Chapter 248: Noticing Something Strange

Chapter 248: Noticing Something Strange

No matter how clearly Qiu Ling and Ling Long explained, Du Ruo still didn’t care.

Cheng Yunshuo didn’t love either of them, and they didn’t love Cheng Yunshuo either.

Whatever Cheng Yunshuo did had no impact on them. They just wanted to be a dutiful concubine, with the mistress of the household above them, living their own lives.

But Du Ruo was different.

She truly loved Cheng Yunshuo.

She was willing to do anything outrageous for him and change herself completely.

She was infatuated with him, obsessed. All she wanted now was to know what he was doing.

Seeing her pitiful state, Qiu Ling gave up and looked at her with a mix of disgust and helplessness. She exchanged a glance with Ling Long, who then said, "Ever since the Prince returned to Yaoguang Pavilion these days, he's been sleeping right away. He's never summoned me to his room."

"Once, I went in on my own initiative, and he shouted at me, telling me not to enter his room without a reason from then on."

Hearing this, Du Ruo’s eyes lit up with joy at first, but then she furrowed her brows.

Qiu Ling fanned herself with a look of contempt and said, "Men are all the same. When they like you, you're a treasure. When they don't, you're worthless!"

"That's right," Ling Long fanned herself without anger or frustration, "Believing a man's words is worse than believing a ghost's! If you ask me, as long as we can live on our own, it's best never to marry. We should earn as much as's we can and live frugally. A hard life is still better than living with a man!"

"That's the truth!" Qiu Ling agreed, "I truly hope that one day, we women can live independently, earn a living, and support ourselves! No men, no problem!"

Listening to them, Du Ruo thought to herself,

Hmph, they don't understand love.

They don't know how beautiful love can be.

They don't know that two people in love can conquer anything!

Still, getting some answers from Ling Long made Du Ruo feel a little better.

It seemed she hadn’t offended Cheng Yunshuo, and that wasn’t why he wasn’t coming to her room.

But if it wasn’t her, then what was it?

Du Ruo was even more puzzled.

Lu Lingyun had also noticed something was off with Cheng Yunshuo lately.

It wasn’t because Cheng Yunshuo wasn’t coming to her courtyard to check on the children, but because there was an issue with the account books that were delivered to her.

"What is this expenditure? Why has it increased by over two hundred taels recently?" Lu Lingyun asked, flipping through a ledger.

An increase of over two hundred taels was insignificant in the vast financial records of the Marquis's Mansion.

But Lu Lingyun was a meticulous person who loved calculating numbers, and she easily spotted the anomaly.

The steward who presented this ledger was from Yaoguang Pavilion. He took it back and said, "This was an expenditure cleared by Qingfeng, saying that the Crown Prince needed it."

Lu Lingyun looked at the various items. Within a few days, the expenses had grown from ten taels to over two hundred taels, which was a significant amount.

Qin Shaojing in the East Courtyard kept a shaman, and she only had an additional five hundred taels a month. Of course, after informing Lady Qin, she decided to cover the cost of Qin Shaojing's offerings separately.

Lu Lingyun didn't know what Qin Shaojing had told her aunt about her grievances, but Lady Qin had turned a blind eye and tacitly approved of the shaman. She could guess that Lady Qin was also anxious about finding a husband for Qin Shaojing. She also didn't know what kind of person the shaman truly was.

These were all extraneous matters. Back to the account books, Cheng Yunshuo's recent spending was nearly as much as supporting a shaman.

Could it be that he was also keeping someone outside?

"Go get Qingfeng!"

"Young mistress, Qingfeng has gone out with the Crown Prince."

"When will he be back?"

"Perhaps in the evening. These days, he has been returning very late with the Crown Prince."

Upon hearing this, Lu Lingyun's eyebrows arched slightly. Could it be that Cheng Yunshuo was really keeping someone outside?

"When Qingfeng comes back, ask him to see me."

"Yes!"

Evening.

Cheng Yunshuo returned very late again tonight.

As he was walking toward Yaoguang Pavilion, a faint and graceful figure appeared in front of him on the way.

"Master!"

Cheng Yunshuo: "..."

With a resentful look, Du Ruo ran toward him. When she reached him, her apricot eyes, filled with affection, stared at him intensely.

Cheng Yunshuo: "... Why are you still awake so late?"

With a look of grievance, Du Ruo leaned against him and traced circles on his chest with her finger. "Why haven't you come to see me these past few days?"

Cheng Yunshuo's expression changed slightly. He looked away, his eyes wandering. "I've been coming back late these days, I was afraid of disturbing you."

"I knew it." Du Ruo smiled brightly. "Master, you've been busy with your reinstatement these days. You've always been ambitious, and I understand that."

Cheng Yunshuo: "..."

Cheng Yunshuo's neck instantly flushed red.

Hearing these words, he felt both flushed and guilty!

"Master, why are you being so distant with me? No matter how late it is, I will always wait for you." Du Ruo took Cheng Yunshuo's arm and began leading him toward her courtyard. "Come to my courtyard."

"Alright." At this moment, Cheng Yunshuo was like a puppet on strings, neither shaking off Du Ruo's hand nor taking the initiative. He was led by her to follow along.

All along the way, Du Ruo chattered non-stop, and Cheng Yunshuo responded to everything.

It was extremely rare, but Cheng Yunshuo showed a much stronger response than usual.

Du Ruo said whatever came to mind, and he responded to everything.

When they arrived in the room, seeing how unusually talkative Cheng Yunshuo was today, Du Ruo felt very pleased.

Her eyes filled with affection, she wrapped her arms around Cheng Yunshuo's waist. "Master, they say that a short separation is like a newlywed experience. We've had a short separation too, haven't we?"

But then, Cheng Yunshuo, who had been actively responding all along, rejected her outright, saying, "It's getting late. Time to rest."

"Master!" Du Ruo whined, using every trick in the book to get his attention.

Cheng Yunshuo pushed her away, went to the bed on his own, took off his shoes and socks, and lay down on the inner side of the bed. Before he closed his eyes, he added, "I'm really tired these past few days. Let me rest for a bit."

Reluctantly, Du Ruo responded.

She knew not to be too clingy or annoying, or she would end up like Xing Dairong, whom Cheng Yunshuo dislikes.

Du Ruo tried her hardest to win Cheng Yunshuo’s favor.

She quietly went to collect his shoes and socks. That’s when she noticed something on Cheng Yunshuo’s socks.

Amidst the somewhat clumsy cloud patterns, there was a tiny, exquisitely embroidered chrysanthemum.

Seeing the chrysanthemum, Du Ruo froze.

Because these socks were embroidered by her.

But this chrysanthemum was not her work!

In an instant, Du Ruo felt like she had been plunged into an icy abyss.

Someone had messed with the socks she had made for Cheng Yunshuo and even added embroidery!

It was practically a declaration of war!