C8 Give Him Double!

Li Duke Mansion.

Jing Yeli leaned casually against the soft couch, a book in hand, glancing briefly at the person who entered.

"Seventh Royal Uncle, you sure are relaxed. I'm exhausted!"

With that, Jing Xiuyuan poured himself a cup of tea, drank it, and, still thirsty, downed two more cups. He glanced at Xiawen, who was standing nearby. "Xiawen, go brew another pot of tea for me!"

Xiawen quickly nodded and hurried off with the teapot.

Jing Xiuyuan strode forward and plopped down on the edge of Jing Yeli's couch, eager to share some news. "Seventh Royal Uncle, I saw your future wife!"

"Hmm," Jing Yeli responded nonchalantly, not even bothering to look up from his book.

Seeing Jing Yeli's indifference, Jing Xiuyuan frowned in confusion. "Aren't you even a little curious, Seventh Royal Uncle?"

Jing Yeli's face remained calm and indifferent, showing no hint of emotion. "Curious about what?"

Talking to his Seventh Royal Uncle was always so dull, Jing Xiuyuan thought, pursing his lips.

"Alright, alright, I'll get to the point."

—Not that it mattered; he wasn't getting any reaction anyway.

"To be honest, Seventh Royal Uncle, your future wife looks pretty good. But she seems to have quite a temper!"

When I arrived, she was in the middle of scolding her maid!

After saying this, Jing Xiuyuan shook his head with a touch of emotion and remarked, "I wonder if, in the future, when you're by the Seventh Royal Uncle's side, your gentle nature will be overshadowed by her. It's quite frightening!"

Jing Yeli glanced at Jing Xiuyuan and suddenly frowned. "Where's the jade pendant your father gave you?"

Jing Xiuyuan blushed at the question and awkwardly chuckled. "Well, it looked a bit dirty earlier, so I sent it to be cleaned."

Jing Yeli nodded and continued reading.

Jing Xiuyuan felt a bit uneasy, relieved that the Seventh Royal Uncle didn't press further; otherwise, it would have been troublesome. However, he really needed to find that intriguing little girl to exchange the jade pendant.

Seeing how much she loved money, he knew he had to bring plenty of cash with him!

Standing up, Jing Xiuyuan suddenly said, "By the way, Seventh Royal Uncle, I'm going to your office to grab a thousand dollars."

With that, Jing Xiuyuan left without looking back.

Jing Yeli watched his retreating figure and thought to himself: If this kid spends all his time out eating, drinking, and having fun, he won't have time to meddle in my affairs. Yes, that's a great idea.

"Sir, where's the Second Prince?" someone asked curiously as they entered with a water jug.

Jing Yeli's lips curved slightly. "Xiuyuan has gone to the accounts room to get the money. Go quickly and tell them to give him double."

The servant hesitated for a moment, then quickly nodded in agreement.

...

Hua Xiangxue didn't know how valuable this jade pendant was. However, she could tell its color was exquisite, and she certainly couldn't afford it. Even if she could, she had no interest in buying such a thing.

With that thought, she decided to wear the pendant at her waist. To her surprise, the white jade matched her simple white dress beautifully.

She took small steps, planning to visit the garden she had been to last time. She remembered seeing many flowers in bloom there, and today she felt like finding some to make tea.

"Miss, let me accompany you!" Jiaojiao quickly offered.

Hua Xiangxue thought for a moment. Only Granny Lan was left to tend to the vegetables, and she felt a bit guilty. She whispered, "Don't worry, I'll just take a quick stroll and be back soon. You stay and help Granny Lan with the gardening."

Jiaojiao was concerned about Hua Xiangxue's injury, but Hua Xiangxue reassured her in a low voice, "Honestly, my head hasn't hurt for a while. I was just pretending to scare them a bit."

Jiaojiao sighed with relief and smiled, "That's good. With you injured, no one would dare to bully you now."

Hua Xiangxue raised an eyebrow, a bit smug: "Who dares to mess with me?"

In the garden, quite a few flowers were in bloom, but despite her last name being Hua, Xiangxue didn't recognize any of them. She glanced at one, then another, and realized she was unfamiliar with all of them. Which ones were edible, and which were poisonous? It was a puzzle she couldn't solve. Clearly, she had overestimated herself!

With a sigh, Xiangxue put her hands on her hips and stared at a tree in front of her, unable to identify it. Was it a peach blossom? An apricot blossom? A ginkgo? A plum blossom?

She reached out, plucked a flower, and popped it into her mouth. To her surprise, it had a hint of fragrance and sweetness. Delighted, Xiangxue thought that if the flower tasted good when chewed, it might make a nice tea. With that in mind, she reached out to pick more flowers—

"What's this? Are you so hungry you're eating anything you find?" Hua Yunjin approached slowly with Xia Lian.

Xiangxue's mouth twitched. How did she always run into her? Wasn't she the one who fell into the water a couple of days ago?

"So it's my dear sister!" Xiangxue released the branch and gave Yunjin a once-over, showing some concern. "I heard you fell into the water the other day. Were you hurt? How could you be so careless?"

Hua Yunjin noticed the scar she had from the previous day and snapped coldly, "Hua Xiangxue, what do you mean by this?"