good season

To cheer up his younger sister, Zhao Tingxuan brought up the matter of Zhu Yu: "By the way, little sister, didn't you ask about Zhu Yu, the heir of the Marquis of Baoqing, last time? You would never guess that something happened to him, and, well, never mind, your second brother won't say it. You're still a young girl, you wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Zhao Shiqing rolled her eyes: "He became a eunuch?"

Zhao Tingxuan: "You knew about this too?"

Zhao Shiqing: Of course I know, I did it, ptooey, I had the rats do it.

But I can't tell the truth, because my second brother would never believe that his innocent and lovely little sister would do such a thing.

Zhao Shiqing: "It's all over the capital. I heard it on the street."

"I see," Zhao Tingxuan said, then remembered something else and said, "I've also heard something else, but I don't know if it's true or not, and it's related to us."

"What is it?" Zhao Shiqing thought to herself. The things her second brother heard must have come from the Imperial Academy. Master Yan was also a student at the Imperial Academy. Apart from those who were admitted through genuine talent and learning, everyone else at the Imperial Academy was like her second brother and Master Yan, either rich or noble. The things that came from their mouths were probably true.

Zhao Tingxuan's originally calm expression turned angry: "I heard that Old Madam Wei went to the palace to ask the Emperor to grant Zhu Yu a marriage. Guess which noble lady she has her eye on? You would never guess!"

Zhao Shiqing was taken aback. She recalled the dream again and asked in a deep voice, "Was it my eldest sister? That old hag wanted to ask my eldest sister to marry Zhu Yu?"

Zhao Tingxuan stared in disbelief: "How did you guess that?"

Zhao Shiqing: "Never mind how I guessed it, did the Emperor agree?"

Zhao Tingxuan hurriedly said, "Don't worry, His Majesty is wise. He did not agree and even sent someone to reprimand Lord Zhu."

Zhao Shiqing finally felt relieved, but soon she frowned again: "Second brother, this matter shouldn't have spread. Who told you this?"

“Jiang Ran is the nephew of the Marquis of Yan’an. But it wasn’t Jiang Ran who told me; someone overheard him talking to someone else,” Zhao Tingxuan said.

Zhao Shiqing sneered: "Second brother, didn't you consider that Jiang Ran deliberately let you hear this, and that someone instructed him to spread this matter to your ears?"

Zhao Tingxuan was stunned for a moment, staring blankly at Zhao Shiqing. He suddenly realized that among the four siblings, he was the dumbest one.

"Little sister, is your second brother very stupid?"

Zhao Shiqing quickly comforted him, "Second brother, you're not stupid, you're just not very smart."

Zhao Tingxuan: "Little sister, thank you, you're so good at comforting people."

Zhao Shiqing: "You're welcome. My grandfather said that eating more fish and seafood will make you smarter. I eat it every day now. Second brother, you should eat some too."

Half an hour later, Zhao Shiqing returned home with the crystal mirror her second brother had bought for her.

Upon seeing Zhen Wuduo, she showed off the small mirror: "Grandpa, look! The beauty painted on this mirror has blonde hair and green eyes. She's so pretty! I'll have Xiuxiu study it and make me look like that someday."

Zhen Wuduo: My precious granddaughter is good in every way, except that her eyesight is not very good. What's so beautiful about her?

"My dear granddaughter, how much silver did your second brother spend to buy this mirror?"

Zhao Shiqing held up one finger: "One hundred taels."

Zhen Wuduo sighed: "This is Xiao Zhen's goods. Huibaozhai is just a reseller. This mirror is not worth this much. You've been ripped off by Xiao Zhen."

Zhao Shiqing was shocked and exaggeratedly clutched her chest. That was a hundred taels of silver! A hundred taels of silver! She was heartbroken!
Zhen Wuduo continued, "Don't be fooled by Xiao Zhen's seemingly respectable appearance. He's actually a black-hearted scoundrel, very wicked. Don't be easily fooled by him."

Zhao Shiqing chuckled and said, "With you here, he wouldn't dare."

But when she saw the mirror in her hand, she felt heartbroken. She had already been swindled out of 100 taels of silver, and both she and her brother had been swindled.

Seeing Zhao Shiqing gritting her teeth, Zhen Wuduo grinned from ear to ear. Want to steal his little cabbage? Hmph!
When Zhao Shiqing returned to her room, she saw Xiao Guai dozing off on the windowsill.

"Oh, you're back so early today."

Since arriving in the capital, Xiao Guai has become increasingly wild, often going out all day and not returning until the middle of the night. Zhao Shiqing even suspects that this kid is looking for a wife outside.

"Little darling, you're still young, not old enough to be a father yet," Zhao Shiqing warned.

Xiao Guai tried to look at Zhao Shiqing with disdain, just like Xiao Yao. Unfortunately, the eagle and the cat were different. Zhao Shiqing didn't see disdain in his eyes. On the contrary, she saw light, the light of gossip!
"My dear child, quickly tell your mother, did you go to the Marquis of Baoqing's residence again?"

Little Darling: When you need something from an eagle, you become your mother. If Little Demon hadn't told me that my mother is also an eagle, I almost would have believed you.

But Xiao Guai was an honest child, and he honestly told Zhao Shiqing what he had heard from the Marquis of Baoqing's mansion.

Unfortunately, his expressive ability was limited, and there was too much information, so his description was disorganized. Zhao Shiqing needed to broaden her thinking to sort out the clues and grasp the key points from the eagle's language.

The clue is that this matches the information given by Li Laohu, and the key is the two place names.

Qingjing Nunnery, a manor in Tong'an!
"Lingbo, give Xiaoguai an extra meal!"

Lingbo glanced at Xiaoguai's increasingly plump figure: "If he eats any more, he won't be able to fly anymore."

Zhao Shiqing thought about it and realized that her forehead was indeed a bit chubby.

The next morning, Zhao Shiqing summoned her idle guards.

Mudfish and Shen Wangxing, out of curiosity, followed along.

When Zhao Shiqing saw them arrive, he made the assignments. Four of them went out of the city, led by Niqiu, to secretly search for a place called Qingjing Nunnery. The other four were led by Jianghan to Tong'an to investigate a manor. There was a steward in the manor, who might be surnamed Xu or he might have changed his surname, but he and his two sons all had hooked noses.

Everything must be done in secret; if the enemy is alerted, the operation must be stopped immediately.

After the groups were formed, Mudskipper and Jiang Han happily led their teams away, but Shen Wangxing stood there, looking pitifully at Zhao Shiqing.

Am I stupid?

Zhao Shiqing: What's going on? She's heard the same sentence twice in just two days.

"You're not stupid, you're just too naive." That's the truth. Shen Wangxing is indeed not stupid. He's actually quite smart. It's just that his mother brainwashed him into becoming a naive little white rabbit since he was a child. Fortunately, he later met Zhao Shiqing and her group, which broadened his horizons and allowed him to see more of the good and evil. He finally got out of that quagmire.

"Nobody in the capital knows you, so come with me."

Shen Wangxing was overjoyed. Zhao Shiqing usually liked to take Niqiu with her because Niqiu was born and raised in the capital and knew everyone. But now Zhao Shiqing sent Niqiu out and took him with her instead, so Shen Wangxing was naturally happy.

Without further ado, Zhao Shiqing asked Xiuxiu to dress her up before taking Shen Wangxing out.

The place she went to was a general store run by Sun Lingzhi's family.

Today, Granny Cai is minding the shop alone again. Sun Hongbin ran away after that day, and no one knows where he went.

When she saw Zhao Shiqing, Granny Cai didn't recognize her, since she had a different face today.

"What does the eldest sister want to buy?" Granny Cai asked.

Zhao Shiqing pulled a knife from her bosom and slammed it into the counter with a thud. Granny Cai screamed in fright, but she quickly calmed down and said in a low voice, "Sister, Sun Hongbin has run away. I really don't know where he went. If you want the money, go find him. It's no use coming to me. I don't have any money either."

Sure enough, Granny Cai thought Zhao Shiqing had come to collect a debt from Sun Hongbin. Zhao Shiqing smiled coldly: "I'm not looking for him, I'm here to find you."

Granny Cai's heart skipped a beat. She thought of Sun Lingzhi and hurriedly asked, "Has my girl caused trouble again?"

Ever since Sun Lingzhi became pregnant again, Granny Cai had been living in fear. Now that Zhu Yu had lost power, Granny Cai was even more worried. Sun Lingzhi had said that Zhu Yu was much more generous than Lord Zhu, and that she could no longer rely on Zhu Yu. It would be even more difficult for Sun Lingzhi to support her family.

When Zhao Shiqing saw that Granny Cai had indeed made the connection to Sun Lingzhi, she said, "Lord Zhu has another child outside, and he has two at once. Sun Lingzhi doesn't know about this yet. If you tell her about this, you'll definitely get some benefits in return."

Sure enough, Granny Cai was initially disappointed, but her eyes lit up when she heard that she could get something in return from Sun Lingzhi.

This mother has feelings for her daughter, but not many.

After Zhao Shiqing finished speaking, she left. Today, Xiuxiu had given her a "big sister makeup"—that's right, a big sister makeup, the kind of makeup that would make Granny Cai call her big sister.

So now, she and Shen Wangxing are like a mother and son.

Zhao Shiqing was enjoying the pleasure of becoming a mother without pain. She said to Shen Wangxing, "Let's go for a walk."

Leaving aside Zhao Shiqing and Shen Wangxing's shopping trip, Granny Cai hurriedly closed the shop door and went to the Baoqing Marquis's residence.

The Baoqing Marquis's mansion today is a picture of utter desolation, with even the gatekeeper at the back gate looking listless.

Fortunately, this time, Granny Cai didn't need to go through Tao Fen; she easily summoned Sun Lingzhi.

Not daring to waste any time, Granny Cai hurriedly told Sun Lingzhi about Lord Zhu's extramarital affair, which resulted in the woman being pregnant. Upon hearing that the woman was pregnant with twins, Sun Lingzhi immediately guessed who the pregnant woman was.

They are the two sisters that old lecher recently took in.

Great, we just got rid of Aunt Lan, and now we have a pair of twin sisters.

They're all lowly women; how could they possibly be worthy of bearing a child for the Marquis's household?

Granny Cai didn't hear Sun Lingzhi's voice and was about to ask when she met Sun Lingzhi's eyes.

Granny Cai couldn't help but shiver. Even though the person in front of her was her own son, she was still startled.

What kind of eyes are these? They look like they want to kill, or like they've already killed someone before.

Granny Cai suddenly felt very scared. She had a premonition that if she angered Sun Lingzhi, Sun Lingzhi might really kill her.

Thinking of this, Granny Cai dared not linger and made an excuse to leave in a hurry, even forgetting to ask Sun Lingzhi for a reward.

Sun Lingzhi returned to her small courtyard, growing angrier the more she thought about it. She pressed her stomach, trying to calm herself down.

Since those two wretches are living outside now, let them live a few more days until they enter the manor.

Human desires can grow stronger, including the desire to kill.

Now Sun Lingzhi is no longer satisfied with just causing those two women to miscarry; she wants them dead.

They are young and healthy, unlike her, who had previously miscarried, making this pregnancy all the more remarkable.

But the two sisters were different. They were healthy and in good health, and were deeply favored by the Marquis. The Marquis spent every day with them, so it was easy for them to get pregnant.

Therefore, they must die along with their unborn children. Only by dying can the possibility of them becoming pregnant again be completely eliminated.

Sun Lingzhi was so blinded by murderous intent that she didn't even consider how Granny Cai had learned of such a secret.

Sun Lingzhi waited for three days, and three days later, Lord Zhu indeed brought the two sisters into his mansion.

Actually, he didn't want to bring them over, but Old Madam Wei wouldn't allow it.

Madam Wei was worried that those two vixens would not be restrained and would continue to have affairs with Lord Zhu even after becoming pregnant. If they were to accidentally harm her grandson, what would she do?

So Madam Wei forced Lord Zhu to bring the two sisters into the mansion.

This time, however, both Madam Wei and Lord Zhu, without prior agreement, did not want to hand over the two sisters to Madam Ma.

Madam Wei was worried that if the sisters were handed over to Madam Ma because of Madam Ma's poor care, Aunt Lan would suffer a miscarriage.

Lord Zhu's thoughts were quite simple: Madam Ma's disfigurement would frighten his sons.

Therefore, the twin sisters naturally moved into Madam Wei's Chunhui Hall.

Xiao Guai worked hard without complaint. The moment the two sisters moved in, Xiao Guai told Zhao Shiqing.

Zhao Shiqing smiled. Now, without her help, Sun Lingzhi's target had become Chunhui Hall.

Old Madam Wei still lives in Chunhui Hall.

Zhao Shiqing was really curious to know what Madam Wei's expression would be when she discovered that the nun and Xu Kun's younger brother had both disappeared.

Unfortunately, the people she sent out haven't returned yet, and Zhao Shiqing doesn't even know if they've found the people she's looking for.

So now Zhao Shiqing can only plant seeds of trouble, hoping that Sun Lingzhi can cause more trouble.

At that moment, upon learning that two more concubines had joined the Marquis's household, Aunt Lan knew what was going on.

These two sisters must be pregnant.

Before, Aunt Lan really couldn't see through things, but after her miscarriage, lying alone in bed, she finally understood.

She knew that Sun Lingzhi must have harmed her child.

So she's currently observing the situation.

Zhao Shiqing, who had sown the seeds of revenge against the Marquis of Baoqing, had already left the capital and was on her way to Tong'an.

Just yesterday, Zhao Shiqing received the news sent back by Jiang Han.

They searched all over Tong'an but couldn't find any estate belonging to the Marquis of Baoqing. There was no estate belonging to the Zhu family, nor to the Wei or Ma families. In other words, the masters of the Marquis of Baoqing didn't own any estates in Tong'an.

Jiang Han didn't want to go back in disgrace, so for several days he searched around Tong'an for information.

Finally, he found out that there was a manor outside Tong'an City, but the owner of the manor was not the Marquis of Baoqing's mansion, but a manager surnamed Jin.

Further investigation revealed that Manager Jin had another identity: he was a maidservant to Madam Wei, the matriarch of the Baoqing Marquis's mansion.

We've finally found the right place.

Zhao Shiqing decided to go to Tong'an herself; she wanted to see for herself what the person who resembled Xu Kun looked like. (End of Chapter)