"What are you looking at? Go back and think about how to lay out the city's defenses! Calculate the total cost and report it to me!"
To avoid affecting morale, the fact that Prince Zhao's mansion was always dirt poor was known only to Yun Lie himself, and only to Xiong Xiaoyi and Song Jiuyuan in the entire Linchuan.
The others, unaware of Yun Lie's sudden agitation, scattered like birds when they heard him telling them to leave.
Song Jiuyuan glanced at Yun Lie with concern, but Yun Lie waved his hand impatiently, so she had no choice but to follow him.
In the end, Gao Zhan, unaware of the truth, was left standing there.
Yun Lie glared at him angrily: "Why aren't you leaving yet? Trying to freeload again?"
“Your Highness, ‘Your Weiwei’ has given orders,” Gao Zhan innocently pointed towards the side hall, “that after I finish speaking about my matters, I go to her to discuss the details of the palace’s layout.”
****
“…Then let’s draw up the blueprints as you suggested and take a look,” Luo Cuiwei smiled at Gao Zhan. “I can’t think of a better way right now.”
Gao Zhan smiled and agreed, "It can't be rushed. In the past, when I supervised the construction of houses for other families, I would have to draw more than a dozen drawings before I could finalize the matter."
Building a house is no small matter for any family, and it's inevitable that ideas will change over and over again.
"I won't let you suffer any losses. If you draw another plan later, I'll charge you extra." Perhaps thinking about building her new home herself, Luo Cuiwei was in a very good mood.
Gao Zhan hurriedly waved his hand, "What do you mean? You can revise it as many times as you want, no need to pay..."
“Now that you’ve come to Linchuan alone, you don’t need to have family to take care of you like you did in the capital. There are plenty of places to spend money,” Luo Cui smiled and glared at him. “Right now, the fiefdom hasn’t been established yet, and you have no official position or salary. If you just help without taking any money, are you going to starve?”
Gao Zhan thought about it and realized that made sense, so he smiled and bowed to express his gratitude, saying, "Then thank you very much for your care, Your Highness."
Luo Cuiwei and Gao Zhan had been discussing the layout of the Prince's Mansion in this side hall for nearly an hour. During this time, Yun Lie did not make a sound to disturb them, but sat upright at the desk in the side hall, seemingly seriously flipping through a stack of documents.
But he would occasionally steal glances at the two people opposite him.
His sneaky glances were initially quite discreet, but they were too frequent, and Luo Cuiwei caught him several times despite his careful planning.
However, Luo Cuiwei ignored him.
Seeing that it was almost noon, Luo Cuiwei said to Gao Zhan, "Do you want to stay for lunch, or go back to your lodgings to eat?"
Gao Zhan is currently staying at Aunt Liu's house in the village, where only Aunt Liu and her twelve-year-old son live.
Aunt Liu's eldest son is in the army and doesn't usually take care of things at home. Her younger son is also young and can't help much with the fields. It's really hard for her to have a good harvest when she goes to work in the fields alone.
Yesterday, Luo Cuiwei sent Tao Yin to talk to Aunt Liu and asked her to help take care of Gao Zhan's three meals a day. In return, Luo Cuiwei would send her money and food every day as a supplement. Aunt Liu happily agreed to the task.
"No, Aunt Liu said she would wait for me to come back for lunch when I left this morning," Gao Zhan stood up, straightened his robes, and smiled as he took his leave. "Besides, I have to hurry back to draw some plans, and I also need to think about some things regarding the new city..."
He suddenly mentioned the new city, and Yun Lie, who had been quiet for a long time, twitched his brow and couldn't help but say, "If you want to leave, then leave quickly. Why all this nonsense and formalities?"
Luo Cuiwei couldn't hold back any longer and turned to glare at him fiercely.
Seeing Luo Cuiwei's anger, Yun Lie quickly looked up at the sky, refusing to meet her gaze.
Gao Zhan watched the two's silent interaction with a sense of novelty, a knowing smile flashing in his clear eyes, but he didn't say anything more, and left after exchanging his thanks.
****
After Gao Zhan left, Luo Cuiwei could no longer hold back. She stood up, walked around the desk, grabbed Yun Lie's shoulder, and shook him violently.
"How much free time do you have? The Fu family of Tongshan has confirmed they're moving here? And all the deals with the merchants we sent to negotiate with have been finalized?"
If Yun Lie really wanted to put up a fight, Luo Cuiwei's strength wouldn't be enough to shake him. However, he was feeling guilty and uneasy, so he deliberately softened his strength, letting her sway him like a roly-poly toy.
He replied to each of them, "I'm not busy; the Fu family has said they'll come to choose a site to build the house in ten days; we're still negotiating with the merchants."
"If you're not free, why are you sitting here staring at me?" Recalling his frequent glances earlier, Luo Cuiwei shook him even more fiercely, raising her voice a bit, "Didn't I tell you before that you can't disturb me when I'm doing serious things?"
"Stop, stop shaking me, I'm dizzy," Yun Lie stretched out his arm and put his arm around her waist, a soft look appearing on his handsome face as he played the victim, "Just try to frame me, I didn't say anything."
Luo Cuiwei looked down at her with a stern brow, "Your eyes! You've been bothering me with your eyes!"
Yun Lie lowered his eyes sheepishly, put one arm around her waist and back, and used his left hand to pick up the small pot on the table, poured a cup of tea, and respectfully and ingratiatingly offered it to her lips.
It looked just like a big, furry black panther, its head hanging low as if being rubbed.
Luo Cuiwei's heart softened. She took the teacup, both amused and annoyed, and drank it all in one gulp. Then she muttered with a smile, "So, is there something you want to ask of me?"
Yun Lie looked up at her in a flustered and surprised manner: "Was it so easy to see through?"
He thought he had covered it up very well.
Luo Cuiwei reached out her right hand and pinched his cheek. "Are you going to tell me or not? If you don't, I'm going to eat."
Yun Lie struggled internally for a moment, then mustered immense courage and abruptly turned his head—
He opened his mouth and bit her index finger.
"Excuse me," he asked, looking up at his wife with a guilty conscience, his two rows of white teeth gently nibbling on her slender index finger, his words muffled and his tone strained, "what's the situation in our family right now..."
He choked up and couldn't say it.
Because the image of Luo Cuiwei smiling brightly as she earnestly discussed the layout of the new house suddenly flashed into my mind.
Luo Cuiwei lowered her eyes and stared at him, "Do you need to take money from the treasury?"
Yun Lie nodded with difficulty, his voice weak and barely audible, "It's for city defense... it might... be quite a lot... if you don't agree... then..."
He felt that he might be regressing in his life.