Xiao Xing lowered her head and said quietly, "It would take more than a month to travel there by carriage."
Su Ye gritted her teeth in response. What good was this key then?! She was supposed to pay up by tomorrow—where on earth would she get the remaining thirty thousand golden leaves she needed? But even though that thought crossed her mind, she kept the key tucked away securely and clenched her fists.
There was no helping it, she had to resort to 'that'.
"Xiao Xing," Su Ye said somberly.
"Milady?"
"There's a set of table and chairs in the hall—Father spent a fortune to acquire it, and it's worth fifty thousand golden leaves. Get someone to pawn it off, and then replace it with another set that looks similar."
Xiao Xing was hesitant. "Milady, if the governor finds out…"
"What are you afraid of? I'm the one who told you to pawn it off," Su Ye replied nonchalantly as she walked along.
"Yes, milady." After acknowledging her orders, Xiao Xing turned and went off to do her mistress's bidding.
Meanwhile, Su Ye headed along the narrow path, leaving the governor's manor and heading to the nearby moat. She rubbed the spot between her brows as she walked, and soon reached the moat shore. The sight of the setting sun, paired with the drooping willows and crystalline waves of the lake, eased her mood considerably.
At the moment, Su Ye was dressed in white robes embroidered with pear blossom flowers, and her black hair was held together with a white jade hair pin. The twilight sun, reflected off the shores, highlighted her feminine facial features. Suddenly, Su Ye caught sight of a boat rowing over the moat, its passengers seemingly admiring the fine sceneries of spring.
Giggles could be heard from the boat, and then a woman's voice exclaimed, "Hey, did you hear? Word is that our loser junior governor intends to spend every last penny of her family estate!"
A man, dressed in finery matching his jade headdress was standing at the bow, and he sneered in response. "That loser has countless consorts and wears so much make-up she looks like a ghost… I'm honestly not surprised at this point."
Su Ye's brow twitched at those words, and she touched her face. Come to think of it, her father wasn't surprised to see her current appearance. Did he not notice the difference?
As the thought crossed her mind, another man on the boat chuckled. "You seem to be rather prejudiced against the junior governor, Young Master Xue."
One of the ladies chuckled at that, adding teasingly, "Well, the junior governor met him by chance just two days ago and fell for him instantly—she was basically about to drag him back to her manor."
A chorus of laughter ensued, and Xue Liang scowled.
Then, someone else joked, "Young Master Xue, the junior governor may be ugly, arrogant, and overbearing, but she is still the governor's daughter… why don't you just go with the flow?"
More laughter followed.
Still, it seemed that they were all friends of Xue Liang— they stopped laughing when they noticed he was really angry. One of them reassured him, "Yes, yes, Young Master Xue, that bossy Su Ye will never deserve you… only that noble lady in the imperial city deserves you."
Even so, Xue Liang frowned, disgust written all over his handsome face. "Don't mention that woman ever again. Such a killjoy."
"Alright, alright, we'll stop," another friend agreed. "Now that we've come out to this lake, let's just let loose."
Su Ye turned towards the boat that was rowing along over the crystalline surface of the lake. There was a bridge along the moat that connected the citizens on both ends, and her gaze locked on a spot beneath it. It was a place where the sun would never reach, so why was it glimmering in golden radiance?
Su Ye stared fixedly at the spot, raising a brow.