good season

The emperor bestowed the title of Princess Chang's Mansion upon Wan Ruyi, but the house still needed repairs and it would take at least one or two months before she could move in. Instead of living in Tianshui Hutong, Zhao Shiqing took Wan Ruyi to another of her houses in the capital.

Miss Zhao is very wealthy. Besides the house she lent to the Emperor Emeritus, she also owns several other low-key yet luxurious residences in the capital.

Of course, all of these were part of Zhen Wuduo's dowry.

The reason they didn't return to Tianshui Hutong was ultimately because of Zhen Wuduo.

She knew all too well what was going to happen next, so she didn't want anyone to notice Zhen Wuduo. As long as he wasn't with her, Zhen Wuduo was just an old man walking his bird.

Zhen Wuduo felt it was unnecessary, but he dared not disobey his beloved granddaughter's decision.

As news spread throughout the capital that the Emperor Emeritus had found his biological daughter and bestowed upon Zhao Shiqing the title of Princess, it was also revealed that Zhao Shiqing was an adopted daughter of the Liang Prince's Mansion and had now been adopted by Princess Jiabao as her goddaughter.

The Empress and the Dowager Consort bestowed many rewards upon them, and Consort Qiao, along with the mistresses of various palaces, also sent gifts.

However, the largest amount of gifts came from Princess Jiayi's residence.

When Princess Jiayi's residence delivered gifts, other residences also happened to be delivering gifts. As a result, within half a day, news spread that Princess Jiayi had taken a liking to Zhao Shiqing and wanted to strengthen the bond between her and Princess Jiabao through marriage.

Princess Jiayi: That's right, I deliberately spread the word to prevent any fools from trying to steal my daughter-in-law!

Because of Zhao Shiqing, Princess Jiayi also found Madam Yu of the Duke of Wei's mansion more agreeable. When the two met outside, they did not quarrel, which was unprecedented. Princess Jiayi even said to Madam Yu with a forced smile, "In two days, please invite the Crown Prince to my banquet."

Since Zhao Shiqing is not only Princess Jiabao's adopted daughter, but also the adopted daughter of Prince Liang, she will have to call Yanxia her brother-in-law from now on.

Afterwards, Princess Jiayi said to Prince Consort Xiao, "If it weren't for my daughter-in-law's sake, I wouldn't have paid any attention to Yu Chili."

Prince Consort Xiao hurriedly tried to coax him.

Princesses Jia'an and Jia Ning were having tea together when a gossipy old woman told them what she had heard outside. Jia'an smiled and said, "When I heard that the Emperor Emeritus had brought back Xiao Zhen and even adopted a pair of godchildren, I guessed it. Princess Nanyang's surname is Zhao, so she can't be betrothed to Zhao Guanyue. Betrothing her to Xiao Zhen would be more appropriate."

Princess Jianing thought about it more deeply: "Alas, Princess Nanyang was raised by the Liang Prince's Mansion, so her relationship with the Liang Prince's Mansion must be very close. Her status is noble, but the Xiao family is also from Liang. This marriage is a good match, but I'm afraid it will offend that person."

It goes without saying who that is.

Princess Jia'an looked around, and the servants beside her discreetly withdrew. Princess Jia'an lowered her voice and said, "There is a young man in my household who used to be in an opera troupe. His master and the famous actress Xiao Huangying were fellow apprentices. Therefore, he has met Xiao Yue. You should know who Xiao Yue is, right?"

Princess Jianing paused for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Is that the name of the concubine in my elder sister's family, whose surname is Xiao?"

Princess Jia'an nodded, her face mysterious: "When Xiao Yue was a child, he often sneaked out to play in the opera troupe. My servant has seen him. The day Zhao Guanyue came to the city, that servant was in my carriage and saw Zhao Guanyue. He said that Zhao Guanyue looked a lot like Xiao Yue, the more he looked, the more he looked like him."

The young man Princess Jia'an mentioned was, without a doubt, one of her male favorites.

Princess Jianing sighed helplessly, "You're really bold. Father Emperor's return to the capital is such a big deal, and you still bring a male concubine along. Aren't you afraid of being discovered?"

Princess Jia'an smiled and held up two fingers: "I didn't bring one, I brought two. One to massage my legs, and the other to rub my shoulders. If you want to enjoy this blessing, I'll give you a few."

The two sisters laughed and joked, and neither of them mentioned what had just happened again.

Meanwhile, Princess Huixin also heard the news.

She has now moved out of Princess Jiarou's residence. Consort Qiao pleaded for her, and she finally has her own residence.

This mansion was formerly the Fuling Prince's Mansion, also known as the Second Prince's Mansion.

After the death of the second prince, he was posthumously granted the title of Prince of Fuling. The title of Prince of Fuling was a county prince, and it was not hereditary. He had a son and a daughter. His daughter was four years old and his son was still an infant. Half a year ago, the Princess of Fuling took her two children to Fuling to take up her fief. Soon after arriving, the mother and her two children died one after another due to "acclimatization problems".

With no heir, the line of the Prince of Fuling ended.

Emperor Yongjia revoked the title of Prince of Fuling, and the Prince of Fuling's mansion in the capital was no longer needed. Just then, Consort Qiao mentioned Princess Huixin's current situation. Emperor Yongjia was concerned about his reputation and naturally did not want to be known for mistreating his niece, especially since Princess Huixin was the daughter of Emperor Xiaokang.

Moreover, the Prince of Fuling was killed in this very palace by the men he sent.

Emperors are ruthless, but since the one they killed was their own son, they still had some reservations.

Therefore, even without Princess Huixin, Emperor Yongjia would have given the palace to someone else as soon as possible.

Although Princess Huixin had her own princess residence, when the Princess Consort of Fuling left, she practically emptied the entire residence, leaving behind only some furniture that couldn't be moved and a group of servants, each with their own agendas.

Other princesses who established their own residences received financial assistance from their mothers and maternal families, even if the emperor and empress did not bestow any rewards. This was the case with Princess Jiarou, who, despite spending most of her time in a Taoist temple, had a single item in her residence worth a fortune.

Princess Huixin did not have these qualities; her parents died early, and she was an orphan.

However, for some unknown reason, the Meng family took back half of the shop that had been given to them, citing Princess Huiming's sending to Ci'en Temple as the reason.

The shopkeepers of these shops were all from the Meng family. Apart from the candy shop, Princess Huixin had no say in the operation of the other shops. All along, she and her sister had only taken the money. Therefore, she only found out about this after the head shopkeeper sold off the other shops.

Princess Dayong's fiefdoms were all given as dowry. Wan Ruyi was an exception, but she was already forty years old and probably would not remarry in the future. Moreover, she had a daughter. Therefore, the retired emperor gave her a fiefdom of five thousand households. This was not a dowry, but for her to use in her old age.

Princess Huixin was neither married nor young, so her income came only from her princess salary and palace rewards. Her only private property was her candy shop.

These may seem like a lot, but she has to support not only herself, but also more than two hundred servants in the princess's mansion. The daily maintenance of the princess's mansion costs a large sum of money every year.

Princess Huixin was struggling financially. Although she now had her own residence, her life was even more difficult than before.

She couldn't wait to get married. If she married Xiao Zhen, she would have at least three thousand households as her fief, even if she didn't have five thousand households. This would relieve her financial burden. Besides, if Xiao Zhen became her husband, Princess Jiayi would be her mother-in-law. With this backer, she wouldn't have to be subservient to Consort Qiao.

More importantly, this is Xiao Zhen, the Xiao Zhen she has loved since childhood!
In order to attend the grand banquet held by Princess Jiayi for Xiao Zhen, she made preparations well in advance. On that day, she wanted to appear in her most perfect form. She wanted everyone to know that she and Xiao Zhen were a couple, and they had to be a couple.

But now, the rumors about Xiao Zhen and Zhao Shiqing had reached her ears. Princess Huixin was stunned for a moment, then gritted her teeth. How could she forget that before her identity was revealed, Xiao Zhen had gone to the candy shop and bought a lot of candy? That candy was obviously not for Princess Jiayi, and Xiao Zhen's younger sister was too young to eat candy.

This is something she has always been unwilling and afraid to think about.

Xiao Zhen already had a woman he liked!

Who is that woman?

At that time, Xiao Zhen was dressed in plain clothes, riding in the most ordinary carriage, and did not reveal his identity, so the only people he could come into contact with were common women.

Princess Huixin wouldn't care about a commoner woman; whether she existed or not was irrelevant. If Xiao Zhen were to follow in the footsteps of Consort Xiao and keep that woman outside the palace, she would have plenty of ways to make her disappear from this world.

Most importantly, the woman was clearly not Zhao Shiqing, who had just arrived in the capital.

Zhao Shiqing is the adopted daughter of the old Prince Liang and a registered princess of the Imperial Clan Court. People from the Prince Liang's mansion cannot enter the capital without a summons. If it weren't for the Emperor Emeritus, Zhao Shiqing would still be in Liang.

She had never been to the capital before.

If Zhao Shiqing and Xiao Zhen were indeed in love, it would have happened in Tongzhou. As a noblewoman, she could easily get close to Xiao Zhen through the Emperor Emeritus.

That Zhao Shiqing is so shameless!

She used the guise of disaster relief and charity to seduce men.

However, she made a good move. Not only did she seduce Xiao Zhen, but she also secured the title of princess for herself, transforming herself from an ordinary member of the royal family who could not request a title into a princess with a fief!
Princess Huixin hated Zhao Shiqing to the core.

Princess Huixin's joys and sorrows were immediately reported to Granny Yang by the maid.

Granny Yang came from the palace and was also one of Consort Qiao's people.

Granny Yang curled her lip: "She doesn't even look at her own status. Apart from being her biological daughter, what does she have that can compare to Princess Nanyang? Although Princess Nanyang is only an adopted daughter, she has the Liang Prince's Mansion behind her, and is now favored by the Emperor Emeritus. She also has Princess Jiabao as her godmother. I've heard that although the old Princess Liang doesn't like her, the Liang Prince and Princess Liang dote on this little sister. They even fell out with the old Princess Liang because of her."

Consort Qiao had corresponded with the late Princess Consort Nie of Liang, and knew quite a bit about the affairs of the Liang Prince's residence. Moreover, the fact that the late Princess Consort of Liang was almost confined to her quarters was no secret in Liang.

As Yang Mama was by Consort Qiao's side, she knew more or less some of the information.

She looked down on Princess Huixin from the bottom of her heart. It was all her bad luck that she was assigned to serve such a master, where there was no profit to be made and her future was predictable.

Princess Huixin was completely unaware of this, and she was even less aware that she was not the only one plotting against that grand banquet.

The Third Prince's wife, Feng Jiahe, was one of them.

However, her target was not Xiao Zhen, but Fan Qiuyun.

Some people are just so ridiculous. It was the Third Prince who got Fan Qiuyun pregnant, it was the Third Prince who had an affair with Fan Qiuyun in the palace, it was the Third Prince who made Qiao Er Gongzi wear a green hat, and it was the Third Prince who betrayed Feng Jiahe. Yet, it was Fan Qiuyun who Feng Jiahe wanted to take revenge on and destroy.

Meanwhile, the instigator, the Third Prince, was tirelessly running towards Wuji Temple.

The retired emperor was either meditating or discussing Taoist practices with Master Liu of Wuji Temple. The third prince was rejected time and time again, but fortunately he found out that after the announcement of Princess Jiabao's identity, the retired emperor had not summoned anyone else. Just like when he was in Changshou Palace, his mind was entirely focused on cultivating immortality.

The only person who can see the retired emperor now is Zhao Guanyue. Zhao Guanyue has no official title and no residence, so he lives with the retired emperor at Wuji Temple.

The Third Prince came to Wuji Temple today, but still failed to see the Emperor Emeritus.

He didn't rush to leave, but instead wandered around the Wuji Temple.

During his reign, the retired emperor frequently visited Wuji Temple and once considered renaming it Wuji Palace. Unfortunately, Emperor Xiaokang died there, and Wuji Temple became a place of sorrow for the retired emperor. He then built Changshou Palace instead. In the preceding decade or so, the retired emperor had never returned to the capital, let alone visited Wuji Temple.

The incense offerings at Wuji Temple plummeted from that point on. Even Master Liu probably never imagined that one day the Emperor Emeritus would not only return to Wuji Temple, but would even stay there.

The third prince sighed inwardly. He wasn't interested in the Taoist temple itself, but rather in the chance encounter with someone there.

His trip these past few days wasn't in vain. Although he hadn't managed to get close to Wang Daban, he had bribed Wang Daban's godson, Wang Daixi.

Perhaps because he couldn't get any money out of the Longevity Palace, Wang Daixi was exceptionally greedy for money.

However, after giving a small amount of money, Wang Daixi told the Third Prince that the boy named Shen Wangxing who was with Zhao Guanyue loved reading storybooks, but the Taoist temple was a place of quiet cultivation and he could not come and go as he pleased, so he could only secretly ask the young Taoist priest who went out to buy things to bring them back for him.

Another one, Ni Xiaoqiu, was a glutton and liked to have people bring him snacks from outside.

Wang Daixi also said that Shen Wangxing and Ni Xiaoqiu were both short of money, after all, they were both orphans and didn't have much money.

As for Zhao Guanyue, he enjoys perfumery, and the incense that the Emperor Emeritus is currently using is one that he personally blended.

The retired emperor was very fond of the spices he prepared. After moving into Wuji Temple, he asked the temple to vacate two rooms in the flower garden, where Zhao Guanyue prepared spices.

The Third Prince is now heading to the flower garden of Wuji Temple.

The flower garden at Wuji Temple is no ordinary flower garden; all the flowers and herbs planted here can be used for medicine, and they can also be used to make incense.

The third prince was accompanied by only one attendant. Before he even entered the flower garden, he saw the green figure hidden among the flowers and plants.

The fifteen-year-old boy was slender and tall, wearing a loose Taoist robe. A green ribbon was tied to his cascading black hair. A gentle breeze blew through the flowers, causing his clothes to flutter and the ribbon to sway in the wind, like green willows on a lake, creating ripples.

The Third Prince was stunned for a moment. He had seen Zhao Guanyue before, but only briefly, and knew that he was a handsome young man.

But seeing him again today, even just his back, filled him with a sense of inferiority. (End of Chapter)