Huang Mengling suddenly realized that this little girl named Wang Lingyi might be a powerful person.

Zhang Ru had always kept a distance from his affairs. She might have noticed, but she didn't dare to do anything to him. Unless he took the initiative to attack, Zhang Ru would always be on guard.

Although Ye Zhou had confined himself to the harem, he didn't care much about her handling of her dowry and her initiative to sell it. All the money for the transactions went through the bank, so if she used a large sum of money, Ye Zhou would know. However, Ye Zhou didn't care about the specific details of her transactions, and he kept his distance from her.

The former is fear, and the latter may be disgust.

It was precisely because of the attitude and behavior of these two people towards her that she decided to do something right under their noses.

As for the little girl Wang Lingyi, she only had to pretend afterwards, saying that she had been trapped in the harem for a long time and was not very familiar with the market, and that she believed the instigation and so on, and she was able to get away with it.

But now that Wang Lingyi had been smeared, she remained calm and waited until the day before the Fifth Princess' birthday to announce the road closure. Zhang Ru wouldn't do that. Her approach was always to retreat. If no one gave her advice, even if she knew the transaction was suspended and she thought Huang Mengling would intervene, she would simply move to another location.

Not only do they have to deal with the Imperial Guards and palace maids, but they also have to make new arrangements in front of His Majesty and the palaces, which will always be very tiring.

Huang Mengling thought about the pink peony incident afterwards. Although it seemed that Zhang Ru had won a great victory and took the opportunity to seize control of the six palaces, it would be extremely difficult for Huang Mengling to reach into the palace again in the future.

But was she truly not hurting herself? Li Baozhu's transformation into Li Cairen was such a coincidence? Li Baozhu's title was a thorn in Huang Mengling's side at the time, but not in Zhang Ru's? She was so deeply in love with Xuanyuan Hao, and the thought behind each of her small garments—hahahaha, Huang Mengling laughed inwardly. The thorn must have pierced her even more.

Wang Lingyi went to Zhang Ru to discuss Huang Mengling's suspension of business, and she noticed that this wise queen had a distinctly uneasy feeling when it came to Huang Mengling's situation. If it were anger, contempt, or jealousy, Wang Lingyi wouldn't have found it strange, but was the queen's emotion... timid? She was about to give up, yet she held on?

Huang Mengling is far inferior to the queen in terms of birth, character, appearance, status, etc. Where does Zhang Ru's deep fear come from?

Seeing that Zhang Ru was silent, she had to come up with her own idea and close the road in the name of safety.

Because she was planning to buy the garden, Wang Lingyi was well-versed in the surrounding area. Besides the farm originally owned by Huang Mengling, there were also a dozen or so tenant households scattered around the hot spring farm. Beyond it lay the vast and majestic Lingyuan River, and on the other side of it lay Lingfeng Mountain. The two farms were nestled against the river and mountains, with only one road in front of them.

Wang Lingyi was delighted by the pleasant scenery, the underground hot springs, and the secluded feel of the place. Her original idea was that if Young Marquis Jiang Heng ever disappointed her, this place would become her future home.

So while buying Huang Mengling's farm, she also paid money to resettle the tenants and bought all the land cultivated by more than a dozen tenant farmers, intending to turn this place into her own little world in the suburbs of Beijing.

Given the geographical location, closing the road is a simple and effective solution.

Zhang Ru quickly made the arrangements, then came to her senses and thought: This Wang Lingyi is truly clever and perceptive. I'm afraid she's guessed most of what happened back then. Otherwise, after being suspended, she'd simply wait a few days and then clarify. She'd thought of telling me about this, and, understanding my silence and embarrassment, she'd directly proposed blocking the road. So, a return of favor...

Zhang Ru asked Wang Lingyi, not beating around the bush: "Your sister has also been chosen by the Fourth Prince and has already been reported. What do you think about this?"

When Wang Xipei came to her sister for help, she said she didn't want to marry anyone. She didn't want to marry Emperor Mingzheng, and she didn't even want to marry the Fourth Prince, whom she hadn't even seen clearly.

Wang Lingyi was actually a little hesitant. The Fourth Prince was marrying my younger sister as his principal wife, and he was said to be quite knowledgeable in literature and poetry, and my younger sister was also good at these things. Perhaps we would be able to have a mutual understanding and a harmonious relationship. And since it was the royal family who wanted to marry her, could I really refuse two members of the Heavenly Family?

Zhang Ru saw through it and said, "Three years ago, the Fourth Prince rejected a marriage proposal. That marriage was a good one that Your Majesty, Concubine Su, and I were all happy with."

Since it was a marriage favored by her biological mother, Concubine Su, and the emperor and empress, it would be strange to refuse it. Wang Lingyi understood it, and after saying goodbye and returning, she told her father and elder brother that they would investigate.

Wang Lingyi still had a question. Why did the manor under Huang Mengling's name seem to have started to change seven or eight years ago? She originally thought that it was the favored concubine Tang of Duke Xiangguo Ye Zhou who took advantage of his favor to do it, but now it seems that it is not that simple.

Bi Cui had been feeling incredibly guilty recently, and Wang Lingyi had summoned her. She had been expecting punishment for days, and now, believing it was coming, she felt relieved. She declared her obedience and refused to contact Huang Mengling's maid again.

Wang Lingyi said, "How can we stop contacting her? You treat her as a friend, and she set you up, so of course you have to keep in touch. She'll definitely have to be punished, but before that, if you do things well, it might even make up for it."

Beatrice raised her head and her eyes lit up.

The fifth princess had a very happy birthday. The scenery in the garden was pleasant, and the various ingenious arrangements were full of surprises. Hot spring pools of various sizes were scattered among them, and the view of the black mountains and white water in the distance was magnificent.

Her father, mother, and brothers all gave her birthday gifts. She was delighted and loved everything, with a constant smile on her face. She had a great meal, had fun, enjoyed the hot springs, and received gifts. The little princess was overjoyed.

As the host of Zhuangzi, Wang Lingyi also presented a gift, an octagonal palace lantern with three overlapping layers of inlaid glaze. After the candle was lit, it began to rotate. The figures and landscapes painted on the three layers were lifelike. The subtlety of the lantern lies in that after the rotation, the patterns painted on each layer overlapped under the light and shadow, forming a new picture.

When the fifth princess saw it, she couldn't let it go. She lit a candle and watched it spin when she had nothing to do.

It was just that when the princes were taking a hot spring bath, the second prince mentioned at an inappropriate time that three great scholars from Luming Academy would come to the Imperial College in a few days to test the princes' knowledge.

The laughter and joy turned into silence. In the silence, the fifth prince threw a wet towel used for hot springs over and covered the second prince's head.

Then the third prince threw out the second one, and the fourth prince was more gentle and closer, so he also added one.

The second prince, holding three wet handkerchiefs, called on the crown prince for help: "Brother, they are bullying me!"

The prince said, "Come over here." The second prince looked at his three younger brothers proudly and went to stay next to his eldest brother.

Then I heard the prince say, "Alas, you don't know how to carry me."

The three younger brothers' eyes lit up. Second brother... so next time it's...