[Eww-]
Jiang Yingcheng wrinkled her nose in disgust, reached two fingers into her beautiful imperial father's robes, and pulled out the little handkerchief prepared especially for her. She wiped herself haphazardly. [Brother Lifeng is so unhygienic! This is Chengcheng's first time wearing these clothes today-]
Embarrassment flashed across Jiang Lifeng's face, and an unnatural flush rapidly spread over his cheeks.
How was he unhygienic?!
It was all because her inner voice had startled him!!
But-
As he recalled, there had indeed been several occasions when, while escorting Ruihan back to the Ding Residence, he had run straight into Master Ding rushing out the door. The man had claimed that the master of some wealthy household had taken a fancy to Ruihan and wanted to marry her as his "Tenth-Plus Concubine."
What happened next could roughly be summed up as-
She wept, he pleaded, she fainted, he paid...
Master Ding left satisfied, while the two star-crossed lovers held each other and cried.
It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to hand over a large sum all at once and pull Ruihan out of that mire for good. But for some reason, his father had suddenly changed his ways, insisting that excessive indulgence made people forget their roots and refusing to let him keep much silver on hand.
Thus, although he usually dressed well, his purse genuinely held very little money.
[Ahahahahaha-]
Another burst of "utterly unhinged" laughter successfully dragged Jiang Lifeng's wandering thoughts back.
[Really?!]
[So silly! Chengcheng's Brother Lifeng is really so silly-]
She was clearly expressing sympathy for him, so why did her tone always seem a little...
Sarcastic?
Jiang Lifeng's expression froze suspiciously for a long moment.
Not sure. I'll have to keep listening.
*[After Brother Lifeng left, Master Ding and Sister Ruihan split the money he'd swindled out