This time, Cheng Huan did not fool around. After working at this brothel for years, he had become the best at reading the room—he knew that he would not be getting anything if he did not agree now. Hence, red-eyed and meek, he said, "I agree to your condition, milady." He was no longer acting like he could not live without Su Ye.
Seeing that he was now being serious, Su Ye asked, "Where's my jade pendant?"
Cheng Huan hesitated for a moment before saying, "You've given me many gifts, milady, I will need time to find it."
They both knew that Su Ye had offered to free Cheng Huan because of that jade pendant, so it only made sense for him to give it to her after she had freed him. There was no way that he would return it to her so easily.
Su Ye clearly got it too. Smiling at him, she asked, "How many silvers would it take to free you?"
"A thousand golden leaves," Cheng Huan answered quietly.
Su Ye ran that number in her head. One golden leaf equated to a hundred silver… Didn't that mean a thousand golden leaves would be a hundred thousand silver?
Behind Su Ye, Xiao Xing was absolutely furious. Pointing a finger at Cheng Huan, she snapped angrily, "Why don't you steal it instead?"
Cheng Huan merely kept quiet in response, saying nothing as he stared at Su Ye pleadingly. After he while, he whimpered, "Are you really going to free me, milady?"
Su Ye stood up and said, "Talk to your madam. I'll come to free you tomorrow afternoon."
With that, an agreement was made.
Before she left, Su Ye paused. "My jade pendant…"
"I'll get it for you in a day, milady."
There was no telling if he was pleased or something else, but he promptly sprang off the floor, launching himself towards Su Ye with arms wide open and eyelashes fluttering coyly. "Milady, let me serve you tonight!"
However, even before he could reach Su Ye, Xiao Xing stepped in front of her mistress with righteous indignation, blocking his way. "Serve milady? More like take advantage of her!"
The handmaiden was actually just a little younger than Su Ye. Her eyes were bright with anger, and she looked like a ruffled kitten. Xiao Xing could tell that the man was rotten, and thus took it upon herself to protect the junior governor's dignity. With those words, she pushed Cheng Huan away.
Su Ye smiled, patted her handmaiden on the head, and gently pulled her away. "Let's go, Xiao Xing."
Xiao Xing was clearly upset, feeling as if the thousand golden leaves were totally wasted. Still, she could not have a say as a handmaiden, so she was sullen and despondent all the way back to the manor.
It was already dark out when Su Ye left Winter Jasmine, and she returned to the governor's manor without delay. She strolled to the back garden to check on her vine, and stood at the pavilion to gaze upon the entire garden, which was now bathed in moonlight.
For some reason, the vine she had planted at the edge of the garden had moved to the very center of it, and all the other flowers were gone in that spot, leaving only bare ground. Also, the other flowers in the garden appeared to be wilting, as if something were sucking out their nutrients. However, her vine seemed to have thickened considerably. It was also growing vertically, albeit somewhat disjointed in certain spots, perhaps in an effort to assimilate itself with the other plants.
Su Ye looked at it in satisfaction. Planting that vine amongst the other precious flowers had been a good move. However, it was still dark out—she would have to wait until there was sunlight to really see how her vine had grown.