Chapter 175: Conversation Mismatch

Chapter 175: Conversation Mismatch

The vibrant roses in the small white porcelain vase added a charming touch.

"Sister-in-law, does it look good?"

"Yes, it looks good." Lu Lingyun smiled as she sipped her tea. "You mentioned this was given to you by Lady Nanping?"

"Yes." Qin Shaojing nodded. "A few days ago, Tonghua hosted a poetry gathering and invited many guests. I met Lady Nanping at the banquet."

Lately, Qin Shaojing had been expanding her social circle extensively in the Imperial City.

All of them were from noble families, and Lady Nanping, a royal princess, was the most prestigious acquaintance she had made.

Hearing that she had met a princess, Lu Lingyun said, "Lady Nanping’s gifts are always top-notch."

"Of course, these are from the palace. I don’t easily give them to others."

"Thank you, Shaojing."

"Sister-in-law, I’m glad you like it." Qin Shaojing beamed with joy and steered towards the main topic. "Sister-in-law, I’m planning to get some new clothes soon, but I haven’t found good fabrics yet. The fabrics in the shops here in the Imperial City just aren’t up to standard."

Lu Lingyun replied, "Shaojing, since you are now mingling with noble ladies, the ordinary fabrics in the city won’t do. I still have a few rolls of good fabrics in my room; I’ll get them for you later."

"Thank you so much, sister-in-law. I knew you would have good things here!"

Qin Shaojing left with great satisfaction after receiving the fabrics. She exchanged a few more pleasantries with Lu Lingyun and departed with a smile.

After she left, Frost Red and several other maids gathered around Lu Lingyun’s table, curious.

"Whose golden bottle is this? We could exchange it for several rolls of good fabrics!"

"I knew that young miss Shaojing would come and scrounge!"

"Watch your mouth! Do you think young miss Shaojing is someone to be trifled with? Didn’t you see how Concubine Du was too afraid to even breathe when young miss Shaojing disciplined her?"

"Be careful, or young miss Shaojing might throw that porcelain vase at you!"

The maids, spoiled by Lu Lingyun’s good nature, spoke without restraint, knowing she rarely punished them for their cheekiness. They began to joke.

Hearing their words, Lu Lingyun coughed lightly. "You can say what you want in my courtyard, but if anyone outside hears you, I won’t be able to protect you."

"Young mistress, have mercy on us," Chunxing pleaded as she looked at the flower-inserted porcelain bottle on the table with some reluctance. "Do we really have to let young miss Shaojing trade these worthless items for the ones in the room?"

"She’s not asking for anything from me, so why worry?" Lu Lingyun smiled faintly.

She took out a separate ledger from a stack of account books.

That was the separate ledger for the east courtyard.

Ever since Qin Shaojing moved to the east courtyard, household expenses had increased significantly. Lu Lingyun had created a separate ledger for the east courtyard, recording every expense.

Whenever Qin Shaojing asked her for something, it was all charged to the household expenses.

If the east courtyard’s expenses exceeded the limit, she would show the ledger to Lady Qin.

Lady Qin might want to indulge her niece, so Lu Lingyun would play the good person to the end, but there was no way she would spend from her private treasury.

"Send a letter to the main courtyard to inquire about settling Cheng Qi and his sister, and bring the ledger to Mother."

"Yes!"

After handling these miscellaneous matters, Lu Lingyun slowly lay back down to rest.

As the mistress, one must be attentive to everything.

However, one cannot shoulder all the responsibilities alone.

Whoever needs to make the decisions should make them; whoever needs to bear the burdens should do so. Taking on everything, big and small, is foolish.

It just causes frustration and resentment without any real benefits.

Unless it affects her core authority, a leader's biggest taboo is doing things personally.

She just needed to focus on the big picture and delegate the smaller tasks.

She leisurely enjoyed the peaceful afternoon sunlight.

Evening came.

Cheng Yunshuo returned to the estate.

She first informed Cheng Yunshuo about the relatives who had come to the estate.

Cheng Yunshuo wasn’t particularly concerned and left it to Lu Lingyun to handle. After dinner in her courtyard and a brief visit with the kids, he headed over to Xiaohe Courtyard.

At Xiaohe Courtyard,

Duru had been waiting for Cheng Yunshuo for a long time.

"Master, you're finally back."

"Hmm."

Duru stepped forward to help him undress and take off his duty uniform.

"The Imperial Guards' uniform is much heavier than the ones from the Imperial Guards."

"Of course, the Imperial Guards patrol the imperial palace, wearing armor as they do. The Imperial Guards who patrol the streets can't compare!" Cheng Yunshuo's tone carried disdain.

The reason he had wanted to join the Imperial Guards was that he increasingly found the Jinyu Guards boring.

A group of wealthy young men would gather all day for idle talk, games, or gambling.

Few of them did any real work.

Some of the more unscrupulous ones would go door-to-door during festivals, collecting money from merchants as extra income.

He wanted to do something meaningful, but hardly anyone responded to him.

The more he tried to do meaningful work, the more stifled he felt.

Now that he had joined the Imperial Guards, there was no shortage of work—quite a different world from the other Imperial Guards.

Duru didn’t like what she heard. "Master, you were part of the Imperial Guards too. How can you say such things?"

Cheng Yunshuo snorted coldly, "That’s exactly why I left the Imperial Guards. They’re a bunch of useless people."

Duru frowned. "But my brothers are still in the Imperial Guards. Aren’t you insulting them too?"

"Why waste time hanging around in the Prefectural Commandant Manor? Aim for a promotion to the Imperial Guards or the city guard. There's no future in staying there!"

Du Ruo's brothers were also just muddling along.

Neither of them had much ambition, and with their family's decline, they were stuck in a position that was neither high nor low. It wasn't so bad to just get by in the Prefectural Commandant Manor.

They had thought about marriage, but their aunt had failed several times in arranging matches for them. Families of similar standing didn't look favorably on their declining fortunes and lack of drive, and they couldn't bring themselves to marry into lower-status merchant or commoner families.

At least they still had some family resources to fall back on, so muddling along wasn't so bad.

"What’s the problem with my brothers?" Du Ruo's face fell when she heard Cheng Yunshuo speak ill of her brothers. "They haven't done anything wrong!"

"I didn't say they were bad. I said they can't afford to be complacent. The Imperial Guards is a job with no future," Cheng Yunshuo replied bluntly.

His words set Du Ruo off. "Don't forget, you used to be even more unambitious! You spent all your time at brothels and even bought out courtesans, causing a scandal across the entire Imperial City!"

Her words caused Cheng Yunshuo to pause. He turned to look at Du Ruo.

Du Ruo tilted her head back, defiant. "Am I wrong? You were the city’s most notorious playboy!"

As her words fell, Cheng Yunshuo snatched the armor from her hands and, wearing only his inner robes, strode out of Xiaohe Courtyard.

That night, he returned to his Yaoguang Pavilion to rest.

The next day, everyone in the manor knew that Concubine Du, who had been the Crown Prince’s favorite for so long, had a blowout with him the night before.