"It's your father's birthday on the fifteenth of this month, right? I'd like to attend your father's birthday banquet."

Zhao Xu was completely taken aback by this condition and asked in astonishment, "You wouldn't be planning to assassinate my father, would you?"

“No,” Xiao Qingyin shook her head, “I just wanted to find someone at the birthday banquet.”

She couldn't wait for Zhao Xu's wedding banquet, so she could only look forward to the Prince of Dai's birthday banquet.

All the prominent figures in Southeast County would attend the Prince's birthday banquet, so she and Yi Shuihan wouldn't need to go to great lengths to find someone.

Upon hearing that it wasn't an assassination attempt, Zhao Xu immediately agreed.

"No problem, I can take you there."

Xiao Qingyin then discussed with him the matter of rescuing Fangniang.

The following day, with Zhao Xu's assistance, Xiao Qingyin disguised herself as a stewardess in Zhao Hao's residence and infiltrated the Prince of Dai's mansion.

After entering the mansion, just as she was about to walk towards Zhao Hao's house according to the map Zhao Xu had given her, she suddenly saw Aunt Hua's figure.

Aunt Hua, accompanied by a man who looked like a steward, walked towards the residence where the Prince of Dai lived.

She was astonished.

After thinking for a moment, he didn't rush to find Fangniang, but waited outside the Prince of Dai's residence for Aunt Hua to come out.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Aunt Hua came out, still accompanied by the same housekeeper.

The two walked towards Zhao Hao's house.

Xiao Qingyin followed them at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

Before long, Aunt Hua and the housekeeper brought Fang Niang out of Zhao Hao's house.

Fangniang looked calm and seemed to be unharmed.

The housekeeper escorted the mother and daughter out of the mansion before returning.

Xiao Qingyin's trip was in vain.

Zhao Xu waited for her at a house near the Prince's Mansion, but when he saw that she was the only one who returned, his heart sank.

Where is Fangniang?

"I'm home."

Zhao Xu: "???"

Xiao Qingyin told him what she had just seen, and Zhao Xu rushed out of the house without saying a word to find Fangniang.

Xiao Qingyin was left alone in the house.

Xiao Qingyin: "..."

She hadn't even had a chance to ask him if the previous deal was valid.

She had no choice but to change her makeup and prepare to head home.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Xu returned with a long face right after changing his makeup.

"Fangniang said she didn't want to see me and told me to get as far away from her as possible and never appear in front of her again."

"Did you ask Aunt Hua how she persuaded your father to let Zhao Hao release the people?"

"No. I had just found them when Fangniang told me to get lost."

Xiao Qingyin: "..."

Zhao Xu felt terrible, but he still had a conscience. "Although you didn't save the person, you've already made an effort. I'll take you to my father's birthday banquet."

“Okay,” Xiao Qingyin nodded, “I’ll go back now.”

Zhao Xu waved goodbye listlessly.

After returning to the inn, Xiao Qingyin told Yi Shuihan what had happened, and then analyzed, "Aunt Hua went to Prince Dai, and Prince Dai immediately ordered Zhao Hao to release the people. It feels a bit unusual."

Yi Shuihan nodded: "Of the people in Zhao Hao's backyard, eight out of ten were kidnapped by him on the street. Some of them also had family members who tried to find the Prince of Dai, but the Prince of Dai didn't even see them."

Xiao Qingyin seemed to be deep in thought.

Could it be that Aunt Hua is no ordinary person?

Yi Shuihan shared the same feeling, so he had someone investigate.

The results were available that same day.

It turns out that Aunt Hua was a maidservant of the late Princess Dai. After the late Princess Dai passed away, she left the palace.

She lost both her parents at a young age and was sold into the Prince's mansion by her elder brother and sister-in-law. So after leaving the mansion, she did not return home, but instead set up a household and used her savings to buy a small house with a front shop and a back yard, which is now the house where Hua's Tofu Shop is located. Then she married a sickly man.

Just a few months after the marriage, the sickly man passed away.

Fangniang was born in the same year.

After Fangniang turned one year old, she started selling tofu.

She was beautiful, hardworking, and had worked in the Prince's mansion. Even after her husband died, matchmakers still came to her door in droves.

But she remained steadfast, refusing to remarry no matter how good the suitor's conditions were.

Over time, the neighbors all assumed she was going to remain a chaste widow, so they stopped trying to persuade her.

After reading the information, Xiao Qingyin felt that she had come to terms with it. Rather than serving a man, she thought it would be easier to live alone.

"If she is someone close to the former princess, it's possible that the Prince of Dai would give her face."

She said to Yi Shuihan.

Yi Shuihan nodded slightly.

Xiao Qingyin then asked, "Do you think Zhao Xu knows Aunt Hua's identity?"

"He probably doesn't know," Yi Shuihan laughed. "Otherwise, he wouldn't be running around like a headless fly after Fangniang was kidnapped by Zhao Hao."

His guess was very accurate.

On the day of the Prince of Dai's birthday banquet, Xiao Qingyin met up with Zhao Xu and told him the news, which surprised him greatly.

"Aunt Hua is actually someone who worked for my grandmother?"

"You didn't see her when you were a child?"

"I can't remember. I don't remember much before I was six years old. But I never imagined that Fangniang and I would have such a connection."

Zhao Xu's face was beaming with joy.

Xiao Qingyin: "..."

Didn't he ever consider that this might be the reason why Aunt Hua didn't accept him?

No matter how much the Prince of Dai mistreated Zhao Xu, he couldn't possibly allow him to marry a maid's daughter as his principal wife. At most, he would agree to let Fang Niang become his concubine.

Aunt Hua herself would rather endure the hardship of getting up in the middle of the night to grind tofu than not raise her daughter alone, so she would definitely not accept her daughter as a concubine.

Having lived in the Prince's mansion for so many years, how could she not know what kind of lives the concubines led?

Xiao Qingyin shook her head.

Oh well, he's not her son, so it's none of her business.

Let Zhao Xu be happy for a while.

But she didn't spoil Zhao Xu's fun; others did.

The two had just entered the banquet hall when they saw Zhao Hao.

Zhao Hao was several years younger than Zhao Xu and had an outstanding appearance. When Xiao Qingyin first saw him, she felt that he looked very familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before.

As she searched through her memories, Zhao Hao walked up to Zhao Xu, glanced at him from head to toe, clicked his tongue, and mocked, "Big brother, you're really something else, even going after your own sister. I, your third brother, am ashamed of myself."

Zhao Xu looked bewildered: "What's wrong with you?"

Zhao Hao wore an exaggerated expression of shock.

"No way? Brother, you don't know that Fangniang is Father's long-lost daughter, do you? Or are you pretending not to know, just trying to mess things up?"

Zhao Xu was completely stunned.

"What did you say?" He stared blankly at Zhao Hao. "Fangniang is Father's daughter?"

“Yes,” Zhao Hao said, shaking his leg, “I had just brought that girl into the manor when her mother came to Father demanding her back, saying that Fangniang was conceived before she left the manor. Tsk tsk, we have another sibling now…”

"Impossible!" Zhao Xu interrupted him. "You're definitely lying to me."

Zhao Hao said with a look of pity, "If you don't believe me, go ask my father. If this weren't true, do you think I would have let that girl go?"

Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment, then pushed him aside and ran towards the Prince of Dai who had just entered the banquet hall.

"This can't be true."

He muttered to himself.

"Zhao Hao must be lying to me."

Just as Xiao Qingyin was about to follow, she suddenly noticed that the butterfly in her sleeve was moving.