Is Miss Xie that easy to deal with?

After seeing off Xie Wan, the shopkeeper hurriedly went to Prince Ning Residence. Li Yu was still in his study, reading the memorials, with only a little servant boy serving him.

When the eunuch in the outer room reported the arrival of the shopkeeper, Littel Quan was surprised. “The shopkeeper has been quite diligent these past few days.”

Li Yu paused his pen in his hand and asked, “Did he come at the same time yesterday?”

Little Quan glanced at the hourglass in the room and nodded. “Yes, exactly. Neither early nor late, as if he timed it.”

Li Yu furrowed his brow at the remark and fell into silence for a moment. Then he instructed the eunuch who had brought the news, “Let him in.”

The shopkeeper entered the study, bowed, and reluctantly spoke of his purpose, “That lady said that the silk handkerchief, which was wrapped around the broken jade, is one of her mother’s few belongings, so...”

Under Li Yu’s increasingly cold gaze, the shopkeeper managed to finish his words with difficulty, “That lady wants to reclaim the silk handkerchief.”

As soon as the words came out, the temperature in the study dropped abruptly. Little Quan stood there wide-eyed, afraid to even breathe.

The silk handkerchief...

Yesterday, the master had instructed him to wash the inkstone with the handkerchief. After he had finished, he asked Li Yu for instructions on what to do with the handkerchief. The master told him to handle it.

Little Quan considered himself someone who understood his master’s intentions. The handkerchief couldn’t be thrown away because if the master wanted to discard it or destroy it, he would have given the order. Since he didn’t give any instructions, it meant he wanted to keep it.

So, the only two options in front of him were to wash the handkerchief and keep it properly or to leave it untouched as it was.

After thinking it over, Littel Quan had already been looked down upon by his master several times in recent days. He couldn’t afford to be looked down upon by his own master anymore.

Adhering to the principle of “more action, more mistakes; no action, no mistakes,” Littel Quan finally decided to keep the handkerchief as it was.

But now, looking at his master’s expression, Littel Quan had a vague sense of unease. It seemed that he was about to be looked down upon by his master again.

Li Yu furrowed his brow deeply and turned his gaze to Littel Quan.

Little Quan immediately trembled all over and hurriedly said, “Master, the handkerchief is still here, but...”

Li Yu’s voice was cold as ice. “But what?”

Little Quan forced himself to continue, “But... the handkerchief is still the same as it was after washing the inkstone yesterday. And, it seems that it’s not really a valuable item.”

Li Yu glanced at him upon hearing this, his gaze too complex and sharp. Little Quan indicated that he didn’t understand.

Li Yu withdrew his gaze, spoke in a cold tone, and commanded, “Bring it here!”

“Yes!”

Little Quan hastily brought the silk handkerchief and placed it tremblingly on the desk.

After a night, the handkerchief had already dried, but due to being soaked in ink for the whole night, it had turned from white to black. It was clear just from looking at it that it was beyond saving.

Although the handkerchief had turned black, the embroidered character “Wan” in the corner of the handkerchief was still visible.

Li Yu gazed at that “Wan” character, and his expression was unclear.

Little Quan suddenly understood.

Master, you’ve been caught in Miss Xie’s trap again, making it difficult to extricate yourself from the situation!

Why use the word “again”?

After all, the scene of the Master coldly removing the jade pendant from himself after hearing that she held the evidence was still fresh in his mind.

This handkerchief, even if Miss Xie claims it to be an heirloom, whether it is or not is beside the point. It was somewhat childish of Master to take out his anger on the handkerchief. The blackened handkerchief is already beyond restoration. If it is returned like this, wouldn’t it be equivalent to telling Miss Xie what foolish things Master has done?

Your lifetime of fame and your image of wisdom and martial prowess would be completely ruined!

Little Quan didn’t dare to imagine that scene.

Li Yu withdrew his gaze from the handkerchief and looked at Littel Quan with a gaze that resembled someone looking at a fool. “You’ve done a lousy job.”

Little Quan: ...

Could he really be blamed for this?

Well, blame him then!

Little Quan faithfully said, “Master, why don’t we find an embroiderer and quickly embroider a new handkerchief? This is just a plain handkerchief, and it can be done in no time.”

Li Yu’s gaze at him now looked even more like he was looking at a fool.

The shopkeeper couldn’t bear to watch anymore and hurriedly said, “This might not be appropriate. There are no walls without ears in this world. If others come to know of this, they will surely speculate recklessly. If they think that the master took a woman’s handkerchief and is unwilling to return it, but instead finds someone else to make a replacement, how will that be good?!”

Little Quan: ...

He thought for a moment and then said, “Then... how about we just say that it was a plain handkerchief that we thought was unimportant and we casually lost it?”

This time, Li Yu didn’t even bother to look at him. He closed his eyes directly from leaning against the back of the chair.

The shopkeeper looked at his expression and explained in a low voice, “That lady has already claimed it to be her mother’s heirloom. If we say we lost it, she will ask where it was lost and by whom. How can we answer that? Even a dull person would know where the handkerchief was lost since that lady took the second jade pendant given by the master.”

Moreover, that lady clearly wasn’t dull at all.

Not only was she not dull, but she also had a clever and discerning heart.

Little Quan: ...

In fact, he thought it was pretty good.

Master obviously treated Miss Xie differently. Miss Xie used the obviously non-heirloom handkerchief as an excuse to entangle herself, and her intentions were clear. It would be better to just say it was lost; that way Miss Xie would have an excuse to come and see Master!

“Revealing her ambitious nature.” Li Yu’s clear voice echoed in the study, and Littel Quan glanced at him without saying a word.

Master’s attitude made it seem like he was dealing with a delicate young lady.

But Miss Xie wasn’t easy!

Of course, Littel Quan could only think this in his heart. He sincerely asked, “So, Master, how should we handle this matter?”

Li Yu took off the jade bead bracelet from his wrist and played with it in his hand.

The room fell silent, and neither Littel Quan nor the shopkeeper dared to speak, only the sound of the jade beads clinking echoed in the study.

After a while, the sound of the jade beads stopped, and Li Yu opened his eyes and looked at the shopkeeper. “You tell her directly that the handkerchief has been destroyed by my order. In my residence, we never keep belongings of irrelevant people.”

Upon hearing this, Littel Quan and the shopkeeper felt a chill in their hearts.

Li Yu continued, “If she continues to pester, you can randomly pick an item from Linlang Pavilion as compensation and send her away.”

Upon hearing this, Littel Quan and the shopkeeper felt another chill in their hearts.

The shopkeeper glanced at the blackened handkerchief on the table, lowered his gaze, and bowed, “Yes.”

The shopkeeper left with half a chilled heart, and Littel Quan looked at the blackened handkerchief on the table, wanting to speak but hesitated.

Li Yu coldly said, “Speak!”

Little Quan cautiously glanced at him and gathered his courage. “Actually, I think Miss Xie is pretty good.”

Li Yu snorted lightly, “Presumptuous and overstepping boundaries. What is good about that?”