After Shi Fa Ken left, Madam Zhu summoned Zhu Yanyan’s wet nurse. “What did Miss say to this Miss Shi?”

The wet nurse, with reddened eyes, recounted everything from before, then wiped her tears again: “Miss hasn’t been this happy for a long time. This Miss Shi is quite likeable.”

Madam Zhu was silent for a moment. “Yanyan said… that Scholar Lu is the person who saved her eight years ago?”

“Yes, Miss also said that Scholar Lu gave her a token back then and promised to marry her.” The wet nurse spoke, then grumbled indignantly: “Miss has always remembered him, but he forgot Miss completely and even went to propose to the He family girl. He deserved to be mocked! Moreover, that He family girl is plain-looking and can’t compare to even one finger of our Miss… The He family are also merchants, reeking of money. I really don’t know what Scholar Lu saw in their family – could it be their wealth?”

The wet nurse chattered endlessly, making Madam Zhu’s head buzz. She waved her hand helplessly: “Enough, go keep Miss company. If she has nightmares again with no one by her side, she’ll be frightened.”

Upon hearing this, the wet nurse immediately stopped chattering. “Yes, this old servant will go watch over Miss right away.” Fearing that Zhu Yanyan might have nightmares again, she hurried off.

Once the wet nurse left, Madam Zhu finally had peace and quiet.

The wet nurse was good in every way and truly loved Yanyan… it was just this chattering habit that most people couldn’t bear.

Because Yanyan didn’t like to talk, the wet nurse would rack her brains daily to talk with her… As a result, Yanyan still didn’t like to talk, but the wet nurse had become increasingly talkative.

With this quietness, Madam Zhu could think.

Unlike the wet nurse who mindlessly doted on Zhu Yanyan, Madam Zhu understood her daughter quite well. She was proud that her daughter wasn’t truly foolish, but… when her daughter used her clever methods on her, Madam Zhu felt rather displeased.

But even Madam Zhu couldn’t immediately figure out what her daughter was scheming.

After all, no matter how shrewd Madam Zhu was… she couldn’t think for the moment that her daughter, because of a childhood life-saving grace, had decided to become a bandit chief’s wife…

“A token…” Madam Zhu murmured to herself.

She thought of the jade pendant her daughter always wore close to her body like a treasure, refusing to remove it even while sleeping… Zhu Yanyan rarely asked for anything. Recently, when the gold thread on that jade pendant broke, she wanted to go to the Golden Prosperity Tower to get new gold thread and had even pleaded with her. As a result, that very day, she had quarreled with Miss Shen from the Golden Prosperity Tower over Scholar Lu.

…This was absolutely unprecedented for Zhu Yanyan.

At the time, Madam Zhu wasn’t angry but rather pleased. After all, compared to being desireless, hiding away and refusing to see people, living gloomily despite her young age with her only interest being raising camellias… having a little temper and quarreling with girls her age was more like a normal young lady, wasn’t it?

But after being normal for just a moment, Zhu Yanyan became even stranger… suddenly saying she wanted to marry, and wanting to marry a penniless scholar at that, completely catching Madam Zhu off guard. After that marriage proposal fell through, she lost her appetite and grew thinner by the day, finally becoming so ill she couldn’t even get out of bed… clearly forcing her to comply. Even though Madam Zhu knew this, she still couldn’t bear to watch her daughter destroy herself like this.

Madam Zhu’s thoughts shifted again to that jade pendant.

Speaking of which, that jade pendant was of good quality and not an ordinary item. It seemed to have suddenly appeared in Zhu Yanyan’s possession, and its origins couldn’t be traced. So it turned out… it was given by the person who saved Yanyan in that accident?

Previously, Madam Zhu might have doubted that the penniless Scholar Lu could never afford such a fine item, but… before he had someone propose to the He family, when he was apparently short of money, he had pawned a jade bracelet at the Shi family’s pawn shop. Later, that jade bracelet ended up on Shi Fa Ken’s wrist.

Madam Zhu had seen it – the quality was indeed excellent. Now thinking about it, it seemed to match the jade pendant that Yanyan wore close to her body like a treasure.

It appeared that Scholar Lu did have some fine items on him. Or perhaps… he was actually someone who kept his true nature hidden?

Even as shrewd as Madam Zhu was, she couldn’t figure it out for the moment.

After leaving the Zhu family, Shi Fa Ken was eager to find Lu Chi and get to the bottom of things.

She wondered whether Lu Chi was truly the young man Zhu Yanyan was waiting for. If so… had he really forgotten her, or did he disdain her for not being “fortunate” enough after growing up… ahem, did he simply disdain her?

Thinking this way, Shi Fa Ken actually felt somewhat indignant on Zhu Yanyan’s behalf.

Today wasn’t a rest day, so at this time Lu Chi should be at the school. Shi Fa Ken thought for a moment and decided to go to the school to find him.

Feeling the bulging purse in her hand, Shi Fa Ken, flush with cash, made a detour to the Prosperity Restaurant to pack a lotus leaf-wrapped roasted chicken, planning to bring it to Lu Chi as an extra dish.

Carrying the roasted chicken, just as Shi Fa Ken was preparing to leave, she saw people at the next table drinking wine. Her mouth watered, and she said boldly: “Another pot of plum wine!”

The server chuckled: “Sorry, Miss Shi, the plum wine is sold out.”

Shi Fa Ken blinked, though somewhat disappointed, she was more curious: “How do you know my surname is Shi?”

“Don’t look at me as young – I’m an old hand at this restaurant. Not to boast, but I recognize most of the regular customers who frequent this restaurant. Miss Shi, you’re quite a regular at our establishment…” The server’s mouth went on chattering, looking quite proud.

…So where exactly did you hear me say you look young? Shi Fa Ken twitched her lips. Seeing him so talkative with a tendency to go on endlessly once he started, she quietly kept her mouth shut. Just as she was about to lift her feet and leave, she saw the person at the next table finish a pot of wine and wave his hand, calling out: “Server, another pot of plum wine!”

“Coming right up!” Another young server crisply responded and quickly delivered the wine.

Shi Fa Ken silently turned to look at the server in front of her… What happened to being sold out?

“That was pre-ordered by the customer.” The server smiled quite honestly and continued chattering: “Many people like plum wine, but Miss Shi, you surely know that when many people like something, there will be supply shortages…”