good season

Before long, Zhao Shiqing got all the details of the past few days out of Xiuxiu.

Yes, it was a condom. Xiuxiu told Zhao Shiqing everything about her two meetings with Yang Shengqiu.

In the candlelight, Xiuxiu's face was rosy and her eyes were gentle. Da Pang nestled in her arms, purring contentedly.

Everything was so beautiful: candlelight, a young girl, and a fat cat.

But Zhao Shiqing's gaze grew colder and colder. How could there be so many coincidences in this world?
It could be a coincidence that she encountered the Ministry of Revenue officials when she was abducted, but it was definitely not a coincidence that she was encountered and rescued by Yang Shengqiu again in the inn.

Zhao Shiqing's voice was icy: "Those kidnappers are habitual offenders. One of them is even on the wanted list and is a major criminal wanted by the government. In their case, you are only guilty of attempted kidnapping, which is the least noteworthy. The government has a whole basket of evidence against them. Any witness is more conclusive and irrefutable than you. There is no need to use officials from another department to go out on the street to find you and collect evidence."

Besides, the Ministry of Revenue is the busiest of the Six Ministries. During the first month of the lunar year, all the other officials are taking a break, leaving all the work to be done on Yang Shengqiu, who's just arrived. How much free time could he possibly have to go and question witnesses for the capital authorities and then run off to a small inn to play the hero?

With each word Zhao Shiqing spoke, Xiuxiu's face grew paler. But Zhao Shiqing showed no mercy. You don't feel pain until the needle pierces your flesh. Xiuxiu had weathered many storms, yet she was still fooled by such a flawed trick. It could only be said that she was still too well protected.

At home, she was protected by her parents; when her family was wiped out, her older sister made plans for her; when she fled thousands of miles away, Da Pang stayed by her side; although she was busy from morning till night at Chef Zhang's place, Zhang Ye secretly protected her; and later, when she met Zhao Shiqing, she didn't even need to use her brain.

Just as a knife will rust if it is not used or sharpened, so too will a person's mind gradually become dull if it is not used.

Zhao Shiqing felt that Xiuxiu's mind had become dull.

Xiuxiu said timidly, wanting to prove that she wasn't actually that slow-witted: "Ever since I encountered the kidnapper, I've been paying attention every time I go out. I haven't seen anyone following me, really no one. Yang Zhuangyuan has never followed me, so how would he know I would go to Wenmiao Street and Fuping Inn?"

Zhao Shiqing looked at her: "That day, you encountered a kidnapper after coming out of the paint shop. Your mule cart stopped at the entrance of Wenmiao Street. The first shop at the entrance is a paint shop. Yang Shengqiu was able to become the top scholar. He was smarter than most people. Do you think he could have guessed this?"

And about the Fuping Inn, let me ask you this: who told you that your uncle asked someone to bring you something?

Xiuxiu's voice trailed off: "Yes, it's a child."

"A child from our alley? What's his name? Which family does he belong to?" Zhao Shiqing asked.

Xiuxiu shook her head: "She's not from our alley, and I don't know her."

Zhao Shiqing held up two fingers: "Two coins. Two coins can hire a child to deliver a message, and two coins can trick a young woman into walking into your trap. Do you think it's worth it?"

Xiuxiu's face turned even paler: "How could that be? But that child told me to go to Fuping Inn to find Liu Ping who came from Qinghe. Qinghe is my maternal home, and no one knows about this, right?"

Zhao Shiqing snorted coldly: "Does nobody know? The owner of the breakfast stall we often go to is from Qinghe. You even tried to befriend him, saying that you grew up in Qinghe and that Qinghe is your maternal home. Every time you went to eat breakfast together, the owner would give you two extra fried dough sticks. What, have you forgotten?"

Xiuxiu's face is no longer pale, it's red!

She hunched her shoulders, wishing she could hide inside her shell.

"Second Miss, am I really that stupid?"

Zhao Shiqing sighed: "Each of you is skilled in your own way, and your intelligence and flexibility are all in your hands."

Xiuxiu looked down at her hands and thanked them, knowing she wasn't a cripple.

But was Scholar Yang really plotting against me?

Xiuxiu voiced her doubts: "I am just an orphan, and my family are just ordinary people. What do I have that would make a top scholar like him scheme against me?"

Zhao Shiqing asked, "Did he mention me to you?"

Xiuxiu slowly shook her head: "No."

Zhao Shiqing said, "Then I'll tell you next time."

Xiuxiu shook her head vigorously: "There won't be a next time, Second Miss, there really won't be a next time, I will never see him again."

When she said the last sentence, Xiuxiu felt a slight pang in her heart.

Yang Shengqiu was the only man besides her elders that she had actually interacted with and had some affection for.

What? Mudfish and Shen Guanyue and Shen Wangxing?

In Xiuxiu's eyes, they were not of the opposite sex; they were just children.

As for Xiao Zhen, Xiu Xiu had never even seen his face. In her mind, he was not a normal person.

Yang Shengqiu is a gentle breeze, a bright moon, and the whitest handful of snow on a winter branch.

Xiuxiu lowered her head even further.

A few months ago, Zhao Shiqing certainly wouldn't have understood Xiuxiu's thoughts, but now she does.

However, Xiuxiu could focus her attention on anyone but Yang Shengqiu.

Zhao Shiqing said, "You know about the Crown Prince being deposed, right?"

Xiuxiu nodded; everyone in the capital knew about this.

"Then I'll tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a little princess..."

In this story, the princess did not marry the prince she loved, and they lived happily ever after.

In the story, the princess was sent to a temple, where she took off her beautiful dresses and put on the most tattered clothes. She spent her days chopping wood, washing clothes, and digging for wild vegetables. She was always hungry and cold, and was still considered a harlot by everyone.

The prince in the story did not inherit the throne. He was framed by a villain and banished to a remote place, where he lived in misery day and night.

The man the princess loved, however, gained the favor of a powerful figure after sacrificing himself to the princess, and almost became the powerful figure's son-in-law.

Xiuxiu felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. She stared blankly at Zhao Shiqing, her gaze unfocused. After a long while, she finally said, "Yang, Yang, will that person really still look for me?"

Zhao Shiqing nodded: "Yes, and he'll even ask you about me."

That night, Xiuxiu tossed and turned, her mind in turmoil, and she didn't fall asleep until almost dawn.

Zhao Shiqing, however, got up very early. She changed into men's clothing, took Niqiu and Lingbo with her, and quietly went out. They wandered around the streets for a long time, and it wasn't until almost noon that they went to the Liang Prince's Mansion.

After the first month of the lunar calendar, Zhao Tingxuan will be returning to Liang. In the last ten days or so, Zhao Shiqing doesn't want him to cause any trouble.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Tingxuan was not at the Prince's Mansion. Upon inquiry, it was learned that he had gone to Qishixuan.

Zhao Shiqing knew about Qishixuan. Many people thought that the real owner of Qishixuan was the Second Prince. However, Xiao Zhen said that the owner of Qishixuan was Prince Chu. But Prince Chu was a hostage and did not want people to know about this. So he secretly did something to make people mistakenly believe that this was the Second Prince's business.

The entrance fee to Qishixuan is three thousand taels of silver. Three thousand taels can be exchanged for a token, which allows one to enter and exit Qishixuan, participate in stone gambling, and also make friends with the most powerful and influential young men in the Dayong Dynasty.

Xiao Zhen met many people through Qishixuan.

As a rich and foolish young master of the royal family, it's not surprising that Zhao Tingxuan owns the Qishixuan brand. However, what Zhao Shiqing can't understand is that the Second Prince has just had an accident. Shouldn't they be avoiding Qishixuan at this time? What is Zhao Tingxuan doing at Qishixuan?
Did he also know that Qishixuan was not the Second Prince?

However, Zhao Shiqing quickly figured out what was going on.

News of the Second Prince's incident has not yet spread.

Even the news of his death was to be announced to the world after the first month of the lunar calendar.

In other words, apart from the emperor and a very small number of people, no one else knows that the second prince is in trouble.

Zhao Tingxuan didn't have a single friend he could get along with in the capital, so it was even less likely that he would know about this.

Zhao Shiqing breathed a sigh of relief, as long as this idiot wasn't tricked into going to his death.

She put a collar on the little demon, with a note inside the bell. In the blink of an eye, the little demon disappeared over the high wall of the palace.

Zhao Shiqing took Lingbo and Niqiu to the shop where she had met Zhao Tingxuan a few times.

The three of them sat in the shop for two hours, and went out to eat in between. Zhao Tingxuan arrived late. As soon as the carriage stopped, Xiao Yao jumped out of the carriage, went up to the second floor with ease, and threw herself into Zhao Shiqing's arms.

When Zhao Tingxuan saw his younger sister, he said with a fawning expression, "I saw a cat from far away and recognized it immediately as yours. Little sister, isn't your second brother's eye good?"

Zhao Shiqing snorted: "That little demon scratched you, how could you not remember?"

Zhao Tingxuan chuckled and hurriedly asked, "Little sister, I thought I wouldn't see you until the Lantern Festival. Why are you here today?"

Zhao Shiqing asked, "When will we leave the capital? Has the auspicious time been set? Have we submitted any memorials?"

Even though Emperor Yongjia had already decreed that Zhao Tingxuan should leave the capital, he still had to submit a memorial before leaving, and Emperor Yongjia had to approve it before he could go. Although this was just a formality, it was still necessary.

Zhao Tingxuan hurriedly said, "It's settled. The Chief Secretary has already submitted the memorial on the fourth day of the second month."

Zhao Shiqing nodded and asked, "What are you doing at Qishixuan? You're not going there to gamble on stones, are you?"

He was about to leave, and there was no possibility of making friends, so his only reason for going to Qishixuan was to gamble on stones.

Zhao Tingxuan was a little embarrassed: "It's not me going, it's my cousin Fan. He came before the New Year and doesn't know many people in the capital. He heard about Qishixuan and asked me to accompany him to broaden his horizons."

Zhao Shiqing was taken aback. A cousin from the Fan family? Where did this cousin come from?

But she quickly realized: "You mean Fan Qiuyun's brother? He's in Beijing? You know him?"

Zhao Tingxuan hurriedly said, "I didn't know him at first. He came to deliver New Year's gifts before the New Year, and that's when I found out that the Fan family had come to the capital. I returned the gifts immediately. Yesterday, he came to see me and said he wanted to go to Qishixuan to broaden his horizons. Qishixuan isn't a place you can just enter with money. Even if an ordinary person comes up with three thousand taels, they still can't get a place to enter Qishixuan. He provided the money and used my identity, which wasn't difficult. Besides, we're relatives, so I agreed. Today, he picked me up and we went to Qishixuan together."

Zhao Shiqing didn't know what to say to him anymore.

On the second meeting, he agreed to lend me his identity; on the third meeting, he actually took people to get the license plate.

Zhao Shiqing said, "Did you know that the Nie family and the Fan family want to marry Fan Qiuyun to my eldest brother?"

Zhao Tingxuan was taken aback, then shook his head: "Is that so? I didn't know. I only found out from my cousin Fan that Fan Qiuyun is a lady-in-waiting in the palace."

Seeing that he knew about Fan Qiuyun's position as a female official, Zhao Shiqing continued to throw bombshells: "You must have also heard that Feng Ke's daughter fell into the water and almost became the Fifth Prince's concubine, right?"

Zhao Tingxuan nodded, wondering what this matter had to do with the Fan family.

Zhao Shiqing: "This was done by the Fifth Prince and Fan Qiuyun together."

Zhao Tingxuan opened his mouth wide: "Huh?"

Zhao Shiqing continued to throw bombshells: "Do you know why Fan Qiuyun became a lady-in-waiting, and why she was in Consort Qiao's palace?"

Zhao Tingxuan continued to shake his head: "Why?"

Zhao Shiqing: "Because she had an affair with the Third Prince, but the Third Prince was afraid of the power of the Feng family and dared not openly choose a concubine. She entered the palace so that she could meet with the Third Prince in secret and find an opportunity in the future for the Emperor to issue an edict to bestow her upon the Third Prince."

Zhao Tingxuan's mouth gaped even wider, and Zhao Shiqing couldn't bear to look at him. She said, "The Fan family wavered between the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince. Now that the Fifth Prince has fallen, they have completely sided with the Third Prince. Second Brother, you saw it too. Cousin Fan wants to make connections with powerful people in the capital and build his network. He's aiming to become the family of a Noble Consort. You lent him your identity, are you trying to let the Emperor know that our Liang Prince's Mansion also supports the Third Prince's ascension to the throne?"

Zhao Tingxuan stood up as if to say something, but then slumped back into his chair with a thud.

Ignoring the pain in his bottom from the fall, Zhao Tingxuan was on the verge of tears: "Little sister, your second brother really didn't know any of this. I thought that Cousin Fan was elegant and handsome, and spoke with substance. I thought he just wanted to experience the splendor of the capital. I never imagined that the Fan family had connections with the princes. I... I really didn't mean to."

Seeing such a grown-up doing something wrong and still saying things like "I really didn't mean to," which is something only children would say, Zhao Shiqing didn't know what to say.

My second brother is still alive in the capital because our father must have begged and pleaded with him from beyond the grave.

"After you return to Liangdu, burn more gold ingots for your father. He needs them to bribe officials in the underworld. Sigh, I don't know if the ones you burned before were enough. Maybe your father has already borrowed money from loan sharks. Your father is a prince, yet he still has to rely on debt to make a living in the underworld. Doesn't he care about his reputation?"

Zhao Tingxuan listened in a daze. His younger sister's words were truly profound. He seemed to understand everything, yet he also seemed to understand nothing at all.

Zhao Shiqing asked, "Who did you meet at Qishixuan today? By the way, is Qishixuan open during the day?"

Zhao Tingxuan hurriedly said, "This is my first time going there too. I didn't expect it to be open so early in the morning. When I got there, I found out that Qishixuan had just received a batch of stones yesterday. As soon as the news was released, a lot of people came early this morning. Cousin Fan probably heard the news, which is why he chose to come today."

Those who went today included the heir of the Duke of Dingguo, two young masters from the Marquis of Baoqing's residence, and, oh yes, the eldest young master Zhen, as well as the third master of the Deng family, who is the younger brother of the Vice Minister Deng. (End of this chapter)