Yanran helped to kill or capture all the assassins.
After doing all this, she calmly jumped off her horse, tucked the golden bow into her belt, and blinked at the concerned Cui Xiaoqiu.
Cui Xiaoqiu was amused by her appearance.
--Beautiful without knowing it, brave without being arrogant, radiant yet ordinary.
A flame burned fiercely in the boy's heart.
Jiang Ruo: "Yanran, Yanran, come here!"
These are her sisters. Is she proud?
I'm so proud!
Yanran walked over and patted the dirt off her clothes. "What are you yelling about?"
"The most dashing figure I have ever seen in my life," Jiang Ruo praised.
"So-so." Yanran smiled brightly, confident and relaxed.
Everyone needs to have some strengths, right?
What she used to hate the most has become what she does best.
However, it's much better than reading.
"Give it to me." Yanran held out her hand.
Jiang Ruo was baffled. "What?"
"That guy who placed the bet just now," Yanran said. "We bet on the Prince Rong's Residence to win, but we don't know the odds. Let someone go and exchange the money."
"Ah, I completely forgot about that."
Jiang Ruo immediately instructed her maid to exchange the silver.
The two men were stunned when they saw the thick stack of silver notes that the maid had brought back.
They actually brought back fifty silver notes, each worth one hundred taels.
The two of them exchanged two hundred taels of silver for five thousand taels, with odds of one to twenty-five.
Yanran joked, "If I were to bet 100,000 taels, it would be enough to cover the Northwest Army's annual pay."
Jiang Ruo laughed loudly, "Yanran, you're so lucky! I really benefited from your good fortune today."
I'll have to be even more eager to curry favor with those who have powerful connections.
She was determined to become friends with this person despite their age difference.
Yanran said, "That dealer must hate the two of us to death now."
Jiang Ruo smiled smugly, "A bet's a bet."
Her maid whispered, "Actually, it should be alright. We're not conspicuous. When I went to exchange them, there was someone ahead of me who had placed a deposit of five thousand taels."
Yanran: "So, you exchanged over ten thousand taels for him?"
The maid nodded.
Jiang Ruo was also shocked.
That's over ten thousand taels of silver!
"If I were the bookmaker, I'd just run away; I can't afford to lose," Jiang Ruo said.
Yanran: "Anyone who can set up a scheme like this wouldn't necessarily have to run away with just a few hundred thousand taels of silver, but they would definitely suffer a significant loss of resources."
But who cares? They made a fortune today and enjoyed watching Prince of Ding suffer a setback.
"You're not bad."
Hearing an unfamiliar female voice, Jiang Ruo turned around, narrowed her eyes, stared at the equally proud woman in front of her, and frowned, saying, "Who are you?"
Is Yanran nice?
That's excellent.
But is it our place for others to criticize and look down on us?
Jiang Ruo disagreed.
But Yanran recognized the person who came.
Why have you come to the capital again?
Qu Hua said casually, "So what if I wanted to come?"
Could she really say that she was so annoyed by Mu Ziyu's persistent pursuit, and that her parents were completely fooled by Mu Ziyu, that she simply ran away?
No matter how much others believe in beautiful love, Qu Hua's heart is as hard as iron.
Her life was destined to be a journey between men, and she loved young men until her death.
--It's not like I can't afford to love.
Who would want to be someone's daughter-in-law or wife?
She didn't owe them anything in her past life.
Qu Hua prefers men who are somewhat weaker—mainly in terms of personality, not physical attributes; however, she admires strong women.
Therefore, seeing Yanran's performance today, she felt genuine appreciation.
Yanran's perception of Qu Hua was still based on her brutality of "slapping people in the face upon meeting," but since they were all in the same boat, she was still very polite to her.
She considered the generational order for a moment and said, "Aunt..."
"Wait, who's your aunt?" Qu Hua interrupted her.
Yanran: "From Aunt Yingying's perspective..."
"I don't argue with others; I argue for myself."
Yanran: "Princess..."
They wanted to get closer, but their flattery backfired; it seems the brother and sister are at odds again.
"Just call me 'sister'," Qu Hua said. "Alright, I just got here too, and you're probably tired. I'll come find you to play sometime."
The crucial thing is that she saw Mu Ziyu again, that persistent ghost, so she had to get away from him quickly.
Yanran: "..."
So, besides Jiang Ruo, Yanran inexplicably gained another sister.
These three people, with varying ages and personalities, formed a strange yet harmonious trio, often spending time together—but that's a story for another time.
Yanran returned home, took a shower, and then lay down on a deck chair in the yard to read a book.
It wasn't a proper book, of course; it was a collection of stories that Jiang Ruo had given her.
Jiang Ruo was obsessed with vernacular novels and had a rich collection of them.
Yanran flipped through the storybook, while Jiang'er behind her wringed her hair, saying, "Miss, you were truly amazing today! I was completely mesmerized."
"It's alright," Yanran replied absentmindedly, her mind still on the storybook.
What kind of Zhang Sheng? Meeting someone's girl in the middle of the night, he's obviously just cannon fodder.
Turning to the last page, holy crap, Zhang Sheng actually ended up with the girl?!
What the hell!
Yanran tossed the storybook aside and picked up another one.
Even if you don't like reading it, treat it with care; after all, it's a book.
Upon hearing the voice, Yanran knew who had arrived.
"Why are you here? Why didn't your grandfather ask you to analyze the situation?" she teased.
Yanran was simple-minded, but she knew that with what happened today in the Cui Family, Old Master Cui would once again be at home discussing the matter with his advisors behind closed doors.
In this situation, Cui Xiaoqiu, this proud grandson, should have been there.
"Grandfather has been summoned to the palace," Cui Xiaoqiu said, sitting down beside her and naturally taking the cotton towel from Jiang'er's hand to gently twist Yanran's hair. "He'll probably be gone by evening. I came to find you to tell you something."
Yanran put down the storybook, closed her eyes slightly, and lay comfortably, saying, "Are you scolding me for showing off today? I did it on purpose."
The overwhelming majority of bets placed today made her realize that some swing voters had already sided with Prince of Ding.
She stepped forward to let those who were wavering know that the Prince of Jin's Residence had not yet fallen.
The Prince of Jin's Residence will always be the Prince of Jin's Residence, inheriting the same ruthlessness and brutality.
These swing voters, though annoying, are the majority, so it's good to have them to fill the ranks.
Cui Xiaoqiu smiled and said, "I won't scold you."
If there's anything that bothers me, it's that she's too dazzling.
From this day forward, the desire to sheath the sword will no longer be possible.
He will have many rivals.
"Then what did you say to me?" Yanran asked.
"About today's dragon boat race."
"Hmm?" Yanran said, "Does she know I won money and is here to share it with me?"
Cui Xiaoqiu: "... Once it's yours, it's yours. Between us, we're inseparable."
"Good brother, you're loyal," Yanran said. "Then I'll have someone deliver it to Father too; he'll have more money to spare. By the way, what happened to the dragon boat race?"