After learning about Hongshi's situation from Xiangning at Zuixianglou, Ninth Master lost his appetite for entertainment and hurriedly left the brothel to return home.
Ninth Prince thought he must tell Eighth Prince about this immediately, but since Fourth Prince ascended the throne, Eighth Prince and Ninth Prince had barely escaped death and were unwilling to give Fourth Prince any more leverage to deal with them in the future. Therefore, neither of them dared to have as close a relationship as before.
Ninth Master was anxious and torn: "If Eighth Brother knew about Hongshi's matter, he would come up with a solution. But we definitely can't go to Eighth Brother's residence right now. Is there any way to inform Eighth Brother in time..."
Seeing this, the servant reminded him, "Master, I haven't been to the antique shop much lately. I suppose the Emperor's spies have relaxed their vigilance. Can we use the antique shop now?"
Ninth Master was delighted. The servant's words had reminded him that Eighth and Ninth Masters had previously used a small antique shop in the capital as a point of contact to maintain secret communication. Later, because Fourth Master had people watching their movements, they became much more discreet. Now it seemed that the antique shop could come in handy.
"How could I forget this? Inform the Eighth Brother's Mansion according to the original plan. I'll write a letter right now and you can deliver it to the antique shop..." Ninth Master picked up his pen and wrote a letter, carefully putting it in an envelope. To avoid suspicion, he even wrote someone else's name on the envelope.
The servant took the letter, and Ninth Master, still not entirely at ease, instructed: "Be extra careful. This matter is of utmost importance. Make sure it reaches Eighth Brother's men, and remember not to reveal any flaws..."
The servant nodded solemnly and left.
At the entrance of the Eighth Prince's mansion, people came and went as usual, nothing special, except for a vegetable vendor carrying two baskets who walked to the mansion and stopped to rest.
Upon closer inspection, one basket was full of vegetables, while the other was empty. The vegetable vendor sat for a while, then called out his wares at the door for a bit more before leaving.
The steward of the Eighth Prince's mansion rushed to find the Eighth Prince, who was still feeding the birds and admiring the flowers. He was very annoyed by the steward's behavior: "What's the rush? The birds are frightened..."
The butler bowed apologetically and whispered, "There's news from the antique shop..."
Eighth Master stopped feeding the child, turned his head and asked curiously, "Did you see it clearly?"
The butler looked up and replied, "Look carefully, sir, is it..."
Eighth Prince pondered for a moment, then said, "His Majesty has finally relaxed his vigilance towards us. If anything goes wrong now, it might be difficult to escape..."
The steward followed behind the Eighth Prince and said, "In your opinion, we should pretend we didn't see anything. We can't risk offending the Emperor at this time..."
Eighth Master paused, raised an arm, and slowly said, "No... the more dangerous the situation, the more useful the information. We should still send someone to the antique shop. It's best to be cautious in everything. If anything seems suspicious, we should retreat immediately..."
The butler bowed slightly, acknowledged the order, and then left.
Antique shop.
The men sent by Eighth Master and Ninth Master entered the antique shop one after the other. They first examined the items in the shop for a while, and then pretended to bargain with the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper made up an excuse and invited the two men into the inner room.
Ninth Master's men took out the letter from the inner room and personally handed it to Eighth Master's men.
After Eighth Master's men came out, they casually bought some things inside the hall and then left the antique shop.
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