Behind him, Rouge gave a suggestive, wicked smile before uttering another startling statement.
"Miss, could it be that the Left Prime Minister has feelings for you? This is a token of his love for you."
"rouge."
Hailin suddenly turned around and roared.
Rouge turned and ran, saying as she ran, "Miss, I forgot I had things to do! Miss, you should go to sleep. I'll go do my work now. I won't disturb your sleep."
Hai Ling was both annoyed and amused: "You brat, you're lucky you ran fast," she said, taking the jade flute and turning to rest.
When she woke up, it was already dark. The little girl, Rouge, was beaming with excitement and joy, as if some great joy had happened.
Hailin sat up curiously and looked at her: "What's wrong? Did something happy happen again?"
"Miss, do you know? After just one afternoon, everyone in the capital is saying that you are the most talented woman in the Great Zhou Dynasty."
"The First Talented Woman?"
---Aside---
My dears, it's the second update, why is no one leaving a comment for Xiao?
Chapter 53 The Ingenious Chess Game (Second Update)
Hai Ling rolled her eyes. She didn't care about being called the number one talented woman. What she wanted to hear was about Ye Xiuying and Jiang Feixue barking like dogs. Thinking of this, she smiled and asked, "How's that story about Ye Xiuying and Jiang Feixue barking like dogs going?"
Upon hearing Hai Ling's words, Rouge immediately turned around and looked towards the door as if she had done something wrong. Only after confirming that no one was there did she mutter something under her breath.
"Many people are talking about it in private. They say that the young lady and Miss Ye have lost face now. They actually barked like dogs. Whoever marries them will be ashamed."
"Serves you right."
Hai Ling snorted coldly, feeling much better after hearing that their affair had become the talk of the town.
Since they weren't trying to make a fool of her, why should she be polite to them?
"Miss, but no one dares to speak loudly, since the Jiang and Ye families are both very prestigious in Beijing. People are just talking about it in hushed tones behind each other's backs."
Rouge clicked her tongue, feeling quite disappointed.
"This is the only way."
Hailing nodded, got dressed, and got out of bed. Yanzhi tidied her hair, and after washing up, helped her out to get something to eat.
Du Caiyue also got up, but her face was filled with worry, completely opposite to Hailing Yanzhi's joy. As a mother, she knew that Hailing had offended Jiang Feixue. That woman had always been the apple of Jiang Batian and Madam Liu's eye. Now that she had suffered such a great loss, how could those two let it go?
Hai Ling knew that Du Caiyue was worried about her, so she comforted her.
"Mother, don't worry, everything will be alright. But I have something to tell you."
Hailin changed the subject, not wanting Du Caiyue to worry anymore.
As expected, as soon as she spoke, Du Caiyue's attention was diverted, and she looked at Hailing with a loving expression.
Hailing glanced at Yanzhi, who knew that her mistress had something to say to the madam. Yanzhi quickly went to the door and stood guard, preventing anyone from getting close.
Hai Ling reached out and took Du Caiyue's hand: "Mother, if the Crown Prince breaks off the engagement, let's leave the Jiang family."
In the past, Du Caiyue had always opposed this suggestion. She knew that Du Caiyue must be hiding something from her. This matter might be very important to her, but staying here was not a solution at the moment.
Sure enough, Du Caiyue's expression changed slightly when Hailing spoke, but when she looked at Hailing, her eyes were much clearer than usual. After thinking for a moment, she surprisingly nodded in agreement.
“Alright, Ling’er, if the Crown Prince really breaks off the engagement, your mother will go with you.”
After she finished speaking, she held Hailin's hand tightly. As long as her daughter was alright, that was all that mattered. She couldn't protect her, but she absolutely couldn't be a burden to her.
Hailin was overjoyed to see that Du Caiyue had relented.
So what she needs to do next is to make the Crown Prince hate her more and more, and perhaps when he can't stand her anymore, he will angrily break off the engagement.
"Mother, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Once all this is over, let's leave here and find a place with mountains and rivers to live in seclusion. What do you think?"
Hailing nestled in Du Caiyue's arms, feeling her maternal tenderness. She was reluctant to part with this warmth: "I will be filial to you and will not let you suffer."
"Mother believes in you."
Du Caiyue spoke as if she had made up her mind: since she had decided to leave with her daughter, she should not think about the past.
Hailing called Yanzhi over and asked her to help her mother to her room to rest.
She sat alone in the hall, pondering her options. Recalling Feng Zixiao's hostility towards her during the day, she could easily tell that the man cared about appearances and disliked women's persistent pestering. If she were that kind of person, he might grow to dislike her more and more, and in a fit of anger, he might very well call off the engagement.
With that thought, Hai Ling had an idea. She called someone outside the door and instructed them to bring Agu in.
The guard Agu quickly entered the hall as ordered and stood respectfully with his head bowed.
Hai Ling looked at him, smiled gently, and then slowly asked.
"Agu, what does your crown prince usually like and dislike?"
Upon hearing this, Agu was overjoyed. Could it be that the Crown Princess truly wanted to marry the Crown Prince? Although she was plump, the Crown Prince was definitely not a superficial person. If he discovered the Crown Princess's charisma, he would surely like her. With the Crown Princess's intelligence, it would be an easy task for her to lend the Crown Prince a hand.
As Agu thought about it, a smile appeared on his usually flat and unremarkable face, and he replied respectfully.
"In response to Your Highness the Crown Princess, the Crown Prince usually enjoys collecting rare treasures, but that's about it. As for what he dislikes, His Highness the Crown Prince dislikes most women who are unreasonable, clingy, jealous, quarrelsome, and scheming."
Agu kindly revealed that the Crown Prince disliked women who would pester him, hoping that Hailing would avoid such things. Little did he know that Hailing was deliberately trying to do the things the Crown Prince disliked so that the engagement could be successfully annulled.