Xiao Che wore a serious expression.
“Dare you say that your pastry shop has nothing to do with me?”
Duoduo blinked.
“What do you mean, Eighth Uncle?” Duoduo neither admitted nor denied it.
She merely threw the question back at him, wanting to figure out exactly what Xiao Che meant.
Seeing the wariness on Duoduo’s face, Xiao Che smiled.
As expected, teasing children really did lift one’s spirits.
Especially a clever child like Changle.
That made it even more amusing.
“I’ve heard there’s a pastry shop outside the palace called ‘Fudoduo.’”
“They have a signature pastry that’s supposedly exactly the same as the pastries from the Imperial Kitchen!”
“So I made a special trip to take a look.”
“Changle, they’re exactly the same as the pastries I brought you!”
Duoduo gazed at Xiao Che with an innocent expression.
“I didn’t make them.”
Xiao Che nodded.
“I know.”
“It was your maid, Lüdou.”
Duoduo deflated.
Xiao Che had investigated her secret thoroughly.
However, Duoduo quickly grew wary again.
“Eighth Uncle, how did you know?” she asked nervously.
She and Lüdou had been extremely careful. How had anyone managed to find out?
Seeing Duoduo’s nervous expression, Xiao Che felt even more pleased.
“I didn’t know at first, either.”
“But the last time I went to the Imperial Kitchen to buy pastries, I was given a hard time.”
“That was when I learned that someone outside the palace was trading on the Imperial Kitchen’s reputation, and everyone in the Imperial Kitchen had suffered because of it.”
“After leaving the palace, I went to Fudoduo first.”
“I discovered that the pastries in that shop were exactly the same as the ones I had bought for you.”
“And your maid Lüdou happens to be very skilled at making pastries.”
Putting everything together, Xiao Che had naturally guessed most of the truth.
Duoduo understood why Xiao Che had figured it out, and some of the tension left her.
“Mm-hmm. Eighth Uncle is very clever,” she praised.
Xiao Che laughed.
“That’s all?” His words clearly carried another meaning.
Duoduo pretended not to understand. “Huh? What else is there?”
Xiao Che leaned his upper body toward Duoduo.
“This shop of yours is half mine—or rather, one-third of it exists because of me.”
“Shouldn’t you give me a tenth of the profits?”
Duoduo’s eyes widened until they were round as saucers.
She had seen shameless people before, but this was the first time she had ever met someone quite so shameless.
The idea had been thought up by her and Lüdou.
The pastries had been developed by her and Lüdou together.
The shop was also run by her and Lüdou together.
What did any of that have to do with Xiao Che?
Even if there was some connection, she had already paid him!
“Eighth Uncle, I already gave you money!” Duoduo reminded him.
Xiao Che remembered the several hundred taels Duoduo had given him back then, and his face reddened slightly.
“But I’ve heard that this shop makes a fortune every day…”
Duoduo stared at him in disbelief.
“Eighth Uncle, you’re really—”
Shameless.
Seeing Duoduo’s flushed face, Xiao Che burst out laughing.
“Changle, I was only teasing you! Hahaha!”
Duoduo looked at Xiao Che with suspicion.
She understood that nobody in the palace had it easy.
But Xiao Che had been so blatant about trying to profit from her that she was very unhappy.
“When I go back, I’ll have the shop stop selling all the pastries it used to sell.”
“The earlier pastries were limited in quantity, so they didn’t earn that much money anyway.”
“Qingliu!” Duoduo called to Qingliu, who had been standing outside the pavilion keeping watch.
Qingliu hurried over and saluted Duoduo.
“Qingliu, take out five hundred taels in silver notes,” Duoduo ordered.
Since they had to enter the palace, Qingliu had placed quite a few silver notes on her person.
Money could make even ghosts turn a millstone.
In the palace, silver was the key that opened every door.
Qingliu had also heard the conversation in the pavilion just now.
So she immediately took five one-hundred-tael silver notes from her purse.
“Give them to the Eighth Prince,” Duoduo said calmly.
“These eight hundred taels are more than a tenth.”
“The extra money can count as Changle’s thanks to Eighth Uncle for his help.”
As she spoke, Duoduo stood and gave Xiao Che a solemn bow.
Xiao Che had never expected her to take a joke seriously.
Looking at the silver notes Qingliu held out to him, he felt his face burning.
“Changle, I was only joking!”
“Really! Don’t be angry! Eighth Uncle apologizes!”
“Quick, tell your maid to put the silver notes away!”
Flustered, Xiao Che bowed repeatedly to Duoduo. Duoduo hurriedly stepped aside.
If anyone in the palace saw the Eighth Prince bowing to her, she would never be able to clear her name, even if she jumped into the Yellow River.
“Changle, I suddenly remembered that I still have something to take care of. I’ll be going first!”
Xiao Che was so embarrassed that he hastily came up with a flimsy excuse and fled.
“Oh, Eighth Prince, the silver notes!” Qingliu deliberately waved the notes in her hand.
Xiao Che’s figure disappeared even faster.
“All right, Qingliu. Be careful someone hears you,” Duoduo said as she sat back down.
Qingliu was extremely unwilling to let it go. She gave a disgruntled snort, turned around, and put the silver notes back into her purse.
“Princess, why did you have to be nice to him?”
“You respect him as your elder, yet he came right to your face to bully you!”
“What a shameless man!” Qingliu grumbled indignantly.
Duoduo shook her head.
“He was only joking.”
Qingliu found that very hard to understand. “Princess, you really believe what he said?”
“He must simply be short of money, so he deliberately came to ask you for some!”
“How shameless of him, wanting a tenth of the profits!”
“Qingliu! Watch your words!” Duoduo scolded.
Qingliu was deeply dissatisfied, but she obediently closed her mouth.
“If you can’t control your tongue, I’ll send you out of the palace at once!”
“I don’t want a disobedient maid by my side!” Duoduo was truly angry now.
Everywhere in the palace, there were spies from the various residences.
You never knew which sentence you said might be overheard.
One person told another, and soon it would spread to ten more.
Some words, once spread, could cost someone their life!
What was more, given the current situation, there were likely people deliberately waiting for her to make a mistake so they could use it to control the Prince of Pingyang.
The moment Qingliu heard that Duoduo wanted to send her away, she dropped to her knees.
“Please calm down, Princess! This servant knows she was wrong! Please don’t send this servant away!”
Duoduo took a deep breath and calmed herself.
“Remember! You didn’t hear anything that happened just now!”
“I’ve told you countless times: in the palace, use only your ears and eyes. Keep your mouth firmly shut!”
Duoduo gave Qingliu a stern warning.
Qingliu hurriedly nodded. “This servant remembers!”
“If I ever make the same mistake again, I’ll sew my own mouth shut with needle and thread!”
On the branch above them, there was a faint rustle.
Then it immediately went still.
