Zhui Feng sensed that this matter was indeed unusual. It certainly involved more than just Prince Hongshi; there must be others behind him, and this person was most likely the Eighth Prince. The reason why the Emperor wanted him to investigate whether anyone was in contact with the Eighth Prince was probably because of this matter.

In the Prince's mansion in the capital, Linlang was writing a letter to the Eighth Prince. A few days ago, she received an order from the Eighth Prince to keep a close watch on Ruan Meiying. She did not know Ruan Meiying's background and thought that the Eighth Prince had seen her situation and chose to help her get rid of Ruan Meiying.

Linlang said to Magpie, "That's good. The Eighth Prince also thinks that Ruan Meiying is an eyesore and wants to help me get rid of her."

The magpie replied, "That Ruan Meiying doesn't even know what kind of person she is. She thinks she can act recklessly just because she has the Prince's favor. She doesn't know that we have the Eighth Prince backing us up. I don't think she'll live much longer."

Linlang said with a sneer, "Serves you right! This is what happens when you mess with me."

She instructed Magpie, "Magpie, go and keep a close eye on Ruan Meiying these days. Report back to me on everything, big or small, understand?"

The magpie quickly replied, "This servant understands, this servant will go and do it right away."

Magpie left Linlang's courtyard and went to the servants' quarters where ordinary servants lived. She found a maid who was responsible for cleaning Ruan Meiying's courtyard. Although the maid was young, her eyes revealed a greedy look.

The magpie called her aside and said, "Xiao Ying, you've been in charge of cleaning Ruan Meiying's yard lately, right?"

The girl named Xiaoying replied, "Yes, yes, I've been staying with Master Ruan recently. I wonder what Sister Magpie wants to see me about?"

The magpie pulled a silver ingot from its bosom, waved it in front of her, and asked, "Want it?"

Xiao Ying said eagerly, "Yes, yes."

The magpie told her, "As long as you keep an eye on Ruan Meiying's movements and report back to me immediately if anything happens, this silver ingot is yours."

Xiao Ying said, "Yes, Sister Magpie, I will definitely do it well."

Seeing that she had agreed, the magpie gave her a few instructions and then went to report back to Linlang.

Seeing that Ruan Dafeng had not been heard from for several days, Ruan Meiying wanted to go to Baixianglou again. However, if she went with Hongshi, she would not be able to find Ruan Dafeng. So she had to go by herself. After thinking hard, she finally came up with a good idea.

The next day, Ruan Meiying came to the Fujin's room under the pretext of paying her respects. Almost all the concubines came, except for Linlang. Because of Hongshi's previous favor and the fact that she had the Eighth Prince as her backer, Linlang never wanted to have contact with Hongshi's other concubines, so she basically never paid her respects.

After Ruan Meiying sat down, she heard another concubine of Hongshi, surnamed Liu, say, "I heard that recently, Sister Ruan went out for a stroll with the Prince. Did she have a good time?"

Ruan Meiying replied with a smile, "This capital city is indeed much more prosperous than Kaifeng. Moreover, I had a meal at a restaurant last time and thought it was incredibly delicious. I would like to invite all of you sisters to try it together." Then she looked at the Fujin and said, "Please grant me permission, Fujin."

The princess asked, "Which restaurant?"

Ruan Meiying replied, "It's Baixianglou. Meiying had a very good meal at Baixianglou and felt that the Fujin had always been very kind to her. So she wanted to personally go to Baixianglou to prepare a banquet and invite all the sisters in the mansion to get together. She was new to the mansion and was very grateful that the Fujin and all the sisters didn't mind her being treated badly, so she had always wanted to invite everyone to watch a play and have a banquet."