The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming-Chapter 134: Asking for Whom?

The first rays of the morning sun finally spilled down, landing on Ye Chutang’s face and highlighting her serene, composed expression.

She sat with her back ramrod straight, her eyes lowered to the book in her hands. She was like a simple, elegant fine-brush painting.

Ye Yunfeng came to her side and asked curiously, "Sis, you’ve been looking at this book for a while. Have you figured anything out?"

Ye Chutang didn’t answer right away. Her slender, pale fingertips pressed against one of the pages, rubbing it gently.

Then, she raised the book, turning it to that page and holding it up to the sunlight.

Compared to the one she’d bought from the bookshop, the one she now held was very different.

The most obvious difference was the paper. It wasn’t light or thin, and the corners seemed uneven, making the entire book feel much cruder.

’Ye Heng is obsessed with keeping up appearances. Why would he read such a crudely printed book?’

Ye Chutang fell silent for a moment, rubbing her fingertips together.

A layer of paper, as thin as a cicada’s wing, curled up slightly at the corner.

"This book has two layers!?" Ye Yunfeng saw it clearly from the side, a shocked expression on his face.

Ye Chutang tried to peel it further, but the page was sealed too tightly. She only managed to reveal about a fifth of the hidden page; the rest wouldn’t come apart. After two attempts, she gave up.

’This book was hard to come by. I have to keep it in perfect condition.’

Likely woken by Ye Yunfeng’s shout, Xiao Wu, who was lying on the bed, groggily opened her eyes. She instinctively searched for Ye Chutang.

Ye Chutang shot Ye Yunfeng a look.

Ye Yunfeng laughed sheepishly. "My fault! I got too excited and forgot Xiao Wu was here."

Ye Jingyan rose, scooped Xiao Wu into his arms, and looked over as well. "Sis," he asked directly, "could you make out what was written inside?"

"Only a few words. I can’t be sure yet."

Ye Chutang gently patted Xiao Wu’s cheek. Xiao Wu happened to glance at the book in her hands and froze. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Noticing the child’s expression, Ye Chutang’s brow twitched. "What is it, Xiao Wu? What are you looking at?"

Xiao Wu tilted her head, raised her small hand, and made a few gestures at Ye Chutang.

Ye Chutang had a faint inkling of what she meant.

Ye Yunfeng was completely baffled. "What is Xiao Wu trying to say?" he couldn’t help but ask.

Xiao Wu scrambled out of Ye Jingyan’s arms, her little legs going PITTER-PATTER.

A moment later, she pulled a book from the cabinet beside the bed.

Or more precisely, an account ledger.

Ye Jingyan paused, stunned. He looked at Ye Chutang. "Sis, aren’t these the ones you had me transcribe—"

Ye Chutang gave a slight nod.

Xiao Wu had already run back. She lifted her face and held the ledger high in the air.

Ye Chutang recognized it at once. "This is the ledger from one of the pawnshops."

She had taken back the last three years’ worth of ledgers for those shops from Ye Heng. Then she’d had Yan transcribe all of them as quickly as possible, creating a complete, identical set of copies.

She never expected Xiao Wu to dig one of them out now.

Xiao Wu seemed anxious. She opened the ledger, flipped to a specific page, and pointed with a small finger.

Ye Jingyan looked back and forth between the two books and finally saw it. "April thirteenth... Wait! This is the pawnshop’s *real* ledger?"

In the small opening Ye Chutang had made, a line of partially hidden handwriting was visible.

It wasn’t obvious at first, but with the two books side-by-side, they realized the handwriting looked identical.

Ye Yunfeng blinked, a wide, proud grin spreading across his face. "Wow, Xiao Wu! How did you ever find this?"

Anyone else, seeing only the one-fifth of the page that Ye Chutang had revealed, would never have been able to make the connection from those few marks and characters.

But Xiao Wu had matched it to the ledger with just a couple of glances!

Ye Chutang couldn’t help but marvel inwardly once again.

’Xiao Wu’s sensitivity to numbers is even more astonishing than I’d imagined. Combined with her photographic memory, it’s almost frightening.’

Xiao Wu beamed at the praise. But she quickly thought of something else, looked up at Ye Chutang, and pointed between the two books, shaking her head.

Her meaning was clear: *Sis, the dates and the names of the pawned items are the same, but the numbers don’t match!*

Ye Chutang patted her little cheek and smiled. "Thank you, Xiao Wu. I understand now."

...

"Sis, what do you think he was thinking? To go to such lengths, hiding the real accounts between the pages of a book?"

Ye Jingyan had seen his share of people hiding ledgers and cooking the books, but he’d never encountered anything like this.

"If you hadn’t noticed there was something strange about his book that day, Sis, we’d still be completely in the dark."

Even though some time had passed, Ye Jingyan couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder as he recalled it.

Ye Chutang’s gaze fell on the two books resting on the table.

The real ledger was right in front of her, but reading it wouldn’t be easy.

The book was exquisitely made. Brute force wouldn’t work.

She rubbed her slender fingertips together and suddenly asked, "What’s the situation at Fengling Lane?"

At the mention of this, Ye Yunfeng immediately perked up.

"What do you think? The fire started in the west wing. It’s nothing but a pile of rubble now!"

Ye Chutang tilted her head. "Just one room?"

"Of course not!" Ye Yunfeng rubbed his chin. "It burned down a third of their little courtyard too!"

Ye Chutang nodded slightly, her voice gentle.

"Second Uncle and his family have suffered a great loss. It’s only right that we pay them a visit to offer our condolences."

...

「Long Princess Mansion.」

Princess Qingyang dismounted and strode inside.

Suddenly, she spotted a familiar back ahead and quickly called out.

"Brother!"

Shen Yanchuan stopped and turned to look.

Princess Qingyang immediately caught up to him.

"Brother, I feel like I haven’t seen you around lately. What have you been busy with?"

Shen Yanchuan’s tone was indolent. "Just say what you want to say."

Princess Qingyang: ...

She sized up the man before her, a strange smile suddenly appearing on her face.

"It’s nothing, really! I just wanted to ask when you’re planning to go to Wulan Mountain."

Shen Yanchuan tilted his head slightly. "You’re going too?"

’Princess Qingyang has loved bustling places since she was a child. She’s never shown much interest in Wulan Mountain, yet now she’s asking about it...’

"That’s right!" Princess Qingyang answered at once.

Shen Yanchuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

"The mountains are desolate and lonely. I doubt you’d be used to it."

Princess Qingyang shot him a glare.

’Does this man even know how to talk?’

An idea seemed to strike her.

"Actually, I’m asking for someone. If you don’t want to say, then fine!"

With that, she swaggered ahead, feigning indifference.

Only then did Shen Yanchuan ask casually, "For someone? For whom?"

Princess Qingyang stopped, a smug, triumphant look she couldn’t hide dancing in her eyes.

"For Doctor Ye, of course!"

Something stirred in Shen Yanchuan’s heart, and he lifted his gaze to meet hers.