At dawn, Qingyan left the Cao residence in his sleep. At the same time, Kangxi's imperial edict arrived in the capital, marking a complete break in the relationship between Tong Guogang and Tong Guowei. Tong Guogang was ordered to supervise the division of Tong Guowei's family lineage in accordance with the edict.
A few days later, the news of Tong Guowei's lineage splitting up spread to the ears of the princes.
When Yin received the message, he was holding Qingyan's hand and writing down his feelings. Upon seeing the message, he couldn't help but smile.
"Little darling, let's have hot pot today!" Yin was in a great mood; Fei Yanggu's decision was right.
"Okay!" Qingyan clapped her little paws and called out to Sulan repeatedly. "Go prepare the pot. I remember there were some bullfrogs that came in this morning. Don't cook them; make hot pot from them all!"
Qingyan's eyes lit up, and she prepared to do it herself.
"Come back, Sulan, you do it yourself!" Yin looked at the little guy's eager look, then looked down at the Buddhist scriptures on the table and was a little annoyed.
"Fourth... Fourth..." Qingyan looked at Fourth with a wronged expression. She hadn't done anything at all.
Yin tapped the Buddhist scriptures on the table with her right index finger and stuck out her tongue.
Waaaaah!
Qingyan covered her face with a small handkerchief and snuggled up to him, leaning against him. This was clearly disrespectful to Buddha!
Previously, she had only uttered one sentence: "Bald monk, give me back my nun!"
She was then held in Yin's arms and made to sit comfortably. He picked up the brush in his right hand and began his journey of copying scriptures.
"Calm down and copy the scriptures, don't just think about eating!" Yin whispered in her ear.
Since Qingyan came to his side, he has eaten many things he had never seen before. Even when the Northwest Army was on a campaign, there were no more cases of people going hungry, even without the Ministry of Revenue's military pay. This not only relieved a lot of pressure on the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, but also gave the local people who were fighting a war an extra source of income.
"Fourth Prince, shall we finish eating first and then order more?" Qingyan blinked, hoping that Yin would stop nagging.
"Really, you'll write after you finish eating?" Yin had long since stopped believing her. He had been fooled many times before; after dinner, the little guy rarely stayed awake for more than two hours.
Qingyan pouted, knowing that Yin must have disliked her.
"Fourth Prince, I promise I'll finish copying it for you. Can you let me eat whatever I want?" Yin had given her a lot of instructions about what she couldn't eat, and now that she was finally out of Kangxi's sight, she wanted to satisfy her cravings.
Looking at the pitiful-looking person, Yin couldn't help but feel a little soft-hearted.
"Under the Emperor..."
"I certainly won't tell Father Emperor and Mother Emperor, and the crabs... let's secretly use them ourselves!" The shopkeeper reported that the first batch of crabs had already been put on the market, and the difference between them and the ones that had been sent in was only one day.
"Alright, don't tell your elder brother!" Yin was worried about Yin.
Qingyan nodded her little head, her face beaming with smiles.
When dinner was served, Qingyan immediately got up from Yin's lap and ran over. Sulan had already had two small hot pots prepared; hers was a spicy bullfrog hot pot, and the other's was a spicy hot pot.
On the table were slices of mutton and beef, as well as their favorite vegetables and dishes; even the noodles had been replaced with potato noodles.
"Isn't this noodles?" Yin walked over and noticed the potato noodles.
"Yes, Fourth Prince, try this." Qingyan strongly recommended it. It usually comes with sweet potato vermicelli. She said that potato vermicelli has never appeared in the capital. On the way to the Northwest, she saw yam vermicelli and directly asked the people in the imperial kitchen to learn how to make it.
"Sulan, go get those thin noodles." Yin looked at the potato noodles and thought of hand-pulled noodles; he had really had his fill of them during that period.
She pouted as she ate the bullfrog in her pot. Yin glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
"Little darling, you absolutely cannot use this dish if it's served outside, understand?" Yin said helplessly.
Qingyan smiled obsequiously, picked up another pair of chopsticks, and started rinsing vegetables for Yin in the clear broth. The vegetables were rinsed with white sugar, which was considered an order from Kangxi.
"I know, Sisi, this is meat too!" Qingyan didn't understand why so many people said that these were specially raised by merchants and were not caught in the wild, and that even if they were released back into nature, they would not be able to survive.
"Yes, the concubines will all think you are too cruel." Yin dipped the seafood in the sauce and fed it to Qingyan.
In private, Yin still took care of Xiao Guai just like he did when she was a child. He would often feed her himself. Sometimes, he would feel sorry for the little girl because she had never liked eating proper meals since she was a child. Even the steamed buns had to have fillings that Qingyan liked, otherwise the girl would definitely not eat any of them.
"I know, I'm not greedy." Qingyan smiled. "Besides, I don't have a strong palate."
After dinner, there was still a lot of food left on the table, so Yin had it disposed of. This was prepared by Su Lan, and they didn't need to avoid certain foods. However, in front of outsiders, they still needed to be more discreet.
"This servant will handle it personally!" Su Peisheng followed him out, and it was only after he handled it himself that the problem was solved.
Yin instructed Su Peisheng to handle the matter, ensuring that no one would have any leverage against him.
"Why should Su Peisheng handle this?" Qingyan was puzzled; this didn't seem normal.
"Little darling, we have to be careful about everything when we're out here," Yin whispered. "Su Lan prepared these dishes herself, and they're mostly things we like to eat. If outsiders find out, they might tamper with them."
Qingyan was well aware of the royal family's rule of "no more than three times" and didn't want others to know her preferences.
"I understand. I will definitely be careful from now on!" Qingyan's face tightened, and she nodded seriously.
Qingyan had to admit that Yin's thinking was even more meticulous.
"Fourth Brother, do we have to be this tired when we eat in Jiangnan?" Qingyan covered her head, feeling incessantly resentful.
Yin nodded. It was only to ensure the safety of the entire group. Neither Kangxi nor Consort Tong dared to object. As long as it was arranged by the Cao family, Kangxi dared not make any further demands.
"It's not that we're tired, it's that we have to be careful." Yin was worried about who might be around them, so he had to be cautious.
"Okay, shall we still go to the night market?" Yesterday, Yin said he wanted to go to the night market, since this place shouldn't be connected to the north.
"Let's go for a stroll!" Yin went inside to change into his outdoor clothes and went out with Qingyan, who was dressed in Hanfu.
After coming out, Qingyan followed local customs and put on Hanfu, not much different from the local women.
"The women here rarely go out, so you must follow me when you go to the night market!" Yin ordered the people from the Sticky Pole Office to follow him closely, and Tu Lichen's subordinates also turned from covert to overt and became his guards.
Surrounded by two layers of guards, if Xiao Guai gets into trouble again, these guards should all be relieved of their duties.
"Fourth Prince, Cao Yin will definitely clean up the mess. Father and Mother often go out, and if they run into some unrelated people, won't Father be angry?" Consort Tong wears Hanfu in private, and with her outstanding appearance, she will definitely attract a lot of attention when she goes out.
"Father Emperor will have Tulichen secretly deal with those people. Who would dare to see Mother in private?" Yinzhi had secretly followed Kangxi and witnessed the two of them together outside and inside the palace; his heart ached. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
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