"I understand. After the preparations are made, should they be placed in the mansion or next door?" Bai Wei asked.
Xuanyuan Xi thought for a moment, "Take them next door. She might feel uncomfortable coming to the mansion since Chuan isn't here. As long as she can enjoy herself in Shengjing, that's good. Prepare some silver taels to take over as well."
Bai Wei acknowledged, "Princess, I understand. But may I ask why you're so concerned about Miss Feng Qingyi?"
"Partly because she's worthy of it, partly because of Chuan, and partly because someone once treated me the same way."
When she first married into the General's Mansion, Old Lady Qin always felt she had been wronged and took special care of her.
Before marrying Qin Xu, she had only seen him twice from afar. He was strong and robust, but looked fierce and intimidating, completely different from the husband she had imagined. In short, he didn't leave a good impression on her.
If it weren't for her father the Emperor arranging the marriage, she definitely wouldn't have married him. After entering the General's Mansion, she didn't immediately adapt to her role as the general's wife.
As the only princess, she had never had any worries since childhood. She could get whatever she wanted, and both her father and mother doted on her extremely.
Perhaps it was because of this that she developed a spoiled and willful personality.
After marrying into the General's Mansion, she often ordered Qin Xu around imperiously, acted arrogantly, and frequently went out causing trouble, leaving him to clean up the mess.
If it weren't for the old lady mediating between them, they might have fallen out long ago.
Although the old lady was barely literate, she treated her extremely well.
Even when she acted arrogantly and recklessly at first, the old lady never said a word against her. Instead, she told Qin Xu to take more care of her feelings.
She was able to go from disliking Qin Xu to being in perfect harmony with him, largely thanks to the old lady.
But later, when both the old lady and Qin Xu passed away, leaving only her and the young Chuan in the vast General's Mansion, she gradually changed her personality, becoming who she is today.
Sometimes she wonders, if they were all still here, perhaps she would still be that willful, arrogant little princess who knew nothing of the hardships of the world.
When Chuan said he had met a girl he liked, she was genuinely happy for him.
Qingyi is much more sensible than she was at that age, knowing etiquette and propriety, humble and polite, and most importantly, Chuan likes her.
Now she only hopes the two of them can marry soon. As for this Miss Shen who suddenly appeared, she's not even in her consideration.
...
Capital City.
In early June, Feng Qingyi successfully completed her painting for the final round of the art competition and submitted it, crossing off a major task.
June in the Capital City brings gentle summer breezes and warm, mild sunshine.
Feng Qingyi sat in a pavilion outside the villa, reading a book and occasionally lifting her cup to take a sip of tea.
Because of opening a tea house, she had also started to slowly appreciate tea, though for her it was still just a way to quench her thirst.
Just as she was engrossed in her book, her phone suddenly rang in her pocket. Feng Qingyi took out her phone to find it was a call from Nan Hao.
Since the last time he called about Feng Qingci being hospitalized, he hadn't called again. She subconsciously felt that this call probably wasn't about anything good either.
The phone rang for a long time, but Feng Qingyi didn't answer. She really didn't want to have any contact with them.
She thought they would stop calling after one or two attempts, but the phone rang five times in a row, with no sign of stopping.
Feng Qingyi took the phone and turned it off completely.
She thought that would be the end of it, but not long after, Feng Qingci returned home.
"Feng Qingyi, Uncle called to say that Nan Yue finished her college entrance exam and secretly bought a ticket to come to the Capital City. Now they can't contact her and asked us to help look for her. He said he couldn't reach you on the phone."
Feng Qingyi asked, "Has she arrived already?"
Feng Qingci replied, "Uncle said she bought a plane ticket for today, so she should have arrived by now. He wants us to help find her!"
Feng Qingyi said, "The Capital City is so big, where are we supposed to look?"
"Besides, I already told him you were sick and hospitalized. Even though I was lying, if she cared, she could have called to check on you in all these days. Now that there's a problem, they're asking us for help. Do we owe them something?"
Although Feng Qingci felt that Feng Qingyi had a point, he thought about Nan Yue being alone in an unfamiliar place, not knowing where she might have gone. If something really happened to her, they might even be blamed as the culprits.
"Uncle just sent me Nan Yue's phone number. I tried calling, but no one answered. Let's go look around the airport area first."
Feng Qingyi could only nod, "Send me the number. I'll go look. If I can't find her, I'll go to the police station."
"Didn't you say you had to help at the company today? You go, in case she sees you and starts gossiping again."
"It's broad daylight, and she's an adult. Nothing serious should happen."
Feng Qingci nodded, "The company does have some matters for me to attend to this afternoon. I just ran back during my break because I couldn't reach you on the phone."
"I didn't answer his calls earlier. He kept calling, so I turned off my phone. You go back to the company first. I'll contact you if anything comes up."
What was originally meant to be a leisurely afternoon now forced Feng Qingyi to take a taxi to the airport to search for someone.
She called the number over and over, but no one answered. She searched all the shops around the airport but saw no sign of Nan Yue.
Panting, Feng Qingyi sat down on some steps and tried calling Nan Yue's number again, but still no answer.
Shortly after, Nan Hao called.
"Qingyi, have you found Nan Yue?" Nan Hao asked anxiously.
Feng Qingyi: "No."
"I tried calling you earlier, why didn't you answer? If you had picked up earlier, we might have found her by now." Nan Hao complained.
"So you're blaming me for not answering the phone!" How could someone be so shameless?
Nan Hao: "If you had answered earlier, you could have gone to the airport and found her. Now what do we do?"
"...Since you put it that way, why don't you look for her yourself! You didn't even know your own daughter ran away, and now that she's missing, you're blaming me!" Feng Qingyi said angrily.
Nan Hao: "Is that how you talk to your elders? Your aunt says your cousin just messaged her saying she's at Starbucks now. Go find her there."
"Now that Qingci doesn't need you to stay at the hospital to take care of him, you should take good care of Yue Yue..."
Feng Qingyi hung up before he could finish speaking. She had been searching tirelessly, while Nan Yue was sitting in Starbucks. How could they have the nerve?
And they even told her not to take care of Feng Qingci but to take care of Nan Yue instead. Was she missing an arm or a leg that she needed someone to wait on her?
After venting to Feng Qingci via text, she still decided to go find Nan Yue.
Feng Qingyi used her phone's navigation to find the nearest Starbucks, which was surprisingly 9 kilometers away. Following the directions, she found the place.
As soon as Feng Qingyi walked in, she saw Nan Yue with her hair dyed a bright green, posing with her phone for selfies.
Her makeup was very heavy, with bright red lipstick and green eyeshadow, looking somewhat bizarre.
Feng Qingyi walked up to her, "Nan Yue."
"Cousin, what took you so long? Since you're here, help me pay for the latte and tea I bought." Nan Yue said while playing with her phone.
Feng Qingyi stood still, "You're so capable that you dared to come to the Capital City alone. Surely you must have money to take care of your own food, clothing, shelter, and transportation."
"Feng Qingyi, your parents are so rich, what's wrong with you paying for me?" Nan Yue said.
"My parents' money is their money. Why should I pay for you? Nan Yue, the fact that I came to find you today is already more than enough kindness." She may be wealthy, but that doesn't mean she's a fool.
Their conversation attracted the attention of others around them. Seeing people looking at her strangely, Nan Yue felt embarrassed and had to go pay for herself.
"Unwilling to spend even a few dozen yuan, I've never seen such a miser as you."
Feng Qingyi didn't take Nan Yue's words to heart.
Years ago, their family had taken a large sum of money from her parents, but she wasn't her parents. If they wanted money from her, they could forget about it.
"Where are you staying tonight?"
Nan Yue walked while looking at her phone, "Find me a hotel."
Feng Qingyi took out her phone and searched for nearby hotels, "This one is 120 yuan per night, quite suitable for you. I'll take you to check in, then I have to return to school."
"My parents must have told you to take care of me. Is this how you take care of me?" Nan Yue was somewhat dissatisfied.
Feng Qingyi: "So what do you want?"
"I've booked a five-star hotel. Take me there," Nan Yue demanded.
Feng Qingyi: "Do you have money?"
"I came to find you, and you're asking me to pay? Are you still my cousin?" Nan Yue put down her phone.
Feng Qingyi stopped walking. "So you want me to pay for your hotel stay, is that right?"
"Isn't that how it should be?" Nan Yue said.
Feng Qingyi: "If you want to stay, pay for it yourself. If you don't have money, go stay at a place that's 120 yuan a night. If that's still too much, I'll find you a hostel for 50 yuan a night. Don't try to bite off more than you can chew."
"Feng Qingyi, don't you believe I'll tell my parents?" Nan Yue stomped her foot.
Feng Qingyi remained calm. "Then call them right now. What do you think they can do to me?"
"Feng Qingyi, you asked for it." Nan Yue took out her phone and called Nan Hao.
Feng Qingyi stood by, unmoved. She felt she shouldn't have come out to meet her today.
If it weren't for her concern about a young girl alone in an unfamiliar place, worried something might happen, she wouldn't have come to suffer like this.
Nan Yue quickly got through and started complaining about Feng Qingyi on the phone.
"Feng Qingyi, my dad wants to talk to you."
Feng Qingyi: "I'm not deaf. You're talking so loudly with the speaker on, do you think I can't hear?"
Nan Hao's voice came through the phone.
"Qingyi, it's Yue Yue's first time in the Capital City. How can you let her stay at a hostel? At the very least, take her to stay wherever you're staying. You're the older sister, you should take better care of your younger cousin."
"Tomorrow, take her sightseeing, and you can also show her around your university. I've heard Jing University is quite good. Your cousin's grades are pretty good too, she should have no problem getting into Jing University. You can help her get a feel for university life in advance."
