As time passed, Qingyan gradually lowered her guard, and neither the Jueluo clan nor Tong Guowei's wife commented on the matter.
As the Golden Offering Festival approached, Qingyan brought two sets of custom-made headdresses to the palace. One set was promised to Consort Tong and was intended for Madam Tong, while the other set was specially prepared for Consort Tong.
At the banquet for the Golden Festival, Consort Tong did not need to appear in palace attire. Therefore, the women all hoped to receive specially made headdresses from Linglong Pavilion. Some people would go to Linglong Pavilion to order them right after the Spring Festival.
“Mother…” As soon as Qingyan entered Chenggan Palace, she saw Madam Tong sitting upright to the side. Her face darkened. In the past few days, the Tong family had caused a lot of trouble at Linglong Pavilion, but Qingyan had not paid too much attention to it. She only hoped that the Tong family would stop causing trouble.
"Little darling, why are you here?" Consort Tong thought to herself that something was wrong. Just now, Madam Tong had been talking about Qingyan.
"In a couple of days, it will be the Golden Offering Festival. I've brought your jewelry; one set is for Madam Tong." Qingyan didn't even spare Madam Tong a glance.
Instantly, Madam Tong's face darkened. Qingyan clearly didn't take him seriously. No wonder, once the people from the mansion went to Linglong Pavilion, there would be no more discounts.
"Mother, you've been in the palace for quite some time now, you should go back first." Consort Tong smiled and gave Shu a look, signaling her to take the jewelry that Qingyan had sent over.
Madam Tong was even more furious. Qingyan's inexplicable refusal of the mansion's business had many court ladies preparing to watch the spectacle.
"Mother, there's no need to say more. After the Golden Festival is over, I will summon you to the palace. His Majesty also has some things to teach me." Consort Tong brought up Emperor Kangxi, hoping that Madam Tong would back down.
Fearing Kangxi's authority, Madam Tong didn't say a word and took her leave directly. Before leaving, she took the two sets of jewelry prepared for the banquet.
Shu's parents were still at the Tong residence and could not confront Madam Tong directly. After she left, they quickly went to report to Consort Tong.
"What?!" Qingyan stood up and actually took away the two sets of headdress dolls. Wasn't this going to make Consort Tong a laughingstock among the other concubines at the Golden Festival?
Consort Tong gave a bitter smile; this was her own mother.
"My dear, it's alright even without jewelry. I gave you a new set during the Spring Festival!" Consort Tong noticed Qingyan's pale face and didn't want him to feel burdened.
Qingyan quickly shook her head, saying that this was definitely not acceptable, as the headdress designs for the Spring Festival and the Golden Festival were different.
"Sulan, have someone secretly send over the set you prepared!" Qingyan anticipated that Madam Tong would probably cause trouble, so she specially designed a more outstanding set, hoping it could be sent over on the day of the Golden Festival.
Consort Tong was quite surprised; Xiao Guai was becoming increasingly tactful in her actions.
No secrets stay hidden in the palace. News of Madam Tong taking away two sets of jewelry quickly spread throughout the inner palace. With the help of Kangxi's imperial guards, the exquisitely repaired set of jewelry arrived at Chenggan Palace, where Shu and Shu Zhu personally placed it.
"My little darling... that set of headdresses is even more exquisite!" Consort Tong felt a warmth in her heart.
Qingyan blushed after being praised, and turned her head to look at the door with a haughty air. Yin followed Kangxi in and saw Xiao Guai's smug little expression.
He instantly wanted to cover his face; this girl was simply a headache.
"Fourth Brother, Mother praised me!" Qingyan had been discouraged for a long time because of the Linglong Pavilion incident.
Those court ladies were no pushovers. Following Yin's selection, they rejected many henchmen from the Jue Luo, Tong Jia, and Ma Jia factions, leading many to say that Qingyan was no longer planning to do business, and some even said it was an order personally issued by Consort Tong.
"Um!"
Kangxi looked at the two little ones with suspicion. Yin always had a slight reaction to the matter of the Qingyan banquet, but this time it was unexpected.
"Little darling, the headdress is quite exquisite." Shu took out the headdress, and Kangxi happened to see it.
He nodded in satisfaction. Xiao Guai did a good job; it was very authentic.
"Yes!" Qingyan nodded with a smile; this set of jewelry was something she had carefully prepared.
She finally got through one of her difficult problems.
"Alright, I won't keep you two any longer today. You'll be on leave starting tomorrow, so you two can relax a bit!" Kangxi, unusually, didn't leave Yinzhi with any problems and let him go directly.
When they left the palace, Yin asked Su Peisheng to leave them at the entrance of Dashilan, and then let most of the guards go back. He held Qingyan's hand and walked step by step down the street, where many shoppers were watching the two of them.
Every time she came to Dashilan, she would change into her usual attire, never wearing palace clothes. She would walk on the road in flowerpot shoes, attracting a lot of attention. The two of them were surrounded by various guards, and every step they took would draw a crowd of onlookers. Some of them noticed the yellow belt around Yin's waist, which was very similar to the appearance of celebrities in the past.
"Sisi, should we head back early?" Qingyan was a little embarrassed walking on the road. Sure enough, being a celebrity requires a strong mentality.
"No, let's continue shopping!" Yin held Xiao Guai's hand, making sure she stayed close to him so she wouldn't fall behind.
As they left, they overheard people outside gossiping about their identities.
"No, let's go inside." Qingyan didn't want to be watched like a monkey.
Yin turned his head and noticed that Qingyan was acting strangely. The wives rarely showed their faces in public. Even when they came, they would park their carriages in front of the shops, and the guards of the mansion would clean up the entire shop. This was the complete opposite of what they did.
Therefore, the common people rarely had the opportunity to see the royal couple, and they all stopped to watch.
"Fine!" Yin said sternly as he walked into the restaurant next door.
The common people saw that it belonged to the Yuelai Inn and turned to leave. These restaurants were only opened by members of the imperial family and the royal family. High-ranking officials could only dine at ordinary tables on the first floor.
Later, Qingyan stood in a private room on the second floor, watching the guards of the mansion surround the entrance of the restaurant, carefully checking the guests coming in and out. She sighed helplessly.
"Little darling, come and see what we want to eat!" Yin changed the subject, not wanting her to worry too much about the situation outside.
"etc!"
Standing on high, Qingyan noticed several familiar figures in the crowd. These people had also accompanied the imperial tour in Jiangnan.
"Fourth Prince, do you think those people are spies of the court officials?" Kangxi kept trying to clear out the spies in the palace, but found that these servants were impossible to get rid of completely.
Yin stood behind her and realized that the people were from the Hesheli family, which made him feel even more distressed.
"Um!"
Qingyan smiled bitterly. Sure enough, these people had no intention of letting them go. Even after they returned to the capital, they were still following them.
"They're the Crown Prince's men, no need to worry about them!" Yin didn't take it seriously.
Once, the Crown Prince was forced to place spies by the side of each of the princes, reporting their every move to him. (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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