"What does it mean?" Bai asked.
"It shows that the prince doesn't take the Meng family seriously at all. So, this is our chance. Just wait and see. With Madam Hai and that person in the outer courtyard, our future will only get smoother and smoother. If I can get the prince to pay more attention to me and come to our Huamu Garden, or even if the prince lets me serve in the outer courtyard or at least in Bibo Hall, then I want to see what the Meng family can do to me."
Bai looked at Xiaolin's smug expression and raised the corners of her mouth slightly.
------
When Meng Qi looked up, she saw Shitou coming into the yard and greeting Yuanyue who was standing in the corridor.
"During this period, there are a lot of things to do. If you feel that you don't have enough manpower, especially for things outside, go find Shitou or Marda. They can always do it more conveniently than you."
Wang Chenghai responded softly, watching Shitou coming in from outside. "Shitou is coming in at this time, maybe there's something important going on?"
Meng Qi retracted her gaze and nodded, "Go and ask him to come in. Wait a moment and discuss anything with Shitou, especially regarding Lin's return to the Lin family tomorrow. You must thoroughly investigate the things I assigned you to do."
"Yes." Wang Chenghai bowed and went out. Without waiting for San Ya to come in and report, he directly let Shi Tou enter the main room.
"Princess, I'm here to tell you about the last time I prepared a birthday gift for the Crown Prince's wife." Shi Tou said respectfully.
Meng Qi looked at Shi Tou and then remembered this incident. It had been a long time since Shi Tou mentioned it today, and she would have forgotten about it.
Lixia and Suxin had thoroughly thought through the entire process of preparing Wang's birthday gift, and there wasn't a single person or place to suspect anything. She had also asked Shitou to consider whether someone had seen him framing his birthday gift, but Shitou's report back revealed no one knew anything. Meng Qi attributed Song Chengze's knowledge to the Gao family's knowledge of the Marquis of Huainan's mansion; after all, prying into inner-city affairs wasn't uncommon among prominent families.
What is strange is that the marginalized Huainan Marquis Mansion can actually be paid attention to by the Queen's family, and it was said through Gao Yang's mouth.
"Did you find anything?" Meng Qi asked.
Shitou first glanced at Wang Chenghai, and seeing that Meng Qi had no intention of letting him leave, he said softly, "Yes, I was coming back from Brother Lin's place yesterday, and I passed by the shop where I framed your calligraphy last time. I went there quite often when I was framing that calligraphy, and I even stayed there overnight, so I'm familiar with the owner and the employees. When I was passing by, I happened to see the owner sending someone out, so we chatted for a while. He said that the afternoon I left with the birthday gift, someone went to ask what I was framing there."
Meng Qi was stunned and looked at Shi Tou, "Do they know each other?"
Shitou shook his head. "Because of your instructions, I didn't tell them who made it when I went there. The people in the shop didn't know I was from the palace. So, when people went to inquire about it, they didn't tell them where it came from. They just asked them what I sent in and what it was for, etc."
After saying this, Shitou said a little embarrassedly, "Because you asked me not to mention it was from our mansion, and didn't mention anything else, when I sent it to be framed, the clerk asked what it was for. I said my wife wanted to give it to her mother for her birthday, and the shopkeeper even praised our generosity."
Meng Qi stood up, walked to the window, and opened it wider. "What did that person ask?"
"That's what he was asking. He was asking the clerk. He just said he'd been here a couple of days before and was looking for gifts, but he didn't know what to give. He saw me, who'd also been there two days before, leaving with a bag this morning, so he wanted to ask what I was buying so they could compare. The clerk had already told him when the shopkeeper tried to stop him. So, yesterday, the shopkeeper saw me passing by and stopped me to ask, perhaps because he didn't want to cause any trouble for us."
Meng Qi hummed, "But can you tell me what that person looks like?"
Shitou glanced outside and said, "I asked. The shopkeeper said he was not tall, dressed very neatly and respectably, with a pale face and no beard. He was thin, with a pair of very lively eyes, and there was no strange odor in his mouth when he spoke. He gave people the impression that he was a young master from a wealthy family. He also bought two jade pendants before leaving."
Meng Qi frowned, "Have you thought of anything?"
Shitou said, "No, there is no such person around me. The shopkeeper also said that the man had a black mole on his chin with a long hair growing on it."
Mole? Hair? Meng Qi went to see Wang Chenghai.
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