Peony Garden.
Princess Nanzhang sat angrily on the Arhat Couch.
Mrs. Zhao approached with a tray in hand.
On the tray was a calming potion that the maid had just brewed.
But as soon as the potion was brought close and Mrs. Zhao advised Princess Nanzhang to drink it, Princess Nanzhang swept her hand and knocked over the bowl of potion.
She hated taking dicine the most in her life.
The sll of dicine made her nauseous.
She was even more reluctant to acknowledge that she had been upset by Marquis Dongxiang and his daughter to the point of needing dicine!
Mrs. Zhao sighed, unsure of how to comfort her.
The Princess had never suffered such a loss before.
This morning, she was vexed by Marquis Dongxiang, and before she could recover, she was aggravated by his daughter again.
Losing money aside, her daughter was forced to kneel for three hours as punishnt.
The eldest girl was the jewel of the princess’s eye, cherished dearly.
Knowing Princess Nanzhang was angered and advising was futile, Mrs. Zhao said, "If that piece of land is not retrieved, it is as if our Duke Mansion has given it to them."
They gained benefits and still acted arrogantly, forcing the princess to punish the eldest girl, which was hard to swallow.
Princess Nanzhang clenched her teeth, "No matter what, that piece of land must be regained!"
Mrs. Zhao looked at Princess Nanzhang.
Getting things back from the hands of the Eldest Young Madam was like snatching food from a tiger’s mouth, a nigh impossible feat.
Princess Nanzhang gestured her closer and whispered a few words.
Mrs. Zhao’s eyes lit up, "The Princess is indeed wise."
"Go do it then."
Not far from Tianxiang Building, at a tea stall.
Prince NanAn and a few others were sitting there shelling peanuts.
The table was covered with peanut shells.
Prince NanAn tossed a peanut into his mouth and said, "I wonder how things are at Duke Zhen Country Mansion now?"
"You don’t need to worry. With our sister-in-law and her maid there, our elder brother won’t suffer a loss," the Heir of Marquis Beining laughed.
Prince NanAn looked at him, "I know he won’t suffer a loss. I’m sowhat worried that the Duke Zhen Country Mansion might beco a river of blood."
The Heir of Marquis Beining, "...."
"It won’t be a river of blood, at worst there will be corpses everywhere," Chu Shun said seriously.
"...."
"I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but I feel like Brother Jingchen looks a lot better," the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo said.
"I also feel his breathing has beco more regular," the Heir of Marquis Beining said.
"How do you guys see so much? All I noticed was one of his eyes was bruised," Prince NanAn said.
"Did you see it?" he asked.
"Didn’t see it," Chu Shun replied.
"I didn’t see it either," the Heir of Marquis Beining said.
"Is there sothing wrong with your eyes?" the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo asked with concern.
Prince NanAn, "...!!!"
Really?
No one saw it?
No wonder no one ntioned it while eating noodles earlier.
"Did none of you really see it?" he asked.
"False."
"...."
Prince NanAn reached out to pinch Chu Shun.
Over there, a man dressed as a servant rode over on a horse, dismounted, and walked into the tea stall.
The servant greeted, "The Eldest Young Madam sent to ask how much silver in total was spent these days on building Tianxiang Building, apart from buying the estate."
Chu Shun swatted Prince NanAn’s hand away from his neck.
The four exchanged glances.
"Didn’t our sister-in-law know how much was spent, why send soone to ask?" the Heir of Marquis Beining said.
Prince NanAn said, "He’s asking for the total. We didn’t ntion it."
Apart from the paynts, there were also debts.
This amount beca large.
Moreover, the four of them each handled part of it.
These trivial matters were directly handled by the steward.
They only knew rough estimates and weren’t sure of the specifics.
Prince NanAn said, "Wait a mont, let the steward calculate the expenditure and tell you."
Chu Shun sent soone to find the steward.
Half a quarter-hour later, the servant returned and said, "A total of 23,628 taels was spent in the past two days."
Servant, "...."
So much?
The servant was stunned.
In just two days, spending three thousand taels was already too much, how could so much money be used up?
The Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo said, "Weren’t you supposed to bring the silver notes, where are they?"
Servant, "...."
"The Eldest Young Madam didn’t give silver notes," the servant hurriedly said.
"Stop talking nonsense, quickly take out the silver notes," Chu Shun said.
"Mr. Chu, the Eldest Young Madam really didn’t give silver notes," the servant said.
"If she didn’t give you silver notes, then whose notes are these...."
Before Chu Shun could finish speaking.
The servant wriggled free of his grasp and ran off.
Watching the servant flee the tea stall and ride away on a horse as if for his life.
Chu Shun, "...."
He held a stack of silver notes in his hand, his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
"Where on earth did these silver notes co from?" Prince NanAn asked in astonishnt.
"From him," Chu Shun said with a dark expression, "I watched him pat his chest and touch himself repeatedly, I got anxious watching, played a prank to see what would happen if the money was missing. I didn’t even finish my joke before he ran off?"
Why did the servant run?
Because he saw the Hidden Guard.
The Hidden Guard rode in, and Chu Shun looked at him, "For such a small matter, why send two groups of people, is everyone so idle?"
The Hidden Guard frowned slightly, "The Eldest Young Master asked to bring you silver notes."
"You’re bringing silver notes, so what about that servant just now?" the Heir of Marquis Beining was flabbergasted.
"What servant?" The Hidden Guard was a bit confused.
The Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo explained what just happened.
The Hidden Guard understood the situation and recounted what happened at Duke Zhen Country Mansion to Chu Shun and the others.
Prince NanAn and the others then realized whose silver notes those were.
Looking at the 3,000-tael silver notes on the table, Chu Shun’s expression was a bit complicated, "Do you think this counts as theft or robbery on my part?"
"It’s her bad luck," Prince NanAn laughed.
"Hearing that makes feel better; let’s go, let’s go, being flush with cash ans a big al tonight."
Chu Shun stuffed the silver notes into his pocket and left with the Heir of Marquis Beining, chatting and laughing.
Leaving the Hidden Guard puzzled in the wind.
The Hidden Guard returned and reported the incident to Su Jin and Xie Jingchen.
Su Jin, "...."
Xie Jingchen, "...."
In the end, Princess Nanzhang did drink a bowl of calming dicine.
The servant returned to the Duke Mansion, only to find the silver notes were gone.
Trembling with fear, he dared not return to find Chu Shun and the others.
Moreover, he wasn’t sure if Chu Shun and the others took them or if he lost them on the way.
For the sake of his life, the servant stiffened his resolve and went to Princess Nanzhang to confess his cri.
According to Mrs. Zhao’s instructions, he pretended to be investigating the spending like a steward in order to prevent them from overcharging, but the Heir of Marquis Jingguo and the others really mistook him for being sent by the Eldest Young Master, and took his money. He didn’t dare reveal he was sent by the Princess, so he ca back himself.
"Where are the silver notes?!" Mrs. Zhao asked urgently.
"The silver notes are with Prince NanAn and the others, they thought it was given by the Eldest Young Master," the servant said softly.
"So you an to say that I asked you to retrieve the house deeds and land deeds, but you failed the task and even sent them three thousand taels of silver?!" Princess Nanzhang scread hysterically.
The servant hung his head.
Not speaking, which was taken as tacit agreent.
Princess Nanzhang couldn’t catch her breath and fainted.
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