Upon hearing Song Xizhi's words, A-Lian showed a troubled expression for the first time.

“Actually, I also wanted to hear things clearly, but this time He Yunze was very cautious. During the conversation, he dismissed all the servants and closed the door of the room, leaving only Zhao Qianlan, Song Ruoan and himself in the room.”

Upon hearing this, Song Xizhi slowly put down the milk, sat up straight, and his expression became serious.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Qianlan came to see He Yunce this time.

Presumably, the repeated failures finally brought He Yunze to his senses, making him realize that he had been reborn and was now a favored son of heaven.

Once others stop being impetuous, they begin to become cautious. That's why He Yunze was so smug both times. In this life, he is still often careless, even though he was at least a prime minister in his previous life.

He still has his core strength and memories of his past life. If he becomes cautious now, it won't be a good thing for her.

Song Xizhi's expression shifted, he narrowed his eyes slightly, and then asked again, "So you didn't hear anything?"

Ah Lian recalled carefully: "I only vaguely heard words like 'Empress Dowager' and 'Your Highness,' but I didn't hear anything else."

Upon hearing this, Song Xizhi raised an eyebrow slightly: "Empress Dowager?"

“Ah Lian, you did very well. This one word is enough.”

After A-Lian left, He Jingyan came out of the inner bedroom and casually sat down next to Song Xizhi, saying again:

"If Zhao Qianlan mentioned the Empress Dowager, it's probably because of her birthday banquet. The banquet is this month, and after what happened at Heyan Mountain, this year's banquet will be a grand affair."

"And Prince Yu, having lost power, probably wanted to take this opportunity to regain some ground."

Song Xizhi looked up and listened to him finish speaking, then suddenly realized: "So it was He Yunze who wanted to do this."

At the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet in her previous life, someone presented her with a large lacquered box inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

The so-called lacquer mother-of-pearl inlay is made by craftsmen carefully selecting high-quality shells such as luminous snails, peeling and cutting them into fine dots, lines and pieces, and then pasting them little by little onto lacquerware to create all kinds of patterns and designs that are lifelike.

Some objects are decorated with gold, silver and jewels, and then polished and polished to create a dazzling array of colors, as brilliant as a rainbow, and exquisitely crafted.

Most importantly, the large lacquered mother-of-pearl box that was given away at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet in my previous life was carved with an image of Buddha.

The craftsman's ingenuity was remarkable; the halo behind the Buddha statue was made of luminous conch shells, so when the lights dimmed, the Buddha statue and the halo behind it would emit different lights.

The scene was so sacred and awe-inspiring, as if a Buddha had manifested himself. It happened to occur at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, which led to rumors that the Empress Dowager's immeasurable merits had attracted the Buddha's blessing.

In my previous life, this box was acquired at an auction in a restaurant and was presented to the Empress Dowager by a minor official.

Because people were initially unaware of the wondrous beauty of this lost lacquer mother-of-pearl inlay, the minor official acquired it for only six or seven hundred taels of silver.

But these six or seven hundred taels of silver surpassed all the rare treasures in the world, winning first place and making the Empress Dowager beam with joy, and the Emperor was also delighted.

As a result, the minor official gained the emperor's favor and was able to display his talents. This item then became a national treasure of the Great Qian Dynasty and was passed down as a beautiful story.

It turns out that He Yunze's purpose at this moment was for that large lacquer mother-of-pearl inlay.

Song Xizhi was thinking about his past life and didn't say anything.

But He Jingyan's eyes suddenly turned deep. He looked at Song Xizhi's absent-minded appearance, raised his eyebrows slightly, and suddenly reached out and pinched her chin.

With a slight twist of his thumb, he turned Song Xizhi's face around, and He Jingyan asked in a low voice, "What are you thinking about?"

Song Xizhi's eyelids twitched, and he shut his mouth tightly.

What are you thinking about? I can't exactly tell him I'm thinking about He Yunze, can I?

Although Song Xizhi didn't speak, his guilty look revealed a lot. He Jingyan's brows furrowed slightly, and his voice became even lower and hoarseer.

"You know him very well?"

Feeling the man's deep gaze, Song Xizhi quickly climbed onto his large hands: "Of course I'm thinking about Zhao Qianlan's purpose in coming here."

The man raised an eyebrow slightly, seemingly disbelieving her explanation: "Oh? You actually had this expression when you thought of Zhao Qianlan?"

Song Xizhi frowned as she looked at him. She also wanted to know what her expression was when she thought of He Yunce, that this man had seen through her immediately.

"I'm thinking about how to acquire the auction rights for the restaurant. Judging from the dates, it seems like the auction is about to start, and there probably won't be many spots left. This is going to be quite difficult."

“He Jingyan, you must know that He Yunce’s plan is to auction off the birthday gifts to be presented to the Empress Dowager. We must not let him succeed.”

"At the same time, we must cut off all avenues for the Zhao family to climb up the social ladder. If they were to climb up to the Empress Dowager and gain a good reputation among the people, that would be bad."

Song Xizhi spoke with such righteous indignation that the man immediately grasped the crux of the matter.

"A restaurant?"

He Jingyan tilted his head slightly, his eyes darkening for a moment: "How did you know about this restaurant? Is there a secret between you two?"

In the silent room, the man's voice grew softer and softer: "Between you... is there something I don't know?"

Upon hearing this, Song Xizhi's eyelids twitched, and he hurriedly raised his head, only to meet the man's dark eyes.

His eyes were clear, as if he knew everything.