Tang Zhuyun stopped Ruan Anruo, who had just returned from the Marquis's residence.
"What... what do you want to do?" Ruan Anruo asked somewhat guiltily. "You can't do anything reckless, otherwise... otherwise I'll tell the Prince that you... you went out without permission!"
Seeing her blustering yet cowardly appearance, Tang Zhuyun said with a forced smile, "Who said I was going to act recklessly? I'm here today to do good deeds."
Ruan Anruo looked wary.
"What's the rush?" Tang Zhuyun said. "After I heard about your engagement last time, I thought that given our relationship, I should at least give you a big gift."
"What kind of big gift? I don't want it!"
"But I've already sent it out!" Tang Zhuyun raised an eyebrow, her eyes filled with sarcasm.
"What did you do!" Ruan Anruo more.
She had a vague feeling that Tang Zhuyun had changed since the flower-viewing banquet and was now very dangerous.
"I didn't do anything," Tang Zhuyun said with a half-smile, "I just saw a girl named Xiao Taohong in a brothel who wasn't doing well and was being beaten and scolded every day, so I gave her a hundred taels of silver..."
"What does that have to do with me? You really are involved with people from those filthy places!"
"Xiao Taohong was extremely grateful for my money and insisted on repaying me." Tang Zhuyun completely ignored her words and continued, "Then I thought, I don't have anything for her to repay, so I asked her to help me test your cousin..."
"You!" Ruan Anruo's face instantly turned red with anger.
"Your cousin and she are inseparable now, it's both infuriating and pitiful to see." Tang Zhuyun smoothed her hair, her eyes sparkling. "You're so pure and innocent, while she's slept with a thousand men and ten thousand women. In the end, your cousin will complain that you're not as good at serving people as she is. Tsk tsk, I advise you to call off this marriage."
"You bitch!" Ruan Anruo was so angry that she completely disregarded her image. "You did it on purpose! You did it on purpose!"
"I did it on purpose." Tang Zhuyun raised an eyebrow. "You're allowed to spread rumors and ruin my reputation, but I'm not allowed to find a piece of poisoned meat to poison your dog? Fine, you should thank me, otherwise you'd know your cousin is unreliable? Why don't you hurry home and break off the engagement?"
Ruan Anruo glared at her with tears in her eyes, bit her lip, and hurried home.
"This, that's it?" Xiu'er asked Tang Zhuyun in disbelief.
She was all fired up, waiting for the girl to unleash her ultimate move, and then... that was it?
Is this what you call revenge?
Isn't this helping Ruan Anruo escape her misery?
Tang Zhuyun clapped her hands. "That's it, let's be lenient when we can!"
Xiu'er looked at her with suspicion: Why doesn't she believe it?
I have a feeling the girl is up to something.
"Womanly compassion," said the Prince of Jin, who had returned with Linlin at some unknown time.
He thought she could get revenge on her own, but it turns out she used this kind of method.
Tang Zhuyun, without revealing a word, blinked her eyes and said, "Isn't it because I've learned to be kind and benevolent from the Prince? Hehe, Linlin, are you hungry? Come on, let's go back for dinner."
Prince of Jin: "..."
Linlin: "Auntie will definitely have a way."
Prince of Jin was speechless again. He didn't see how good Tang Zhuyun's idea was. Although it angered Ruan Anruo, the latter would definitely break off the engagement and stay away from that scumbag in the future—what kind of good man would go to a place like that!
Three days later, as the Prince of Jin was in the courtyard instructing Linlin archery, he suddenly heard the faint sound of drums and music coming from outside, followed by deafening and crackling firecrackers.
Disturbed, Prince of Jin was in a bad mood and frowned, saying, "Song Jingyang!"
Song Jingyang immediately replied, "Your Highness, it's the young lady from the Ruan family next door who's engaged. Today is the engagement day, and the Ruan family, fearing any disturbance, sent someone to inform us in advance and also delivered wedding candies and cakes."
Which girl from the Ruan family?
"The one about arguing with your wife a few days ago." Song Jingyang stared intently at Prince of Jin.
He wasn't the only one whose eyes were wide open by this news.
Then, seeing the Prince of Jin's surprised expression, he felt satisfied and, without the Prince of Jin asking any further questions, blurted out. "I'll still marry that cousin who used to frequent brothels. We're setting the wedding date today, and it will be in a month."
The Prince of Jin was puzzled.
He considered himself clever, but he couldn't understand how things had turned out this way.
Tang Zhuyun must have done something shady during these three days.
Tang Zhuyun stated: Absolutely not!
When Prince of Jin "consulted" her about this matter, she was smug and beaming. "Your Highness is just speculating according to common sense, which is naturally correct; however, some people are just stubborn, not only suffering from paranoia, but also always feeling that others can't stand to see them do well, and insisting on going against common sense."
Ruan Anruo is a prime example of this.
Having spent many years with her, her predecessor could trace Ruan Anruo's personality traits back to many of her memories.
Even though her predecessor treated her like a sister and wanted to tell her all the good news, Ruan Anruo never believed her.
Now that Tang Zhuyun has already broken off all ties with her, she is even less likely to let Tang Zhuyun succeed.
"She thinks I'm trying to break up her marriage, which means this marriage is something she could never have again. How could she let me succeed?"
Tang Zhuyun raised an eyebrow smugly.
"I had someone seduce her cousin, which means her cousin is outstanding, but she insists on winning him back."
It must be said that Tang Zhuyun had a complete grasp of Ruan Anruo's psychology.
As a result, Ruan Anruo moved up the wedding date after returning home.
"Unfortunately," Tang Zhuyun shook her head, "A month is still too late."
Before Ruan Anruo marry him, the other party will probably have already found out about his affair, and then she will have to break off the engagement to save herself from disaster.
Before the Prince of Jin could speak, he was somewhat shocked by Ruan Anruo's thought process, and at the same time, he wondered, how could there be such a woman?
Then he heard Tang Zhuyun humming a little tune and cheerfully say, "But that's enough! I'll go add more fuel to the fire! Xiu'er, are you ready?"
The Prince of Jin couldn't stand her calling out "Xiu'er" in that tone; he felt that the master and servant were up to something.
He was right.
Xiu'er climbed onto the wall, peeking out her head—she had set up a ladder next door for convenience. "Okay, it's just a little heartbreaking."
"Sigh, money can come back again, but it can't buy happiness. Call your mother, let's go! Nanxing, you come and help too."
Yanran clapped her hands. "I want to go throw money too!"
Prince of Jin:???
Even Song Jingyang was eager to try. "Madam, take me with you, I'm strong and have a loud voice."
The thought of throwing money around is incredibly satisfying.
"Let's go, let's go together."
Soon, everyone left, leaving only Prince of Jin and Linlin staring at each other in bewilderment.
"What is she going to do?" the Prince of Jin asked.
Linlin: "I don't know either. My aunt said we're like brothers, and she doesn't like to tell me things anymore."
Prince of Jin: "... Come, I'll take you to see it."
Tang Zhuyun exchanged one hundred taels of silver for copper coins, six heavy baskets (upon investigation, it was found that one tael of silver could be exchanged for one string of coins, which is 1,000 copper coins, weighing about 13 jin, so one hundred taels would be 1,300 jin), tied with red silk and lined up in a row, looking incredibly impressive.
Although the marriage couldn't happen, she still wanted to help Ruan Anruo make a name for herself and let everyone in the capital know about it!