Back at Zanmao Hutong, the carriage stopped outside the Annan Marquis's residence first and sent Lord Gu back to the residence. Yu Jiao and the others then returned to the Liu residence. The two of them walked to the backyard together. Yu Jiao asked casually, "Big brother, hasn't the emperor released Gu Yun from confinement yet?"

Liu Ziqi shook his head and looked at her with a smile, "If you want to see Gu Yun, I will take you to Annan Marquis's Mansion tomorrow."

"No." Yu Jiao said frankly, "I just heard that the emperor was furious after Lord Gu left the palace. If Lord Gu is reluctant to hand over the military power to the emperor, the Annan Marquisate will be in a difficult situation in the future."

Seeing that she had no interest in Gu Yun, Liu Ziqi felt helpless and said in a gentle voice, "Lord Gu knows all these things, so there won't be any big trouble."

He asked with concern, "Did Concubine Xue give you any trouble when you entered the palace today?"

Yu Jiao had been planning to tell Liu Ziqi what happened in the palace. She said, "Let's talk about it when we get back to the courtyard."

Liu Ziqi followed Yu Jiao into Yingyue Pavilion, and they sat down in the main hall. Jianjia asked the maids to bring in tea, then sent everyone away and went to guard outside the door with Bailu.

Yu Jiao told Liu Ziqi everything that happened in Changle Palace and how she was stopped by the eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department when she was about to leave the palace and go to see Cheng Ying.

"Big brother, I remember that the Minister of Justice, Lord Wei, once said that it was Empress Feng who sent a message to the Ministry of Justice to release Wang Min. Concubine Xue cannot have children, most likely because of Empress Feng." Yu Jiao had never mentioned this in front of Xue Rong. Although she wanted to take the opportunity to make Wang Min suffer, she could not get involved in the dispute between Concubine Xue and Empress Feng.

Liu Ziqi didn't know what he was thinking, and didn't respond to Yu Jiao. After a while, he said, "Are you saying that Cheng Ying has a girl in the back hills of Lianxi Temple and wants to send that girl to the palace to replace Xue Rong?"

Yu Jiao told Liu Ziqi what she heard that day in the back hills of Lianxi Temple, and finally said, "But I don't think Cheng Ying is really angry. He didn't make things difficult for me today." She raised her eyes to look at Liu Ziqi, "Brother, I just left Xue Rong's palace, and Cheng Ying knew what happened in Changle Palace. Is he really so well-connected in the palace? He even has spies around the most favored Concubine Xue?"

Liu Ziqi touched her head and asked, "Were you frightened again today?"

Yu Jiao shook her head. She was not that fragile. This time Cheng Ying only asked her to peel a pomegranate. Compared with the last time at her coming-of-age banquet, she was not really frightened.

"He is the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department. Naturally, nothing that happens in the palace escapes his eyes." Liu Ziqi said, "The guards of the East Factory are not just monitoring the officials..."

No wonder it is said that Cheng Ying has all the power in the world. Not only the civil and military officials in the court, but even the entire palace is under Cheng Ying's surveillance. How could Emperor Ming Zheng trust him to such an extent?

"But aren't Concubine Xue and Empress Feng trying their best to win over Cheng Ying? Why did he arrange for another woman to enter the palace?"

What Yu Jiao asked was also what Liu Ziqi was puzzled about. The second prince born to Queen Feng had long been canonized as the crown prince. If Cheng Ying defected to the Feng family and supported the second prince to ascend the throne, it would be enough to ensure that her position would not fall in the future. The woman who lived in the back mountain of Lianxi Temple needed to be investigated carefully.

"Don't think about these things. You must be extra careful when you go to the palace to see Xue Rong next time." Liu Ziqi said in a gentle voice, "It's not good for you to know too much about the palace."

Yu Jiao nodded. She didn't care too much about these things. She just wanted to cure Xue Rong's body as soon as possible so that she wouldn't have to enter the palace again.

The two talked for a while. Yu Jiao thought of the missing Liu Sanniang and her son, so she mentioned it to Liu Ziqi, "Brother, do you know where they are?"

Liu Ziqi said calmly, "After I brought you to the capital that day, I gave them a sum of money. Maybe they moved to another place."

"I'm a little worried about Fei Ge'er." Yu Jiao didn't have any feelings for Liu Sanniang, but Fei Ge'er was different. Every time the child called her "sister", he was very affectionate and had deep feelings for her. Yu Jiao could actually guess that maybe Liu Sanniang didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore, so she quietly took Fei Ge'er away from Changkui without leaving any news.

"After a while, I want to go back to Changkui. I have to know their whereabouts so that I can feel at ease." Yu Jiao said.

Liu Ziqi originally did not intend to tell Yu Jiao where Liu Sanniang and her son were, but after hearing what Yu Jiao said, he had no choice but to say, "Let me arrange for someone to go to Changkui to find out where they are. Father promised my second uncle that after some time, mother will take you and Yaoyu back to Pingliang Prefecture to visit relatives."

Yu Jiao originally thought that Liu Yu was just talking casually, but she didn't expect that he actually wanted to go to Pingliang Prefecture.

"when?"

Liu Ziqi looked at her expression and smiled. "Why? Don't you want to go to Liangzhou? The scenery there is very beautiful, very different from the capital. There are deserts and snow-capped mountains, which are quite magnificent. Mother said that we should wait until the spring when it gets warmer before leaving. Then Li Chu will go back with you."

"I want to go." Yu Jiao also wanted to go out for a walk and have a look, instead of being confined to the inner house all day, surrounded by struggles for fame, wealth and power.

However, Shen Yu would be coming to Beijing soon. She was just afraid that she would have to leave for Liangzhou before Shen Yu came to Beijing, which might delay her paper business.