"You mean the Emperor is testing me?" Consort De asked, lowering her eyes.

"This old servant doesn't know. It's just that His Majesty rarely speaks of the Crown Prince like this in front of Your Highness," said Granny De. "Now that Your Highness and Consort Yi are in charge of the inner palace, many things will directly involve Your Highness. This old servant feels that we must be on guard beforehand."

Consort De nodded and said, "Hmm, have you found out anything about that little servant who served Hongli in the Qianqing Palace last time?"

“Your Majesty, this old servant has been investigating, but the trail ended with the steward who was in charge of assigning eunuchs and palace maids in the Imperial Household Department. That steward has long since retired and left the palace,” said Granny De.

"The Imperial Household Department must have people familiar with this steward; we can inquire with them. Or we can directly find this steward and send people out of the palace to look for him!" Consort De said authoritatively. Having heard Kangxi praise Hongli today, Consort De attached even greater importance to this matter.

"Yes, Your Highness must write a letter to Lord Wuya and ask him to send someone to look for them," said Granny De.

"Well, there's no time to lose. I'll go write the letter right away." Consort De stood up and flicked her wide sleeves.

Meanwhile, Lanqin was keeping Hongli company during his afternoon nap. She lay on her side beside him, rubbing the jade thumb ring that Kangxi had bestowed upon her. It was a piece of icy jade, pale green throughout, without a single impurity. Holding it in her hand, she could even feel the coolness emanating from it.

"Goodness, if this thing were taken to an auction, wouldn't it fetch hundreds of millions?" Lanqin muttered.

"Master, what did you say?" Si Hua, who was dozing off to the side, immediately asked when she heard Lan Qin's seemingly random question.

"No, it's nothing. Si Hua, you don't need to stay here. Go to your room and get some sleep," Lan Qin quickly said.

"It's alright, I'll stay here. Just in case you need water or the young master needs to relieve himself," Si Hua said.

"Alright, you can just lie there and sleep." Lanqin knew there was no point in saying anything more; Sihua was the one who most resembled her, having been trained by Cui Niang.

Thinking of Cui Niang warmed Lanqin's heart. She wondered how Cui Niang had handled the matter she had entrusted to her.

Outside the palace, since neither Lanqin nor Hongli were in the South Courtyard, and Lanqin had allowed Cui Niang to temporarily refrain from serving the Fourth Prince's residence, Wuxiha and Bechuk were being cared for by Nianxue and Xicha, with Song Shi visiting them occasionally. The two little girls only heard from Lanqin that they had gone to the palace and were told to listen to Song Yiniang.

Li Wei's residence.

"Brother, did you hear me? I've told you Zhao Mingcai's address. Go and look for him quickly," Cui Niang said to Cui Da and Cui Er.

"Okay. Don't worry. We'll definitely help you find him." Cui Da took the slip of paper from Cui Niang, which had Zhao Mingcai's address written on it. He was from Luzhou, only two days' journey from the capital.

"Yes, go quickly. The concubine said to find out more about Zhao Mingcai's family situation. His fearlessness in the face of death must be related to his family," said Cui Niang.

After preparing the luggage for Cui Da and Cui Er and seeing them off, Cui Niang turned around and went back into the mansion.

"Madam, the Old Madam wants you to come over!" a young maidservant said to Cui Niang from behind. This was a maidservant Cui Niang had bought. She had been rescued by Cui Niang when a slave trader tried to sell her to a brothel, and given the name Cui Ping'er. To take care of the family, Cui Niang also hired an old woman and a servant. The old woman was in charge of the kitchen's meals, and the servant assisted her, running errands. Ping'er helped Cui Niang with all the household chores.

"Ping'er, is there something you need, Madam?" Cui Niang asked, as Madam should be taking a nap at this hour.

"Ping'er doesn't know either," Ping'er said.

Suppressing her doubts, Cui Niang followed Ping'er to the backyard. Li Wei and she had lived in the front yard, while Li Wei's mother and brothers lived in the back. The main house in the backyard was naturally occupied by the old lady, and Li Wei's brothers lived in the east room.

"Mother, why aren't you resting!" As soon as Cui Niang and Ping'er entered the backyard, they saw Li Wei's mother hoeing the "vegetable patch" she had specially cultivated in the yard. The old woman had spent her whole life doing farm work, and suddenly being away from the land was really hard for her to adjust to.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came out to stretch these old bones," said Aunt Li.

“Mother, please be careful. Let your younger brother help with these things,” said Cui Niang.

“He should still focus on his studies. Ying’er, actually, the reason I called you here today is about your uncle,” said Aunt Li. After spending several months together, Cui Niang had come to know Aunt Li’s temperament: she doted on her younger son and relied on her older son—a typical protective mother.

"Mother, what happened to Uncle?" asked Aunt Cui. Aunt Cui's name was quite poetic, according to Lanqin. Her name was "Cui Yingying," which sounded the same as "Cui Yingying," but with different characters.

"Sigh, it's all for his future. This child has a hard life. He was taken to that dark place and forced to work for a while. When he came out, his older brother was already working for the Fourth Prince, while he was still nothing. His mother is worried about him. Ying'er, do you think you can find him something to do?" Aunt Li knew that her daughter-in-law was the head maidservant to the Fourth Prince's concubine, and might even have more influence than Li Wei.

“Mother, Uncle is still quite young, he should study hard.” As soon as Cui Niang heard this, she knew that Li Da Niang had listened to Li Wei’s younger brother and had come to her to say something. Originally, Cui Niang didn’t make him do anything. He usually just kept him locked in his room to study, and at most helped Li Da Niang with trivial things like digging in the ground.

“Sigh, he’s not getting any younger. I’m thinking of finding him a wife.” Seeing that Cui Niang didn’t respond to this topic, Aunt Li changed the subject.

This left Cui Niang speechless. As the eldest sister-in-law, she couldn't stop him from getting married, nor could she.

"Mother, what do you mean? Or has Uncle already taken a fancy to a girl from another family?" Cui Niang asked through gritted teeth. She and Li Wei had borrowed money from Lan Qin to buy this house, and now that Li Chuang wanted to get married, they would have to use at least half a year's savings.

“I’m an old woman who’s new to this bustling place, I don’t know anyone. Why don’t you do your best to find a daughter from a respectable family for your uncle? Once he’s married, he’ll be settled,” said Aunt Li.

"Alright, Mother, I'll keep an eye out for Uncle," Cui Niang had no choice but to say.