no time if they wanted to investigate.

The fact that Luoluo and the others spent so many days safely in the Duke's Mansion shows that everyone in the Duke's Mansion has tacitly agreed to this matter.

Besides, the Imperial Concubine really had no say in what happened at that time.

Chen Lizhu breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad Sister Xue isn't upset. Auntie said the Sixth Prince has made rapid progress and wants to formally send him to the Marquis's academy. What if Sister gets angry and doesn't let him come?"

Xue Chenyu smiled and said, "I can't make the decision on the Sixth Prince's studies. You have to ask Mr. Lu."

Having said this, she didn't know what she was thinking about, and her expression darkened.

Chen Lizhu was so smart that she immediately thought of Cai Jinxue, the most wronged magistrate of Daling County who banged his head against the pillar in the palace because he could not bear the humiliation in the case in which Han Hongyue sued Xue Hou.

"...Sister Xue, if you have anything to say, please speak directly."

"Now that you've spoken, I won't hide it anymore. I do have something to trouble you with."

Chen Lizhu hurriedly said, "Please speak."

"Please ask the Imperial Concubine to help inquire within the palace to find out whether His Majesty has been frequently and secretly summoning the Imperial Physician recently, and where he has been going."

Chen Lizhu's eyes flashed and she nodded knowingly.

Only Du Jingyuan was still focused on the previous topic. "Xue Xiaoyu, I'm really not good at doing business. Your farm is so good, and you just gave it to me for no reason. Aren't you afraid that I'll lose money on you?"

Xue Chenyu just liked her stubborn nature. She held her cheek and smiled, "It's not like I'll just leave it to you. I just want you to take the lead and run it under the name of the Duke's Mansion."

"If I make money, I'll definitely give you a good chunk of it. I didn't let you carry this name for nothing. You don't have to worry about getting any loss."

Du Jingyuan immediately became unhappy. "I am that kind of person? Is that what I mean?"

Xue Chenyu said directly, "I know what you're worried about. But what's the relationship between you and me? I wouldn't trust others with it, so how can I be worried about you?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the corners of Du Jingyuan's mouth almost curled up to the sky.