Madam Zhou nodded, looking at Madam Cai and saying, "It's all the fault of the Zhou family for dragging you down. Now that you're feeling tired from your losses, you can leave the child with me..."
"Mother, Zhou Bai treats me very well. At this time, I cannot leave you after encountering such things. Please don't be discouraged, one day, we will be reunited as a family," Madam Cai said.
Upon hearing this, Madam Zhou nodded, "That day will come."
In the evening, the wet nurse returned, bringing with her bad news. Even the cheapest courtyard in the capital that was a single entrance and exit cost three hundred taels of silver. Despite the wet nurse's efforts, she could not change the situation.
Madam Zhou was somewhat stunned. She never expected that one day she would have to experience such things.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded from outside, and the wet nurse instinctively moved to the front.
They saw a black cloak obscuring the person's entire figure.
"Who are you?" the wet nurse asked.
The person did not speak but threw a purse onto the ground and retreated, leaving.
After a long while, Madam Zhou said, "Wet nurse, go and see how much money is inside." When the wet nurse opened the purse, she discovered thick bank notes, amounting to two thousand taels of silver.
"Mis... Mistress, it's two thousand taels," the wet nurse said with surprise.
Madam Zhou was taken aback and fell into thought. At this time, people who normally associated with her couldn't wait to distance themselves from her and would not send her money. She knew this without asking, as she had already been shut out because of it.
"Mistress..."
"Wet nurse, use this money to buy a courtyard," Madam Zhou handed over one thousand taels of silver to the wet nurse for arrangements, carefully keeping the remainder in her personal belongings.
"Yes, Mistress." The wet nurse left.
Madam Cai also heard about this and found it quite peculiar. Someone sending them money at this time was completely unexpected.
"Mother, this money..."
"Our Zhou family will remember this kindness. If we have the chance to meet again one day, our Zhou family will repay it tenfold," Madam Zhou said with determined eyes, word by word.
Madam Zhou nodded, "Mother, please rest assured, I have kept it all in my heart."
"Come out!" a cold voice called. Xue Zi Ning, who was following not far behind, knew that she had been discovered by Mr. Li.
She walked out, showing Mr. Li a smile that she thought was very charming, "Mr. Li, what a coincidence that we meet here!"
"Here?" Mr. Li's tone slightly rose.
Unaccountably, Xue Zi Ning felt a chilling aura approach. Though she felt a little fear, she kept a neutral expression and said, "Why not?"
"A graveyard?"
The clear voice held no warmth whatsoever, but Mr. Li's words made her tremble. A graveyard? She looked up and saw that the surroundings were indeed full of lonely graves.
How did she end up here?
"I did not expect that Guard Ning would have such refined taste to like this place?"
Xue Zi Ning twitched her mouth. She liked it? She was following him, after all.
However, she couldn't directly say that she was following him here. But it was clear that he had discovered her following him long ago and had deliberately brought her here.
She hadn't expected that the aloof and exceptionally cold Mr. Li would also play such a trick?
"It's not bad here, it can help build courage, can't it?" she could only say with forced courage.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Li did not refute but nodded, "Not bad, I think so too."
"Mr. Li..."
"Therefore, you can stay here and build your courage slowly!"
With that said, Mr. Li's voice was heard, but he himself was nowhere to be seen.
Xue Zi Ning was greatly alarmed and quickly tried to follow, but she found that the area seemed to be under some formation, and she couldn't get out.
She tried again and again, failing repeatedly. Eventually, she gave up on trying to leave, thinking that since Mr. Li brought her here, he probably never intended for her to get out.
After a sleepless night, when the roosters crowed in the morning, Xue Zi Ning felt she had rushed out of the graveyard at the fastest speed of her life.
When she looked back, there was no graveyard. It was as if what had happened was just a dream she had dreamt.
Her stomach rumbled. She instinctively reached for her stomach and suddenly found that she was still holding a handkerchief belonging to a lady who had recently passed away and with whom she had chatted all night in the graveyard. She felt a surge of breathlessness and fainted.
When Xue Zi Ning woke up, she was already outside the mansion of Prince Jing. She entered the prince's mansion and walked towards her room, only to find Jiang Bei blocking the entrance.
"Ning An, where did you go?" Jiang Bei couldn't help but ask.
"The graveyard," Xue Zi Ning said without any concealment.
Jiang Bei was stunned and asked, "The graveyard? Why would you go to a graveyard?"
"What for? I probably had too much time on my hands!" Thinking of her experience last night, Xue Zi Ning harbored all her resentment towards that Mr. Li.
"You've been gone all night, Ning An, you're the first. If the Prince blames you, I'm really afraid you won't be able to handle it," Sun Hao appeared in front of Xue Zi Ning and said mockingly.
Xue Zi Ning heard this and said coldly, "You don't need to worry about that. I've never eaten well or been full, so how can I handle it?"
"You..."
"Sun Hao, I haven't settled accounts with you for what happened last time, and yet you've come here yourself. Do you want me to settle accounts with you?" Xue Zi Ning said coldly.
Sun Hao was startled, his gaze evasive, "What are you talking about? What accounts? Don't push your luck too far..."
Xue Zi Ning took a step forward and said in a low voice, "If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it. Sun Hao, you should be careful."
"You're threatening me," Sun Hao said angrily.
Xue Zi Ning heard this and nodded, "You can think of it that way."
"You..."
At this moment, the housekeeper walked over and said, "The Prince is bathing. Who will fetch water for the Prince?" Jiang Bei, who was standing nearby, stiffened, his expression extremely grim.
The housekeeper continued, "Guard Jiang, you don't need to go. The Prince was very dissatisfied with you last time."
Housekeeper, there's no need to ask. Our Guard Ning has been favored by the Prince recently, so of course, he should go. Am I supposed to go, someone the Prince dislikes?" Sun Hao said sarcastically.
The housekeeper glanced at Sun Hao and said coldly, "It is our honor as servants to be able to serve the Prince."
Sun Hao heard this and quickly said, "The housekeeper is right. However, the Prince has been taking Guard Ning with him when he goes out recently, so I think Guard Ning is the most suitable."
The housekeeper glanced at Xue Zi Ning and then said, "Alright, then I'll trouble Guard Ning to fetch water for the Prince." The housekeeper said.