The Property Deed and the IOU

The old lady frowned and looked at Zhao Ruxi for a while before saying to Lady Zhu, "Now that the family has been divided, there's not much for you to worry about. You should focus more on your daughter."

Lady Zhu looked at Zhao Ruxi with a helpless expression.

She knew that if Zhao Ruxi said that, she would definitely be the one scolded. The old lady would surely blame her for not raising her daughter well.

Zhao Ruxi had no intention of fooling the old lady. Although she couldn't upset the old woman and had to go along with her wishes to be filial, keeping it a secret now might cause the old lady to have a stroke if she found out the truth later.

It's better to tell her gradually, so she can be mentally prepared.

"Grandmother, this has nothing to do with my mother. You know my temper; I'm opinionated, straightforward, and I say what I mean." She picked up her straightforward persona again, a persona she had established when she first returned to the manor. She had almost forgotten it while pretending to be obedient lately.

Her words immediately awakened the old lady's memory.

Yes, this child isn't just opinionated, she's extremely opinionated. It was precisely because of this temper that she and Lady Wei had a major falling out, and she ended up moving out of the second wife's house.

Now, if things don't go her way, can she really move out of the Earl of Suiping's Residence?

The old lady was stunned by this conjecture, because she discovered that the child indeed possessed this ability.

Look at her earning power, look at her formidable master and senior brothers. If she really moved out to live alone, bought some servants, and associated with some literary figures, she might actually become very successful.

I used to enjoy watching her go against the Lady Wei. But now I see her going against me...

Seeing that the old lady's expression was not good, Lady Zhu quickly patted Zhao Ruxi lightly. "It's a good thing that the Princess of Zhennan sent this invitation, why are you saying these things, Miss Xi?"

She then smiled at the old lady and said, "Don't be fooled by her stubbornness and seemingly eloquent arguments now. If we don't let her marry the man she likes, she'll resent us. Which girl hasn't gone through that?"

The old lady's expression softened slightly. "But you can't just threaten your parents with moving out all the time."

"It's not a threat, it's the truth," Zhao Ruxi quickly interjected.

"You..." The old lady was furious.

Before Lady Zhu could stop her, Zhao Ruxi beat her to it. Her attempt to smooth things over failed, and she was quite helpless, so she simply sat down to drink tea and ignored it.

"Forget it, forget it, I'm not going to get involved in these things. Let your mother worry about it. Go away, all of you, get out. I'm going to eat alone today, I get annoyed just looking at you all." The old lady started shooing people out.

Seeing that her mother-in-law was acting like a child, Lady Zhu had no choice but to stand up, say goodbye, and lead her rebellious daughter out.

Once outside, she complained to her daughter, "Couldn't you have tried to comfort her? Why did you have to be so stubborn?"

"Wasn't I just letting the old lady get used to it first?" Zhao Ruxi knew that the old lady was in good health and wouldn't get sick from getting angry, which is why she dared to do this.

"Mother, I'm telling the truth, I really don't want to get married," she said earnestly to Lady Zhu.

Lady Zhu sighed, not wanting to argue with this innocent child, and asked, "You're supposed to attend the birthday banquet of the former Princess Consort of Prince of Zhennan, aren't you?"

"Of course I have to go," Zhao Ruxi said. "I have to give Master Xiao face."

"That's settled then." Lady Zhu was relieved.

She added, "By the way, the young master from the Xu Family has already entered the clan school. I sent someone to check on him today, and he's adapting quite well. Madam Xu came with him this morning and has already arranged with Tenth Madam Zhao to pay a small fee each day to eat at their house. They'll only eat at their own home after the whole family moves in."

"Thank you for your concern, Mother," Zhao Ruxi said affectionately, taking Lady Zhu's arm.

Today was another busy day. Even though she knew Xu Chongwen was coming to the clan school, she couldn't find the time to go see him. However, she did instruct Matron Yuan to go and look after him for her. Now that Lady Zhu was also taking care of things, there shouldn't be any problems.

Lady Zhu was a little uncomfortable with Zhao Ruxi's intimacy, and her body stiffened for a moment, but she quickly adjusted and reached out to affectionately touch Zhao Ruxi's cheek. "Mother and daughter, why are you saying such things? Alright, let's go back to eat."

After having dinner in the main house, Zhao Ruxi returned to her own courtyard. She asked Matron Yuan and learned that Xu Chongwen had indeed been settled well, just as Lady Zhu had said, and only then did she feel relieved.

"Miss, come here for a moment." Qingfeng suddenly pulled Zhao Ruxi into the house mysteriously, and told Dianjiang to stand guard outside.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Ruxi, somewhat puzzled.

Aside from being at the academy, she spent the entire day with Qingfeng. What secrets did Qingfeng have to tell her?

"Miss," Qingfeng took out a purse and handed it to Zhao Ruxi, "Today, when Uncle Ma and I were leaving the academy, a man stopped Uncle Ma and gave him this purse, saying that Fifth Master wanted to give it to you. Uncle Ma opened it and found a house deed from Jiangnan and an IOU, so he accepted it."

As she spoke, she looked nervously at Zhao Ruxi.

She had met Xiao Lingyan at Court of Judicial Review and Gathered Treasures Studio, so of course she knew who the Fifth Prince was. The Fifth Prince had spoken to her young lady behind closed doors twice, and now he had handed her the house deed. She didn't know what was going on and felt uneasy.

In recent years, the Earl of Suiping's Residence has been far removed from the political center and has not been close to other prominent families, let alone princes. Qingfeng really couldn't understand how his daughter could be involved with a prince.

Both she and Ma Sheng Ma Sheng filled with anxiety, fearing that something might happen to their daughter, and that they wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility.

But the Earl and Madam assigned them to Zhao Ruxi, so Zhao Ruxi became their master. If they betrayed their master and told the Earl and Madam about this behind Zhao Ruxi's back, not only would they not get any favors from the young lady, but the Earl and Madam would also have designs on them and might even sell them off.

If they didn't tell her, and the young girl fell for the prince's trick and did something with serious consequences, they would be guilty beyond redemption.

Therefore, both of them were under a lot of psychological pressure.

Zhao Ruxi opened her purse, inside was a property deed for a house in Jiangnan, and also an IOU written by Xiao Ke, owing 20,000 taels of silver.

After thinking for a moment, she put the contract into the small box that Kang Shilin had given her, and lit the purse and the IOU on the lamp.

"Girl?" Qingfeng was taken aback.

This purse was so exquisite that Qingfeng had never seen anything like it before. She even considered borrowing the girl's purse to take a look and learn the embroidery technique. What's more, there was an IOU for 20,000 taels of silver.

That's twenty thousand taels!

"This is for imperial use only. It wouldn't be good if others saw it. Fifth Master's handwriting can't be seen either," Zhao Ruxi said.