The things that needed to be prepared for the eldest princess' birthday banquet were purchased mainly by Princess Qi Yang. Jiang Qingqing followed Princess Qi Yang and ran around the capital with the little princess, which helped her to thoroughly understand the local culture of Tianqi.

During this period, Jiang Qingqing also took time to return to the palace.

Considering what the master of the Xu family did to Jiang Chen last time in the Imperial College, Jiang Qingqing couldn't understand Empress Xu's actions more and more.

Is it that the queen mother, who seems to be kind and virtuous on the surface, secretly wants to kill the brother and sister for the sake of the eldest prince's position as crown prince?

Or is it that the actions of the Xu family have nothing to do with Empress Xu, and that Empress Xu is innocent?

Jiang Qingqing couldn't figure out what was going on for a while, so when facing Empress Xu, she often felt complicated and entangled.

However, this did not prevent Jiang Qingqing from secretly asking Empress Xu questions related to the timing of the palace seal.

The reason is also very legitimate. Who cares why a child asks a question?

In the palace, she first met the eldest prince in Empress Xu's palace. After the two brother and sister pretended to have a harmonious relationship, Jiang Qingqing went to Chuxiu Palace to meet Concubine Zhao, and got a lot of gold beans from the glittering Concubine Zhao.

Then he secretly followed Xin Juan and the others, got some small change from exchanging items for money, and boldly took a few large silver ingots from the warehouse.

The rich young woman returned with a lot of treasures and left the palace and went back to the eldest princess's residence.

In addition to being busy acting as a good girl to Empress Xu and Concubine Zhao in the palace, the busy Jiang Qingqing also had to act as a little cotton-padded jacket to the imperial aunt when she returned to the Princess's Mansion. She took care of the imperial aunt personally from time to time, which won her a lot of favor.

The fulfilling daily life kept Jiang Qingqing so busy that she had no time to rest. Every night when she returned home, she would fall asleep as soon as she lay down.

And today, three or four days before the eldest princess' birthday, there was finally movement at the gate of the princess's mansion.

The people in the front yard passed the message through layers of checkpoints, and the nanny in the back yard found Jiang Qingqing and said respectfully to the young prince: "There is a little girl at the gate of the mansion who said she wants to find your highness to express her gratitude."

The eldest princess thought that Jiang Qingqing had been out shopping these few days and had helped some poor little kid out of kindness, so she let Jiang Qingqing go without a care.

Compared to Xiao Linting's expression which never changed and his dark eyes which seemed to see through people's hearts, the eldest princess's big heart made her seem particularly easy to deal with.

She hurried to the door of the mansion and saw Xiaoke standing in the reception room with her sleeves tucked into her sleeves from a distance. She didn't dare sit down and just looked up at the furnishings in the house.

The little face was full of envy.

"Have you eaten yet?"

She walked into the hall and looked at Xiao Ke, but she didn't ask about the main business first. She sent Gan Yuan to get some cakes and sweet soup, leaving Gan Lin alone.

Xiaoke nodded. She watched Jiang Qingqing sit down, thought for a moment, and then sat down next to Jiang Qingqing.

"My sister said that it is better to deliver things after eating. If you don't eat, your brain will become stupid." Xiao Ke said as he stretched out his hand from his sleeve.

It was at this time that Jiang Qingqing saw that Xiaoke's hand, which had been tucked into his sleeve, was actually holding a medium-sized scroll sealed with oil paper.

"Have you found a good location for the store? Are things stable?"

Jiang Qingqing took the envelope and didn't open it in a hurry. She looked at Xiaoke's clothes, which were neither new nor old. After thinking for a while, she took out a simple-looking small bag from the pouch she had been wearing around her waist.

"It's all settled. When we opened the shop at the street corner, there were a few old customers. When they learned that we opened a shop at the crossroads, they invited new customers to come over for dinner! We were very busy these days. Xiaoke was so busy that he had no time to rest."

We talked about some topics that Xiaoke liked, and the little girl's face lit up with expression, which looked very cute.

"Have you decided on a place to live and stuff?" Jiang Qingqing asked casually when she saw Gan Yuan bringing the pastries over. She pushed the pastries towards Xiaoke.

Xiaoke whispered thank you to Gan Yuan, then reached out to take a piece of cake and ate it in small bites. His words were a little unclear, but fortunately he could be heard clearly.

"It's settled. We've reserved a room behind the shop. We don't have to pay for accommodation separately, which saves a lot of expenses."

The little girl ate quickly and finished a piece of cake in a short while.

"Sister said everything is fine. She came to see you because there was new progress," Xiao Ke stood up quickly, pointing at the plate of cakes, and said a little embarrassedly, "This plate of cakes is delicious. Can I take an extra portion back to Sister Jing?"

"You eat first. I'll have someone pack some cakes for you to take back to Yan Luo."

Jiang Qingqing likes this well-behaved child even more.

Today is also a day when I can’t help but take a detour.

Xiaoke responded promptly, and then after eating two or three pieces, he felt full and stopped eating.

Afterwards, Jiang Qingqing personally escorted Xiaoke out of the mansion and turned around with a slightly gloomy expression.

She knew Yan Luo's personality. If she hadn't found out anything important, she would never let Xiao Ke rush to deliver the letter in person.

She turned around and walked towards the backyard while opening the long letter in her hand, quickly unfolding the letter paper and glancing at the contents.

It said that there was a new movement in the shop at the intersection. Usually no one came to visit the shop, but the same person came several times in the past few days. During the conversation, Yanluo also described the characteristics of the person's clothing, appearance, and height.

"Your Highness, the backyard is just ahead." Gan Yuan looked at the hanging flower gate not far away, and then saw that the little prince was immersed in his own thoughts, so she couldn't help but remind him.

Jiang Qingqing quickly put away the letter, took a deep breath, turned around and looked at Gan Yuan with admiration in her eyes.

As the eldest princess' birthday date approaches, the mansion has been unusually lively these days. The servants in the mansion are decorating some old places in the mansion that need repair. Some people also come to set up the stage and make preparations for the birthday.

In short, there were many people around and the eldest princess was worried that others might have bad intentions towards the little girl Jiang Qingqing, so she arranged a separate route for her to return to the bedroom.

Back in the house, Jiang Qingqing didn't look much relaxed.

The shop at the crossroads is active again, which is a good thing for her, but the clues all lead to the palace... In a few days, it will be the eldest princess' birthday.

She was worried that the more lively the place was, the more dangerous it was.

Although it is not certain whether this person is Han Qiming, or whether the restless person is targeting them.

But this is not all good news.

Just when Jiang Qingqing was feeling uneasy, time still moved on and the eldest princess' birthday party finally arrived.