The Princess and Her Rough-Rider Khan
Chapter 457 - 456 Incredible Actions (Part 1)

Chapter 457: 456 Incredible Actions (Part 1)

Li Xianyun finished speaking and then left with her entourage.

Princess Jinyu watched Li Xianyun’s departing figure with a cold eye, and her maid commented, "The Khitan princess is nothing special after all, unable to produce even a hundred thousand taels."

Princess Jinyu threw gold around like dust, and her maid also appeared to be wealthier than the average person.

However, upon hearing this, Princess Jinyu showed no hint of joy on her face.

Compelled by the power of Yelu Yan, she only dared to irritate Li Xianyun on such matters.

The day before at the hunting ground, Princess Jinyu had clearly seen that Yelu Yan was fond of Li Xianyun, even giving her the Khan’s Decree, a symbol of authority and power. This meant Yelu Yan was entrusting her with his estate and his life.

Princess Jinyu painfully acknowledged a reality – Yelu Yan’s fondness for Li Xianyun wasn’t a momentary infatuation, nor was it a mere lustful impulse. If Yelu Yan were so easily swayed by beauty, he wouldn’t have been without the shadow of a woman by his side all these years.

It seemed that a marriage with the Khitan was no longer a possibility for her.

Causing some headaches for Li Xianyun was nevertheless satisfying.

—

After much deliberation, Li Xianyun went to her desired store and signed a contract, handing over the money.

Two stores were now secured.

What followed was the proper decoration of the stores.

As the saying goes, people are judged by their clothes and horses by their saddles; without a good store environment, others will surely think less of the merchandise inside.

For a store selling edibles, cleanliness comes first and aesthetic appeal second; missing either is unacceptable.

Decorating the two businesses was relatively simple.

During the decoration of Ruyi Square, quite a few craftsmen were used, and they worked well together. Li Xianyun planned to employ them again.

As for manpower, apart from the person in charge being one of her trusted confidants, she needed to recruit other workers from outside.

To avoid unwanted disruptions due to her identity, Li Xianyun decided not to manage these two stores herself but to only make public appearances handling Xuanyi Pavilion and the opening of a school.

When the letter from Murong Ce arrived, it was nearly dusk, and both heaven and earth were bathed in the golden warm light of the setting sun.

The world was filled with the sentiment of tired birds returning to their nests.

Li Xianyun sat inside the carriage, lifting the curtain to look outside.

The carriage swayed gently, as if cradled in a rocking crib. Under normal circumstances, she would have already been dozing off, but these days she was particularly alert.

She was waiting for the news from Murong Ce.

The streets were busy with people hurrying home, especially the housewives who needed to cook dinner, all looking rushed.

Li Xianyun had already discussed with the craftsmen and decided to plan the decoration of the stores herself. She would draft the initial designs and then consult with them afterwards.

When Ruyi Square was being built, the craftsmen knew that Li Xianyun was knowledgeable in carpentry. They did not dare to cheat her in their quotes or materials.

The carriage was travelling smoothly on the main road when suddenly a thin figure darted out from a dark alley nearby.

Bater quickly pulled the reins, and the horses came to an abrupt halt.

The carriage leaned sharply forward due to the unexpected stop, and the wheels screeched loudly.

Youlan steadied Li Xianyun, "Mistress, are you all right?"

"I’m fine," Li Xianyun replied, stabilizing herself before looking out of the carriage window.

She saw a skinny beggar boy, about seven or eight years old, blocking the carriage’s path with his arms wide open. His black, bean-like eyes were filled with fear, yet he feigned composure.

Bater spoke irritably, "What’s the idea of stopping our carriage, kid? What if we had hit and injured you?"

The beggar boy caught sight of Li Xianyun and ran towards the carriage window.

Bater quickly jumped off the carriage and stopped him with his hand.

Many assassins used women and children to carry out their deadly deeds, so they had to be cautious.

"What do you want with my Family Head?"

The little beggar pulled out a letter from his bosom, "Someone asked me to deliver this letter to the owner of this carriage, which I think must be you."

He looked at Li Xianyun—the woman as beautiful as a Bodhisattva.

Bater didn’t dare to make a decision on his own and turned his head to Li Xianyun.

Li Xianyun nodded.

Her face showed no emotion, but her heart was pounding, nowhere near as calm as she appeared.

The letter from Murong Ce had finally arrived.

Bater took the letter and respectfully handed it through the carriage window to Li Xianyun.

Li Xianyun, watching the little beggar who was about to leave, said, "Wait a moment."

The little beggar halted his steps, looking at Li Xianyun with confusion.

Li Xianyun turned back to pick up a clean cloth from the table, placed all the pastries from the two plates onto the cloth, wrapped them up, and handed them out of the carriage window.

Bater took them and handed them to the little beggar.

The little beggar knew what it was as soon as he touched it, joyfully saying, "Thank you, living Bodhisattva, you will certainly become very wealthy and everything will be smooth for you."

These begging words, he spoke so fluently, fluently enough to break one’s heart.

Unable to help herself, Li Xianyun said, "In a few days, there will be two shops opening on the back street of West Market that will need to hire some helpers. If you don’t want to beg anymore, you can go there and have a look. The shopkeeper might keep you on as a helper."

The little beggar didn’t believe that anyone would employ such lowly wretches like them, but still spoke seriously, "Thank you, benefactor."

With those words, he disappeared at the end of the dark alley like a puff of smoke.

Li Xianyun let down the curtains and eagerly took out the letter from the envelope, opening it to read.

It was a personal letter from Murong Ce.

Li Xianyun had once stayed in the prison for some time, thus she was very familiar with Murong Ce’s handwriting.

Youlan, seeing her master’s complexion change while reading the letter, couldn’t help but worry, "Master, are you alright?"

Li Xianyun pursed her lips and glanced over the letter again from the beginning, then passed it to Youlan.

Youlan had learned to read with Li Xianyun.

After she read the letter, she looked at Li Xianyun with disbelief, "Master, Murong Ce actually did not kill anyone from Ji Shi Tang."

Murong Ce was merciless and ruthless, killing without batting an eye, leaving no grass growing in his wake. It was somewhat unbelievable that he did not kill a single person from Ji Shi Tang this time.

Li Xianyun also could hardly believe it, which is why she read the letter twice.

However, Murong Ce was full of cunning schemes, and his words were always difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

"Master, Murong Ce wants you..."

Li Xianyun made a silencing gesture.

Youlan lowered her voice, "Murong Ce wants you to come back to his side, what should we do?"

Li Xianyun said, "Don’t let the Khan know about this."

If Yelu Yan knew about this kind of letter from Murong Ce, there was no telling how angry he would become, and any irrational actions at that point would not be good.

"But..."

"I will explain this matter to the Khan, but it cannot be told exactly as it is."

Upon returning to the Khan Palace, Li Xianyun ate a little, and then went to the desk in the Warm Pavilion, spreading out the rice paper and sketching draft designs for shop decorations.

Today, while she was touring the shops, she had recorded the dimensions and layout of each room in the stores.

Both shops were two-story buildings, brand new, and in very good locations.

Li Xianyun planned to set the kitchen at the very back of the ground floor of the milk tea shop, with the outer and second floors dedicated for customers to sit and chat at leisure.

The milk tea shop would also offer a small selection of pastries for sale alongside the milk tea.

In winter, they would sell piping hot milk tea, and when the weather turned hot, they could add ice porridge and sweetened drinks to the menu.