The clingy concubine ran away, and the sickly prince lost control.

Luo Qingyan opened the door in a daze.

"Early mornings are good for reading. Take out yesterday's books."

Pei Shiyuan's voice came, and Luo Qingyan suddenly woke up.

read?

Pei Shiyuan's cool, half-lowered eyes left no room for doubt.

Luo Qingyan almost choked on her breath. No, why was Pei Shiyuan so insistent on her opening a shop, working tirelessly from dawn till dusk?

Well, Pei Shiyuan is her master, so she has no choice but to obey. She still needs to make a living in the Duke's mansion.

All morning, except for meals, Luo Qingyan spent the rest of her time reading and making plans for opening a medicinal cuisine shop.

In the afternoon, Pei Shiyuan took her to the shop again. The shop assistants had all been found for her, and the name of the shop had been decided: "Kangning Pavilion". The name means: health and peace. May the customers who come to eat be healthy and live a long life.

After several days of busy work, Kangning Pavilion is just waiting for the ingredients to arrive so it can officially open for business.

Inside Linfeng Residence, Luo Qingyan fiddled with an abacus, learning to keep and review accounts. When she got tired, she would look at the clouds rolling across the sky.

Growing up, she had never seen any beautiful scenery. Her mother never took her to banquets or gatherings; it was always Luo Haitang who accompanied her.

For example, after returning from the flower-viewing banquet, Luo Haitang would always boast to her that the rare and precious flowers she had seen at the banquet were ones that she could never have seen.

A hundred flowers bloomed, and frost-covered leaves covered the mountains. She only heard Luo Haitang rambling in her ear and knew the general outline of the scene.

At that time, she was still young and would lower her head, feeling that she was not good enough and did not deserve to see the world.

Every time Granny Liu saw her with her head down, she would tell her to look up at the sky, to see the ever-changing clouds and the twinkling stars, and tell her that the scenery of nature was the most beautiful, in order to cheer her up.

At times like these, she would smile and feel a renewed sense of confidence in life.

With her mother punished to work as a servant on a pleasure boat, Liu Mama's days at the mansion shouldn't have been so difficult.

It had been quite a while since she last returned to the Luo residence, and she really missed Granny Liu. If she could get Granny Liu's indenture from her mother, then Granny Liu could stay with her and never be separated from her.

Thinking of this, Luo Qingyan rested her chin on her hand, her brows furrowed with sadness.

Mother is not at home.

A flash of inspiration—perhaps this is the key.

Luo Qingyan picked up her pen and wrote a letter, which she then asked Liu Yue to deliver to Granny Liu.

Liu Yue is the old lady's person, so it doesn't matter if she knows. She just wants to save her personal maid, which is not a bad thing.

Moreover, she has no one else to use right now, so she can only send Liuyue to deliver the message.

"Don't worry, Auntie, I will personally deliver the letter to Granny Liu."

Having experienced what happened last time, Liu Yue naturally knew the situation in the Luo family. As a servant, she had enough sense to know that she couldn't let anyone else in the Luo family access the letters, but she would report to the old lady.

"Aunt Luo, you can go now."

Yuan Qing has come again.

It was Pei Shiyuan who urged her to go to Kangning Pavilion.

To keep the old lady from finding out, Pei Shiyuan would accompany Luo Qingyan.

The old lady thought that Pei Shiyuan had come to his senses, and that he even needed Luo Qingyan to accompany him when he went out. She was quite pleased, thinking that there was still hope for him to have children.

Half an hour later, the carriage slowly came to a stop.

The first floor was renamed Huixiang Hall, and the second floor became Luo Qingyan's Kangning Pavilion.

Before Luo Qingyan could even get off the carriage, she saw a crowd gathered at the entrance. Squeezing through, she saw Luo Haitang kneeling facing inwards.

Why are you kneeling here for no reason?

"Luo Qingyan, you are so cruel, you didn't save your mother."

Luo Haitang turned around and grabbed Luo Qingyan's skirt.

She wanted to force Luo Qingyan to save her mother in full view of everyone.

Not saving her would be unfilial, and everyone would be spitting at her to death for being unfilial. I don't believe Luo Qingyan can't understand this principle.

So it was about her mother. Luo Qingyan forced a smile.

"Sister, Mother is guilty, and the sentence was determined by the Jingzhao Prefecture. Are you suggesting that you show favoritism?"

Luo Qingyan's words left Luo Haitang speechless.

Upon hearing the verdict from the Jingzhao Prefecture, everyone pointed and whispered among themselves at Luo Haitang.

Luo Qingyan forcefully pulled her skirt back and stepped inside.

This is also why she rescued Granny Liu while her mother was away from the mansion.

Luo Haitang is a bit dim-witted, but if Granny Liu follows her plan, she will succeed.

The case was judged by the Jingzhao Prefecture; it seems Luo Haitang has forgotten.

In front of so many people, constantly talking about saving lives is no different from publicly claiming to storm the execution ground.

Luo Haitang then realized something was wrong, but she still had to save her mother and couldn't back down, so she immediately got up and followed Luo Qingyan upstairs.

"Little sister, how can you say that Mother gave birth to you and raised you, and you don't even feel a little bit of gratitude?"

"The kindness of giving birth to and raising us should never be forgotten."

Luo Qingyan's eyes were sincere, but Luo Haitang was trying to label her as unfilial.

"Since you, my sister, are grateful for our upbringing, why don't you save our mother?" Luo Haitang asked with confidence.

"But Mother broke the law," Luo Qingyan said calmly.

Luo Haitang remained unperturbed, her back still ramrod straight, radiating confidence. She always spoke like this in front of Luo Qingyan, never showing any weakness: "Sister, haven't you heard the saying, 'Law is not without human sentiment, and reason is not without the human heart'?"

Calling her "sister" was already unprecedented. How could Luo Qingyan be qualified to be her sister? She was just someone to have children with, no different from a breeding animal.

"My older sister has read some books, so she knows a lot. Could you explain the meaning of this sentence to her younger sister?"

Madam Sun forbade Luo Qingyan from studying, and Luo Qingyan learned to read and write secretly.

Luo Haitang raised her eyebrows. Finally, the day had come for Luo Qingyan to ask her for advice. In the past, no matter what she said, Luo Qingyan would always remain silent, walk away with her head down, which made her very angry. She raised her voice a few notches: "What else could it mean? It means that even the law takes human feelings into account. If human feelings are enough, the punishment can naturally be lighter. So you can ask the Prince to do a favor and have the Jingzhao Prefecture release Mother. After all, we are family."

"How come I remember that's not what it meant?" Luo Qingyan said with a forced smile.

"Little sister, you haven't been to school, so don't make wild guesses. That's what I mean." Luo Haitang was speechless, too lazy to waste her breath arguing with someone who hadn't been to school.

Yuan Qing, standing to the side, was trying so hard to suppress his laughter that he almost suffered internal injuries.

"Sister, although I haven't studied as much as you, I happen to have heard the scholars say this before. It means that 'the law is not cold and impersonal; it is meant to educate people to correct their mistakes. It doesn't just involve harsh punishments, but whatever the punishment, it is never an act of favoritism or corruption.'"

"What my sister said, 'to ask the Crown Prince to do me a favor,' is a violation of the law and an act of favoritism. The onlookers outside the door couldn't accept it either; it's immoral. Besides, the law is advising Mother to repent, which is 'nothing more than human sentiment,' so it's not a complete condemnation."

Luo Qingyan mimicked the students' tone and said, "It seems that Luo Haitang hasn't been studying seriously."

"You want to kill your mother with a stick?" Luo Haitang was furious. Luo Qingyan really dared to say anything.

Yuan Qing couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing.

Luo Qingyan rolled her eyes at Luo Haitang, then sighed and said, "Saving Mother isn't out of the question."

Why not take advantage of Mother's absence and rob her while she's away?