"Does Your Highness still remember what you told me right after the fifteenth?" Yin Qingyi was being coy, deliberately not saying it outright, wanting Yinzhen to guess.
"Fifteen?...You mean the peach grove? I had my men investigate, but they haven't found anything yet. I'll definitely tell you as soon as I do. Are you angry about this? Alright, don't be angry. I'll have my men speed things up tomorrow and find it for you as quickly as possible, okay?" Yinzhen thought carefully for a while before remembering this matter. His heart skipped a beat. To be honest, he hadn't really thought about it because he was quite averse to contact with this little woman. This made him feel uneasy, but he certainly couldn't say that now that she had asked. Otherwise, she would explode. However, he had promised to do it anyway. He decided to have his men search for it tomorrow, but speeding up the search was impossible. He would just have to search slowly and hopefully never find it.
"Oh? Is that so? Why do I feel like Your Highness is just brushing me off? Did Your Highness really send someone to look for him?" Yin Qingyi saw through the guilty look on Yinzhen's calm face at a glance. It seemed that Yinzhen had guessed something.
"...Qingqing is truly clever; you can't hide anything from me. Yes, I didn't send anyone to look for it, but it really wasn't intentional. There have been so many things happening in court these past six months; I just forgot for a moment. Qingqing, don't be angry, really. I'll have Su Peisheng pass on the message to my subordinates tomorrow, no, right now. Su Peisheng!" Yinzhen's eyes flickered slightly, and he immediately changed his story. He didn't even give Yin Qingyi a chance to respond before directly calling Su Peisheng in.
"Your servant is here. What are your orders, Master?" Su Peisheng immediately entered. It was impossible for him not to have heard anything outside. The two masters were speaking in such a low voice that he couldn't possibly have missed it.
"Go and tell your men right now to find some special peach orchards for your Master Yin, and speed up the search, understand?" Yinzhen said to Su Peisheng directly in front of Yin Qingyi.
"Yes, this servant will go immediately." Su Peisheng took his leave, but he knew perfectly well that his master didn't really want them to speed things up. The tone of his "Do you understand?" was clearly a reminder to let his men search slowly. He had served his master for so many years; if he didn't understand his master's meaning, he would have lived in vain. However, Su Peisheng was very curious. His master said this to Master Yin's face, but secretly didn't want to search for Master Yin. Why was that? It was just a peach grove; his master shouldn't be acting this way if it could make Master Yin smile. It was truly strange.
Yin Qingyi watched Yinzhen's actions from the side and understood in her heart that Yinzhen didn't want to find her a husband, but it didn't matter, she still had her brother. Fortunately, she still had her brother. Thinking this, the expression on Yin Qingyi's face calmed down; she didn't want to act with Yinzhen.
"Is Qingqing still angry?" Yinzhen looked at Yin Qingyi's indifferent expression with some confusion. Hadn't he already sent people to look for her?
"My lord, I'm a little tired and want to sleep. You have many things to attend to, so please leave." Yin Qingyi raised her eyes, her emotions subdued, and said calmly.
"Alright, then you should get some rest. I'll head back now." Yinzhen frowned, staring intently at Yin Qingyi for a long while before speaking. After saying that, he got up and left. He wasn't exactly known for his good temper, and his accommodating attitude towards Yin Qingyi was solely because he loved her. But now he was also angry, yet he couldn't bear to vent his anger on this little woman, so he could only leave to avoid them arguing if they continued talking.
Yin Qingyi watched Yinzhen leave, her eyelashes lowered. It wasn't that she couldn't see how much Yinzhen cared for her, but this caring wasn't what she wanted. Yinzhen's care carried the shackles of this era; when he cared for someone, he wanted to keep that person by his side forever, giving them no chance to escape. Therefore, Yin Qingyi was conflicted. During their time together, she had developed feelings for Yinzhen. Her search for Taolin wasn't about leaving Yinzhen; she simply wanted more power to protect herself. Now, Yinzhen was still a prince, and even his residence was so fraught with danger. Once Yinzhen became emperor, the harem would be even more perilous than this prince's residence.
More than a month has passed since Yinzhen left Yin Qingyi's place that night, and the weather has begun to cool down, and autumn has arrived.
They thought life would continue peacefully, but one day the gates of the mansion were suddenly surrounded by the Imperial Guards, who forbade anyone to enter or leave, and the entire Prince's mansion was thrown into chaos.
"Master, Master, something terrible has happened!" Little Jinzi stumbled in, his face filled with shock and fear.
"Speak properly, the master is fine! What happened?" Granny Naqi scolded Xiao Jinzi loudly before asking.
"The gate of the mansion is surrounded by the Imperial Guards!" Little Jinzi shouted.
"What did you say? What happened?" Yin Qingyi frowned as she looked at Xiao Jinzi.
"This servant doesn't know either. It was someone from the front courtyard who told me that people are only allowed to enter the mansion now, but not leave!" Xiao Jinzi shook his head. He had run back immediately as soon as he received the news.
"Xiao Jinzi, go to the front yard and find Su Xiaobao. Tell him to move all the servants from the front yard to the back yard, and to surround every inhabited courtyard, making sure no one leaves!" Although Yin Qingyi didn't know what had happened, the mansion couldn't be in chaos right now, and the back yard even more so!
"Yes, yes, this servant will go right away!" Little Jinzi immediately withdrew and headed towards the front yard.
"Master." Granny Qi was a little flustered. What on earth had happened? The Imperial Guards had actually been mobilized to surround the mansion.
"Don't worry, Granny. The fact that they're just surrounding us and haven't taken anyone means it's not as serious as we think. We'll just wait for Master to come back in the manor." Yin Qingyi comforted Granny Qi. Actually, she wasn't entirely calm either, but at this moment, she was the most powerful person in the manor. If she panicked, what would happen to the manor?
Yin Qingyi tried hard to recall all the major events that had happened that year, but she couldn't think of anything that would turn out this way. In history, apart from the deaths of Suo'etu and Prince Yu, there were no other major events that year. The plot was out of control, and Yin Qingyi was completely in the dark.
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