If he accomplishes nothing and makes no contribution, the ministers in the court will not believe in him, and even his maternal grandfather's faction will think he is incompetent and only see him as a puppet.
Therefore, he must do more to show the ministers and the people that the emperor's biggest mistake was making his elder brother the crown prince, and that he himself is capable.
Xia Hua nodded, "As long as you can handle it yourself, we'll stay in the palace for the next few days and then leave. By the way, we've opened two shops in the capital, why don't you go and show them off?"
Xiao Zili hadn't expected the two ladies to be so quick, already opening shops in the capital. "I'll send the steward from my maternal grandfather's family over. If I go, my elder brother, the Crown Prince, will start to suspect me."
"Sure, I'll show myself, but I don't want the shop to do too much business and someone to cause trouble!" He looked outside, and two eunuchs quickly appeared. "Are these your men?"
Xiao Zili nodded, "Yes, they are secret guards, not palace eunuchs. Madam, please rest assured. An Ying, put all the dishes on the table and let the two aunts eat."
Shadow looked at the two people sitting at the table eating, then calmly placed the dishes on the table. He never expected that the person his master had asked him to find would appear himself and be eating in the palace.
They were clearly just two women, yet they were able to freely enter the palace, which is truly puzzling.
After the meal, Xiao Zili had An Yue take them to their rooms to rest. For the next few days, An Shuyi and Xia Hua stayed in the palace, occasionally taking some food to put in the storeroom, which even alarmed the Emperor.
The concubines, eunuchs, and maids in the palace were all living in fear, afraid that what they were taking was not food but poison. However, several days passed, and not only was the thief not discovered, but even more things were stolen.
Xiao Zili was even more distressed. In the past few days, he had heard every day that the food in the imperial kitchen was being stolen, and when he returned, he would see the two people sitting in his palace eating.
Now, the Imperial Kitchen not only has more guards, but also more secret guards, yet they still haven't discovered who it is. He's starting to suspect that the two ladies might be monsters, because only with sorcery can they remain undetected. Even if Shadow were to go to the Imperial Kitchen to get something, they would still be discovered.
"Aunt An, Aunt Xia, I heard from Father today that he's going to add more guards to the Imperial Kitchen. Could you please not go? If it's really necessary, I'll have Shadow go out and buy some. There are plenty of good things to eat outside."
He was truly terrified of living in constant fear.
Seeing his pained expression, An Shuyi said, "Don't worry, we'll leave tonight and come back next time."
"Again?"
"What, you're not welcome?"
Xiao Zili hurriedly shook his head, "No, you're very welcome." Could he say no? He was afraid that if he said it the next second, he would be killed.
He now understands the feelings of the other people in the palace very well. It's like having a knife on your own neck, not knowing when it will come down, but you can't get a quick death, and you have to worry about it instead.
"Welcome!"
At midnight, the two left Guangyang Palace, but instead of leaving the palace, they went to the palace of the emperor's concubines. In the past few days, they had heard more than once that the gold and silver jewelry in the concubines' palaces had been stolen, and that the concubines themselves had taken it. They had only taken food, so why would they take anything else?
Unless there are other thieves in the palace, it's just a baseless rumor. However, being wrongly accused like this is really unpleasant, so they have to take something with them tonight.
The first place we went to was, of course, the palace of the emperor's most beloved concubine. However, seeing the guards patrolling outside, we had to go to another place. There were just too many guards, making it so crowded that not even a fly could get in.
The concubines in the other palaces didn't have as many guards. Once inside, all the jewelry was marked, and the two of them didn't take any of it, only silver notes and gold and silver. They walked through all the concubines' palaces before leaving the palace.
When the two came out, it was already the hour of Yin (3-5 AM). The inns had already closed, so they had no choice but to return to their residence. However, they did not disturb anyone and instead climbed over the wall to get in.
They took the silver notes, gold, and silver from the warehouse and piled them together before they began to divide them.
"Hua Hua, here are 54,000 taels of silver notes. This is yours. The gold and silver were rewards from the concubines. We'll split them in half." An Shuyi said, putting her silver notes into the warehouse.
These gold pieces were all made into the shapes of peanuts, flowers, and melon seeds. They were used by the concubines to reward the palace maids and eunuchs. There were too many to count, so they were simply divided in half.
These are all unmarked and have beautiful designs, especially the flower and peanut shapes, which are particularly cute and pleasing to the eye.
Xia Hua nodded, put the silver notes into the warehouse, took out two small wooden boxes, handed one to Shu Shu, and kept one for herself. She then put the gold and silver into the boxes before the two of them lay down to sleep.
When I woke up the next day, it was already noon. After washing up, I climbed over the wall again and finally went home through the front door.
Tao was cooking with her daughter-in-law when she saw them return. "Madam, you're back! I'll start cooking now."
Because they didn't know when the ladies would return, the meals they prepared were only for them. With recipes provided by the ladies, the meals they made were starting to taste better.
Xia Hua nodded, "Just stir-fry a couple of dishes, no need to go to too much trouble."
"It's no trouble at all, it's all very convenient!" After saying that, Tao ran to the kitchen and asked her daughter-in-law to wash the vegetables while she cooked them. The dishes were ready in no time.
An Shuyi and Xia Hua were already sitting in the hall waiting. The dishes were simple, and although they didn't taste very good, they were still edible. Since they hadn't eaten breakfast, the two of them ate quite well.
After lunch, we didn't go anywhere in the afternoon. We just asked Tao to inform Xu Shan and An Lan to get ready for the opening tomorrow.
Xu Shan and his son, along with ten maids and ten servants, lived in the shop, not here. Xu Shan was to become the manager of the spicy hot pot restaurant, which had been decided long ago. An Lan, on the other hand, was now the manager of the Mitian dessert shop because she was the fastest at bookkeeping and accounting among the ten maids, and she was also quick-witted.
When they left the palace, they told Xiao Zili that they would open for business the next day.
Unbeknownst to them, Xiao Zili was utterly shocked when he heard that many of the concubines' gold, silver, and banknotes had been stolen that morning. His two aunts had said they would return that evening, and he had believed them to be true.
But why did they have to visit the palaces of the concubines before leaving? Wouldn't that make everyone more anxious? And there's no doubt that it was the two aunts who did it; no one else could have done such a thing.
No wonder they were so confident, saying that if he wanted to, they could put him on the throne. With their current abilities, they could sit on the throne right now. He shouldn't doubt them. He has been practicing martial arts since he was seven years old, and it has been eleven years now, but compared to his two aunts, he is nothing.
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