"Jiu'er, are you sure this is where it is?" Ruan Mianmian stopped and asked.
"Princess, you can't be wrong. I'm familiar with the streets of the capital." Jiu'er pointed forward, "It's the third alley from here."
Ruan Mianmian looked around. This was probably where ordinary people in the capital lived. Old, low houses were crowded together. It seemed that Ruan Qi and the others were more embarrassed than they thought, living in such a place.
"Princess." Jiu'er motioned Ruan Mianmian to look over there.
A lonely figure in the distance was walking forward with his head lowered. Although it was quite far away, Ruan Mianmian recognized it as Ruan Qi at a glance.
"Sister Jiu'er, you are a thief and stealing sheep." Ruan Mianmian blinked.
"Okay." Jiu'er pinched Ruan Mianmian's cheek, "You are waiting in this corner, and you are not allowed to leave."
Ruan Mianmian nodded obediently and hid in the corner, watching Jiu'er walk towards Ruan Qi.
Ruan Qi was very depressed. He didn't expect that he would be in such a desperate situation. Living in the capital cost far more money than in Jiangnan. He left in a hurry without taking much money with him.
After only a few days, Ruan Qi touched his arms and found that there was only some broken silver left in them.
Jiu'er dodged and bumped into Ruan Qi. Before he could react, he only heard a woman muttering "Sorry", and when he came to his senses, she was gone.
Ruan Qi didn't notice at all that the little bit of silver in his arms had been taken away, and he kept walking forward with his head lowered and his body shrunken.
Ruan Mianmian took the money bag from Jiu'er, opened it and couldn't help but smile: "It's only been a few days, and this is all that's left."
"Ordinary people and their families only use three to five taels of silver every year. Even if the third master leaves home in a hurry, he shouldn't have such a little money left." Jiu'er counted the remaining four or five taels of silver.
"Let's go take a look." Ruan Mianmian pulled Jiu'er and followed him in the direction where Ruan Qi disappeared just now.
Ruan Qi stopped in front of the tattered and mottled wooden door and sighed before opening it.
It has to be said that the world inside and outside the door is completely different. It took only a few days to put up flower stands in the small courtyard. Many daily necessities inside looked like they were newly purchased. The doorways of the left and right rooms were hung with gauze.
There is something charming about fluttering.
If you look carefully, the gauze is produced in the south of the Yangtze River. Just these two pieces hanging on the door will only cost seven or eight taels of silver.
Hearing the commotion, Gu Ling'an opened the door and came out. She was wearing clothes made for her by the Marquis Mansion, and she was also wearing gold and silver. She also had many hair accessories on her bun. She looked radiant and incompatible with the surrounding environment.
"Third brother is back? Did you borrow money?" Gu Ling'an walked quickly to Ruan Qi.
Ruan Qi shook his head. It wasn't that he couldn't borrow it. He went to the door of his old friend and stopped for a long time. In the end, he couldn't help but turned around and came back without even entering the door.
"No?" Gu Ling'an's tone was filled with dissatisfaction, "We almost don't have enough food to eat at home."
"If you don't have enough food, why don't you buy these messy things?" Ruan Qi finally couldn't help but get angry.
Gu Ling'an looked aggrieved: "Third brother, didn't you praise the tasteful decoration of the house before?"
Ruan Qi lifted up the veil and walked into the house. She was indeed very tasteful. Since Gu Ling'an moved here, he has spent a lot of money to replace the furniture and put in decorations. He even got a bookcase and put some books in it.
A broken book is not as solid as a steamed bun, and its taste is not as good as these few copper coins in my hand. What Zhou Yuning once said came to Ruan Qi's mind. He still remembers that day when he blew his nose at her and stared at her, saying that she had no taste. She sat upright
The chair looked at him with disdain.
Vulgar, vulgar, I was really blind back then, how could I fall in love with a person like you who smells like copper. Ruan Qi clearly remembers what he said at that time.
Humph, if you don’t have money in your hands and your stomach is empty, what’s the point of talking about taste? After Zhou Yuning finished speaking, she walked away.
Gu Ling'an followed Ruan Qi into the house: "Third brother, why don't you go back to the Marquis' Mansion and surrender."
"No." Ruan Qi couldn't help but reach out and touch his arms as he spoke. His expression suddenly changed, "It's lost."
"What's missing?" Gu Ling'an squeezed forward.
Ruan Qi's face dropped: "Money bag."
"Third brother, let's pack our things quickly and move back today." After hearing this, Gu Ling'an was not only not anxious but even more happy.
"Why do you want to move back?" Ruan Qi stared at Gu Ling'an.
Gu Ling'an pointed around: "Where can people live in this place?"
"Why can't people live in it?" Ruan Qi looked at it and said, "It's much better than the small courtyard we lived in in Jiangnan."
"It's not as good as the Hou Mansion." Gu Ling'an rolled his eyes, "Third brother, are you stupid? The Hou Mansion is your home, Zhou Yun Ning should leave and be divorced."
At this moment, Ruan Qi finally realized what Zhou Yunning said. Now he felt desperate. The so-called taste in this room was actually worthless, not as valuable as a steamed bun and a few copper coins.
Regret welled up in his heart, Ruan Qi remained silent, and Gu Ling'an kept chattering to himself, talking about what was good in the Hou Mansion, what was valuable, what was beautiful, what was exquisite...
Looking at Gu Ling'an's vain expression and comparing it with Zhou Yunning's calmness when talking about foreign things, Ruan Qi suddenly realized that he might be wrong.
"You actually live here." The voice coming from outside sounded a bit familiar.
Ruan Qi and Gu Ling'an walked out and were surprised to see Ruan Mianmian and Jiu'er.
"The princess must have come to deliver a message, and also to persuade the third brother to return home." Gu Ling'an had a smile on his face, and there was a look of dismay in his eyes.
"Who said I was here to persuade him to return home?" Ruan Mianmian said bluntly, "Besides, does he have such a big face?"
Hearing Ruan Mianmian's words, Gu Ling'an's face became a little ugly, and she retreated to the side.
Ruan Qi hoped that Ruan Mianmian would have an embarrassed look on his face: "This is not the place for you to stay, please go back."
"Gu Ling'an is right, I'm here to deliver a message."
Ruan Qi looked at Ruan Mianmian in surprise, and Gu Lingan next to him felt like he saw hope again.
"Third brother, the old marquis and the old lady must miss you and ask the princess to send a message."
Hearing this, Ruan Qi had a different view: "What happened in the house?"
"Grandpa and Grandma didn't ask me to deliver the message, but I think there's something you should know."
While Ruan Mianmian was talking, she had already walked around the house. There was a small courtyard between the two rooms. It could be seen that she was obviously very poor, but she was still pretending to be fat.
The furnishings in the house were very rough. The two pieces of gauze hanging on the door were fluttering in the wind. They could hide it from others but not from her. After all, she was the owner of the embroidery workshop. After a few more glances, she could see that it was just scraps.
.
Although the things were not valuable, they still cost a lot of money. Ruan Mianmian was really convinced that a person with so little money in his wallet could be so poor and fastidious.