"It was a gift from His Majesty," Pei Yanzhi said succinctly.

Actually, after court today, the old emperor kept him to talk about state affairs for a while, and then mentioned Jiang Shuwan, and bestowed these palace maids and female officials upon her.

"..."

What the old emperor gave him—wasn't that just a spy...?

With a glint in her eyes, Jiang Shuwan calmly summoned Granny Tao to take the palace maids away to settle them in, before walking into the house with Pei Yanzhi.

As soon as she sat down, she heard Pei Yanzhi say softly, "They're all our own people, so we can use them."

Jiang Shuwan: "..."

She raised an eyebrow. "Eunuch Su chose it?"

"Um."

The other party nodded, "That's certainly useful. It's good to have someone by the emperor's side; the old emperor only placed his own people among his spies."

Just as Jiang Shuwan was thinking this, Pei Yanzhi's dark eyes moved from her face to the palace lantern in her arms and the tools in her hands.

"broken?"

"The skeleton is loose."

"Let me see."

Before Jiang Shuwan could refuse, Pei Yanzhi took the palace lantern, examined it several times, and then began to repair it with his tools.

Her movements were far more skillful than Jiang Shuwan's.

Jiang Shuwan hadn't believed before that Pei Yanzhi had made the palace lantern by hand, but now she saw how skilled he was at it.

I believe it.

The palace lantern was mostly repaired in no time, but a suitable frame couldn't be found, so he had to go back and make one. Pei Yanzhi took the lantern back with him, and Jiang Shuwan politely saw him to the door.

Watching his handsome figure walk away step by step, she suddenly felt that Pei Yanzhi was her family's long-term servant.

"Qingxing, have I gotten too big for my britches...?"

She murmured a few words, went back to her room, and before long, the Ministry of Works sent someone over to let her choose a place to build the county magistrate's mansion.

As long as it's within the regulations, she can choose any location she wants, and the royal family will cover all the expenses.

You can't just look at a map when building a house; you have to go to the site to investigate.

And so, for the next two days, Jiang Shuwan led officials from the Ministry of Works on a tour of the capital, eventually drawing up a plot of land on Zhuque Street, where the most high-ranking officials and nobles were concentrated.

The county magistrate's mansion was built in a great deal of activity. At first, Jiang Shuwan took a look at it, but later found it really boring and went to Donglai Street to have tea with Song Yi instead.

The Lunar New Year is the busiest time in Donglai Street, but she was never there. Now that she had some free time, she invited Song Yi to a teahouse for dim sum and tea to reward him for his recent hard work.

Brother Nai was there too. The three of them, along with Qingxing, ate and chatted while watching the snowflakes fall, quite leisurely.

Before leaving, Jiang Shuwan made a cheerful appointment for the next time.

"Your Highness, I shall take my leave now."

Beside the carriage, Song Yi cupped his hands in greeting to Jiang Shuwan and nodded. Jiang Shuwan smiled as she watched Song Yi leave.

"Miss, let's go back too."

Qingxing stood by the carriage, about to help Jiang Shuwan into it, when the girl's gaze inadvertently fell on the tire tracks left by Song Yi's departing carriage, and she paused for a moment.

Vague memories flooded her mind, and images formed from those memories surged toward her, as if she were recalling her first visit to the Song family.

It was during the most difficult time for the Song family, and they were closing their doors to visitors. When she arrived, the Song family's rivals were also there.

She remembered clearly that there were two ruts, one for her carriage and one for her horse.

But when she left, there were six marks on the ground.

There are two more marks.

She glanced at it casually at the time and didn't think much of it, but now those two marks are like needles piercing her brain, instantly clearing her muddled mind and causing a layer of cold sweat to appear on her forehead.

"Miss, why has Chairman Song been gone for so long?"

The sound of Qingxing complaining echoed in my mind.

At the time, she wanted to cooperate with the Song family. Song Yi said that this was a big deal and that he needed to ask Song's father. She didn't think much of it and just kept waiting. When Song Yi didn't come for a long time, Qingxing complained.

Song's father was staying at the nursing home in the backyard, and Song Yi had indeed been away for quite some time.

What if Song Yi hadn't gone to the backyard at that time...

Then consider the two extra tire tracks. What if those tracks belonged to Song Yi…

She seemed to have missed something incredible.

"Brother Nai, take a few men and follow Song Yi's car." Jiang Shuwan said urgently, grabbing Brother Nai's hand.

Brother Nai rarely saw Jiang Shuwan lose her composure, and asked in surprise, "Has something happened?"

"I don't know. Take a few good men with you and be careful not to alert them."

Unconsciously biting her nails, Jiang Shuwan returned to the teahouse.

Scenes from when she first met Song Yi began to flash through her mind.

Initially, they were business rivals, but after the Song family fell from grace, she took the initiative to seek cooperation.

Then their relationship grew better and better. Song Yi not only helped her manage Donglai Street, but also gave Song Yi a share of the perfume company.

Song Yi is a shrewd businessman and a very easy person to get along with.

Having collaborated for so long, their business has grown bigger and bigger, and they have never had any conflicts.

She never doubted Song Yi.

She took the initiative to approach Song Yi.

All of this was her own doing; no one else was pushing her.

Now she discovers that Song Yi is not as simple as he seems...

Clenching her fists, Jiang Shuwan stared in the direction Song Yi had left, growing increasingly terrified with each passing moment.

Song Yi has been gone for about half a stick of time...

Then Brother Milk and his men followed them...

Now, Brother Nai hasn't come back...

No one was sent to deliver the message.

Jiang Shuwan's heart skipped a beat, and she stood up abruptly.

"Let's go! Let's go after Brother Milk."

She was wrong; she shouldn't have asked Brother Nai to go after him.

Jiang Shuwan rushed downstairs. Qingxing didn't know why she had lost her composure, but she still told the coachman to speed up.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped in an alley.

Why did it suddenly stop?

Qingxing called out the coachman's name several times in confusion, but received no response.

"Miss, something's wrong outside. I'll go down and check it out."

Qingxing moved too fast, and Jiang Shuwan didn't have time to stop her before the little girl rushed down in one go.

Then, Qingxing's voice also disappeared.

"Qingxing..."

"Qingxing..."

Inside the carriage, Jiang Shuwan called out to Qingxing, but received no response.

She took a deep breath, lifted the curtain, and saw that not only were Qingxing and the coachman gone, but the street was also deserted, without a single person in sight.

Holding onto the side of the carriage, he carefully jumped down.

There was a steamed bun shop to her left.

The small steamed bun shop, about ten square meters in size, had its steaming baskets lifted to reveal plump, white buns. The aroma of the buns filled the air, and the firewood in the stove crackled and popped as it burned.

The shop was open, but the owner was nowhere to be found, and there were no customers either.

Only a few plates of steamed buns sat forlornly on the table, along with three bowls and three pairs of chopsticks. The chopsticks were damp, and the porridge in the bowls was steaming.

There was obviously someone here just now.

Not far away, a bamboo basket was spinning on the ground, and the fresh vegetables that were originally in the basket were scattered all over the ground.

Tender green vegetable leaves are very expensive this season; even wealthy people wouldn't be willing to throw them on the ground.