I Was Supposed to Be the Villainous Consort

Chapter 24: Chapter 24: She Was in Desperate Need of Money

"Wait!"

"Hold on!"

Song Yunzhao watched the Helan siblings stop her in unison and felt a small sense of relief. ’The barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes, but if I can wear shoes, I’d rather not go barefoot.’

Although her father’s official position wasn’t high, her ancestors had a modest reputation. The Xie family, however, was a different story. The Prince Zhenbei Mansion wouldn’t openly suppress the Song Family, but they would definitely make trouble for the Xie family.

She couldn’t let the Xie family get dragged into this because of her. The only way was to force the Helan siblings to back down.

How could she force them?

’By exploiting their mentality, of course—like a child who misbehaves and is afraid of their teacher calling their parents.’ The Prince Zhenbei Mansion had a formidable reputation, but provoking both the Qin Family and the Ji Family at once was no small matter, especially over a sordid private affair like this. freёweɓnovel.com

Only then did Helan Yue truly look at Song Yunzhao. Suppressing his anger, he said, "Miss, reporting this to the authorities is a bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?"

"First you call me a village girl, then you threaten to tie me up. We common folk are terrified. Only the government can make us feel safe."

Hiding in the shadows, Mr. Zhe Shan’s lips twitched. ’Now *this* is what you call a mouth full of lies. I’m truly impressed.’

He Lan Yun was forcefully pulled behind her brother and told not to speak, but upon hearing this, she couldn’t help but peek out and snap, "If you hadn’t stuck your nose in other people’s business, who would want to give you trouble?"

"Did I make a teacup fly out of nowhere and nearly ruin my face? Did I make Miss Qin nearly crash into me? Your brain is for thinking, not for you to shake around and listen to the sound of crashing waves."

"What does that mean?" He Lan Yun didn’t understand and looked at her brother suspiciously.

Helan Yue’s face darkened, but he said nothing.

’Isn’t this just a way of saying his sister’s head is full of water?’

Not wanting his sister to embarrass herself further, Helan Yue looked at Ji Yunting and Qin Xiyue and said, "Let’s drop the matter here for today. My younger sister acted improperly. I apologize on her behalf."

Ji Yunting just smiled and said nothing.

Qin Xiyue remained silent, her expression cold.

Helan Yue dismissed his guards and forcibly dragged He Lan Yun away.

He Lan Yun refused to go. "Brother, what are you doing? This isn’t over!" she raged.

"Shut up!"

Song Yunzhao appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly she thought, ’If the Helan siblings had insisted on fighting this out, I would have been in a real bind. This outcome is perfect.’

’Power is a wonderful thing. Too bad I don’t have any. All I can do is put on a brave face to bluff people while I’m scared witless inside.’

’How dull.’

Xie Jinshu’s back was covered in a cold sweat. Watching Song Yunzhao scare away the Helan siblings, he finally felt his legs go a little weak. Desperate to leave this troublesome place, he said, "Miss Song, we should go too."

Song Yunzhao nodded. It was indeed time to leave.

She had only taken a single step when Qin Xiyue called out to her.

"Miss, please wait."

Song Yunzhao grabbed Xie Linlang with one hand and waved goodbye to Qin Xiyue with the other, fleeing in disarray as if chased by a vicious dog.

’Are you kidding me? Wasn’t today’s unexpected disaster caused by the female lead’s halo?’

’According to the universal law that anyone can get hurt except the female lead, I have no desire to be the unlucky cannon fodder by her side.’

’She had only teamed up with the female lead a moment ago because they shared a common enemy.’

Outside the Three Yuan Building, Song Yunzhao let out a long sigh of relief and thanked Xie Jinshu. "Thank you for speaking up for justice today, Second Young Master Xie."

Hearing this, Xie Jinshu immediately felt a little ashamed. "You’re too kind, Miss Song. Unfortunately, my words carry little weight, so I wasn’t much help."

Song Yunzhao smiled and shook her head. "You shouldn’t say that. Your display of integrity today was admirable, Second Young Master."

’Not everyone can stand tall in the face of powerful officials and nobles.’

Xie Linlang, having finally caught her breath, spoke up. "That scared me to death! How can people be so unreasonable and domineering?"

Song Yunzhao smiled. "It takes all sorts to make a world."

At this point, she looked at Xie Linlang and belatedly realized something. In the book, Xie Linlang became Ji Yunting’s concubine, but today, she didn’t seem to react to him at all.

Ji Yunting’s handsome face was exactly Xie Linlang’s favorite type.

’That shouldn’t be right.’

"Linlang, what do you think of Young Master Ji?" Song Yunzhao found it strange and decided to probe.

Xie Linlang thought for a moment before remembering who Young Master Ji was. Her expression immediately became hard to describe as she spoke her mind to Song Yunzhao. "Princess Ming’an is interested in him, and I can see that Miss Qin feels something for him too. Did you see his attitude today, acting like it had nothing to do with him? He’s not that great."

Song Yunzhao was silent for a moment. ’Well, that’s it. The fan goggles are shattered.’

The book had stated that Xie Linlang insisted on entering the Prime Minister’s Mansion to become Ji Yunting’s concubine partly to marry into a powerful family and support her own. But of all the powerful families, she chose Ji Yunting because she was captivated by his charm.

Xie Jinshu nodded in agreement. "Linlang is right. If Young Master Ji had made his stance clear and explained things, none of this would have happened. Behaving like that is unbecoming of a gentleman."

The renowned scholar from the book had now been labeled a petty man by the Xie siblings.

’How intriguing.’

"Let’s not talk about it, it’s such a downer. I wanted to take you out to have fun today, but we ended up running into such bad luck." Xie Linlang looked a little embarrassed. "Yun Zhao, let’s go check out the jewelry shop up ahead. I’ll buy you whatever you like as an apology."

"That’s not necessary." Song Yunzhao shook her head, refusing. ’A gentleman loves wealth, but he obtains it through righteous means. While I’m no gentleman, I don’t want to take advantage of others for no reason.’

"Why are you being so polite with me?"

"I’m not being polite, I really don’t need anything."

"Alright then." Xie Linlang knew Song Yunzhao’s personality, so she didn’t insist.

Xie Jinshu, who had been listening from the side, spoke up. "How about we go to a teahouse for some tea? There’s a female storyteller over there who’s quite famous in the Capital City."

Hearing the word "storytelling," Song Yunzhao recalled that the book had barely mentioned the livelihoods of common people. It revolved entirely around the female lead, so she wasn’t very clear about the world outside of the protagonist’s sphere.

"Second Young Master, is storytelling very popular in the Capital City?" Song Yunzhao asked, feigning curiosity. "It wasn’t very big in Nanyu."

Xie Jinshu explained, "It’s only become popular in the last two years. It started with a failed scholar who was excellent at writing. The storybooks he wrote were so captivating and brilliant that storytelling became all the rage in the Capital City."

Song Yunzhao understood. She looked at Xie Jinshu and asked, "I heard from Linlang that the Xie family also owns teahouses and restaurants. Why not hire someone to write storybooks for you?"

Xie Jinshu gave a bitter smile. "Miss Song, not every Scholar can write a storybook that people will rave about."

Song Yunzhao got it. It was just like in her past life, where hundreds of movies and TV shows were produced every year, but not all of them could become phenomenal blockbusters.

’Phenomenal blockbusters are money-making machines.’

Song Yunzhao’s hands started to itch. She was really, really short on cash.

If she had money, she wouldn’t have refused Xie Linlang’s invitation to look at jewelry today.

’To be able to buy whatever you want, whenever you want... that’s every woman’s dream.’

She decided that her first pot of gold in this life would come from writing storybooks.

’The starting point might be low, but her dreams were high.’