Princess Menglang is hard to change, the whole capital is embarrassed for her

The secret guard probably never dreamed that someone would dare to withhold his hidden weapon and not return it. In the past, he would either kill or beat her, but the person in front of him was the daughter of Censor Cui, someone even his master was afraid of, so he didn't dare to snatch her away.

Darts, his darts.

The secret guard had a sad face. If he had known he was being blackmailed, he would have picked up some stones in preparation.

Cui Lan'er covered her face with her sleeves, cried twice, then secretly opened one eye and looked at the dart in her hand.

It looks like it's made of iron and isn't worth much, but the logo on it is quite unique. I guess that's why the secret guard wants to get it back.

"My Big Black, Second Black, Third Black..."

"Miss Cui, Miss Cui," the old housekeeper quickly softened his tone and tried to comfort her. "Don't cry, don't cry. Look, it's already happened. Do you want the young man to compensate you for the insect? Or for something else? Just now, he had good intentions. He didn't know that the insect was yours, and he was afraid of hurting you, so he took action."

"But regardless, he did recklessly shoot your bug to death. Please forgive his misdeeds and don't be angry with him. Give him a chance to compensate you. As long as you like, I will pay you whatever you say. How do you think?"

Cui Lan'er blinked twice, her eyes swirling around, her face filled with grief and indignation as she said, "Am I the one who's blackmailing me? Ah? Besides, how am I supposed to compensate? Can the insects you catch be the same as the ones I raise myself? The insects I raise are intelligent and can understand what I say. It took me so much effort to raise them to that size. The ones you caught are so stupid that even chickens won't eat them. How can they compare to the ones I raised? Woo woo woo, I can't mention them. It hurts my heart to mention them. Big Black, Second Black, Third Black, Fourth Black, you died so tragically. You were gone just like that..."

The secret guards were about to cry.

He came out to carry out a mission, but was blatantly blackmailed and didn't dare to refute. This was the first time he had encountered such a thing in his life, and he wanted to cry.

Cui Lan'er's throat was dry from crying, but there were no tears in her eyes. She covered her eyes with her sleeves and looked at the dart in her hand again.

You know what, it’s quite exquisitely made.

I turned it over and looked at it again. It is indeed exquisite. I wonder how much I could get if I sold it.

"Miss Cui, Miss Cui?" The old housekeeper's cautious voice reached her ears, waking Cui Lan'er from her sweet dream. "How about... can I give you ten taels of silver?"

The price of the best insects and birds on the market is at most two taels of silver per bird.

Cui Lan'er's four insects weigh eight taels. This girl is not easy to get rid of, so give her two more taels to make it an even number.

Ten taels of silver were equivalent to one and a half months' salary for a high-ranking official in the imperial court.

"How much? Ten taels!" Cui Lan'er swallowed hard, trying not to let them see that she was excited. She kept calm, kept calm, "Ten taels of silver, well..."

"I'm afraid ten taels won't be enough," Shen Li quickly took over the conversation and said to the old housekeeper, "When Miss Cui hired people to dig from the mountain, the wages alone were one tael per worm, so for four worms, the wages were four taels. And then there are the precious materials she used to feed the worms, such as centipedes, silkworms, snake meat, fish soup..."

Cui Lan'er stared at Shen Li blankly and forgot to pretend to cry.

Sister Li boasted even louder than her. She herself couldn't bear to eat snake meat and fish soup, but Sister Li dared to brag that she used that stuff to feed beetles.

If she had known that a beetle could become more valuable than a golden beetle due to Sister Li's boasting, she should have released ten of them at once.

Is it too late to regret now?

The secret guard was dumbfounded, looking at Shen Li's chattering mouth, and then at Cui Lan'er who was equally shocked.

Oh my God, the victim has been exposed, and this Miss Shen actually helped the victim to blackmail others.

"Then... Miss Shen, what do you think? How much compensation should I pay?"

The secret guard's voice was filled with tears, and the old housekeeper couldn't bear it. Just as he was about to help plead for mercy, he heard Shen Li say, "This money shouldn't be paid by you, but by her, isn't it?"

She pointed her finger straight at Xiao Zhao. "Don't assume I don't know. You're here to protect her. If you weren't afraid that the bugs would hurt her, you wouldn't have rushed to hit them with darts. Since she's the beneficiary, she has to compensate for all the losses. Otherwise, we don't mind going to the Prime Minister's Mansion to ask the Prime Minister to pay the money, right, Lan'er?"

"Oh, yes, that's right. Sister Li is right. If she doesn't compensate me, I will ask my father to ask the old Prime Minister to compensate me, not a penny less."

Xiao Zhao, who was standing not far behind, heard their conversation clearly and was so angry that her lungs were about to explode.

It was obviously Cui Lan'er who wanted to help that bitch Shen Li vent her anger and released the bugs to attack me. I didn't ask them to calm me down, but they actually dared to blackmail me.

Her eyes were wide open and she was about to step forward to argue, but was held back tightly by Shen Zhaojiang.

Shen Zhaojiang lowered his voice and warned her, "Are you crazy? What did father say when you came here? You can't have any conflict with Shen Li. Do you think you can get the upper hand by going out to argue at this time? If even Cui Yushi is alarmed and he embarrasses father in the court, it will be strange if father can forgive you."

Xiao Zhao's eyes were almost popping out of her head with anger, and she didn't dare to say a word. She just let Shen Li and Cui Lan'er talk back and forth about the price of the four beetles.

"Or you should ask for less," Cui Lan'er's tone was full of sympathy. "If you ask for more, she can't afford it. She will go back and vent her anger on this young man. It's really pitiful."

Secret Guard: You speak as if it were true. Thank you both.

"Well, ask for less. Calculate carefully how much you should be given. Tell her the number. If she doesn't bring that much silver, send someone back to the Prime Minister's Mansion to report it and ask the old Prime Minister to send it over." Shen Li nodded in agreement.

Cui Lan'er's expression suddenly turned sad again. "Yes, I must receive the silver today. I also have to bury them before dark, so that they will not be beetles in their next life, but be reborn as humans. Woo woo woo, they are so pitiful, so pitiful. My Big Black, Second Black, Third Black, and Fourth Black, they have wasted so many good things of mine, that is all silver..."

The old butler's mouth twitched.

What's all this cries about?

Cui Lan'er sobbed and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. She said to the old housekeeper, "A beetle..."

Suddenly, I thought of the centipede I sold to Xiao Chenze for ten taels of silver. Sister Li boasted that this black armor grew by eating centipedes, so it must be more expensive than the centipede, right?

"Just fifteen taels each." Cui Lan'er slapped her thigh, scaring the old housekeeper and the secret guard.

"Fifteen taels?" Little Zhao couldn't help but scream, "Why don't you just rob someone? Even a ragtag bastard on the street dares to ask for fifteen taels. Even robbers aren't as ruthless as you."

The sorrowful expression on Cui Lan'er's face instantly disappeared. She put her hands on her waist and glared at Xiao Zhao. "It's only fifteen taels. I'm charging you less for the sake of my brother and the housekeeper. Four pieces are sixty taels. Will you give it to me? If not, ask your father for it. If your father doesn't give it to me, let my father ask him for it. I'll see if your father doesn't make you kneel down when you go back. Humph."