Chapter 41

After a grand donation ceremony, the lion dance troupe—who had worked hard all morning—finally received a large sum of payment. Tears of joy nearly welled up in their eyes. They swiftly stripped the banners from the lion costumes, handed them over to the Marquis of Changle, and fled with such speed that they looked like they were escaping a disaster.

A bewildered Cheng Ruyi watched their actions with confusion.

“Cousin, the people in the lion dance troupe were panting and drenched in sweat. Why didn’t they rest a bit longer? Leaving so quickly… did they take on another job? They’re working far too hard.”

Rong Mo agreed with a straight face, “…It isn’t easy to earn money to support a family; it’s only right to work hard.”

In reality, after being tossed around by his uncle-in-law like that, the troupe saw the Marquis as a flood or a savage beast. It was no wonder they fled in a panic.

“That’s true. Luckily we have the Divine Medicine. People with specialized skills can make a living anywhere,” Cheng Ruyi nodded, feeling quite self-satisfied.

Rong Mo: “…”

They had arrived with great fanfare, and their departure was no less noisy. Even without the lion dance troupe, the Marquis of Changle—strutting about while riding a tiger—remained a wondrous sight in the capital.

Cheng Ruyi and Rong Mo followed them back, enjoying the feeling of being the center of attention.

Speaking of which, regarding the Marquis donating so much gold to Prince Pingnan on the spot: some admired him, some felt disdain, and some secretly cursed him as an idiot. But hey, a thousand pieces of gold can hardly buy someone’s personal happiness.

Upon returning to the manor, the Marquis reluctantly dismounted the tiger and said excitedly:

“Daughter, I’ve lived half my life, but today was the happiest I’ve ever been!”

Cheng Ruyi replied nonchalantly, “Father, when I get married, you’ll be even happier.”

The Marquis choked, his smile turning a bit dry: “…That’s true, that’s true.”

His daughter was eager to marry; he wasn’t happy about that at all.

Rong Mo felt a surge of joy in his heart. His little fiancée was actually looking forward to marrying him.

Cheng Ruyi was in high spirits. She counted the days and realized there were about three months left until the wedding. She sighed, “Time is moving too slowly. There are still three months left.”

The Marquis felt a pang in his heart: “…” He couldn’t help but glare at his future son-in-law.

The corners of Rong Mo’s mouth curled up. Ignoring his future father-in-law’s gaze, an air of delight surrounded him, and the smile in his eyes couldn’t be hidden.

“Three months will pass quickly. Just wait a bit longer. On that day, you will surely be the most beautiful bride.”

Cheng Ruyi thought so too. This was her first time getting married across two lifetimes; she was a little excited.

It was a pity her ‘Big Sister’ wasn’t in this world, otherwise, she could have invited her to the wedding.

“…”

The Marquis watched the two of them acting as if no one else were there, lamenting in his heart: A grown daughter cannot be kept at home, truly cannot be kept.

Fortunately, his daughter would still live in the manor after the wedding.

…

After the grand donation ended, rumors spread throughout the capital about the Marquis and his household’s generous donation of a million taels of silver. Passers-by who were lucky enough to witness the ten large chests of gold praised the Marquis to the heavens, nearly putting him on a pedestal.

The Marquis had successfully become famous.

Unlike previous times, this time it was a good reputation.

However, those who wanted to steal the formula for the Divine Medicine became even more numerous and frenzied.

Wealth moves the hearts of men.

This is why people usually prefer not to flaunt their riches. There was no helping it; the quantity and price of the Divine Medicine were transparent, so everyone knew exactly how much the Marquis had earned.

That night, the entire Marquis of Changle’s manor was restless.

After Cheng Ruyi dealt with yet another black-clad intruder who had sneaked into the manor, she yawned listlessly and complained to Rong Mo, “Cousin, there are a lot of little thieves tonight. It’s so annoying.”

Rong Mo pulled his little fiancée into his arms with heartache, a cold light flashing in his eyes: “The manor’s security needs to be strengthened.”

Cheng Ruyi rubbed comfortably against Rong Mo’s chest and shook her head: “No need. When they can’t find the formula, these small-time crooks will disappear soon enough. The formula for the Divine Medicine is in my head—even my father doesn’t know it. The fact that they think they can steal it is just ridiculous.”

“I’ve been a bit bored lately. Watching them jump around like monkeys is a kind of fun.”

“Otherwise, I would have just sent them back to nature to serve as flower fertilizer.”

Rong Mo’s lip twitched: “…”

His little fiancée was quite fierce.

Once the two of them walked away, the thieves hiding in the shadows were drenched in cold sweat. So, the formula was in the eldest Miss Cheng’s head? That was going to be tricky.

Stealing the formula would be harder than climbing to heaven.

Thus, the men in black all fled silently.

“Cousin, they’ve all left.” Sensing that all the thieves had gone, Cheng Ruyi’s sleepy demeanor vanished, replaced by high spirits.

Rong Mo patted her head and smirked, “My cousin is truly amazing. A few words and you scared them all away.”

Cheng Ruyi looked up at the moon and rolled her eyes, muttering unhappily, “If you hadn’t stopped me, I would have caught them all, tied them in a string, and hung them at the manor gate tomorrow for everyone to gawk at.”

Rong Mo: “…”

…

The next day, the Marquis, who had slept soundly until dawn, received an imperial decree to attend the morning court session. He headed off listlessly. Meanwhile, Cheng Ruyi stayed in the manor eating snacks and watching her younger brother circle around the tiger.

In the middle of the night, a heavy rain had suddenly fallen. Now, a light drizzle was still pitter-pattering outside. The world was misty, the fruit trees in the manor were growing exceptionally well, and the air carried a cool, damp moisture.

Except for the Marquis, the whole family stayed indoors.

Cheng Yu was happily grooming the lazy big tiger. It was a pity the tiger belonged to his father; if only he had a big tiger as a pet, how wonderful that would be.

Before long, he was riding the tiger through the manor’s corridors.

Cheng Ruyi shook her head. Everyone in her family seemed to like these “weak” things.

“Miss, everyone outside is saying that our Marquis is the reincarnation of a Great Philanthropist,” Moxiang said excitedly.

Cheng Ruyi snorted. “Just because he donated a little money? These people are praising Father like that—they definitely have bad intentions. No wonder they say eight or nine out of ten rumors are false and can’t be trusted. Yet, so many people believe them.”

“Miss, the Marquis is being called a Great Philanthropist. Why aren’t you happy?” Moxiang asked, puzzled.

Cheng Ruyi rolled her eyes and curled her lip. “Is being a ‘Great Philanthropist’ that easy? We aren’t running a charity house. Someone is definitely trying to use moral kidnapping on Father. They clearly don’t know that Father wouldn’t care one bit.”

Moxiang gasped. She wasn’t stupid and quickly understood the logic behind it.

“No wonder I heard this rumor everywhere when I went out early this morning. So there’s such a scheme involved? How despicable!”

Cheng Ruyi patted Moxiang’s shoulder earnestly. “That’s why, Moxiang, you are still too green.”

Moxiang: “…”

Rong Mo sat nearby, elegantly drinking tea and leafing through a book. Hearing his little fiancée’s voice, a doting smile appeared in his eyes.

His simple-minded little fiancée was becoming smarter and smarter.

Truly wonderful!

At that moment, the Marquis returned. He was beaming, glowing with health and vigor, looking like a victorious little rooster. He was in a fantastic mood.

Moxiang tactfully excused herself.

“Father, did something good happen? Why so happy?” Cheng Ruyi’s eyes lit up as she immediately served him a cup of tea.

The Marquis took a sip of the tea his daughter handed him and chuckled, “Today, your father gave those Censors who tried to impeach me a thorough scolding! Haha!”

“Father, didn’t you donate a huge sum to Prince Pingnan yesterday? Why are those Censors impeaching you again? How annoying,” Cheng Ruyi said unhappily.

Those meddling Censors were always nitpicking. If they weren’t impeaching this person, they were impeaching that one. She had even heard they meddled in the Emperor’s family affairs. She really didn’t know how the Emperor put up with them.

If it were her, she would just give them a sound beating until they took a detour whenever they saw her.

The Marquis sneered. “Those Censors said your father was fishing for fame and openly bribing Prince Pingnan. They even impeached the Prince for accepting bribes, saying the money should have been donated to the Imperial Court—that giving it to the Prince was bribery. Absolute nonsense!”

“It’s our money. How we donate it and to whom is none of their business. Utterly ridiculous.”

“So, today I gave those Censors a piece of my mind. It felt great.”

Thinking of how those Censors trembled with rage, nearly spitting blood, the Marquis couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Cheng Ruyi had stars in her eyes.

“Father is so amazing!”

“Those people just need a good scolding. Talking about ‘fishing for fame’—they are the ones doing that. Father was clearly building his reputation out in the open, okay?”

The Marquis raised his head proudly. “Exactly, exactly!”

“By the way, Father, how did Prince Pingnan react?” Cheng Ruyi was curious about the stern Prince’s reaction.

Upon hearing this, the Marquis burst into laughter, his face full of schadenfreude. “Prince Pingnan didn’t say a word. He didn’t even give them a single glance. He just pulled out a memorial.”

“That memorial listed all the dirty deeds those sanctimonious Censors had ever done.”

“And then… there was no ‘and then.'”

“So cool. It looks like he was prepared,” Cheng Ruyi’s eyes widened, her beautiful face full of admiration. She murmured, “Prince Pingnan truly is someone who doesn’t strike often, but when he does, he hits the vitals.”

Rong Mo: “…” He felt a bit salty in his heart.

“Oh, and another senseless official said I should hand over the formula for the Divine Medicine for the benefit of the public. Your old man went right up and gave him a good beating.”

Thinking of the scene, the Marquis felt refreshed. In any case, the Emperor wouldn’t blame him. As for the crime of beating a court official in the Golden Throne Room, it was lightly brushed aside.

He was now a man with two massive backers: the Emperor and Prince Pingnan.

That official had taken a beating for nothing.

The other officials who had ideas immediately went silent.

Rong Mo: “…”

His uncle-in-law was becoming more and more violent.

But… well beaten!

“Hmph, a beating is letting him off easy. To dare covet my Divine Medicine formula? He’s looking for death!” Cheng Ruyi looked murderous. That formula was the source of the Marquis manor’s wealth.

It was her private property.

How bold of them.

Just then, the butler entered with a strange expression on his face.

“My Lord, Master Huiyuan from Xiangguo Temple seeks an audience.”

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