Chapter 94 Grave Robbery

Yan Shu also sighed, "Sigh, isn't it rare? It's said that Zhilan Terrace was originally built at the behest of the former Crown Prince of Yan, but now it's being demolished and rebuilt, all to celebrate his sister's birthday. It's really... Hehe... Speaking of which, when Lady Qifeng was still a princess of the former Yan, she was already a famous goddess. The King had long intended to build an altar for her so that she could perform on it..."

"etc……"

Is going on stage to steal her thunder?

Mu Xi originally planned to hold a "little program" such as "divine revelation from heaven" when the Qifeng Terrace was completed and the Grand Preceptor ascended the terrace to offer sacrifices to heaven, in order to increase the popularity of Prince Jin Fang. She did not expect that this was her plan, and Prince Yu Mu Ji actually planned to do it before her.

But the words that came out were: "Could it be that His Majesty set a deadline of October for completion because..."

"Oh dear, of course it's to celebrate Lady Qifeng's birthday, which falls on November 11th." After talking for a while, Yan Shu finally revealed the gossip she wanted to share.

Unexpectedly, Princess Yeon-ah's birthday is on Singles' Day.

The question Mu Xi originally wanted to ask was precisely this: "Lord Yan, do you think Qifeng Terrace can be completed in time according to this schedule?"

Yan Shu counted on her fingers: "If the money, personnel, materials, craftsmen, weather... if all these are not major problems, and the young master does not require it to be too magnificent, then it is naturally possible."

"What if we added a viewing tower?" Mu Xi asked immediately.

"Huh?" Yan Shu was taken aback. She counted on her fingers for a moment and thought, "Then let's imitate the situation when the late king's mausoleum was rushed to completion. We'll have three shifts, and since the original foundation of Zhilan Terrace is still there, we might be able to finish the project quickly."

"Is 50,000 taels of silver enough?" Although silver was not the primary consideration, Mu Xi still had to ask.

Yan Shu curled her lips, seemingly having expected this: "Tao Jin is always good at complaining about being poor, so it's quite rare that the Sikong Mansion is willing to spend 50,000 taels of silver. However, 50,000 taels of silver is barely enough to build a platform, so the young master shouldn't expect to build any viewing tower."

Mu Xi knew what was going on: "It's alright, I'll figure out a way to build the viewing tower. Fifty thousand taels is better than nothing."

"I say, Your Highness, you're too honest. You've been completely tricked by the King and Grand Minister Tao. Everyone knows that Tao Jin is the King's third hand in private. Because of the King's protection, he's been ruthlessly embezzling money behind everyone's back. Most of the money he's embezzled went into the King's private treasury, and a small portion went into his own pocket. As for the Grand Minister's mansion, it's practically a tomb raider. Over the years, under the guise of repairing the royal mausoleum, the Grand Minister's mansion has dug up as much as possible from the tombs of the previous dynasty and moved it all into the King's mausoleum. They've taken what they should and shouldn't have taken, who cares about a Zhilan Terrace?" Yan Shu directly called Tao Jin a tomb raider.

Mu Xi didn't notice anything amiss, but she didn't care.

"To say that stealing graves and digging up tombs is the most immoral thing, and now the retribution has come. You're digging up other people's graves all day long, and now your own father's grave has been dug up... Ah... I didn't mean it..." Yan Shu was obviously a big mouth, and only halfway through her sentence did she remember that the two people in front of her were also direct descendants of the Mu family, so she quickly covered her mouth.

However, Yan Shu tilted her head and then noticed that there was a fourth person in the carriage—Cao Pan'er. She desperately tried to cover it up: "This, this, this... I mean... no, no, no... I didn't say anything... I..."

"Ahem...we didn't hear anything." Mu Xun coughed lightly to help Yan Shu out of the predicament. "This is a maid that the young master just rescued. You didn't hear what she said before, but you'll probably hear it after you get off the carriage."

Yan Shu was regretting her words just a second ago, but the next second, upon hearing Mu Xun's words, her gossip spirit was reignited: "What's going on? What's going on between the young master and this servant?"

"Nothing much. Have you finished telling me what happened? If you have, get out of the car." Mu Xun not only didn't intend to answer, but also wanted to shoo him away.

Yan Shu was displeased: "How come it's my turn to finish speaking? Should I ask the young master if he's finished asking?"

Mu Xi thought for a moment, realizing she had indeed asked the most crucial question: "Thank you, Lord Yan, I have no further questions."

"Stop the carriage." Upon hearing this, Mu Xun shouted directly to the outside of the carriage, and before Yan Shu could react, he shooed him out of the carriage, "Brother Yan, let's end our conversation here for today. You should go back first."

Yan Shu hesitated, then said, "Hey, where are we to get off the bus like this? Do you expect me to walk all the way back?"

Before they could finish speaking, the carriage had already stopped.

Mu Xun lifted the carriage curtain: "Perfect timing. This is Changning Ward. There's a carriage shop up ahead. Brother Yan, please hire a carriage to go back yourself."

"This...I..." Yan Shu was still unsatisfied.

Mu Xi felt somewhat apologetic: "How about we make room for one of the carriages behind us to take Lord Yan back?"

"Ah, no need, no need, Your Highness, you don't need to be so polite with me. I'll take my leave now." Upon hearing this, Yan Shu cupped his hands in farewell and got off the carriage.

Mu Xi also bowed and saw them off.

Mu Xun turned around, pulled down the carriage curtain without ceremony, and directly ordered the carriage to continue.

Mu Xi still felt somewhat apologetic: "Isn't this inappropriate?"

Mu Xun and Yan Shu seemed to know each other very well: "It's nothing, he's just like that, very easy to talk to."

"This... after all, there are still many things we will need to rely on in the future..." Mu Xi now had to consider the importance of Yan Shu.

Mu Xun countered, "Does the Crown Prince really intend to seriously build that Qifeng Terrace?"

"Otherwise what?" Mu Xi was serious about this; it wasn't for anyone else, but for her own future. But thinking of her scumbag father Mu Zhen's words earlier, she couldn't help but ask, "Are you planning something again without telling me?"

“This…” Mu Xun glanced at Cao Pan’er, who had been hiding in the corner trying to make her presence known, “We’ll talk about it when we get back.”

Mu Xi knew that the carriage was not a good place to talk, so she had no choice but to put it aside for the time being.

The three of them remained silent the rest of the way and returned directly to Jin Fangjun's residence.

Mu Xi originally planned that as soon as she returned to the Jun residence, Jin Fangjun Mu Zhen would take the initiative to make trouble, but unexpectedly, Mu Zhen was too weak and had to rest first.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Mu Xi quickly took Cao Pan'er to the inner room and questioned her in detail.

Cao Pan'er knelt on the carpet, first glancing at Mu Xun who had followed her, and then said to Mu Xi, "Your Highness, what I have to say today is only for Your Highness."

Mu Xun was still worried: "Now that things have come to this, is there anything else you want to hide? Tell me everything."

Mu Xi then asked, "Why?"

She didn't think there was anything to be wary of regarding Cao Pan'er's matter, and Mu Xun probably knew more about it than she did.

Cao Pan'er still bit her lower lip tightly, as if making a decision: "This servant swears to be loyal to the young master, so it is more convenient to talk to the young master in private."

"convenient?"

Is this implying that everyone is a woman?