Xia Miaoyuan's inner thoughts reminded Emperor Mingxi.
His eyes darkened as he recalled the unusual behavior of the Fourth Prince visiting Concubine Xian at Fanyin Temple a few days ago.
Yes, the Fourth Prince has never liked flowers and plants, but since he visited the Fanyin Temple last time, he suddenly became interested in growing flowers and even went to ask the gardener of the Imperial Garden for advice?
Moreover, how come I happened to run into the Fourth Prince when he was asking the gardener for advice?
You know, I have been very busy for more than a month these days and have no time to come to the greenhouse.
No matter how you look at it, this matter seems to have been planned by someone.
Thinking of this, Emperor Mingxi immediately changed his mind.
Originally, he wanted to stay in the greenhouse and talk with the Fourth Prince about his experience in growing flowers, but now, he decided to take a cold approach for the time being.
Emperor Mingxi's face was gloomy, and he said in a cold voice: "The rule that no one else is allowed to enter my greenhouse cannot be broken."
"I will not pursue what happened today. But from now on, you are not allowed to enter my greenhouse without my permission."
"Otherwise, I will punish you."
The Fourth Prince's eyes dimmed immediately, and he whispered, "Your Highness obeys your command."
After coming out of the Imperial Garden, Emperor Mingxi specifically instructed the secret guards to keep a close eye on the Fourth Prince and report to him any movement.
Nearly a month passed in a flash, and the court was calm and the palace was also peaceful.
Outside the palace, good news came one after another that the barbecue restaurant was doing a booming business.
Xia Miaoyuan was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling when he saw the accounts and banknotes sent by the owner of the barbecue restaurant.
Ten barbecue restaurants were open for three days and were packed with customers every day.
Diners who come here to taste the royal barbecue are willing to queue outside the restaurant for two hours.
The business revenue in the first three days of opening reached 30,000 taels of silver. Even with the discounts during the opening period, the net profit was still as high as 5,000 taels.
After the three-day opening promotion, even though the dishes returned to their original prices, the restaurant was still packed with diners every day.
In order to allow more diners to enjoy barbecue as soon as possible, the shopkeeper has specially launched a take-out service.
After the customers have placed their orders, they can pay and wait outside the store. When the dishes are ready, they will be wrapped in oil paper and handed to the customers to take home and enjoy.
If you choose takeout, you can get a 10% discount.
As a result, the sales of the barbecue restaurants continued to rise. At the end of one month, the sales of the ten stores reached more than 100,000 taels, and the net profit was as high as 70,000 taels.
[Earning 70,000 taels a month, that's 840,000 taels a year for 12 months!]
Xia Miaoyuan held a stack of banknotes and happily calculated the accounts.
The queen sat next to her daughter, her eyes filled with tears of excitement.
Unexpectedly, my daughter actually had this ability and actually earned 70,000 taels of silver.
"My dear Queen, Miao'er, make as much money as you can and spend it on you and the Emperor!" Xia Miaoyuan hugged the Queen's neck and kissed her on the cheek.
"My daughter Miao'er is truly the treasure of my mother and father, and she is the lucky star of Daxia." The queen hugged her daughter tightly, her heart surging with excitement.
"Let's go tell Daddy! Miao'er can earn a lot of money, and Daddy won't have to worry about the national treasury anymore!" Xia Miaoyuan said in a baby voice.
The Queen felt a surge of warmth in her heart. "Alright! Let's tell your father the good news now, so he can be happy too. Miao'er is truly a sensible child."
Before long, the mother and daughter changed their clothes and took a sedan chair to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
The sedan chair stopped in front of the Qianqing Palace, and the eunuch guarding the gate ran in to deliver the message.
Xia Miaoyuan took the queen's hand and walked inside.
Before the mother and daughter entered the main hall, they heard conversation coming from inside.
"I have nothing to do here, and you have been tired for most of the day. Go back and rest." Xia Zhengqi said in a deep voice.
"Father, I'm not tired at all. I will go back after you finish reviewing all these." said a young man's voice.
[Strange? It doesn't sound like Third Brother's voice.]
Both mother and daughter found it very strange.
Xia Zhengqi had a habit of calling an older prince to grind ink for him when he was handling government affairs.
It is called grinding ink, but in fact it is to let the princes observe the emperor's process of handling government affairs, so that they can learn some skills in governing.
The first one to grind ink was the Crown Prince, then the Second Prince. Now the Second Prince is training in the army, and Xia Zhengqi occasionally calls the Third Prince to grind ink for him.
But the strange thing is that the voice that just came from inside was obviously not from the Third Prince.
The queen picked up Xia Miaoyuan and quickly walked to the main house.
The mother and daughter looked up and saw the Fourth Prince standing next to Xia Zhengqi, grinding ink attentively.
"Your son pays his respects to the Queen Mother!" the Fourth Prince said in a gentle voice.
"The Fourth Prince is here too! Get up quickly!" Although the Queen was full of doubts, she did not show it on her face.
When Xia Zhengqi saw the Queen and her daughter, he was like a savior and hurriedly said to the Fourth Prince, "Chengyue, the Queen and I still have something to discuss. You should go back first."
The Fourth Prince pursed his lips tightly, as if he was extremely unwilling, but since Xia Zhengqi had said this, he had no way of refusing anymore.
I had no choice but to obey and take my leave.
After the Fourth Prince left, Xia Zhengqi breathed a sigh of relief, pulled the Queen over and whispered, "Ruoyu, you came at the perfect time."
"Your Majesty, what's going on today? Isn't the third prince grinding ink?" the queen asked in confusion.
Xia Miaoyuan also stared at Emperor Mingxi, as if waiting to hear his answer.
[Tell me quickly, tell me quickly, what is the Fourth Prince up to? ]
Xia Zhengqi said with a sullen face, "Originally, the Third Prince came here to grind ink, but half a month ago, not long after he arrived at the Palace of Heavenly Purity, he felt dizzy, so I had someone send him back first."
"Not long after the Third Prince returned, the Fourth Prince came and said he was replacing the Third Prince."
"I wanted him to go back, but he brought up filial piety. He said it was a son's duty to grind ink for his father. He said his brother was not feeling well, and as a younger brother, he should share his brother's worries."
"I can't refuse anymore."
"Later, the Third Prince would occasionally feel dizzy, so the Fourth Prince would naturally come here to grind ink for him."
When Xia Miaoyuan heard this, he was shocked.
[No way? Could it be that the Fourth Prince, at such a young age, has already started working as a spy?]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
