Xia Zhengqi nodded: "Okay, let him come to the imperial study this afternoon."
The fourth prince sat upright at the desk, holding a book in his hand, but his eyes glanced towards the door.
When the Fourth Prince heard the word "roadmap", his eyes suddenly lit up.
As expected.
In the afternoon, before the class in the main hall was over, the fourth prince ran to the imperial study, claiming that the third prince was dizzy again, and clamored to grind ink for Xia Zhengqi on behalf of his third brother.
This time, Xia Zhengqi did not let the Fourth Prince in as he had done in the past.
"Please wait a moment, Fourth Prince. The Emperor is discussing important matters with Lord Baili inside and has specifically instructed that no one is allowed to enter and disturb them." The eunuch guarding the gate explained.
The Fourth Prince frowned and said, "I'm here to grind ink for the Emperor, not just anyone else. Let me in!"
But this time, the young eunuch was firm: "The emperor has said that we can only enter after Lord Baili leaves."
The Fourth Prince gritted his teeth unwillingly.
If he wasn't allowed in, he could only wait. He paced back and forth in front of the door anxiously, and from time to time, when the young eunuch wasn't paying attention, he would put his ear to the door to listen.
After half an hour, Lord Baili came out.
The Fourth Prince was about to step in when he heard Xia Zhengqi's voice: "I'm going to change my clothes. Chengyue, please wait a moment."
After saying that, Xia Zhengqi walked out of the study. Debao was not there, so the eunuch guarding the door followed Xia Zhengqi to the dressing room at the back.
The Fourth Prince felt his heart beating like thunder.
At this time, there was no one in the imperial study, and he was panicked and at a loss.
After hesitating for several times, he finally stepped into the house and closed the door behind him.
Not long after, he walked out again quickly.
Xia Zhengqi had just returned from changing clothes and saw the Fourth Prince still waiting outside the door. He said, "Chengyue, come in and grind some ink for me."
But this afternoon, the Fourth Prince Yanmo was absent-minded. He stayed for less than half an hour before saying he had a stomachache and leaving.
Xia Zhengqi took out the route map from the table, examined it carefully, and found a few stains of ink on it. He smiled with satisfaction.
…
The next day happened to be a day off.
Early in the morning, the Fourth Prince dressed up and took a carriage to Fanyin Temple.
In the Fanyin Temple, Liang Chaozong, dressed as a eunuch, had been waiting for a long time.
Seeing the Fourth Prince rushing over triumphantly, Liang Chaozong beamed, "Cheng Yue is here. How's it going? Did you succeed?"
The Fourth Prince raised his head proudly: "Well, I got it."
As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper from his arms, unfolded it and handed it to Liang Chaozong.
"Time is too tight, I just made a rough sketch, I don't know if it will work."
Liang Chaozong took the route map in his hand and read it over and over again, his mouth grinning with joy: "Yes! This is already very good."
"Chengyue, uncle never thought that you, at such a young age, could complete the task so well! You are truly uncle's treasure!"
The virtuous concubine stood aside, also overjoyed.
Liang Chaozong placed his hands on the Fourth Prince's shoulders and said sincerely, "When the day comes that our Daliang is restored, your uncle will make you a Duke and let you enjoy wealth and glory!"
…
Ever since the day Xia Miaoyuan and the Queen went to see Xia Zhengqi and discovered the abnormality of the Fourth Prince, Xia Miaoyuan has been worried.
[I don't know what's going on with the Fourth Prince, or whether the Emperor has stepped up his precautions.]
If that kid steals even one or two secrets, it will be a huge loss for Daxia.
[Hey! God bless you, I hope the Emperor will be more careful about the Fourth Prince.]
Listening to her daughter's worried voice, the queen felt both distressed and endearing.
She wanted to tell her daughter about Xia Zhengqi's plan, but she couldn't say it out loud.
While he was thinking hard, the palace maid announced that the fifth prince had arrived.
"Sister, fifth brother is here to play with you!" The fifth prince jumped into the flower hall of Kunning Palace.
"Look, the eunuch in my palace made this out of hemp rope. He said cats like it the most."
The fifth prince held a round object in his hand and handed it to Xiamen Bank.
"Cat scratching board!" Xia Miaoyuan called in a baby voice.
"Isn't this just a modern cat scratching post? I didn't expect this thing existed in ancient times." Xia Miaoyuan thought to herself.
"Cat scratching post?" The fifth prince scratched his head in confusion.
Could it be that in the fairy world, the gods call this hemp rope a cat scratching board?
Xia Miaoyuan ran to his room with his short legs and picked up the little orange who was sleeping in the cat's bed.
"Little Orange, Brother Wu has brought you a cat scratching post. Don't sleep any longer."
Little Orange opened his sleepy eyes, sniffed the cat scratching post with little interest, tilted his head, lay down on the spot and fell asleep again.
"Lazy cat!" Xia Miaoyuan exclaimed angrily.
"Chengshun, bring your sister here for some snacks!" the queen called softly.
The brother and sister put down the small oranges and sat at the table to eat snacks.
Xia Miaoyuan's eyes suddenly turned, as if he remembered something, and asked, "Where's Third Brother? Why didn't he come to see me?"
The third prince and the fifth prince still live in the same palace, so they often come to see Xia Miaoyuan together after school.
The Fifth Prince chewed some snacks while saying, "Don't mention it. He felt dizzy again this afternoon and asked for leave a long time ago to go back to Fuyang Palace to lie down."
Xia Miaoyuan slapped his thigh: "It's broken!"
[I heard from the Emperor that a while ago, Third Brother was always dizzy, so the Fourth Prince took the initiative to grind ink for him. It must be the Fourth Prince who did something to Third Brother.]
[It seems that the Emperor has not discovered the Fourth Prince's tricks at all.]
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