After lunch, Yin did his homework in the study, while Qingyan leaned back on the soft couch, happily eating snacks at the small snack table, holding a storybook in her hand, preparing to pass the time.
Suddenly, a thought struck her: she could see what was happening in the Cining Palace. Should she peek inside?
Her little face drooped. Kangxi was still there. If it weren't for Yin's approval, she would definitely have been harmed by the dragon's aura.
"If you want to see it, then see it. There's nothing to hide about that!" Yin said dismissively without even looking up.
"Fourth Prince, you're so kind! Have a peach!" Qingyan used her purse as a cover to take out a pink peach and quickly tossed it to Yin.
He caught a glimpse of her little gesture out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything more. Xiao Guai knew her limits, so that was fine.
"No loud noises allowed!" Yin took a bite of the peach; it was indeed sweet from the space.
Qingyan chuckled as she watched his unrefined way of eating.
Holding the small bronze mirror, she looked at the state of Cining Palace. Seeing Dong E's miserable expression, she finally felt relieved.
Has she changed too?
The Empress Dowager's eyes concealed both scheming and joy. For many years, two emperors had suppressed the Khorchin.
She watched the scene in the mirror as if it were a TV drama. The scenes made her more cautious. This was the imperial harem, not a TV drama or a game. If she was framed or schemed against, there would be no chance to get back.
The clock in the study struck the hour. She rubbed her dry eyes. It was already four o'clock in the afternoon. Counting the time, Dong Eshi had been kneeling for several hours.
"Little darling, stop looking. I'll escort you out of the palace. Your fourth uncle is waiting for you at the palace gate!" Yin helped Qingyan put on her flowerpot shoes, took her little hand, and walked step by step toward the palace gate.
Walking along the narrow palace corridor, the setting sun shone on her, and she felt somewhat lost. The bright red palace walls and bright yellow glazed tiles around her seemed to pull Qingyan back to the modern era.
The sounds of eunuchs and palace maids bustling about on both sides of the palace path, offering their greetings, brought her back to reality.
She felt a sharp pain in her wrist. Looking up, she saw a bitter look in Yin's eyes. What was Qingyan looking at?
"Fourth Prince, I want to go home!" Qingyan remembered that someone said you should never linger on the palace road after sunset, because that was the last time for Yinqi.
"Hmm!" He felt relieved when he felt Qingyan's hand return his grip.
At the palace gate, Fei Yanggu and his two sons waited anxiously for Xiao Guai to appear. They were on tenterhooks all day, fearing that Xiao Guai might touch upon the Empress Dowager's inner conflict.
Before the Meridian Gate, Yin personally escorted Qingyan onto the carriage and then came to Feiyanggu's side.
"Fourth Uncle, don't let Xiao Guai leave the manor recently. Things aren't so easy to resolve!" If Dong E Shi were to become desperate, she might say something unpleasant about Xiao Guai.
"Don't worry, Fourth Master, my daughter is Phaeton's own!" Fei Yanggu smiled.
Compared to the Dong'e family, the Ulanara family has a greater influence and more covert intelligence channels.
"Little darling, I'll come see you during my day off!" Yin led Su Peisheng towards the meeting place.
Qingyan tilted her head, looking at her resolute back, and felt at ease.
On the carriage, Fei Yanggu looked at Xiao Guai. All day long, he and his sons were on tenterhooks, afraid that the little guy would be tricked again.
The Empress Dowager finally saw the reality and didn't continue to make things difficult for Consort Tong and Qingyan.
She sensed that her father and brothers were in a bad mood, so she sat obediently to the side.
"Little darling, when you get back, give everyone around you a thorough cleaning up. You absolutely cannot allow your embroidery to leak out!" Fei Yanggu took out a silk handkerchief from his purse. It was a gift from Fuquan, who said it was placed in the room of a certain Manchu playboy.
Fei Yanggu's eyes blazed with anger; she was somewhat bewildered. This was...
"Father, was it stolen from me?" Qingyan recalled that when she was embroidering, all the needlework was kept in her spatial storage, and only a small amount given to Fei Yanggu and others was left outside.
Fei Yanggu nodded; it looked like it was embroidered for the three of them.
She took the purse and looked at it over and over several times, then couldn't help but laugh.
"Father, I didn't embroider this." When Qingyan was doing needlework, she had a habit that outsiders didn't know: when finishing a stitch, she would simply add a ruyi knot with fine silk thread. To outsiders, it was just a normal finishing touch.
Fei Yanggu and his two sons were stunned. It wasn't Xiao Guai who embroidered it?
“Father, everyone has their own embroidered mark, and so do I.” Qingyan pouted, feeling that Fei Yanggu and E Shuo were not paying attention to her, otherwise how could she have made such a fool of herself?
Qingyan turned her gaze to Saito. Wasn't he doing disaster relief?
“You had just returned when the Empress Dowager’s decree was issued, and Gari took over the disaster relief work,” Saito explained.
"Gali? Isn't Niohuru Gali the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi?" Qingyan was a little puzzled, as there was still a difference between Guangdong and Guangxi and Zhili.
Fei Yanggu and the other two exchanged glances; she had chosen the wrong person.
“No, Gali is His Majesty’s man. The one who took over the matter is Borjigit Gali, who is the only Mongol minister among the Mongol tribes who stands on the throne in the Golden Palace by virtue of his own basin-like position,” Saito explained to Qingyan in a low voice.
Her eyes widened in disbelief; the situation they had worked so hard to create had been ruined by the Empress Dowager.
"Does His Majesty not care?" Qingyan was furious, her little face puffed up with resentment.
"You weren't given any trouble, were you?" Fei Yanggu asked.
At this moment, Qingyan had mixed feelings; so many disaster victims had brought peace to the three of them.
“My dear, when you’re in a high position, you shouldn’t be thinking about the gains and losses of a few thousand disaster victims, but about the whole world.” E Shuo felt sorry for her.
The world!
She lowered her head and looked at her small hands. Family, country, and the world—this is always the hardest choice to make.
"I understand, Father, I want to eat out!" Qingyan composed herself and began to whine to Fei Yanggu.
Fei Yanggu poked her forehead with his hand, which was his way of agreeing.
Since their return, the family has not had a single meal together, and the loyalty of the servants in the new house is still under investigation.
"What do you want to eat?" Fei Yanggu looked at his youngest daughter. At home, they all followed Qingyan's wishes, but in public, she had to learn to compromise.
"Let's go to Yuelai Inn." Xiao Guai liked it there. She often made modern dishes with the ingredients she had on hand, modified them to suit the Manchu tastes, and put them at Yuelai Inn, attracting many repeat customers.
"You little money-grubber!" Fei Yanggu shook his head helplessly. Xiao Guai had handed over all the shares of Yue Lai Inn to the old house, hoping the family could save a lot of money. However, Fei Yanggu told A Dun to take the dividends from the shares to the new house's treasury. The salaries of the three of them, plus the last one, were enough to support those people. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
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