On the afternoon of the fifteenth of the twelfth lunar month, Qingyan and Yin sat side by side on recliners, enjoying the warm winter sun. Between them was a high table with some fruit and refreshments.
The two of them rarely had any free time, so they planned to while away the afternoon here.
"Master, the managers of Linglong Pavilion have arrived!" Su Peisheng stood at the entrance of the flower hall, forced to interrupt the two's leisurely life.
Qingyan opened her almond-shaped eyes and turned to look at Yin: "Something's happened again!"
With the New Year's gifts about to be transported into the palace, everyone in Linglong Pavilion was extremely cautious, worried that there might be trouble with the gifts.
"What?!" Yin looked towards the door, where Su Peisheng's face was full of anxiety. "Quickly, let him in!"
After speaking, Qingyan sat up straight, countless questions flashing through her mind.
"Fourth Brother, if something really goes wrong, it will be too late to replace them now!" Qingyan was furious. Logically speaking, the tributes from Linglong Pavilion should be fine, unless someone wanted to sabotage them behind the scenes. Moreover, those tributes were all personally overseen by Tulichen.
Yin reached out and patted Qingyan's small hand, telling her to calm down and not to rush. If there really was no problem, but she was anxious, she might not have considered things thoroughly.
"Let's ask first, and if there really is a problem, then we'll discuss a solution!" Yin tried his best to comfort Qingyan, preparing to work with her to resolve the issue.
Soon, the shopkeeper came into their view. Qingyan noticed that the shopkeeper looked a little pale, but she didn't panic.
"Greetings to the master! Greetings to the master!" the shopkeeper quickly greeted.
"Start kowtowing," Qingyan waved his hand, gesturing for the shopkeeper to rise first. "So, what's the problem with the tribute?"
"Your Majesty, this is the list of gifts sent from the palace today. They said they would add these items. I have personally checked them, and these are all newly arrived imported goods!" The shopkeeper handed the list to Qingyan.
Su Lan took the list and handed it to Qing Yan. She quickly glanced at it and saw that the most valuable items in this batch of newly arrived goods were all on it.
"Someone got the news so quickly?" Qingyan found it very strange; no one should know about these goods.
This voyage was nearly 10 days shorter than usual, so no one would have gotten wind of it first.
"Little darling, is it the same as what the shopkeeper said?" Yin looked at the list and asked her suspiciously.
"Most of them are here, only one or two of the most valuable items are missing," Qingyan said with a sigh as she looked at the list.
If it wasn't done intentionally, then someone must have deliberately leaked the information.
"The Imperial Household Department said, who are these things going to?" Yin asked the shopkeeper.
"It's Yuqing Palace!" The shopkeeper was in a dilemma. If the Crown Prince wanted these things, Linglong Pavilion would definitely have to find a way to get them out.
"This gift list even includes items we were supposed to present as New Year's gifts. I think someone deliberately leaked this information!" Qingyan sneered. "It seems that Yuqing Palace has excellent information network and wants to completely block the mansion's access!"
Every year, the princes pay great attention to the New Year's gifts, so each residence usually starts preparing these things about six months in advance. Now, someone is deliberately trying to sabotage things.
"Do we really have to go up there?" Qingyan asked curiously. "Haven't the tributes already been transported into the palace?"
A few days ago, Tulichen personally escorted the tribute into the palace. Could this be an additional item?
"It was the head steward of the Imperial Household Department who placed the order. He said we absolutely had to find it, otherwise, he would directly punish Linglong Pavilion!" The shopkeeper was very anxious and dared not hide anything, so he told all the information directly.
Yin frowned deeply. Who on earth did this?
“Hehe, the head of the Imperial Household Department is Ling Pu, the husband of the Crown Prince’s wet nurse.” Yin explained to Qingyan, “Previously, Father Emperor personally dealt with Ling Pu’s family. After the Crown Prince came out of seclusion here, he begged Father Emperor to forgive Ling Pu. For this, the Crown Prince took all the blame upon himself.”
Yin's words broadened Qingyan's horizons. The Crown Prince himself was quite good, with excellent abilities and appearance. As he grew older, Kangxi's health remained excellent, and the princes below him were growing up strong and had already become obstacles for him.
In recent years, the Crown Prince has become increasingly impatient, and as a result, he has done some outrageous things, further straining the relationship between Emperor Kangxi and the Crown Prince.
"Lingpu?! Could it be that once an official is dismissed, he can be reinstated?" Qingyan asked, digressing from the topic.
"No, it was the Crown Prince who took the blame himself," Yin told her. "He had someone directly refuse the Imperial Household Department, saying that with the year-end approaching, they could no longer order any more goods!"
The shopkeeper understood his instructions; all he had to do was say that newly arrived goods could not be stored during the Lunar New Year period.
After the shopkeeper left, Qingyan looked at Yin with surprise. Why did he say directly that it couldn't be put into storage?
"Fourth Brother, what are you planning to do now?" Qingyan thought for a long time, feeling that this was a trap.
"Where are our ships docked?" Yin gave Qingyan a hint. "If we can't put them in storage, those things will have to be kept on the ships."
Qingyan opened her mouth slightly, looking at him with a surprised expression.
"Could it be that the Crown Prince's people could have stolen it?" Qingyan didn't believe that the Crown Prince would be so shameless.
"Hehe, that's not surprising. The Crown Prince's biggest helper, Suo'etu, was dismissed by Father Emperor. Now, he's just a wealthy idler. However, the Hesheli clan has trained assassins. We were attacked by these people before!" Yin couldn't forget that dangerous incident.
"So, what are you planning to do?" Qingyan understood that Yin would not let these people off easily.
"Of course, we should catch them red-handed and report them directly to the Nine Gates Admiral!" Yin sneered.
The Nine Gates Admiral?!
Qingyan's lips twitched. Fei Yanggu had just stepped down as the Nine Gates Commander, and Longkodo had taken over. If Hesheli really committed a crime, it would only make things easier for Yinsi.
"You mean, should we send someone to file a complaint?" Qingyan held up an eight-shaped hand gesture and looked at Yin.
"Father Emperor is determined to give Tong Guowei's lineage another hope, but I want to avenge Mother myself!" Consort Tong had never told Kangxi that Longkodo was truly disrespectful to his elders, daring to lay a hand on Mother for the sake of a concubine.
Once, even the Fourth Prince was powerless against Qingyan. At that time, Yin valued Longkodo's help more, so he didn't advocate for Qingyan. With the Red Cross gone, Qingyan's status was somewhat affected, but it was not up to a concubine to look down on her.
Now, everything has changed, and Yin is very satisfied with these changes.
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