Before Ling Xiao could finish his words, Qing Feng hurriedly tugged at his sleeve.
He was about to open his mouth to blame Qingfeng, but when he glanced around and saw Ling Qingwan, he was almost startled.
"Miss." Qingfeng bowed respectfully to Ling Qingwan.
Ling Qingwan nodded and planned to bypass Qingfeng and leave.
Ling Xiao didn't remember who she was. The two of them were just siblings, and their relationship was extremely cold. They were no different from strangers. It just so happened that Ling Qingwan had something important to do and had no intention of dealing with Ling Xiao.
"Hello."
After taking only two steps, Ling Xiao called her.
Ling Qingwan frowned and turned to face Ling Xiao.
"You called me?" Ling Qingwan looked confused.
Besides Qingfeng, there is only her here. Qingfeng follows Lingxiao every day, and Lingxiao has already become familiar with him.
"Well, happy birthday." Ling Xiao said awkwardly. After that, he quickly looked away, not knowing whether he was embarrassed or what.
Ling Qingwan was stunned and didn't react for a moment.
According to Ling Xiao's temperament after he lost his memory, it was good enough that he paid attention to her. How could he be so kind as to wish her a happy birthday
"What? You still want a gift? Let me tell you, no one in the mansion has ever given me any money. I'm not as rich as Qingfeng. Don't even think about getting anything from me." Seeing that Ling Qingwan didn't speak for a long time, Ling Xiao thought that Ling Qingwan was not satisfied that he only said happy birthday but didn't take out a gift.
Ling Qingwan couldn't help laughing out loud at Ling Xiao's words.
"It's okay. I'm richer than Qingfeng, so I don't care about gifts." She said to Ling Xiao. "Thank you."
Afterwards, Ling Qingwan turned around and left, continuing to rush to the study.
Ling Xiao had such a change, how could Ling Qingwan not be happy, she almost jumped for joy. The reason why she didn't strike while the iron was hot and talk more to Ling Xiao was because she was afraid that it would be counterproductive.
Ling Xiao finally became less averse to her, and Ling Qingwan didn't want anything unexpected to happen again.
"Master, are you thinking of the young lady?" Qingfeng was very excited.
"No." Ling Xiao shook his head.
"And you just wished the young lady a happy birthday?"
"I don't know either. Didn't you all say today is her birthday? I just did it for my own good intention."
…
The conversation between the two gradually faded away until it could no longer be heard.
Before Ling Qingwan rushed to the study, she sent a servant to tell Shen Chengzhou. So Shen Chengzhou came back not long after she arrived.
Seeing Ling Qingwan, Shen Chengzhou quickly walked to the bookcase, took out a sandalwood box from one of the compartments, and gave it to Ling Qingwan.
"You came at the right time. I haven't given you the birthday gift yet." Shen Chengzhou chuckled.
Ling Qingwan opened the box and found a stack of banknotes inside. She weighed them and knew that the banknotes in the box were worth a lot of money.
"I have been thinking for several days about what gift to give you. I asked Nanny Pu and Song Tian. Knowing that you are not short of jewelry or anything like that, I thought of giving you silver. You can use these banknotes to buy whatever you need." Shen Chengzhou explained to Ling Qingwan.
Ling Qingwan frowned and felt sad in her heart.
When Shen Chengzhou said this, it seemed that he was asking for convenience and didn't need to spend so much effort to choose a gift, but Ling Qingwan knew that this money was much more valuable than gold and silver jewelry.
In the early years, Shen Chengzhou led troops to fight and was away from Beijing for several months, or even three to five years, so he had no energy to invest in other businesses. When other officials made a lot of money, Shen Chengzhou still lived on the monthly salary from the court. Later, Shen Chengzhou was old and had no energy to manage the shop. The general's mansion looked glamorous, but in fact there was not much property.
What Shen Chengzhou gave to Ling Qingwan today was probably half of the general's mansion's wealth.
Not to mention that Ling Qingwan is not short of money at all, even if she is, she cannot take this money.
"Grandfather, all my food and clothing expenses are from the Ling Mansion, so I don't need a lot of money. You can keep this money for yourself."
"I know very well what the Ling Mansion is like now. Ye Yun has run away. How can we make money by relying on that man Ling Feng? What's more, there is an old woman with a sharp tongue in the Ling Mansion. I'm afraid you will be wronged." Shen Chengzhou is a straightforward person and will not tolerate any rebuttal of his decision.
Whether Ling Qingwan wants to return the money depends on whether Shen Chengzhou will accept it.
"How about this? I'll give you the silver and you keep it for me. How about that?" Ling Qingwan rolled her eyes and changed her words.
"Grandfather, you know that all the money in the Ling Mansion has been taken away by my grandmother. The money in the mansion is not enough to cover the expenses, and she is very worried. If she finds out that I have such a large amount of money, she will try every means to make me hand it over. If I put this money with you, I can save myself some trouble."
Ling Qingwan's words made sense, and Shen Chengzhou was convinced.
"Oh, by the way, Grandfather." Ling Qingwan came to see Shen Chengzhou not to ask for a birthday gift. "The last time I came, you said you had something to tell me, but after An Yi and Liu Er had a fight, you never mentioned it to me again. I came to see you today for this."
When Shen Chengzhou mentioned this matter that day, his expression became much more serious, and Ling Qingwan saw it all.
Sure enough, when talking about this again, Shen Chengzhou's expression suddenly became very solemn.
"The Northern Zhou invaded for many years, disturbing the peace of our Great Viet. I went on several expeditions and finally defeated the Northern Zhou six years ago and drove them out of the Great Viet. Recently, the spies from the Northern Zhou sent a secret report saying that the most warlike seventh prince of the Northern Zhou ascended the throne and there were signs that he would make a comeback..."
Even without Shen Chengzhou saying anything else, Ling Qingwan understood what he meant.
When the Northern Zhou Dynasty comes back, Shen Chengzhou and Ling Xiao will inevitably go to the battlefield.
Past memories flooded into his mind. In his previous life, Shen Chengzhou and Ling Xiao went to Luojin, and after going through untold hardships, they finally defeated the Northern Zhou again. Just as they were returning victorious, news of Ling Xiao's rebellion spread.
In the city, Song Zhiqing held Ling Qingwan hostage and threatened her life. The old general with great military achievements could not even enter the city gate of his own country. As a last resort, for the lives of all the Shen family members, Shen Chengzhou had to kill Ling Xiao himself outside the city gate.
That was his most beloved grandson. Ling Qingwan couldn't imagine how painful his heart was when Shen Chengzhou inserted the sword into Ling Xiao's chest.
Afterwards, Ling Shen was depressed and died in the winter of that year. The descendants of the Shen family committed adultery and treason, and the general's mansion was no longer as glorious as before. Soon, Shen Chengzhou fell seriously ill and passed away.
It was because of this war that the once glorious General's Mansion fell into decline, and Ling Qingwan's loved ones left her one by one.
When Ling Qingwan thinks about these things now, she still feels uncomfortable and can't breathe.
"What did the Emperor say?" Worried that Shen Chengzhou would see that she was extremely worried, Ling Qingwan quickly suppressed her thoughts and pretended to be indifferent and continued to talk to Shen Chengzhou.
"It's just hearsay now, but it's almost certain. I'm afraid the expedition will be in the early spring of next year."