Chapter 291
Chapter 291
For some reason, Li Zhiwei felt that Cheng Qingli's gaze harbored some ill intent.
Thinking of Xu Qingshi's wariness towards her, Li Zhiwei felt...
Li Zhiwei felt that their relationship wasn't close enough for them to go out and play together.
Furthermore, the person she wanted to partner with for business was recommended by Xu Heming.
Regardless of whether this person was reliable or not, she felt she should at least go through the motions with her.
Thinking of this, Li Zhiwei coughed lightly, then looked at Cheng Qingli and said, "Miss Cheng, I actually came looking for you today because of a certain matter."
After speaking, Li Zhiwei stared at Cheng Qingli.
Was Cheng Qingli beautiful?
Without a doubt, she was. Cheng Qingli bore some resemblance to the Empress. If the Empress wasn't beautiful, she wouldn't have been chosen to enter the palace as Empress.
However, Cheng Qingli lacked the Empress's dignified and grand aura; her personality was much more erratic.
She just couldn't understand how the Empress, such a dignified noble lady, could have a sister like Cheng Qingli who acted like a tomboy.
Today, if she hadn't observed closely, she might have actually thought Cheng Qingli was a man.
"What is it?" Cheng Qingli looked at Li Zhiwei with a vigilant expression, a bad premonition rising in her heart.
She knew that her family had recently been wanting to arrange marriage prospects for her.
But she didn't care for a single one of those noble scions in the capital.
She didn't understand why her parents were so insistent on her getting married.
Marrying one of those noble scions meant that from then on, she would be confined to the rear courtyard to serve her husband and raise children.
That was something she was unwilling to do.
However, she hadn't expected her family to actually persuade Prince An to act as a lobbyist.
What surprised her even more was that Prince An actually sent his fiancée to persuade her?
Could it be that they wanted to use an unfamiliar face to lower her guard?
Thinking of this, Cheng Qingli felt she had guessed their motive.
But, to have Xu Heming come?
Who was that man?
They couldn't possibly want her to marry Xu Heming too, could they?
Thinking of this, Cheng Qingli looked at Li Zhiwei again.
She was coming to persuade her on behalf of her husband?
"You're not here to persuade me to become Prince An's secondary consort, are you?" Cheng Qingli asked, looking at Li Zhiwei in surprise.
She thought to herself, does this merchant's daughter have no mind of her own?
She hadn't even married into the family yet, and she was already coming to persuade another woman to marry her future husband?
Moreover, her own status was much higher. If she really married into Prince An's mansion, she could only be the official wife, while Li Zhiwei would be destined to be the secondary consort.
"You want to marry Prince An?"
Li Zhiwei looked at Cheng Qingli in surprise, wondering if Xu Qingshi's words were true.
Xu Heming treated her differently; did he want to marry her into Prince An's mansion?
If that was the case, why was he putting on an act with her?
Whether in terms of family background, talent, or appearance, she was definitely far inferior to this Second Miss Cheng.
After all, the education they received was completely different.
She felt she had no right to compare herself to Second Miss Cheng.
She also wouldn't dare say she could make Second Miss Cheng subordinate to her.
Otherwise, the trouble the Empress would cause her father would be more than enough for him to bear.
If Second Miss Cheng really wanted to marry Prince An, she would naturally step aside for her.
"Who wants to marry that giant block of ice? Only a fool would want to marry him." Cheng Qingli said without thinking. After speaking, she looked at Li Zhiwei somewhat embarrassedly and added, "I'm not talking about you, though."
Cheng Qingli thought to herself, oops, isn't the fool standing right in front of me?
It was true she was familiar with Prince An, but wasn't that because that bastard was good friends with Prince An?
Thinking of that person, Cheng Qingli felt annoyed again; he hadn't even said he wanted to marry her.
Wait, that made it sound like she really wanted to marry him.
Li Zhiwei watched Cheng Qingli frown one moment and look joyful the next, wondering who this Second Miss Cheng was thinking about.
However, if the other party didn't want to say, it wasn't her place to ask.
Remembering her purpose for coming, Li Zhiwei cleared her throat and said, "I want to start a business in the capital. His Highness said that if I wanted to find someone to manage it with, you would be the best candidate."
Li Zhiwei also knew that arguing with Cheng Qingli about who would marry Xu Heming was pointless.
It was better to clearly explain her purpose for coming.
However, right now, aside from thinking that the management style of Qingyu Pavilion was quite good, she hadn't seen any particular business acumen in Second Miss Cheng. Li Zhiwei believed that compared to that, Cheng Qingli's status was much more useful.
"You want to do business in the capital?" Cheng Qingli hadn't expected Li Zhiwei to seek her out for this.
You must know, regarding her running Qingyu Pavilion, many noble young ladies felt she was just playing around and losing her ambition.
None of them looked favorably upon what she was doing.
Today, someone actually wanted to partner with her?
This was quite rare.
"Miss Cheng has probably heard about my situation. I was originally supposed to marry into the Ruan Marquis mansion, but through a series of mishaps, I was saved by the heir." When Li Zhiwei said this, she gave a self-deprecating smile, then added, "My father is a merchant by trade. Whether I do business or not, they will all feel that I reek of copper coins. Instead of that, I might as well earn their silver and let them laugh at me."
Thinking of this, Li Zhiwei pondered. Chang Wenyin looked down on her, but in this capital, there was definitely more than just her who looked down on her.
In her previous life, the people of the Ruan Marquis mansion had looked down on her, feeling that a merchant's daughter like her was unworthy of the Lin family's status. Yet, they had used the belongings of this very merchant's daughter to climb the ladder of success step by step.
Reborn into this life, she not only wanted to protect her parents and keep them safe.
She also wanted to show those who looked down on her that the very person they despised would stand at a peak they could never compare to.
"Well said!" Hearing this, Cheng Qingli's eyes sparkled. At the time, she had been angry for two days because people said they looked down on her Qingyu Pavilion.
Thinking about it now, she had been angry for nothing.
Now, she would earn all their silver. Even if they wanted to come to her Qingyu Pavilion, it would depend on her mood.
"Can you tell me how you plan to earn all their silver?" Cheng Qingli grew interested. After all, she also desired such a grand goal.
"Naturally." Seeing Cheng Qingli's interest piqued, Li Zhiwei didn't mind sharing her thoughts.
"What do you think the women of the capital care about the most?" Li Zhiwei asked.
"They are incredibly tacky. They compare family backgrounds and husbands' families." Thinking of those women in the capital, Cheng Qingli lost much of her enthusiasm.
"Family backgrounds and husbands' families are not things I can change just because I want to. However, for a woman, appearance is thirty percent natural looks and seventy percent dressing up. If she isn't dressed well, no matter how beautiful her face is, if paired with unsuitable clothes and jewelry, would you still think that girl is beautiful when you look at her?" Li Zhiwei said with a smile, looking at Cheng Qingli.