After Zhou Qiongyue and the other three finished their meal, they all went their separate ways. Zhou Qiongyue was very happy because she had eaten for free and hadn't spent her fifth brother's money.
Moreover, the news about the drought had a source, so if she wanted to save something in the future, she could use this as an excuse.
Although the Second Prince didn't believe it at the moment, Zhou Qiongyue guessed that Xie Zixin's position would definitely be stable if the drought came as expected in two years!
But Xie Zixin didn’t know whether this kind of stability was what she wanted.
Xie Zixin thought she had something on Zhou Qiongyue, and she was happy! But when her excitement subsided, she realized that it was the same whether she had it or not.
She couldn't tell anyone, and even less could she confront Zhou Qiongyue, as that would expose her as well. She could only be happy by herself.
Besides, she didn't want to appear in front of Zhou Qiongyue for the time being. She still remembered how she acted like a wife in front of Zhou Qiongyue in her previous life. Now she was also a concubine. Just thinking about it made her hate Duan Jianing even more.
However, Zhou Zhiquan was absent-minded the whole time and didn't talk much to Zhou Qiongyue. Zhou Qiongyue knew what he was thinking, and she didn't disturb her fifth brother from thinking.
When they both returned to the Marquis' Mansion, Zhou Zhiquan did not go to the front yard, but instead followed Zhou Qiongyue directly to her Qiongyue Pavilion.
Zhou Qiongyue looked at her fifth brother, who had already sat down but still looked daydreamy, with amusement, "Come on, fifth brother, have a cup of tea made by your sister."
After Zhou Zhiquan came to his senses, he took the teacup from his sister with both hands and asked Zhou Qiongyue seriously, "Sister, do you think what Miss Xie said is true?"
Zhou Qiongyue waved her hand to let the servants around her go away, and then she replied seriously, "I think it's true. Miss Xie had some adventures."
"Is this impossible?" Zhou Zhiquan looked at the lively courtyard and couldn't imagine the scenes described by Miss Xie and the missing children.
Zhou Qiongyue knew that Fifth Brother had already believed it and just wanted to find a companion. She slowly expressed her opinion, "It's better to believe it than not to believe it! Fifth Brother, the farm you and eldest brother own should be used to grow grain for the next two years! Don't sell the grain, store it first! You'd better find a place to store it.
Even if there's a drought, we still have to survive, right? Even if there's no drought, we won't lose anything. We can sell it in two years and not lose much money.
"Listen to me, sister, but don't tell anyone else about this matter, or you might get into trouble." In Zhou Zhiquan's heart, nothing is more important than his sister's safety.
Zhou Qiongyue knew Fifth Brother was doing this for her own good, so she nodded obediently. She hadn't planned anything recently. She was just planning to wait until the autumn harvest next year, then figure out a way to have Xie Zixin take the credit for this great achievement. This would give Yuan An a legitimate rumor.
If only the grain seller that year had hesitated, with a year's worth of grain in reserve, perhaps they could have survived! As for those who didn't believe it, Zhou Qiongyue felt that this was their fate!
She wasn't someone with great abilities, and couldn't save everyone. Even so, she still had to plan carefully.
Last time, she just twitched her right eye, and the emperor wanted to take her to the second prince's backyard to be a concubine. She couldn't let this kind of thing happen again and enter the emperor's sight.
Unlike Zhou Zhiquan who was as if facing a formidable enemy, the second prince patiently sent Xie Zixin back home and even said a lot of sweet words to her. The two of them were reluctant to part and entangled for a long time.
Then he carried a bag of snacks he had bought outside the palace and went straight to the emperor's study.
When the second prince arrived at the imperial study, the emperor was summoning ministers.
The eunuch beside the emperor, Eunuch He, immediately came forward to greet the Second Prince upon seeing him. "Greetings, Second Prince. Please go to the side hall and wait for a moment. The emperor is busy."
The second prince smiled and went over to help eunuch He, who was paying his respects, up. He was a favorite of his father, and the second prince always treated people around him with courtesy.
As the saying goes, it's easy to meet the King of Hell, but hard to deal with the little devils. The Second Prince didn't want to offend them either. "Thank you, Eunuch He. I'll go down to the side hall and wait. Please inform the emperor when he's free and tell him that I want to chat with him."
"Don't worry, Second Prince. I will report the truth." Eunuch He replied with a smile as he led the Second Prince to the side hall, not forgetting to instruct the people beside him to serve tea and snacks.
The second prince didn't have to wait long in the side hall before he received the summons from his father.
As soon as the Second Prince entered, he bowed respectfully, "Your Highness, your son greets you!"
The emperor looked at the memorial and said without raising his head, "Get up! Didn't your mother say you were leaving the palace today? Why did you think of me again?"
The Second Prince stood up quickly, without looking for a seat. Instead, he sat down at the Emperor's feet, his back against the dragon table, and raised the snacks he was holding in his hand and asked, "Would Your Majesty like to have some snacks from outside the palace?"
The emperor shook his head. At his age, he no longer had any interest in eating outside the palace. He kicked the second prince and said, "Go sit on the chair. What's wrong with you?"
"Alas, there are no outsiders here, so please let me sit here for a while. I encountered a thorny matter today and was thinking about it!"
When the Second Prince interacts with his father, he always acts with a lot of casualness in his manner.
The emperor also had a lot of fatherly love for the second prince, the kind of child who cries gets candy. Hearing his son say this, he hesitated for a moment, and finally sighed and put down the memorial in his hand.
The emperor looked at his son at his feet and couldn't help but kick him lightly with his foot. "Tell me! What happened to you?"
The second prince wanted to ask his father, but he also knew the seriousness of the matter, and if he was not careful, he might get beaten.
So he pressed the issue, "That depends on your father's status. If you're listening as a father, I'll tell you everything I know. But if you're listening as the Emperor, please let me sit here for a while!"
The emperor really had no way to deal with this son. This son was really not afraid of him. Sometimes when they quarreled, his voice was even louder than his.
In reality, the Emperor wasn't interested in his son's love affairs; he was past the age of playfulness. He'd heard from the Empress today that his son had gone to see his concubine. What could have happened?
The emperor thought it was just a matter of love. But his son was worried, so as a father, he had to listen. "Alright, I'm listening as a father. Tell me now! Then get out of here! I'm busy!"
When the second prince heard that his father had agreed, he immediately repeated everything Xie Zixin had said today, word for word, except that he applied his cousin's curious expression to himself.
It’s not that he wanted to steal some of his cousin’s credit. He knew that his cousin didn’t want to marry into the royal family, so his cousin couldn’t be involved in such a mysterious matter.
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