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

Granny Liu shook her head.

"Of course, he's my good father," Luo Qingyan said calmly. "Granny, let's go prepare lunch!"

I'll have to go back and ask my father for the five hundred taels.

Granny Liu was stunned. Was the girl still the same girl she knew?

"Wait for me, girl! Rainbow learns things incredibly fast..."

Luo Haitang stumbled down the stairs, nearly falling. She grabbed the wall for support as she went out, turned into a corner, and patted her chest to catch her breath, completely unaware that someone was following her.

Ten thousand taels! Gone just like that.

She insisted that Luo Qingyan compensate her, even if she couldn't afford it.

After calming down and feeling a bit better, she still needed to go to the pleasure boat to ask her mother in person what had happened.

"what!"

As Luo Haitang turned around, a man's face was right in front of her.

She screamed in shock.

"It's me!" Ye Hui stared at Luo Haitang, his mouth slightly open.

"You scared me to death, Ye Hui, you walk so quietly."

If he made any noise, why would he follow you? I saw Luo Haitang looking distraught just now, so I figured something was wrong and followed her.

Luo Haitang was no longer afraid when she saw that it was Ye Hui.

"I have to go now."

"Where did you go?" Ye Hui grabbed Luo Haitang's arm. "You came out of Huixiang Pavilion in such a hurry, is something wrong? No, it should be Kangning Pavilion. Were you bullied by Luo Qingyan?"

Luo Haitang pulled her arm away and straightened her clothes: "Why are you panicking when I would be bullied by her?"

"She's now the darling of Pei Shiyuan, the heir of the Duke of Xun's mansion. This Kangning Pavilion was opened for her by Pei Shiyuan. Isn't that enough to make you panic?" Ye Huichao gave a thumbs up to the Kangning Pavilion behind him.

"What? You're saying that the Kangning Pavilion was opened by Prince Pei for Luo Qingyan?" Luo Haitang's eyes widened. Pei Shiyuan actually liked this brat that much?

"Yes! You didn't know?"

He overheard it from someone else by chance.

Luo Haitang lowered her eyes, a sinister glint in them. Luo Qingyan had tricked her, saying she had no money. How could the young master, who doted on her so much, not have money? Making her pay ten thousand taels all by herself—how infuriating!

Very well, she wants her ten thousand taels back, so it seems Luo Qingyan has the money to compensate.

She must get back every single one of the ten thousand taels.

Luo Haitang looked up at the signboard of Kangning Pavilion. It was bright and dazzling. To open this shop, it must cost no less than ten thousand taels of silver. Looking at the decoration of Kangning Pavilion, although it was low-key, expensive materials were used in every detail. It was luxurious. She thought it was the property of the Duke's Mansion. She didn't expect it to be obtained by Luo Qingyan seducing Pei Shizi. What a slut.

"Luo Haitang, what are you thinking about? Are you envious?" Ye Hui waved his hand in front of Luo Haitang's eyes when he saw her lost in thought.

Luo Haitang shrugged: "What am I envious of? Luo Qingyan is my sister, I'm overjoyed!"

"I'm not going to waste my breath on you, let's talk about our business!" Ye Hui said impatiently.

"What do I have to do with you?" Luo Haitang asked, puzzled.

Ye Hui raised her chin, looking down on Luo Haitang: "It's because you didn't explain the birthmark on Luo Qingyan's body to me that I lost her. If you had explained it clearly that day, even if Luo Qingyan had a mouth full of mouths, she wouldn't have been able to explain it, and Prince Pei would definitely not have wanted her."

"It's all in the past, and the betrothal gifts have been returned to you. Why bring this up again?" Luo Haitang felt that Ye Hui was being unreasonable by bringing up old grievances.

"It's not over yet, Luo Haitang, you owe me your marriage contract." Ye Hui's face pressed close to mine again.

He finally found a family with official positions to marry into, and now he's lost it all for nothing. When will he be able to shake off his merchant status?

"How am I supposed to compensate you? Why don't you just find another girl to marry? Ye Hui, you're not exactly a faithful person either, you don't necessarily have to hang yourself on Luo Qingyan."

Luo Haitang leaned back and said leisurely.

"I'll compensate you with you. You said I'm not a faithful person, so marrying you won't change that." Ye Hui's face moved even closer.

Luo Haitang was almost pinned against the wall: "Don't talk nonsense, I won't marry you."

"You're not engaged, so why don't you marry me!" Ye Hui leaned against the wall with one hand, forcing Luo Haitang against it.

"Get away from me, I don't like you anyway." Luo Haitang pushed Ye Hui away abruptly, but Ye Hui grabbed her slender waist.

"Don't shout, or more people will know." Ye Hui blew into Luo Haitang's ear.

"Loosen your grip," Luo Haitang whispered.

"Aren't you the one who likes Shen Nanxun from the Imperial Academy? He doesn't like you! The Shen family is a prestigious family in Jiangnan, how could they possibly look at you? But I do look at you! Marry me, and you'll be in charge of the Ye family." Ye Hui whispered hoarsely in Luo Haitang's ear.

"Don't even think about it." Luo Haitang tried to pry Ye Hui's hands off her.

"Okay." Ye Hui released Luo Haitang. "Haitang, see you again sometime."

Luo Haitang wrapped her clothes tightly and fled in panic.

Behind him, Ye Hui curled the corners of his mouth. He felt that he could gradually erode Luo Haitang's influence, and next time they met, they could take it a step further.

With a flick of his sleeves, Ye Hui headed towards Kangning Pavilion, which was also the purpose of his visit today. Now that Luo Qingyan had made it big, she should at least take care of him.

"Boss Luo."

"Boss Ye, my shop isn't open yet, please leave." Luo Qingyan didn't look up, continuing to work on her abacus.

Ye Hui is quite well-informed; he found us so quickly.

"Qingyan, the young master really dotes on you, setting up such a large shop for you." Ye Hui looked around and saw that the decorations and furnishings were far superior to those in her own shop. Pei Shiyuan was truly generous.

"The shop belongs to the young master, not me. I just do odd jobs." Luo Qingyan looked at Ye Hui. Everyone outside thought that the shop belonged to Pei Shiyuan. But Ye Hui came up and said that the shop belonged to her. Who said that?

"Qingyan, don't try to fool me. I heard from others that you own this shop. Prince Pei must have contributed a lot of money for you!"

Ye Hui overheard someone mentioning Kangning Pavilion. The person was very certain that it was opened by Luo Qingyan, and even said that Luo Qingyan was always thinking about seducing the young master, which is how she got the shop.

It seems someone from the Duke's mansion deliberately leaked the information to Ye Hui; it's probably Cui Rou.

"What else have you heard?" Luo Qingyan stared at Ye Hui with sharp eyes.

Ye Hui chuckled: "It's nothing, I just said you're good-looking and the prince dotes on you the most."

He still had to coax Luo Qingyan to help him, so he didn't say any of the unpleasant things.

Luo Qingyan was now certain it was Cui Rou; only Cui Rou was vying for Pei Shiyuan's favor.

"What do you want from me?" Cui Rou must have ulterior motives for instigating Ye to come back to her.

Ye Hui flicked his sleeve, stood with his hands behind his back, and raised his chin, saying, "I'm fine. We've known each other for a while and have had some feelings for each other. Now that you've made it big, could you help me talk to the young master and ask him to give me a job? Any one of the Six Ministries will do."

"Such arrogance," Luo Qingyan said with a disdainful smile. "Boss Ye, to become an official in the court, one must first pass the imperial examination."

"Qingyan, you're being too polite. With Pei Shiyuan's abilities, arranging for someone to get in wouldn't be difficult." Ye Hui still stood tall and proud.

If you're going to assign someone, you can't assign a useless person! In court infighting, both overt and covert methods will naturally be used, but why should they help Ye Hui?

"Boss Ye, you're a shrewd businessman, not an official. Besides, the heir doesn't have that much influence. He's ill, who will listen to him? Don't you think so?"

Luo Qingyan sat down and said calmly.

Not going to help? Ye Hui turned her face, a smile playing on her lips as she leaned closer to Luo Qingyan: "We were engaged before, whether the young master steals someone else's fiancée or not, isn't it all up to me to decide?"