Just as Xiao Yi had guessed, the imperial physician sent by the palace was not Imperial Physician Zhang.
"Your Highness, our men have been keeping an eye on the former steward."
"Today, he quietly left the house. Our men followed him and found that he eventually went to a teahouse," Yun Xiao reported to Xiao Yi.
"Who did he go to see?" Xiao Yi looked up, a hint of confusion on his face.
"The person he met was an unfamiliar face. Later, that person entered the palace..."
Xiao Yi's eyes narrowed.
"What does that person look like?"
Yun Xiao took out a rolled-up piece of paper from his chest pocket.
"The guard who trailed him drew a portrait," Yun Xiao said, unrolling the portrait on the desk.
Seeing the person in the drawing, Xiao Yi frowned.
He had no impression of this eunuch at all.
However, there were many eunuchs in the palace, so it was quite normal that he hadn't seen him before.
But since this person had entered the palace, it would be difficult to investigate. Which palace did he belong to?
Unless he could move into the palace to find out.
Xiao Yi pondered for a moment and rolled the portrait back up.
"Keep having people watch him and see who else he comes into contact with."
"Yes."
"How are the arrangements with Ling Feng and Ling Yu?"
A look of joy appeared on Yun Xiao's face.
"To answer Your Highness, Ling Yu sent a letter saying they have found a very secluded place."
"Our men have all settled down and have already begun their training."
"The weapons have been arriving one after another. Ling Yu said that everyone was very excited to receive their weapons."
"That very day, they went into the mountains to hunt and caught a lot of prey, enough for everyone to eat for several days."
Xiao Yi was infected by this enthusiasm, and his expression softened.
"Tell Ling Yu and the others to take it easy and not get discovered."
"Yes! However, Ling Yu mentioned that the place they went to is a deserted valley, so they shouldn't be discovered."
"Better safe than sorry. What if?" Xiao Yi's face grew serious.
"Yes, I will go send the message in a moment."
Xiao Yi waved his hand, and Yun Xiao withdrew.
Xiao Yi unrolled the portrait in his hand again, carefully trying to memorize the person's face.
He needed to find an excuse to make a trip into the palace.
Also, what kind of opportunity should he find to take the jade pendant from Prince Rui's hands?
The current opportunity was actually quite good.
Unfortunately, they were too far from the capital, and Xiao Yi did not feel at ease letting Duoduo go somewhere so far away.
Xiao Yi simply gave up on the idea; after all, there would be plenty of opportunities.
If worse came to worst, he could just have someone go and "borrow" it to take a look.
But that was the worst-case scenario.
Duoduo held her mother's hand and followed Xu Jinxin and the others out of the outer study.
Duoduo noticed that Xu Jinxin seemed very depressed.
She reached out, took Xu Jinxin's hand, and shook it.
"Aunt Xu, don't worry."
"Even if I lose, I just have to answer one of Father's questions."
Xu Jinxin looked at Duoduo in disbelief, feeling that Duoduo must just be comforting her.
"Is the wager really that simple? If you lose, you only have to answer a question?"
Duoduo smiled shyly.
"Yeah! Actually, Father could have just asked me directly."
"But he turned it into a bet. In other words, Father is just encouraging us."
Xu Jinxin's eyes rolled as she thought.
"Then if you win, what is the prize you want?"
Duoduo held up the jade pendant at her waist. "This! The thing I want is just like this one."
Xu Jinxin became even more confused.
"Isn't this the kind of jade pendant only men wear?"
"If I remember correctly, this is the one Prince Ling gave you the other day, right?"
Duoduo nodded.
"Yes!"
"There are several jade pendants like this in total, and right now, I already have three."
"I'm just missing the one in Fourth Uncle's hands, and I want it!"
A strange look flashed through Xu Jinxin's eyes.
"Why do you want to collect all these jade pendants? Could it be that putting them together will summon something?"
"Or maybe it's the key to some treasure trove? Or they can combine to form a command token?"
Xu Jinxin's face was full of gossip and curiosity.
Duoduo blinked her big eyes.
"Aunt Xu, your ideas are so interesting!"
Xu Jinxin touched her hair in embarrassment.
Wasn't that what all the storybooks said?
She had read so many of them that her mind naturally jumped to those conclusions.
"Well, look, this jade pendant isn't made of very precious jade."
"The only thing good about it is that the carving is decent."
"You're a girl, there has to be some use for you to collect several men's jade pendants, right?"
"Otherwise, why would you gather them all for no reason?"
Xu Jinxin's words made Duoduo thoughtful.
Were her intentions too obvious?
If Aunt Xu could guess, Father definitely had guessed it too.
If Father already knew, then regardless of whether she won or lost, he would definitely help her find the jade pendant.
Once Duoduo figured this out, the pressure she had felt earlier after learning about the business of her father's shops vanished completely.
Duoduo became happy. "Aunt Xu, we don't need to beat Father anymore."
Xu Jinxin was surprised. "Why?"
"Because whether I win or lose, I will tell Father what he wants to know."
"And whether I win or lose, Father will help me get that jade pendant."
Duoduo's tongue-twister-like words left Xu Jinxin, Su Xian, and Yingniang all completely confused.
Xu Jinxin shook her head.
"That won't do! I'm someone who has never admitted defeat!"
"Come on, let's go back and think hard about how we can make our earnings beat Prince Pingyang!"
"We won't be able to win," Su Xian poured cold water on her close friend's enthusiasm.
"Su Xian, you can't boost the enemy's morale and diminish our own prestige!" Xu Jinxin shot Su Xian a warning glance.
Su Xian pursed her lips into a smile. "That's Duoduo's father, not the enemy."
"Hey, whose side are you on anyway?" Xu Jinxin glared at Su Xian angrily.
Seeing the two mothers having a disagreement, Duoduo and Yingniang hurriedly pulled on their respective mothers.
"We are all together, no fighting!" Yingniang hugged her mother's legs.
"That's right! The battle hasn't even started yet, we can't have internal strife first!"
Duoduo also shook her head at Su Xian.
Xu Jinxin looked at Su Xian, and both of them burst out laughing.
"You! You've scared the children," Su Xian shook her head at Xu Jinxin.
"And you made the children worry!" Xu Jinxin retorted unyieldingly.
Su Xian rubbed Duoduo's head. "Your Aunt Xu and Mother are just joking around!"
Duoduo looked at the smiling Xu Jinxin, then at her mother whose face was full of smiles, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Aunt Xu, the pastries made by Lüdou are very delicious. When the time comes, we can partition off a section specifically to sell her pastries, which can also count as a source of income."
Xu Jinxin nodded.
"That works!"
"Duoduo, I plan to start a delivery service when the time comes."
"This way, our customers won't be limited only to the guests dining inside the shop."
"Aunt Xu, what is a delivery service?"
