Shen Qiyuan left, using qinggong to depart. With one leap, he was ten zhang away, never once turning his head back.

Ruyi watched him go, then turned back and clicked her tongue at Zhao Yanning: “You person, don’t you know he’s quite shy? Why did you open the window?”

Zhao Yanning spread his hands: “Master, if I hadn’t opened the window, wouldn’t you two have dismantled it? Then I’d still be visible inside, and we’d waste money repairing the window too.”

That made quite a bit of sense, didn’t it?

Ruyi borrowed the path to enter, carrying the large red chest as she walked outside: “Blame me for not knowing directions—how did I go the wrong way?”

Though even if she hadn’t gone wrong, tonight wouldn’t have been a good time anyway.

The chest in her arms was heavy, with some uneasy movement inside. She quickly carried it back to her room and opened it.

He Tinglan emerged from the chest, breathing heavily.

Ruyi poured her a cup of water: “Suffocated badly? Your face is so red.”

The red face wasn’t from being suffocated.

He Tinglan looked at her with a complex expression.

In her memory, Liu Ruyi always kept her head half-lowered, her eyes often filled with panic. She didn’t speak much, and if anyone showed her the slightest kindness, she would be extremely moved and give them all her money without thought. She was foolishly infuriating.

But this person before her had firm, passionate eyes and a brilliant, confident smile, as if all things in this world could be easily trampled beneath her feet. Where was even half a trace of timidity?

Was this still her?

Remembering those teasing words directed at men earlier, He Tinglan’s face grew even redder. She hugged her arms and looked at her, somewhat at a loss.

Ruyi only glanced at her once, then went to the wardrobe to find her a set of clothes, and took out pastries from the food box to arrange on the table. She said not a word, only leaned gracefully against the soft couch and yawned wearily.

He Tinglan looked at her hesitantly, slowly reaching out to take the clothes and put them on, then dawdled over to sit at the table and took a bite of pastry.

The crispy flower pastry melted in her mouth, making her appetite stir.

Her eyes brightened, but she didn’t dare eat much.

Ruyi spoke carelessly: “Although Prince Yong was magnanimous enough to let you go, he most likely won’t be willing to negotiate with the He family for your sake, so you can’t return to the He family—what are your plans for the future?”

Bringing this up made He Tinglan somewhat bewildered.

What plans could she have? In Great Qian, a woman without family support and a good husband’s family to support her could mostly only do slave work or washing, and such labor.

Seeing her remain silent for a long while, Ruyi found a ledger in a drawer and tossed it to her: “Can you understand this?”

As a daughter of a prominent family, she naturally had to learn accounting and household management skills. Although this ledger had extremely numerous income and expense categories, He Tinglan still nodded: “I can understand it.”

“Excellent.” She clapped her hands. “I have many shops under my name, and a large portion still use Liu family stewards. Although they have old master-servant feelings toward me, they are ultimately eating at the Liu manor’s table. Having people run between two places isn’t quite appropriate. If you’re willing, I’ll entrust that sweet water shop and grain store to you, with monthly wages calculated at ten percent of profits.”

Ten percent profit from the sweet water shop alone was already generous, not to mention the grain store as well.

He Tinglan almost instinctively spoke up: “Outside stewards managing shops usually get monthly wages of three to five taels, and even the most laborious ones get no more than eleven or twelve taels. You’re being generous, giving ten percent right away. Do you know how much silver that ten percent amounts to!”

She thought this person had changed, but when it came to giving people money, she was still so reckless.

Seeing this person suddenly relax, Ruyi’s eyes held laughter: “If not for you, these shops would have long fallen to Ningyuan Marquis’ Manor. Ten percent for you isn’t much. Moreover, you’re kind-hearted with excellent upbringing, naturally unlike other managers who skim and scrape, so you’re worth this monthly wage.”

Being praised by her, He Tinglan felt somewhat uncomfortable, stiffening her neck as she said: “Who’s kind-hearted? Have you forgotten how I used to scold you?”

“The scolding was all correct, so now you’ve scolded me awake.” She clapped lightly.

Somewhat between laughter and tears, He Tinglan lowered her eyes, her fingers lightly picking at her sleeves, still somewhat at a loss.

Ruyi didn’t rush her to make a decision. After she finished the pastries, she went to tidy up the adjacent room and settled herself in there first.

If the He family learned the news, they might still come to make trouble. Ruyi calculated that when Shen Qiyuan came tomorrow, she’d ask him to pull some strings to change He Tinglan’s household registration.

However, on the second day, Shen Qiyuan didn’t come. On the third day, Shen Qiyuan still didn’t come.

Ruyi sat in the restaurant’s main hall with her legs crossed, shaking her head with clicking sounds: “His face is really too thin.”

It was just being caught red-handed by Zhao Yanning—was it worth caring so much?

Just when she needed someone, Ruyi decided not to wait any longer. She picked up several brocade boxes and hired a carriage to go to Lord Zongzheng’s manor villa.

When she arrived, she was told that Lord Shen had an imperially granted residence and didn’t usually live there.

Following the officer’s directions, Ruyi came to Pinglu Lane at Houchao Gate. What met her eyes was a thirteen-courtyard imperial residence, magnificent and grand with continuous eaves. The plaque above the main gate was decorated with gold, and the stone lions at the entrance held jade balls of excellent quality in their mouths.

Ordinary people would have weak knees just reaching this entrance, but Ruyi only found it curious. She handed her calling card to the gatekeeper and sat on the carriage shaft, propping her chin as she examined the courtyard walls.

Too high—anyone wanting a romantic story of meeting over the wall here would probably break their legs falling.

The servants within the courtyard walls moved about in an orderly fashion. Presumably due to strict household rules, even the sounds of sweeping and arranging were very light. The deeper into the main courtyard, the heavier the atmosphere became.

The steward stood beside Shen Qiyuan, not daring to breathe heavily, bowing as he reported the household affairs one by one, then wanted to withdraw.

“Did the manor receive any calling cards today?” Shen Qiyuan asked while sipping porridge.

The steward quickly replied: “Yes, we receive over ten calling cards daily. Since you’ve never liked to go out, I didn’t report them.”

As he spoke, he respectfully placed a stack of calling cards from his sleeve pocket on the table.

Shen Qiyuan cleaned his hands and seemingly casually flipped through them, but his expression grew worse the more he looked.

The steward’s heart was beating like a drum, unable to fathom what was wrong with his master, not daring to ask. Seeing him snort coldly and throw down the last calling card, sweat seeped from his back.

“You may go.” He waved his sleeve dismissively.

The steward felt like he’d received amnesty, quickly bowing and withdrawing. Only after walking to the third gate did his breathing steady.

“This master is becoming increasingly difficult to serve,” he said, wiping sweat while instructing the young servants behind him. “All of you, be careful. If anything goes wrong, it would be catastrophic.”

The young servants responded, but couldn’t help being curious: “Is my lord waiting for someone’s calling card?”

“Mind your own business!” The steward glared at him, but felt puzzled himself, so he made a trip to the gatehouse.

The Shen residence was currently extremely influential, receiving dozens of calling cards daily. The gatehouse would first discard some of the people without status or position seeking favors, only sending in those from established households.

The steward rummaged through that pile of discarded name cards and found one that wasn’t quite proper. Opening it to look, he saw only the two characters “Ruyi” on it, with no surname or household name, and the calligraphy was wild and sloppy.