A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Chapter 381 The key is what she thinks.

He Jinglan's eyes flickered, and she asked An Qinghe, "Weren't you with him all day?"

"What brings Lord Jiang here?"

An Qinghe said, "I brought him here."

Jiang Mingyuan composed two poems and drank a few more cups of wine during the banquet.

Feeling unwell due to the effects of the alcohol, he decided to go out and find a quiet place to get some fresh air and clear his head.

Anqing was familiar with the layout of Xiao He Mansion, so he led him behind the artificial hill.

It's not yet the season for lotus flowers to bloom, so few people make a special trip here.

There was no one else by the lotus pond at the time, so An Qinghe found a rock and had Jiang Mingyuan sit down.

An Qinghe continued, "I saw that he wasn't feeling well, so I thought I'd make him some honey tea to help him sober up."

He looked at Xixi and said, "You know, when your stomach hurts, drinking a hot bowl of water can relieve it."

He Jinglan said helplessly, "Get to the point, this is not the time to discuss tea ceremony."

An Qinghe responded with an "oh," and added, "I just pried a tea cake from inside the house and took it to the kitchen."

"Before the water even boiled, I heard a commotion outside, with people saying things like someone had fallen into the water or they were going out to find a doctor."

"I heard someone mention Boss Gu, and that's when I got anxious. I didn't even have time to make tea, so I rushed over here."

He Jinglan nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

An Qinghe then asked with concern, "How is Brother Jiang?"

He Jinglan said, "Fortunately, Xixi was rescued in time, so she should be fine."

An Qinghe blamed himself, "It's all my fault. I knew he was drunk, but I still left him there alone."

"Perhaps he was looking for coolness and went to the water's edge, but lost his footing."

Gu Xixi reassured him, "We'll go see him later."

An Qinghe nodded, "Okay! I'll wait for you outside."

Yuzhuyuan.

Gu Xixi was still taking a bath.

He Jinglan looked at the people leisurely drinking tea beside her and asked, "Why did you come along too?"

Dou Rongshan leaned back in her chair, looking completely at ease.

"I didn't want to come today at all, okay?"

"If you hadn't threatened me with your ultimatum, I would have been forced to sit here and drink your tea."

He Jinglan glanced at her sideways, "When did I give you an ultimatum?"

Dou Rongshan looked at her and said, "You sent out all the other people's invitations several days ago, but you sent one to me last."

"If it's not an ultimatum, could it mean something else?"

He Jinglan was at a loss for words; it seemed she really did have this inclination when she posted the message.

Dou Rongshan sat up straight again, holding her teacup, and said, "Aren't you just afraid I'll tell everyone about her relationship with my cousin?"

"I came here to make things clear to you. I promised not to tell anyone else."

"Even if you didn't threaten me, I still wouldn't tell anyone."

"Oh." He Jinglan turned to Dou Rongshan, revealing a playful smile.

"Why have you suddenly changed your personality? Looking at you now, you don't seem as annoying as before."

Dou Rongshan gave a light snort and said arrogantly, "Likewise."

He Jinglan stared at her for a moment, then smiled sincerely, “A scholar should be viewed with new eyes after three days of separation. I shouldn’t have kept looking at you with old eyes. I apologize to you.”

Dou Rongshan raised her hand to stop her, "There's no need for that, I didn't suffer any loss."

"Today I enjoyed those unique and delicious desserts at your house, and also watched so many wonderful shows."

"It did give me a lot of inspiration, so it wasn't a wasted trip after all."

He Jinglan frowned, a sense of foreboding creeping over her.

"You're not really going to write this into a popular book, are you?!"

Dou Rongshan gave her a reassuring look, "How can you really name names when writing a story?"

"Besides, even if you use local ingredients, you can't just use them directly. Just like all the ingredients in your kitchen, you still need to process and cook them carefully before you can serve them on the table."

He Jinglan asked suspiciously, "You really wouldn't write it so obviously that readers can guess who it is at a glance?"

"No!" Dou Rongshan said confidently.

"At worst, I'll finish writing the first volume and show it to you first."

He Jinglan thought for a moment and said, "That's right, you still need to write slowly."

"After you finish writing it, you submit it to the publishing house. If the publishing house doesn't like it, there's no chance of it being published and sold."

Dou Rongshan was unhappy. "He Jinglan, I've noticed you haven't changed at all!"

"I just love to criticize other people's preferences!"

He Jinglan couldn't recall doing similar things to Dou Rongshan when she was a child, which is why Dou Rongshan still holds a grudge.

He could only chuckle and say, "I'm not trying to discourage you; on the contrary, I want to encourage you to keep going."

"Nowadays, many scholars fail the imperial examinations repeatedly and make a living by writing popular books."

"I've been to bookstores several times and encountered people who came out dejected after their manuscripts were rejected."

"But I believe in you! No matter how long it takes, as soon as the bookstore starts selling your book, I will definitely buy it!"

Dou Rongshan glanced at He Jinglan with a wistful look, "Really?"

He Jinglan nodded with utmost sincerity, "Really!"

Dou Rongshan pouted, "If it were my book, people just wouldn't want it."

He Jinglan thought to herself, "This woman is really hard to please."

But she still grinned and said, "You still have me as a reader."

"Did you forget what you just said, that you wanted to show it to me first?"

Dou Rongshan then smiled, but tried her best to keep a straight face and pretend to be indifferent.

"Okay, I'll try to write as fast as I can."

After a moment of silence, the two suddenly turned to each other at the same time.

He Jinglan: What do you think about Jiang Mingyuan falling into the water?

Dou Rongshan: "Could it really be that my cousin pushed Lord Jiang into the water?"

They both spoke at the same time, and then paused in surprise.

He Jinglan's expression was complicated.

Dou Rongshan couldn't hide her excitement: "A cold-faced prince and a commoner girl are brought together by a twist of fate, and the top scholar cousin harbors deep feelings for his cousin."

"The domineering prince wants to possess the woman he loves, but the gentle scholar remains steadfast in his original intention and refuses to back down!"

In the end, who won and who lost this battle of love rivals?

He Jinglan rubbed her forehead, saying weakly, "I was wrong. I shouldn't have suggested that you write the reader."

"You should go tell stories."

She sighed, "The key is what Xixi thinks."

There's no way Mu Nanzhao, with his arrogance, would take the initiative to clarify things for himself.

Would Gu Xixi believe that Mu Nanzhao intentionally harmed Jiang Mingyuan?

At this moment, Gu Xixi walked in, already dressed in new clothes.

With a smile, I casually asked, "What are you talking about?"

He Jinglan and Dou Rongshan came to their senses and tried to cover up their own mistakes.

"She said I was suited to storytelling."

"Yes, we were talking about the popular books she wrote."

Gu Xixi had never been very interested in popular books, so she nodded and said, "Shall we go to the front yard now?"

She politely asked Dou Rongshan, "Would Miss Dou like to come along?"

Dou Rongshan's eyes lit up, "Great!"

Will the next development be "a common girl visits the top scholar, and the prince gets jealous"?

A rare opportunity not to be missed.

As she left, Gu Xixi would glance at Dou Rongshan, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Dou Rongshan's eyes narrowed, and she subconsciously avoided eye contact with her.

He Jinglan noticed something amiss and asked while Gu Xixi was talking to Guangzhu, "Are you afraid of her?"

Dou Rongshan denied that she was a coward, saying, "Where am I afraid? If I were afraid, I would have left long ago."

However, given He Jinglan's intelligence and her understanding of Gu Xixi,

After a moment's thought, I understood: "Even the daughter of a military general is afraid of the dead."