Chapter 92 (Revised) Regarding...

Although some clues have been made regarding Su Jinyue's whereabouts, her location is still uncertain. Further investigation is needed, but Xiao Yan's movements today have already been discovered.

She had just left the silk shop and hadn't walked more than a few steps when she, who was originally at the four corners behind Mao'er and Zhu Yue, slightly increased the speed of her steps. Then, using the action of avoiding pedestrians, she naturally switched places with Mao'er and stood to the side and behind Xiao Yan Hui.

"Master, someone is watching us," Sijiao said softly.

Upon hearing Sijiao's words, Xiao Yanhui instinctively stopped in her tracks. However, she quickly shifted her stance and took a few steps forward, standing in front of a pastry shop, as if she had stopped because she was attracted by the sweet aroma of the pastries.

After gesturing for Mao'er and Zhu Yue to pick out some pastries, Xiao Yan returned to the four corners and asked in a low voice, "Who is following us? Is he still following us? Where is he?"

“Master, there’s no need to speak so softly. Keep a distance; they won’t hear you. There’s someone hiding behind the spice shop sign, wearing a short blue jacket and sporting a mustache. You can see him if you just turn to the side.” Sijiao clearly pointed out the hiding place of the person following them and their appearance.

Following his directions, Xiao Yan slightly turned her body and glanced over casually. Sure enough, she saw a figure in blue hiding behind the long cloth signboard hanging in the spice shop. This person looked extremely unprofessional, acting furtively and peeking around. Several people on the street were looking at him suspiciously. The spice shop's young clerk, in particular, was staring intently at him, as if he were about to enter the shop to cause trouble or steal.

"He was a complete novice; he only caught up with Master after he came out of the silk shop. And over there, in the third room on the second floor of the restaurant, in that private room with the window half open, I could sense that someone was staring at Master from there—it was a woman."

She's still looking in that direction, but she can't see you from your current position, Master." Sijiao calmly pointed out the other person's location, then respectfully inquired, "How does Master intend to deal with them?"

These words make it seem as if life and death are entirely up to Xiao Yanhui, as if her mere words determine everything.

However, Xiao Yan didn't understand his implication. He only rented a position at the four corners that was slightly forward than usual, presumably to block the prying eyes of the restaurant.

"Are there two groups of people?" Xiao Yan pointed back.

“None of them have received any special training. The person in the restaurant was probably a young lady from some family. Although she only appeared briefly, I just saw her hairpin. It's not something an ordinary family would use. The servant in front of the spice shop must have been temporarily sent out to spy on the master’s whereabouts.” Sijiao was confident in his eyesight.

"Could it be Xie Miaoguo again?" Upon hearing that Sijiao mentioned which family's young lady it was, Xiao Yan immediately thought of Xie Miaoguo, who had come to provoke him on her very first day back in the capital.

Given Xie Miaoguo's arrogant nature, she was forced to kneel and bow in front of everyone by herself according to the rules when they first met. The next day, Madam Xie brought her to apologize. At that time, she said words of apology, but she could not suppress the resentment in her eyes.

It's not impossible that she was spying on his whereabouts and waiting for an opportunity to retaliate.

“This servant has seen Miss Xie a few times. Judging from her figure, the person by the window is not her. Please wait a moment, Master. The guards following behind have already gone to investigate, and we should have news soon. Would you like to continue sightseeing, Master? They are just insignificant people. You don’t need to worry about them.”

Although Sijiao appeared outwardly calm, he was actually somewhat annoyed. It was nothing more than a harmless, insignificant spying, and he had planned to handle it privately before informing the princess, but instead, he blurted it out directly.

Today, the princess took him with her when she went out, and he couldn't help but want to show off his abilities, but he didn't expect the princess's reaction to be even stronger than he had anticipated.

The nobles in the palace were quite used to being spied on. They would usually just listen in, then casually say, "Go see who it is," and then go about their business as usual, waiting for the outcome. No one took it seriously.

But little did he know that the princess would become nervous upon hearing that someone was following behind. To make his master worry and be nervous would be a great dereliction of duty on his part. Sijiao was simultaneously worried that he had left a bad impression on the princess and that he would be outshone by someone else.

Xiao Yan returned, still nervous, but almost without worry, especially after seeing the extremely clumsy stalker. At that moment, she even felt a strange, immersive excitement, as if she were experiencing a spy drama. Therefore, she had absolutely no interest in the suggestion to continue shopping with Sijiao.

“Let’s sneak into that restaurant and ask for the private room next door. I want to see who’s spying on me upstairs,” Xiao Yan said, still keeping her voice low.

"A restaurant? Is Your Highness hungry? The waiter said their walnut cakes, candied peach preserves, and dried meat are their signature dishes. Your Highness can have a snack when we get to the restaurant." Cat and Zhu Yue, who were carrying several bags of pastries back together, didn't hear the whole story. As soon as Cat heard that her princess was going to a restaurant, she immediately started to worry about whether her princess was hungry.

“Master has already gone to a restaurant, why would he need some snacks to fill his stomach?” Zhu Yue teased Mao’er, then asked Si Jiao, “Si Jiao, are you familiar with this area? Which restaurant nearby has good food?”

Hearing their words, Xiao Yan realized that neither of them had heard Si Jiao say "someone is watching us." They were right next to each other, so how come they didn't hear it?

Her eyes lit up. Could it be that Sijiao possessed some special skill of transmitting sound secretly?

Seeing the princess looking over with admiring and questioning eyes, Sijiao lowered his head slightly and said, "Just some little tricks." But he was secretly pleased.

He then saw the princess and her two personal maids whispering about the stalking, a kind of intimate and harmonious relationship between mistress and servant that he had rarely seen before.

It seems this will likely be a good master, so he needs to secure his position even more by this master's side.

"Master, let's go this way and avoid their gaze." Sijiao pointed the way and led the group forward. Since the master said to sneak over to that restaurant, he would naturally make sure that the spying people noticed them.

......

"Oh, oh, it's blocked! I haven't even seen the person clearly yet, how did it get blocked? Huh, where is the person? Where did they go?" In the private room of the restaurant, a girl who looked about fourteen or fifteen years old and had a rather sweet appearance was peeking out from behind a half-open window.

However, her spying was clearly not very successful. No matter how she adjusted the angle, she could only barely see the woman's profile and back. After walking a few steps, the woman went into the pastry shop again, and then she disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"That eunuch following that woman is so annoying. I could almost see her face clearly, but that dog of a servant blocked it again." The girl pouted and complained unhappily as she slapped the windowsill.

On the table in the center of the private room was the restaurant's most popular set meal, and at that moment, another young woman was enjoying her meal.

Seeing her younger sister's indignant look, she leisurely swallowed the four-happiness meatball in her mouth, pointed to the untouched bowl and chopsticks next to her, and said, "Sister Lan, if I were you, I wouldn't bother with this. What's so interesting about it? You might as well eat a few more bites. The four-happiness meatballs here are quite good. Why don't you try some, sister?"

The girl's features were five or six parts similar to the girl by the window whom she called "Sister Lan," but the similar eyebrows and eyes on the two faces showed very different temperaments. One was sweet, while the other had a delicate and lovely charm.

However, the way her eyes lit up when she looked at the table full of delicious food somewhat ruined her gentle and delicate charm, but it also made the woman seem very lively and lovely.

However, Zhao Lan found this appearance not cute but irritating: "What do you mean by that, Sister Rou? Does she think she has the victory in her grasp and that my observation is pointless?" Zhao Lan felt a nameless fire burning in her heart.

Yes, she knew that the person her family favored wasn't her, and that she had insisted on coming today. But she was just resentful. Why did Zhao Rou always get the best of everything, just because she was from the eldest branch of the family, just because she was a few years older?

"It's pointless to look, Lan-meimei. Don't forget you're only fourteen. You're not even fully grown yet, how can you be thinking about getting married?" A sarcastic laugh came from the other side, revealing that there was another young lady in the private room.

"Zhao Qing...you, you think it's your turn? Don't forget who you are, just a concubine's daughter. You might not even be able to get the position of a secondary consort." Zhao Lan glared angrily at Zhao Qing, who was sitting to the side pretending to sample tea. Her furious expression completely ruined her sweet and lovely face.

The three young ladies of the Marquis of Xuanwu's mansion were in this private room at that moment.

If Xie Miaoguo had previously been dismissive of the position of Princess Consort of Chengjun, it was a coveted prize that the young ladies of the Xuanwu Marquis's mansion were eager to compete for.

Marquis Xuanwu heard from somewhere that his granddaughter was also on His Majesty's list of considerations, which excited him greatly.

It should be noted that the Marquis of Xuanwu has been declining in recent years, while Prince Cheng, regardless of his past, seems poised for a meteoric rise.

Even assuming that Marquis Xuanwu has no designs on Prince Cheng's future, he currently has a princely title in his grasp. Making his granddaughter a prince's consort would be an excellent choice for Marquis Xuanwu at this point.

Moreover, this prince is young and promising, and currently only has one woman by his side whose identity is not recognized by His Majesty, making him an even better choice.

Considering both the family's well-being and his granddaughter's future happiness, Marquis Xuanwu felt he was the best elder imaginable.

As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle." Today's restaurant was specially arranged by Marquis Xuanwu, with the purpose of letting Zhao Rou see what kind of woman the aunt of Prince Cheng was really.

Indeed, the Marquis of Xuanwu had chosen an excellent husband, and he tacitly agreed that this was an opportunity for his eldest daughter, Zhao Rou. But now it seems that his granddaughters each have their own ideas.

"Sister Lan, I have something to say, please don't be angry. Actually, I think Sister Qing has a better chance than you or me."

Zhao Rou looked at her two younger sisters, who had been glaring at each other, but now both turned to her. One sister's eyes were filled with surprise, while the other's glare was even fiercer. She didn't mind, just smiled and picked up a piece of fresh, tender vegetable with her chopsticks. After eating it, she continued:

"Although that princess was not formally conferred a title, I heard that she and the Prince were childhood sweethearts and had a very close relationship. Judging from the fact that she is the only one in the Prince's mansion now, one can roughly know her position in His Highness's heart."

"Given our family's current situation, what would Prince Cheng gain by marrying a princess who offers no support and puts her in a difficult position? But a concubine is different; as long as she's beautiful enough... it would be appropriate for our family's illegitimate daughter to enter the Prince's residence as a concubine, wouldn't it?"

Zhao Rou spoke in a gentle tone, which seemed to make some sense, but every word she uttered was like poison.

"So, since Sister Lan is too young and her status is not appropriate, it would be a waste for her to look. Sister Qing should have taken a look earlier, otherwise it would have been a pity for Grandfather to spend money to inquire about her whereabouts and make reservations at the restaurant today."

It turned out that their stakeout today was actually due to the fact that Xiao Yan Hui's whereabouts were leaked from the Prince Cheng's residence.

At this time, although most of the servants in important positions in Prince Cheng's mansion had been replaced by people brought back from Jiangzuo by Qin Ji and his group, there were still many minor positions staffed by servants who had been placed in the palace or purchased from outside.

These people have little loyalty to Prince Cheng.

If Xiao Yan goes out so openly today, her whereabouts can be found out from the servants of the Prince Cheng's mansion with just a little money.

It was only because Xiao Yan and her group had just returned and had only been in charge of the Prince's Mansion for a short time that they hadn't had time to properly sort out the relationships between superiors and subordinates, which allowed others to seize the opportunity during the handover.

Meanwhile, in the next private room, four people with their ears pressed against the wall were repeating Zhao Rou's words to Xiao Yan Hui without missing a single one.

"As expected, the house isn't cleaned properly yet." This was something she had anticipated, so Xiao Yan nodded without much negative emotion, deciding to deal with it once she got back.

However, the Marquis of Xuanwu's residence? It seems vaguely familiar, but I can't quite place where I've heard of it before.