Chapter 304: Keeping a Girl Outside

"I heard from my old man that the Guardian Lady dotes on her only daughter like a precious jewel. She had the Luan Garden specially built for her as part of her future dowry. But a Feng Shui Master said the garden is too large and has too many plants. It needs a surge of human presence before anyone can move in, or else the yin energy might be too heavy."

"The Guardian Lady originally planned to open the garden for a day, letting the public wander in and enjoy it."

"But I heard her daughter, that young lady, wouldn’t have it. She said if commoners went in, they’d not only dirty her garden but also taint it with their vulgarity."

"So she declared that only the talented or the beautiful could enter. They left a stack of invitations at the garden gate for anyone who considered themselves talented or beautiful to take."

Gu Fei found this amusing. "Well, beauty is easy enough to judge—you know it when you see it. But there’s no real standard, and everyone has different tastes."

"But how are they supposed to distinguish talent? Are they going to stop people at the gate and make them compose poetry on the spot?"

Sister Dan chuckled. "That’s exactly what I said!"

"But I hear they really are going to hold a poetry contest."

"And there are prizes! They’re even having the teachers from Qinglian Academy judge first, second, and third place. Everyone in the top three gets a prize, and I hear they’re all great things."

"My old man said he’s going to grab a few invitations tomorrow and take me to have a look around Luan Garden."

The corner of Gu Fei’s lip twitched. ’So that’s what this is all about.’

’I don’t even know who this Miss Qin is. What does she mean by going out of her way to send me this invitation?’

Sister Dan said eagerly, "When the day comes, why don’t we go together?"

Gu Fei shook her head. "I can’t. If I go, who will watch my shop?"

Sister Dan stared blankly at Gu Fei. "Oh, I’m done for. You’re just too beautiful. I can’t tear my eyes away. I feel like I don’t even need to eat—just looking at you is enough to satisfy me."

Gu Fei chuckled. "Sister Dan, you really know how to joke."

Sister Dan jutted her chin toward the counter. "The Dragon Boat Festival is coming up, isn’t it? I made some zongzi and brought a few for you to try."

"The pointy ones are red bean paste, these are salted egg yolk, and the big one is pork. I only made these few kinds. My old man is a picky eater; he won’t touch anything else."

Gu Fei thanked Sister Dan. "I haven’t made any yet. Once I do tomorrow, I’ll bring some over for you to try too."

Sister Dan stared at Gu Fei in a daze for another moment, then sighed. She left, filled with the worry that if her old man ever met Little Fei, he’d be completely captivated by her.

After Sister Dan left, Lian’er took the zongzi to the kitchen.

Gu Fei suddenly remembered the pouch from Mr. Xu and quickly took it out.

She opened it. Inside was a five-hundred-tael silver note and several taels of broken silver. It must have been what he was carrying for personal use, and he had given it to her on a whim.

Clutching the pouch, Gu Fei couldn’t help but think of Xiao Yu.

’This Young Master Heir is a real money-making machine for me. The apology silver from just Housekeeper Wu and Mr. Xu amounts to three thousand one hundred taels.’

’And that’s not even counting the Treasure Basin and the gold and silver Xiao Yu gave me himself.’

Gu Fei lowered her head and took stock of all her silver. In total, she had a little over one thousand taels.

’I can’t just spend it on jade yet. The family needs to transfer our household registration, and I still don’t know how Dad’s talk with the head of Liu Family Village and the village chief went.’

’I’m afraid it’s going to cost a lot of silver.’

「Meanwhile, in the main courtyard of the Prince Qi Mansion」

Princess Qi was frowning as she asked her head maid, Ruyu, "Where did this rumor come from?"

Ruyu answered softly, "It’s hard to say where it started. A lot of people in the city are saying it—that the Young Master Heir paid to release a girl from the Imperial Music Bureau and is now keeping her."