The imperial concubines stayed in Chenggan Palace for almost half a day, and Consort Tong and her daughter-in-law Qingyan were finally able to relax.
It wasn't until lunchtime that Xiao Guai finally relaxed completely. She had to carefully analyze every word the palace concubines said, as they might be setting a trap for her, and if she fell into it, it would implicate her mother.
"Mother, you must be tired too, your daughter-in-law will take her leave now!" Qingyan thought it was just a chat, but she never expected it to take so long.
"You silly girl, it's almost lunchtime, and you still want to go back?!" Consort Tong tapped her forehead and said.
Qingyan smiled, knowing she would stay for lunch; Yin would probably be worried sick outside.
"Sisi will come back with me too." Qingyan was a little embarrassed.
Pfft!
At the entrance, just as Kangxi was about to lead Yin inside, he heard Qingyan's shy words.
"Your Majesty!" Consort Tong smiled as she looked at Kangxi and Yinzhen. "My dear, don't be troubled. The Fourth Prince is here too!"
Yin felt a warmth in his heart after hearing what Qingyan said.
Earlier, he had specifically asked Su Peisheng to go to the carriage and see. The waiting coachman said that Qingyan had entered the palace, so he knew that Xiaoguai must have come to her mother's place.
"Fourth Prince, I summoned you here and said that Xiao Guai would be waiting for you outside!" Kangxi laughed. This stubborn child insisted that Su Peisheng go and see him before he followed him over.
Upon hearing this, Qingyan covered her mouth and chuckled.
"Father, I was afraid of delaying you from comforting Mother. Today, Consort Wang is serving tea, and it wouldn't be appropriate for me and Xiao Guai to be in the middle!" Once at Chenggan Palace, Yin no longer hid his emotions.
Qingyan, standing behind him, tugged at Yin's sleeve, urging him to restrain himself.
"Little darling, don't mind these two, father and son." Consort Tong was already used to it.
Inside the Chenggan Palace, the father and son seemed uneasy unless they were arguing.
Amidst the glare between father and son, Xiao Guai nervously ate his lunch, then, with a dazed look in his eyes, was led out of the palace by Yin until he was seated in a carriage.
"My dear, don't be so reserved in Chenggan Palace. Your mother's palace is very safe." Yin stroked her hair to help her relax. "Su Peisheng, go to Quanjude in Dashilan!"
Inside Chenggan Palace, Qingyan didn't eat much; he wasn't entirely at ease with her.
"Sisi, shall we go eat at Quanjude?" Qingyan's eyes lit up instantly. Sure enough, he was the one who understood him best.
Qingyan got up, walked around the screen, took out a set of clothes for shopping from the wardrobe in the inner chamber, and changed.
"Little darling, just leave the two gold hairpins on your headdress!" Qingyan had to wear headdresses according to her rank when entering the palace, which was a bit too cumbersome.
After Qingyan had familiarized herself with the place, she came out.
"Fourth Sister, design two more sets of headdresses for me." Qingyan liked having Fourth Sister design her headdresses; she felt it made her very prestigious among the women!
Yin nodded. He had already arranged for Su Peisheng to give her a surprise at Linglong Pavilion. Xiao Guai had been through too much lately, and those people had really gone too far.
After getting off the bus at Dashilan, she took a deep breath. Sure enough, it was better for the two of them to go shopping together.
She looked at the street and couldn't help but feel a little strange. Why was the street so quiet? There were even fewer people shopping.
"Su Peisheng!" The two exchanged a glance, and Yin also noticed something was wrong. He quickly asked Su Peisheng to send someone to find out.
Su Peisheng asked a guard in the mansion for information and then continued to follow his two masters.
She noticed that some stalls on the street were empty, clearly indicating that they were not open for business.
"Sulan, have the managers of Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion arrived yet?" Qingyan asked in a low voice.
Su Lan quickly shook her head. The shopkeepers hadn't come to the Prince's residence for the past two days, so it seemed the matter wasn't serious.
"Little darling, let's walk forward a bit and see." Yin soothed Qingyan's temper; she must be a little anxious about something.
During the morning greetings, those noblewomen had probably been putting her down quite a bit, and she'd been holding it in until now. It was good that she vented her anger on them.
They hadn't gone far when a jewelry store was surrounded. Qingyan looked and realized that this was the same store that Ma Jia had set up, imitating Linglong Pavilion.
How did I suddenly get surrounded by people?
"Master, I've looked into it. It turns out the shop was making counterfeit Linglongge silverware. Because the silver wasn't pure, no poison was detected... The people who came looking for trouble were the victim's family. When their daughter got married, they bought a set of silverware as part of her dowry to prevent her from being framed by her sisters-in-law and the women in the backyard. But things still went wrong!" Su Peisheng reported in a low voice.
For a moment, Qingyan was stunned. The silverware in Linglong Pavilion was carefully selected. Under normal circumstances, the shop assistants would remind her that using silverware too much was bad for her health!
At this moment, the area outside the shop was in complete chaos. The victim's family members did not want to let the shop go and kept crying and complaining that if they had spent more money to buy it at Linglong Pavilion, at least their daughter would not have died!
Qingyan scoffed. "The person is gone, and now you regret it? Where were you back then?"
"Let's go!" Qingyan turned to head towards Quanjude. "Su Peisheng, send someone to stay here and ask them about the situation in detail!"
In truth, Qingyan was not feeling well. Doing business requires more experience than most people, especially in potentially fatal industries, where one must strictly control their business.
Just in case anything unexpected happens, she sat in the private room, thinking that she should establish more rules for Linglong Pavilion, hoping that this matter would not happen to them.
"Fourth Brother, may I stay at the mansion for a few days?" Qingyan was about to think carefully about how to solve this loophole, as the previous rules did not include the issue of verifying silverware.
Yin shook his head and refused; he absolutely couldn't let her be alone during this time.
"Little Darling, no, you should handle this in the carriage." Yin's answer was firm.
Qingyan pursed her lips, realizing that no matter how much she tried, it would be useless.
"Fourth Prince, I understand!" Qingyan rarely refused Yin. On the one hand, he had more and more things to do, and Kangxi kept adding more tasks for him. Qingyan hoped that he could be busy with serious matters.
Yin nodded; Xiao Guai had finally let go of the past.
"Master, Linglong Pavilion reports that there's a problem with a batch of jewelry." Su Lan came in from outside. Qing Yan was taken aback. The other side had just run into trouble, and now she was being targeted too?
"What happened?"
"It's said that the amount of gold used in the headdresses is insufficient!" All the headdresses in Linglong Pavilion have their own prescribed weight.
What?!
Qingyan was surprised. In the years since Linglong Pavilion was established, such a problem had never occurred. Could it be that there were spies in Linglong Pavilion?
"After the meal, let's go to Linglong Pavilion!" Yin also felt something was amiss after hearing this.
Qingyan nodded, determined to at least find the ultimate culprit. (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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