I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

As dusk fell, the setting sun cast its orange-red glow upon the silvery-white snow, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

Xiao Xue'er then led her maids back.

"Your Highness, what exactly do you mean by the surname Pei?"

The maid following behind Xiao Xue'er couldn't help but ask.

Although Xiao Xue'er repeatedly instructed them to address her as Miss Xiao.

However, the maids had been serving Xiao Xue'er for more than just a day or two, and had already developed feelings for her.

In their eyes, Xiao Xue'er was the Crown Princess and should be addressed as Your Highness.

Xiao Xue'er gently shook her head, saying she didn't know.

Today, Pei Qingluan and she hit it off immediately, even calling each other sisters.

He left her in the yard all day and gave her many nice things.

But neither the maids nor Xiao Xue'er knew what Pei Qingluan was up to.

As the saying goes, "Those who offer unsolicited kindness are either up to no good or are thieves."

Pei Qingluan deliberately cultivated a good relationship with her; she must have some ulterior motive.

"Your Highness, what should we do next?"

The maid asked again.

Xiao Xue'er subconsciously narrowed her eyes and said, "What else can we do? Of course, we'll deal with whatever comes our way."

"She's just a girl from a prominent family in Jiangnan. No matter how powerful a family is, can it be as powerful as my father? He might even be able to use her to gain a foothold in the Crown Prince's residence."

As she was saying this, Xiao Xue'er and her maids happened to pass by the library, where candlelight was faintly lit on one of the floors.

Xiao Xue'er stopped and asked, "Has Bai Zhenzhen stayed in the library all day and not come out?"

The maid replied, "Yes."

Nodding, Xiao Xue'er prepared to return, as it was already getting late.

But after taking only two steps, she suddenly remembered something, a slight smile appeared on her lips, and she stopped.

The maids, puzzled, tentatively asked, "Your Highness?"

Xiao Xue'er didn't speak, but just looked at the library.

Since you've decided to use Pei Qingluan to gain a foothold in the Crown Prince's residence, why not also make use of Bai Zhenzhen?

Bai Zhenzhen is definitely easier to fool than Pei Qingluan.

With that in mind, Xiao Xue'er changed direction and headed straight for the library.

However, before she could even step onto the frozen lake boardwalk, the maids reached out to stop her, kindly advising her:

"Your Highness, His Highness has decreed that no one may enter the library without his permission."

Xiao Xue'er was already disliked by Qin Li. If Qin Li found out that Xiao Xue'er had entered the library without permission, he would definitely punish her severely. They were doing this for Xiao Xue'er's own good.

That being said, let alone entering the library without permission, Xiao Xue'er couldn't even get past the guards at the library's entrance.

Ignoring all advice, Xiaoxue'er made her way to the entrance of the library via a winding, unpaved path, where she was indeed stopped by the guards.

Looking at the towering library before her, Xiao Xue'er simply raised her face and called out loudly, "Miss Bai, please come out and meet me!"

There was no sound from upstairs, as if they hadn't heard anything.

At Xiao Xue'er's signal, several maids shouted in unison:

"Miss Bai, please come out and meet us!"

The loud noise caused a commotion upstairs.

With a creak, a window on the third floor was pushed open, revealing Bai Zhenzhen's pretty face.

Bai Zhenzhen looked down at him, her brow furrowed in confusion: "Who are you?"

Unlike Pei Qingluan, who had a thorough understanding of the interpersonal relationships within the Crown Prince's residence, Bai Zhenzhen knew very little about it.

She didn't want to get involved in complicated interpersonal relationships; she just wanted to stay in the library to cultivate her skills and increase her cultivation level.

Xiao Xue'er smiled and said, "My name is Xiao Xue'er, daughter of the Prime Minister and His Highness's fiancée. I have long admired Miss Bai's name and have come to pay my respects..."

……

The first day working at the rice shop wasn't easy. Perhaps Qin Li hadn't fully adjusted to his current identity yet, so much so that when the rice shop manager put his hands in his sleeves and directed them to work, Qin Li wanted to twist his head off countless times.

It's no wonder that merchants have the lowest social status in this era; it's just that the behavior of some merchants is simply unbearable.

Take the manager of this rice shop, for example. He was extremely stingy and had a mean and sarcastic look on his face. During the day, the group of them dared not relax for a moment, otherwise the manager's curses would come from behind them and he would scold them mercilessly.

However, Qin Li still admired the rice shop manager quite a bit, because when he cursed, he almost never repeated a single word. Without decades of cursing skills, one certainly couldn't do that.

He merely inquired about the injuries on Cao Quan and Chen Wangju's faces without offering any comment, as long as it didn't interfere with their daily work.

I worked during the day and studied late into the night; this went on for several days.

It wasn't until the sixth day that the situation changed slightly.

On this day, the rice shop manager stopped scolding them so harshly.

At lunchtime, they were given an extra half pancake each.

The group had worked all morning and were exhausted and hungry.

While wolfing down his food, the rice shopkeeper leaned his plump body against the rice bag, his hands still unwilling to come out of his warm sleeves.

He looked at the group and said, "I don't know what kind of luck you guys had this time."

While eating, Cao Quan asked, puzzled, "Manager, what's the explanation?"

Among them, Cao Quan had the best relationship with the shopkeeper because he was good at sweet-talking and getting along with people. The shopkeeper rarely scolded him.

The shopkeeper, feigning mystery, said with a smile, "Among you, it seems one of you will become the top scholar."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shoutian looked excitedly at his younger brother, Chen Wangju.

With Chen Wangju's knowledge and intelligence, he would definitely have been the top scholar.

So much so that Chen Shoutian gave the extra half of the pancake to Chen Wangju.

Let him eat his fill, he doesn't care what happens to him.

Cao Quan glanced at the two brothers with disdain, then looked at the shopkeeper again and said:

"Shopkeeper, please stop keeping us in suspense. If any of us manage to produce a top scholar, it will all be thanks to your kindness in taking us in."

"If it weren't for your shelter, we outsiders would have frozen to death in the capital this winter, let alone become top scholars!"

Cao Quan is indeed a gifted speaker; his words made the rice shopkeeper burst into laughter, his face crinkling with mirth.

Only then did he reluctantly take his hand out of his warm sleeve, pointing at Cao Quan and saying:

"You little rascal, if you weren't an outsider, not a local of Beijing, I would have wanted to take you as my godson."

"Godfather!"

Cao Quan approached with a fawning expression and said, "Whether I'm from the capital or not is up to you to decide. Don't you agree?"

The shopkeeper was taken aback for a moment, then laughed even harder, his belly fat jiggling with each laugh.

He reached out and patted Cao Quan on the shoulder, and in front of the group and the other workers in the rice shop, he said:

"Listen up, all of you! From this day forward, Cao Quan is my godson!"

"Thank you, godfather!"

Cao Quan became even more obsequious and stepped forward, coming up behind the shopkeeper and gently massaging his shoulders.

This behavior naturally drew the ire of many.

The Chen brothers looked at him with disgust and contempt, while the other workers were filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

Cao Quan, a newcomer from out of town, actually became the shopkeeper's godson:

Having worked in the rice trade for so many years, how come they've never encountered such good fortune?

"Godfather, just tell me already, what did you mean by what you just said?" Cao Quan asked, not forgetting the important matter.

The shopkeeper said, "You really want to know?"

Cao Quan nodded.

"Put your ear closer, your godfather will only tell you this."

"Okay, thank you, godfather."

Cao Quan quickly leaned in to listen, and as the shopkeeper continued his story, the expression on his face became increasingly interesting…