As noon approached, Qingyan drank several cups of tea, but his eyes remained fixed on the woman below. She stayed in the shop for almost an hour before slowly emerging.
"Fourth Sister, the woman is out!" Qingyan disliked the skinny type of woman, but admitted that such women were more likely to win a man's heart.
As soon as the woman stepped out of the store, the eyes of the men on the street, who were not exactly respectable, began to sized her up.
Qingyan was at least unable to bear such attention, while the woman didn't care at all, feeling that it was an honor for those men to look at her.
He squeezed Qingyan's small hand to make her relax.
"Fourth Brother, that woman is..." Yin's face darkened. This woman had even appeared in front of him before. It seemed that someone had done it on purpose.
"Are you sure?" This woman is said to be the illegitimate daughter of the Prince of Mo Nan, who has always been pampered by the prince since childhood. She is quite shrewd.
The Crown Princess must have investigated thoroughly before sending someone to take action.
"Fourth Prince, this woman often appears around the Imperial Tent when she's in the military camp." Saito and Eshuo are protecting Kangxi, and this woman always appears whenever they are on guard duty at the Imperial Tent.
After he finished speaking, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
Yin felt somewhat embarrassed. E'shuo was a straightforward person who would speak her mind. Her presence in the imperial tent clearly indicated her dissatisfaction with Yin's arrangements.
"Sisi, what are you going to do?" Qingyan didn't want to miss the chance for revenge.
“We can’t move her for now,” he sighed helplessly. “Father Emperor had her released; he’s probably planning to arrest someone.” Sunlight streamed into the teahouse, and he leaned against the window frame, watching the street.
He glanced at the bearded men lurking at the shop entrance. They hadn't followed the woman out; instead, they stood at the door, as if waiting for something.
"Master, something's not right. They clearly know that woman," Su Peisheng whispered.
As is customary, the skinny horse usually attracts the attention of the bearded men, but this time they paid no attention.
He never believed in coincidences; it was clearly a trap set by the other party.
"Sisi, should I go out and take a look?" They frowned, wondering if those people had given up looking for them, or...
Whatever it is, you have to try it first.
“No, there are clearly fewer women on the streets,” Yin said.
Just now, some female relatives were strolling around with their servants, but now, those women seem to have vanished into thin air.
Yin decided not to leave for the time being. Su Peisheng quietly went down to see how far the back door was from the Yuelai Inn, so they could retreat at any time.
"Hmph, you're saying these people are from the Khorchin tribe?" Qingyan held up her teacup and took a sip of tea.
Yin hesitated to answer. The relationship between Mongolia and the Qing Dynasty was very delicate, and without solid evidence, Yin did not want to say more.
"Only when there is evidence showing that they are from the Khorchin can I write a memorial to Father Emperor." Yin sighed helplessly; the Mongols were not to be trifled with.
They were not only protective of their own, but sometimes they were also quite unreasonable. The aunts who married into the family suffered a lot of grievances. Fortunately, the nannies in the Imperial Household Department were very capable. If they encountered a consort who was not good to the princess, they would take action to deal with him.
In addition, they would report all the actions of the prince consort to the emperor in detail, which is why Mongol leaders were not fond of marrying princesses.
Since Emperor Kangxi ascended the throne, the princesses have been treated much better and are no longer afraid of domestic violence.
Every autumn, during the annual mating season, Emperor Kangxi would dispatch his imperial guards to investigate how the married princesses were doing.
With this constraint in place, the leaders treated their wives even better, and some even gave birth to legitimate sons.
In the past, they worried that the Manchu bloodline would affect Mongolia, but now they don't care much anymore; the benefits in their hands are what matter most.
After the princes grew up, their in-laws and maternal families would recruit them through connections. Even the crown prince was no exception. Prime Minister Suo personally bought several well-trained "skinny horses" (young, thin horses), which were very popular among the leaders of Khorchin. Those who were sent to the crown princess were basically daughters born to these "skinny horses".
They were trained from a young age and were not only favored within the tribe but also the hope of the leaders.
The legitimate daughters were to bring glory to the Khorchin, while these illegitimate daughters were their hope.
Regardless of which prince takes a liking to them, it will be a help to them.
The Crown Prince took three concubine daughters as his wives, which delighted the leaders of the three tribes. The Crown Prince took a liking to their daughters, and as soon as the Crown Prince ascended the throne, their daughters would become imperial concubines, and their status would rise even higher.
If they can control the situation well, Mongolia can regain its former glory.
For two consecutive generations, no Mongol concubines gave birth to princes. Especially during the reign of the late emperor, the Empress Dowager directly suppressed them. The high-ranking concubines in the harem were all noble Mongol women, but none of them had a prince. This led the Empress Dowager to make him the crown prince.
"My dear, this solid evidence needs to be investigated slowly. At the very least, it must not be harmful to the Qing Dynasty." The Empress Dowager had left behind some influence, so Kangxi could not act rashly.
Unless certain leaders of the Khorchin tribe endanger the stability of the Qing Dynasty, all the sins will vanish.
Therefore, many censors did not pay attention to the affairs of the Khorchin. No one could afford to offend the leaders, and no one dared to impeach them. Even secret memorials might be discovered by Mongolian spies hidden in the palace.
If these leaders knew, they might just resort to underhanded tactics.
In previous years, they even had to be mindful of the Mongols' opinions when submitting memorials to the emperor; the Empress Dowager was like a great Buddha.
She felt very depressed after hearing about these things.
When Feiyanggu and others mentioned the Khorchin, they were very careful.
"Sisi, it's definitely not easy to find a sure thing, and we can't make a move prematurely." She felt a little bitter; they had been bullied, but they had no way to get revenge.
“Fourth Master, those bearded men are the key. They are usually the henchmen of the Khorchin. Over the years, they must have reaped a lot of benefits, and they will become more and more loyal.” Saito also understood the loyalty of the Mongols. If they wanted to get these people to talk, they had to take advantage of their weaknesses.
Seto was having a bit of a headache; weaknesses were easy to point out, but difficult to find out.
They don't even know who the masters behind these people are, or who controls their tribes and homes. Investigating this useful information will take time.
What they lack most right now is time.
"It's still unclear." Yin sent the Blood Droplets to investigate, but with little success.
“When we send people to keep watch in various tribes, they have to stay in the tribe for several years. Otherwise, outsiders will never tell you the truth,” Tu Lichen said from the side. The dragon guards they sent had been in the tribes for seven years and had received very little information.
Everyone was at a loss. These spies had cost them a great deal of manpower and resources, and the Mongol tribes were a xenophobic world. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
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