Many years ago, it was easy to force Cao Fenfang to do something no matter if she liked it or not. However, the times were now changing. She was someone who had gone through life and death, no longer willing to allow herself to be controlled unless she was willing to be controlled.
Thus, Auntie Zheng was forced to lead Cao Fenfang to the hall to wait for Gong Zhengsheng. Whilst walking, she felt incredibly humiliated as she saw that the Cao Fenfang did not change her clothes into something different at all. There was not a single lady in the world she knew that would be willing to wear the same dress for two days straight and even sleep in it.
Of course, Auntie Zheng forgot to take into account that they did not really supply Cao Fenfang with any other clothes. However, even if they did, she would probably not wear them because she was already in love with her beautiful silk white dress with its matching veils. Besides, it was not like she even managed to take a bath before heading to sleep or before being forced to wake up by Auntie Zheng.
After being forced to wait in the hall for a while, Master Qian also followed after with another person behind him. The man behind Master Qian was dressed luxuriously, but his gait that he carried did not show a person of nobility in the least - not even someone who carried weight in the world, at least figuratively.
"Master Gong, this is my daughter, Qian Huiqing," Master Qian introduced while gesturing to Cao Fenfang.
Following the hand, Gong Zhengsheng asked, "Master Qian, as your daughter's future husband, do I not have the right to see her appearance?"
"Qing'er," Master Qian called out with a tone that showed he did not want refusal.
In response to the two men, Cao Fenfang simply gave a scoff and then turned to Xiao Xiulan to say, "Opinion."
Already used to her lady, Xiao Xiulan stated in a not too loud nor too quiet voice, "Master Gong is unfitting for Miss. Miss is beautiful to the heavens, but Master Gong meets not even a quarter of her beauty. Master Gong is overestimating himself, wanting to marry Miss."
Opinion? It was more like the words that Cao Fenfang wanted to say but was just too lazy to say.
Hearing those words, Gong Zhengsheng gave a scary laugh, "Master Qian, is this how you educate your maids and your daughter?"
"Someone! Come punish this maid!" Master Qian ordered in a loud voice, wanting to show face for Gong Zhengsheng. "Qing'er! Don't be disrespectful to your future husband."
Once again, Cao Fenfang simply gave a scoff. At the same time, the elder maidservants belonging to the mansion began to attack Xiao Xiulan to punish like ordered and another group also tried to take down the veils that were being worn.
"Miss," Xiao Xiulan immediately called out in a calm voice to ask what she should do.
"Leave," Cao Fenfang gave a simple response and then stood up.
The moment that she stood up, all the people in the room stopped. This was not because they wanted to stop, but for some reason, there just seemed to be a force that would not allow them to move.
Just about to exit the hall, Cao Fenfang stated in a cold voice, "Did I ever agree to the marriage?"
When she asked that in a factual tone, Master Qian almost fainted. He seemed to remember that since she came to the mansion, not once did she tell him at all that she agreed to the marriage. However, he simply assumed that he had the right to control her marriage because she was his daughter and due to the fact that she did not refuse in the least.
Well, even if she did refuse, he would definitely not care and still continue the marriage. However, now, he faced a lot of humiliation - especially with Gong Zhengsheng standing next to him and the betrothal gifts already accepted.
After Cao Fenfang left, the hall was in chaos. This was especially so for the raging and fuming Master Gong that thought he would finally be able to marry a wife from a reputable noble family. Master Qian thought that this would be a good trade: letting them give the Qian family wealth while he gave them the reputation of a noble.
While all the chaos was happening, Cao Fenfang was already in the carriage with Xiao Xiulan sitting outside next to Cui Xing and Wei Cuifen sitting in the carriage with her.
"Miss, I thought that you'd marry that dirty old man," Wei Cuifen said with a sigh of relief.
"Change," Cao Fenfang responded, not elaborating on her answer.
However, to the three people currently with her, they knew what she was trying to say. Cao Fenfang was originally not too against the idea of marrying for the sake of playing around, but when she saw the appearance of Gong Zhengsheng… He grossed her out too much, so she took back her words.
Indeed, even Cao Fenfang was too high on appearance when it came to her standards, she still at least hoped that the opposite person can carry himself in a neat and good way. Sadly, Gong Zhengsheng seemed to be from a pig house although he dressed very fancily.
"House?" Cao Fenfang asked Cui Xing who was outside steering the horses.
"The manor is ready to move in. All of the businesses in the capital will also be in our control soon," Cui Xing stated in a voice that others could not hear, but everyone on the carriage could. "However, there are a few places that have rejected our partnership."
"Which?" Cao Fenfang asked in a calm voice.
"Mainly businesses belonging to Ninth Prince and other bigger people such as Gong Zhengsheng," Cui Xing answered, still steering the carriage to head towards the manor.
"Ninth Prince?" Cao Fenfang raised a brow.
"Ninth Prince has accepted a few of our proposals, but they are only for businesses that he did not directly establish. The businesses such as the inns, pawnshops, and restaurants," Cui Xing explained.
"A smart man knows not to accept without proof," Cao Fenfang said and then abruptly shut her eyes.
Although her veil was still on, Xiao Xiulan still knew that Cao Fenfang was taking a nap as her body changed into a position where she was leaning against the wooden beam of the window - holding the curtain to not allow any light into the carriage.
When Cao Fenfang opened her eyes again, the sky had already darkened and the carriage was no longer moving. Instead, it was at a dead stop in front of a manor with a giant fancy sign that read, 'Windfall Manor.'
Even though the carriage had long stopped in front of manor even before the sun began to set, nobody disturbed Cao Fenfang by waking her up as everyone knew that she would be in a bad mood the entire day if she was woken up unnaturally. Thus, they simply guarded the carriage while she continued sleeping even though she had already gotten more than twelve hours of sleep at this point in the day.
Due to this repeated occurrence, Cao Fenfang was used to waking up during nighttime and getting out of her carriages - then walking straight towards home.
Once inside the manor, Cao Fenfang was greeted by a long line of servants with males and females separated on different sides. All of the servants looked normal, but in fact, all of them were trained assassins and fighters with histories.
"Miss," all of the servants greeted and bowed respectfully.
"Mm," to show her respect, Cao Fenfang responded with a single sound - allowing everyone to raise from their bowed stance.
Then, Cao Fenfang called out, "Housekeeper?"
"Right here," an elderly man stood out from the male side. "Feng Xueqin, Miss."
Feng Xueqin knew very well the personality of Cao Fenfang, so he did his best to keep everything short and simple.
"Uncle Feng," Cao Fenfang greeted before looking at the rest of the servants and saying, "Dismissed."
Then, she turned to Uncle Feng and asked, "Study?"
Thus, Uncle Feng led her to the master study that was next to the master hall belonging to Cao Fenfang.
When they entered the study room, Cao Fenfang asked, "News?"
"The moment the manor was established, the emperor sent a messenger to invite Miss to the palace for the Ninth Prince's birthday," Uncle Feng reported and also handed the invitation that he had set on the study table a few days earlier.
"Present?" Cao Fenfang asked.
"This servant is stupid and does not know what would be suitable for His Highness. However, this servant has ordered everyone to place all items that could be potential gifts in the main hall for Miss to decide," Uncle Feng answered respectfully.
"Alright," Cao Fenfang then collected the invitation into her sleeve and walked out of the study, letting Uncle Feng guide her to the main hall.