Xing kept her head down.
"If we travel by carriage, it'll take more than a month."
Su Ye gritted her teeth when she heard this. So what's the use of this key for her??
The payment is due tomorrow. Where is she supposed to find another thirty thousand gold leaves?
As she pondered, she carefully put away the key in her hand.
She clenched her fist tightly.
There was nothing for it; this was her only move left.
Su Ye spoke in a calm voice,
"Xing."
"Miss."
"That set of tables and chairs in the main hall—I heard Father spent a fortune on it, worth fifty thousand gold leaves. Find someone to sell that set for me.
Also, make sure to find a set that looks similar to replace it."
Xing hesitated.
"But what if the City Lord finds out…"
Su Ye walked along the wall, heading further inside,
"What are you afraid of? I'm the one telling you to sell it."
Xing quickly replied,
"Yes, Miss."
After agreeing, Xing hurried off to tell someone to take care of it.
Su Ye continued walking along the narrow path, left the City Lord Mansion, and soon arrived at the bank of the moat.
She rubbed her brow as she walked, unconsciously making her way to the riverbank.
The sunset, evening glow, weeping willows, and shimmering waves—just looking at this scene put her in a much better mood.
Su Ye wore a white dress embroidered with pear blossoms, her black hair wrapped up and secured with a white jade hairpin.
In the light of the setting sun by the river, Su Ye's fair skin and delicate features were set off even more brilliantly.
On the river, someone was drifting in a boat, appreciating the beautiful spring scenery.
Vaguely, the sounds of laughter and chatter drifted over from the boat.
A woman's voice rang out,
"Hey, have you all heard? They say our Young City Lord has squandered so much that she plans to empty out the City Lord Mansion."
Soon after, a man in a blue robe, jade crown on his head and strikingly handsome, stood at the prow of the boat, letting out a cold laugh,
"A spendthrift woman like that, keeps countless male lovers, paints her face like a ghost—what won't she do?"
Su Ye listened, her brows twitching slightly.
She reached up and touched her own face, just to check.
Thinking about it, her old man didn't seem the least bit surprised by how she looked these days.
Did he really not notice how much she'd changed from before?
As she pondered, another playful male voice sounded from the boat,
"Young Master Xue Liang seems to have quite the opinion of our Young City Lord."
A woman nearby laughed and interrupted,
"That's because the Young City Lord accidentally ran into Xue Liang a couple days ago and fell for him at first sight. She nearly dragged him back to the City Lord Mansion."
With that, a wave of laughter broke out.
Immediately, Xue Liang's face at the prow of the boat grew dark and stormy.
Someone quickly followed up with another joke,
"Young Master Xue, the Young City Lord might be ugly and overbearing, but she is the City Lord's precious daughter. Why not just give in?"
No sooner had the words fallen than another round of loud laughter erupted.
The people around were all close friends of Xue Liang. Noticing how angry he really was, they held back their laughter and tried to comfort him,
"Alright, alright, our dear Young Master Xue. That arrogant Su Ye is totally unworthy of you. Only that talented lady from the Imperial City is your match."
Xue Liang's brow knitted in annoyance, his handsome face brimming with disgust,
"Stop talking about that arrogant woman, such a killjoy."
As soon as he finished, his friends echoed him,
"Yes, yes, yes, we'll stop. We're out enjoying the lake today—having fun is what matters most."
She looked ahead, watching the boat canopy drifting along the sparkling water's surface.
There was a bridge over the moat, making it easy for people on both sides to cross.
Then, Su Ye's gaze suddenly became fixed, landing on the space under the bridge arch.
At the corner beneath the bridge, the sunlight couldn't reach.
But why was there still a golden glimmer shining in that spot?
Su Ye kept her eyes trained on it for a while. Suddenly, one of her eyebrows arched in surprise.