good season

Two days later, Aunt Ji came over with a carrying pole to cook. As soon as she reached the alley entrance, someone called out to her, "Auntie, do you live here?"

Auntie?

Aunt Ji frowned and looked the person in front of her up and down. The person had a face full of wrinkles and looked older than her father. How dare she call her "Auntie"?

"Who are you calling 'auntie'? When did I ever have a nephew as old as you?"

Why is that person swearing?

"Sister."

"Who's your older sister?"

"Big girl!"

Aunt Ji rolled her eyes. At least she has some manners now. She's so old, how come she doesn't understand anything?

"What's going on?"

"Since you live here, you must know that there is a scholar here. He is quite tall, handsome, and generous."

Aunt Ji said irritably, "There is no such person. You must be mistaken."

“How could I be wrong? The sedan bearers said that the man lives here.”

Aunt Ji suddenly realized: "You mean Young Master Sun, right? What, are you trying to find out how much money Scholar Zhu has, thinking of stealing it?"

"Young Master Sun?" The man ignored the last two sentences. What he feared most were the aunties and grandmas in the capital. You might think they were tight-lipped, but no one could talk faster than them. You might think they were careless with their mouths, but they were extremely vigilant and would often mention spies and traitors.

As if on cue, Aunt Ji asked, "Why are you asking about Young Master Sun? I know, Young Master Sun's uncle is a military officer guarding the border. You wouldn't happen to be a spy sent by the Tartars, would you? Guards, arrest the spy!"

Gangtou: "Woof woof woof!"

Suddenly, several old women appeared out of nowhere: "Spies! Spies! Sister Ji, wait here, I'll go back and get the gong!"

Aunt Ji: "Hey, why are you running? I'm talking to you, you spy, don't you dare run away!"

Zhen Wuduo was chatting with Sanqianliang in the courtyard when he heard the commotion outside. The old man immediately grabbed his stool and teapot and ran out to see what was going on, but he was too late; the excitement had already died down.

The old man was filled with regret, feeling that even his new tea, which cost fifty taels of silver per tael, no longer tasted good.

"Ji-meizi, you're so disloyal! You didn't even let Gangtou come in and call me when there was excitement!"

Aunt Ji felt quite embarrassed; she hadn't expected the man to run so fast.

"I don't know where this greenhorn came from, asking about scholars, and a generous one at that, a very tall one. There are only five scholars in this area: your little Ye, my debt collector, the two from the Jin family, and then there's Young Master Sun. But if he's generous and tall, then it can only be Young Master Sun. Your little Ye is only eight years old, the two from the Jin family are eleven and nine years old respectively, and my little one is fifteen, but he's not very tall. Who else could he be looking for but Young Master Sun?"

Zhen Wuduo thought to himself, "They're looking for a scholar. Not only those who study in schools are called scholars. Jin Juren is over forty, but he's still a scholar."

However, he suddenly thought of someone.

That very day, Xiao Zhen, that unfilial son, for some unknown reason, had an epileptic seizure and dressed up as a scholar to provoke him.

That's right. That kid doesn't usually dress like that. But that day, he wore a scholar's robe and bought a lot of candy. He still hasn't finished eating all of that candy. To others, wouldn't that be considered being generous?

Could it be that the person wanted to inquire about his unfilial son?
"What does that person look like?" the old man asked. He had come all the way here looking for that unfilial son. Good heavens! If that unfilial son had implicated his precious granddaughter, he would skin him alive!

Aunt Ji: "She's not young anymore, and her face looks as old as elm bark. She speaks Mandarin, but you can tell she's from out of town. There are no shameless people like that in Beijing."

Zhen Wuduo, here we go again.

“There are plenty of people from other places who have lived in Beijing for decades. So tell me, are they Beijingers or people from other places?”

Aunt Ji: "Of course he's from out of town. No matter how many years he's lived here, he's still an outsider."

Zhen Wuduo: "Then tell me, were the royal family members from the capital or from other places? When the founding emperor came to the capital, he was already forty years old. His ancestors were not from the capital either. By the way, their ancestral graves were not in the capital either."

Aunt Ji: "Oh dear, old man, aren't you just arguing for the sake of arguing? Could the founding emperor be compared to us common folk? The whole country was his, the capital was his, it was all his."

Little old man
"I'm not arguing with you, you stubborn guy. Here, I'll get you some jerky."

Aunt Ji went to the kitchen, and the old man took the pole to the back yard. With a wave of his hand, a guard jumped down from the roof.

"Go and find out who is inquiring about the scholar."

As soon as the guards left, Zhao Shiqing jumped out: "Grandpa, what kind of scholar is he?"

The old man didn't hide it from her; he had to tell his precious granddaughter about it so she would know that Xiao Zhen had caused trouble again and brought everyone home.

The old man would never let go of an opportunity to sow discord.

Zhao Shiqing also felt that the scholar the man mentioned was Xiao Zhen.

Unfortunately, the person who came today was so frightened by Aunt Ji that he ran away too fast, and the guards couldn't find him even after searching everywhere.

However, this incident has raised everyone's vigilance; the capital city is full of hidden talents, and caution is necessary.

But from that day on, people started loitering around the alley from time to time. The guards secretly caught one of them and asked who had sent them. The man initially refused to answer, but after being flattered by the guards, he told the truth.

The guards quickly identified a man surnamed Li, who was the owner of a candy shop. He was the one who had people watching the area, and if they saw a young scholar, they were to find out which family he was related to.

Yes, Manager Li spent money to find out the information about each household in Tianjing Hutong from the village head.

The young master Sun that Aunt Ji mentioned that day did indeed meet these conditions.

A scholar, young, tall, handsome, and generous.

However, Manager Li personally checked and found that Young Master Sun was not the customer who bought candy that day.

None of the other families living in Tianjing Hutong met these conditions.

Therefore, Manager Li suspected that the guest was not staying here, but was a relative of someone in the family.

But he had no other choice but to resort to this clumsy method, having people wait here for him to make his move.

Upon hearing that the person behind it was actually the owner of a candy shop, Zhao Shiqing thought of the candies that Xiao Zhen had brought that day.

Miss Zhao had seen and tasted these before, and she could tell at a glance that they weren't ordinary candies. But that day, she was so busy arguing with the old man that she forgot about them.

She asked the guard, "Have you found out anything about that shop? Who owns it?"

The guard said in a deep voice, "I have investigated and found out that the shop belongs to the Meng family."

Zhao Shiqing thought of Consort Shu and asked, "Consort Shu's family background?"

The guard shook his head: "It's the maternal family of Empress Xiaokang Meng. That shop was originally part of Empress Meng's dowry. After Empress Meng passed away, the shop was returned to the Meng family."

Zhao Shiqing remembered. Yes, the former Crown Princess's surname was Meng. Empress Meng's surname was Meng, and Consort Shu's surname was also Meng. Outsiders all thought they were from the same clan, but that was not the case.

The ancestors of Consort Shu were orphans who were adopted by a beggar surnamed Meng, and thus took the surname Meng as well.

Their descendants produced successful offspring, and the family gradually prospered, but it has only been a few decades since then.

Empress Meng's family, on the other hand, was a prestigious and deeply rooted family with a long history of Confucian scholars in its ancestors, whose lineage could be traced back hundreds of years.

This shows that the retired emperor placed high hopes on Emperor Xiaokang. Empress Meng was a wife carefully selected by the retired emperor for his son, based on the standard of an empress.

Zhao Shiqing paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered another shop.

It was an antique shop, and she had once seen Yang Shengqiu and Princess Huiming having a secret rendezvous outside that shop.

"Go and check again whether the Meng family gave this candy shop to Princesses Huixin and Huiming."

The antique shop was given to the two princesses by the Meng family, and perhaps this candy shop was too.

If the candy shop now belongs to the two princesses, it makes sense that the shop would have candies that can't be bought in stores.

The news quickly spread that the Meng family had indeed left this shop, along with several others, as part of the two princesses' dowries.

Empress Meng left no children, and the Meng family probably wanted the two princesses to remember her kindness by offering incense to her on holidays and festivals.

Zhao Shiqing muttered to herself, "So this shop really did belong to those two princesses. Princess Huiming went to Ci'en Temple and may never be able to come out again. Now, the only owner of this shop is Princess Huixin."

The guards discovered that Manager Li was from the Meng family, but Zhao Shiqing did not believe that investigating Xiao Zhen was the Meng family's idea.

Despite being a prestigious family, the Meng family has many branches. The larger the family, the more complex the internal affairs become, and it is common for each branch and courtyard to fight each other.

Otherwise, why would Empress Meng entrust Xiao Yue to Princess Jiayi instead of her own family?

Princess Jiayi is in charge of the Princess's residence. Although she seems to be inseparable from Prince Consort Xiao, he never contradicts her. When she brought Xiao Yue back to raise him, Prince Consort Xiao tried to smear her reputation, willing to be ridiculed by the world, to help Princess Jiayi settle her nephew.

Princess Jiayi can do this, but the Meng family cannot. Not to mention the many branches of the Meng family, even Empress Meng's brothers would have different opinions on such a serious matter that could lead to the confiscation of their property and the extermination of their families. They might even turn against each other and become enemies. In that case, Xiao Yue would be the most vulnerable.

Such large families are adept at seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune, as can be seen from the fact that the Meng family left the capital after Empress Meng's death.

Therefore, Manager Li's investigation into Xiao Zhen must not have been done by the Meng family.

If it wasn't the Meng family, then either Manager Li was just bored, or someone made him do it.

Zhao Shiqing prefers the latter.

Manager Li is someone who does things for others.

Who is this guy?
Ready to come out!

Zhao Shiqing snorted coldly. Princess Huixin, what is she investigating Xiao Zhen for?
It's written in storybooks: cousins, making the bed and covering the blankets.

You, Xiao Zhen, even in death you're still having affairs.

However, Zhao Shiqing quickly remembered another thing Xiao Zhen had said: the reason why Princess Jiayi ignored the two princesses was not because she was heartless, but because she simply looked down on the two sisters and their mother.

Their mother was strangled on the orders of Empress Meng before her death.

That woman has ulterior motives.

If that woman doesn't die, Xiao Yue can't send her out alive.

Empress Meng spared the two sisters not because she was soft-hearted, but because they had the blood of Emperor Xiaokang flowing in their veins.

If Princess Jiayi hadn't known about this, it wouldn't have mattered. But she was entrusted with this mission in a time of crisis, and Empress Meng had told her about all the crises that had already occurred and those that hadn't. Since she already knew, the most dignified and least suspicious thing to do was to pretend that she didn't see her two nieces.

Princess Huixin was unaware of Princess Jiayi's role in this matter, but Xiao Zhen knew.

Since Xiao Zhen already knew, he couldn't possibly act like a cousin with Princess Huixin.

Miss Zhao sat still and didn't say a word, and she convinced herself.

Xiao Zhen is completely innocent and has no history of extramarital affairs.

Zhao Shiqing felt a sweet warmth in her heart. She subconsciously looked around, hiding her feelings of affection. She hadn't yet recovered from the hurt she felt towards the bean sprout.

She asked Xiuxiu to give her a completely unrecognizable look, and then twirled around in front of the old man, asking, "Grandpa, who do I look like?"

The old man said, "It doesn't resemble anyone, it's a strange creature!"

Zhao Shiqing was relieved; now she wouldn't be recognized by Wei Wubing when she walked down the street.

Although she wasn't afraid of Wei Wubing, she didn't want to cause trouble. That Wei Wubing was eccentric and seemed to have a brain that hadn't been properly cleaned up; what a waste of his good looks.

Zhao Shiqing, along with a few friends, went to Ruyi Pavilion in a grand procession.

Xiao Zhen had just returned from outside when he saw Zhao Shiqing as soon as he entered the door, and a smile immediately appeared on his face.

Unfortunately, he was wearing a fake face, so his smile looked very fake. Zhao Shiqing couldn't bear to look at him and quickly got to the point.

She talked about Manager Li's affairs and shared her speculations. When she mentioned Princess Huixin, Xiao Zhen's smile vanished completely.

“I did feel someone was watching me that day, but when I turned around, there was nothing there. Now that I think about it, Huixin must have seen me.”

Zhao Shiqing asked, "What's your relationship with her like?"

Xiao Zhen: "I'm not familiar with her."

Zhao Shiqing: "You two are cousins, how come she never gave you a purse or handkerchief or anything like that?"

Xiao Zhen was startled. How did his little girl know about this?

He himself had forgotten about it.

"When we were young, we all studied in the palace. We were young then and we were all relatives, so there was no distinction between boys and girls in the school. The Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, the Fifth Prince, along with Princess Jia Rou, and several other children from other households, including Hui Xin and Hui Ming, all studied together."

I forget which year it was, but Huixin gave me a purse, or maybe a fan cover, something embroidered. I said I didn't want it, but she insisted on giving it to me and ran away. Coincidentally, I twisted my ankle while riding a horse a few days later and was limping. Before I could catch up with her, she had disappeared.

I had no choice but to give that thing to Princess Jiarou, who is my aunt. No one will say anything if I give it to her.

As for whether Princess Jiarou threw it away or kept it for herself, I don't know.

Honestly, although we're cousins, we're not close at all. Our only interaction was that one time. I can't even remember what she looks like now, and maybe I never really looked at her closely in the first place.

Zhao Shiqing's eyes widened: "Huh? You're so young and already attracting attention?" (End of Chapter)