Chapter Thirty-Five

  The nearly two-year-old Da Gege wore a large red crane cloak, with her black braids tied into two buns and wrapped around with pink hair flowers. Her eyebrows were clear and distinct, and her bright black eyes looked at Quan Pei as she said in a soft voice: "I've seen the Di'e Mother."

  Although still young, there is already a dignified air about her. Guan Yu stroked the soft hair on top of Da Ge's head: "Alright, don't be so formal at home."

  Dagou subconsciously took a glance at Song Shi and softly replied: "Thank you, Eldest Sister-in-law."

  Rong Ai took off a string of coral bracelet from her wrist and gave it to Da Gege: "Take it and play with it."

  The coral beads are bright red and shiny, they're good stuff that's been aged well. Song Shi hastily said: "Giving these to such a young child is a waste."

  "A girl from a good family should have some good qualities since childhood."

  Song's eyes sparkled with a few more genuine smiles, and Fu Jin thought it was a great thing that her daughter valued her family. She hurriedly said to Da Gege: "Don't you thank Fu Jin?"

  Daguerre listened and accepted the coral bracelet, then thanked her again.

  Mrs. Li's mouth slightly curled up in disdain, such a small child is like a dumb melon, not even good-looking, how could the mistress possibly like her? She thought to herself that her own daughter with bright and lively eyes must be far superior.

  Ruan Ruan called Da Gege later and also came over to pay respects in the morning. When Song Shi took Da Gege out, her eyes were filled with joy. Li Shi didn't bother to calculate, turned around and glanced at Nalan Mingyue, who immediately changed her expression: "Sister Li's complexion looks better and better, I didn't expect that after giving birth, she would look even more beautiful, no wonder she is favored by the master, it's not surprising that the younger sisters can't compare to her, is it Wu sister?" Nalan Mingyue also brought up Wu Ruoxi, who, although she didn't bother to collude with Nalan Mingyue, also had to express her agreement: "Not only beautiful, but also elegant!"

  Li smiled slightly: "The two sisters have a sweet mouth, especially Wu sister."

  Wu Ruoxi smiled somewhat awkwardly: "Sister, what are you talking about?"

  The courtyard had a new row of flower racks, which seemed to make it look more crowded. Nalan Mingyue followed Li Shi to the west wing, while Wu Ruoxi returned to the back hall. The sound of Song Shi and her daughter talking in hushed tones could still be heard from the large room. Although Song Shi was not favored, because of a rather inconspicuous large room, Madame gave enough face to Song Shi. After all, both favoritism and children were important. She thought of Li Shi's eyes and tone again, and her heart tightened involuntarily. Had Li Shi already known about the trick she had played earlier...

  Quan Ai was flipping through the account book sent by Tian Xiang Ge, when Xiao Mantou, wearing a cotton robe and wiping the sweat from his forehead, rushed in: "The master has sent someone with a message, saying that something has happened at Tian Xiang Ge!"

  Xiao Yue, who was good at serving, handed a handkerchief to Xiao Mantou in front of Quan Pei: "What's the big deal, take your time."

  Xiao Mantou took the handkerchief and wiped his sweat, panting: "The several hundred catties of spices that Su Changqing usually supplies have not arrived today for some reason. No one can be found to deliver them, and it's about to run out of stock! Both shops will likely suffer heavy losses! And half of the deposit has already been paid!"

  Knowing that the person who had been in contact with her was no ordinary person, Su Changqing still dared to do such a thing, and it's likely that there was another formidable figure behind him.

  Quan Ai closed the account book: "Have there been any unusual events at the shop in recent days?"

  The little bun furrowed his brow and thought for a moment: "Grandpa said that when business is good, it's inevitable that someone will have ideas, and previously someone had asked the shopkeeper to take over the store."

  "Go tell the old man that within one or two days, someone will definitely come to his door, tell him not to worry, but it's also time to find a new source of goods."

  Xiao Mantou responded with a sound and hurriedly ran out again.

  Kang Qinwang Shizi Fu Jin Zhao Jia Shi looked at her newly dyed nails again and again, feeling quite satisfied. Next to her was Zhang Ru, who had gone out to take care of some business: "...... Su Changqing was so scared that he hid away, probably won't come out for a while, Tianxiang Pavilion lost its supply and wasted such a large sum of money, now going to talk will only make things more difficult."

  Zhao Jia smiled slightly: "You're doing things that make me feel at ease, I like their fragrance, such good stuff shouldn't be wasted, even if they don't want to sell the shop, giving me that perfumer would be fine, and I'll let them off the hook."

  Zhang Ru hurriedly responded with a "yes" and said: "I understand, I'll go take care of it now."

  The five grids in the back hall soon waited for the negotiators, and in the elegant pavilion with windows open on all sides, the five grids hung down and didn't say much. Zhang Yu said a lot, but seeing that Wuge didn't respond, his expression was not as gentle as before: "To say something unpleasant, the face of the Kang Shuang Palace is something that many officials and nobles have to buy. You are just a small merchant, and now you are willing to talk to you nicely, which is already a great honor! Don't know when your family will be ruined!"

  Wu Ge sneered: "I thought it was someone, turns out it's the Prince Kang's residence. I'm guessing, who would be so interested in a small spice shop? Probably a lady, judging by the tone, unless it's the Crown Princess, there won't be a second person."

  "You should know better!"

  "You only forgot one sentence: there is a heaven beyond the sky, and there are people outside of people. In this capital city, even if a brick falls from the sky, it can hit several royal relatives. The son of Prince Gong's wife, Fu Jin, is nothing in my eyes!"

  Wu Ge's tone was so big that Zhang Ru suddenly became worried, fearing that the other party also had a background, and for a moment he didn't dare to say more. In anger, he scolded Wu Ge a few times, then hastily left, wanting to ask Prince Kang's son, Fu Jin Zhao Jia Shi, for instructions.

  The girl just brought the harvest receipt from last season's farm, and Zhao Jia looked unhappy: "With the wind and rain in good condition, how can there be so little? During the holidays, there is only this much fur and meat. How is such a big farm managed?"

  Zhang Ru heard the sound outside, took a step back, and only lifted the curtain to see that Zhao Jia had already seen him. "How did things go?" he was called in.

  "Not quite right."

  Zhao Jia's two slender eyebrows furrowed: "Can't even get this right?"

  "You don't know, the one in charge behind was also a reckless one, saying 'What's so special about Prince Kang's son and his wife?!' I argued with him for a few sentences, seeing that he was really stubborn, afraid of causing trouble for Madam Fu, so I..."

  "So you're going to be a turtle with its head shrunk in?! I'm the steward of the Kang Imperial Prince's mansion, and I couldn't even handle such a small matter. What face do I have left?!" He sneered coldly: "You don't know how high the sky is or how thick the earth is. In the 49 cities, you dare to provoke the Kang Imperial Prince's mansion?! Take the young master's token and go tell the City Patrol Battalion to say that one of our escaped slaves is hiding in the Tianxiang Pavilion, trouble them to find him for me!"

  "Yes, I'll go and take care of it right away."

  Zhang went out, and a servant girl came in with an invitation: "The inner attendant minister Fei Yanggu's family sent over an invitation. Tomorrow is the full moon of the eldest grandson, and the first lady asked to pass on the message that it has been a long time since she saw Madame Fu, please ask Madame Fu to go there when she is free."

  Mrs. Wuge Anda is the cousin of Mrs. Zhaojia, and their mothers are sisters. Mrs. Zhaojia and Mrs. Anda have known each other since childhood and have always gotten along well. Now that Su Feiyang has become a general and has a daughter who is a fourth-ranking wife, she must show her respect. With a smile on her face: "Go, I'll definitely go! It's been many days since we last met, and I've missed her!"

  Wu Ge had just walked out of the shop for a while, and entered his home to see his wife and son. Immediately after, a fellow worker from the shop rushed over: "The City Patrol Battalion has come to say that our shop is hiding escaped slaves, not only have they sealed off the shop but also taken away several fellow workers!"

  Anda only vaguely heard the sound of Wu Ge's anger in the house: "...... Kang Shizi's wife is really fierce! I want to see.......". Later, she didn't hear very clearly, but felt her heart beating fiercely. How did it suddenly involve Zhao Jia Shi? She had even called Zhao Jia Shi over to do her makeup, and now she felt like something bad was going to happen.

  Xiao Mantou was somewhat excited: "The shop was searched and people were also taken away!"

  Quan Pei put down the pen, and Ya Tou hurriedly brought over water for Quan Pei to wash her hands. Judging from Zhao Jia Shi's actions, it wasn't hard to guess that she was a person who was used to getting her way, and must have held real power in the Kang Shizi Manor as well. It was said that the wife of Kang Shizi had always been in poor health, so the second son's wife needed to manage the household. The second son seemed not to be someone who could withstand strong opposition, and had always been controlled by Zhao Jia Shi.

  Ya Tou handed the clothes she had picked out to Quan Ai. Quan Ai nodded slightly: "Wear this one tomorrow."

  "What should we do now?" Xiaoyue asked tentatively.

  "Send a box of my newly blended incense to Princess Kong, and tell her that Tianxiang Pavilion has closed its doors. I'm afraid she won't be able to get anything as good as this again."

  Xiao Yue hastily responded with an "oh".

  The Empress Dowager's eyes and eyebrows showed the weakness of long-term illness, but her raised eyebrows and thin lips still revealed that she had once been radiant and proud. The maid brought a small box made of purple sandalwood to the Empress Dowager: "This is the 'Forget Sorrow Incense' sent by the Fourth Imperial Concubine, it's said to help with sleep."

  Kang Qinwang's consort slightly raised an eyebrow: "Fourth Consort? I've never interacted with her before."

  "Fourth Mistress also asked someone to leave a message for you, saying 'Tianxiang Pavilion is closed, and in the future, it's feared that such good things will not be seen again.'"

  The Princess Consort of Prince Gong coughed a few times, and the maid quickly handed her a spittoon and then passed her some clear tea to rinse her mouth. After a while, she heard the Princess Consort of Prince Gong calm down and say: "I also vaguely remember the Empress mentioning Tianxiang Pavilion, saying it was a spice shop that produced extremely rare and excellent fragrances."

  "No, it's just that the Crown Prince's consort has always wanted a spice shop."

  The Empress Dowager's heart skipped a beat: "Go and call in Wang Niangniang, I'll ask her what the Crown Prince's consort has been up to lately!"

  Although Kangxi Emperor's wife had delegated her power, she still ordered people to monitor the Crown Prince's wife's every move, but as time went by, she didn't have the energy to ask about it anymore.

  "...ordered Zhang to surround the spice shop, but when they couldn't capture him, they had someone go to the City Patrol Guard to say that there was a runaway slave in the shop. It's said that people were arrested and the shop was sealed off, but the young master's wife still wasn't satisfied, don't know what..."

  The sound of the teacup shattering made Wang's nanny take a few steps back, and she heard the rare angry voice of Consort Kang: "I said why Fourth Consort would suddenly send me incense, it turned out that this thing that doesn't know the height of the sky or the thickness of the earth had sealed off Prince Fu's consort's shop. What a big face! When I was a daughter-in-law, I didn't have such audacity. Now that it's in her hands, she really has become lawless! Go and call her over for me, today if I don't properly teach her a lesson, I'm afraid this prince's estate will be ruined by the likes of her!"

  Yatou hastily walked out, behind her was the sound of Consort Kang's violent gasping for breath. As Consort Kang had been ill and rarely got angry, Yatou thought that today's situation must have been a big disaster for the Crown Prince's consort. Thinking about how formidable Consort Kang used to be, Yatou couldn't help but feel anxious for the Crown Prince's consort...