Nanny Liu immediately glanced over at Song Qian. Only after she confirmed that he was too busy eating and drinking to pay attention to their conversation did she finally let out a sigh of relief.
Princess Kang, a faint smile playing at her lips, casually glanced toward a rockery not far away before nonchalantly shifting her gaze back.
Hidden behind the rockery, Lin Meng clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle any sound, while his ears pricked up sharply, desperate to catch every word of the secret they were exchanging.
He had come here on Bai Ruoshu's orders, to keep a discreet eye on Song Qian and make sure the little boy did not get himself into trouble out of naivety. He had never expected to overhear such a shocking revelation.
His eyes were wide with disbelief. To begin with, he had originally been one of Prince Kang's men. The two reasons he was sent to the Duke of Anguo's estate were to keep watch over the household, and to keep an eye on Bai Ruoshu.
After Xi Daniu drove them away, they had returned to Prince Kang's side to work for him again.
Logically speaking, his loyalty should have belonged to Prince Kang, but he had spent several years in the duke's estate, and Bai Ruoshu had always treated them very well, never skimping on their rewards of silver. He had once thought he would spend the rest of his life in the duke's estate, and had long since come to see Song Qian as his own young master. When Xi Daniu had ordered them to go and bring Xi Qingyue and her sister back to the capital, he had done the job half-heartedly. Now that he had learned Prince Kang was actually planning to kill Song Qian, he was thrown into utter turmoil.
He did not want to see the young boy lose his life at such a tender age, but if he sided with Bai Ruoshu, he would be betraying Prince Kang. He had no choice but to pick one side over the other.
After a moment's thought, he reached a decision. He would find a chance as soon as possible to pass this critical news on to Bai Ruoshu.
From the pavilion, Nanny Liu's stammering voice drifted out. "Your... Your Highness, this old servant cannot make heads or tails of what you just said. You must have misunderstood something, right?"
Princess Kang flicked a dismissive glance at her and let out a snort of laughter. "Nanny Liu, don't play dumb. I know Prince Kang far better than you do. Didn't he plan to take Sister Ruoshu as his secondary consort? But I'm sure Sister Ruoshu would never agree to that. Sooner or later, they will fall out, and when the matter blows up, the Bai family will turn against the Prince entirely. You used to be a member of the Bai household, surely you don't want that to happen, do you?"
The more Nanny Liu listened, the more she realized there was every chance that was exactly what would come to pass. Knowing she could no longer keep things hidden from the princess, she let out a helpless sigh. "Alas, Your Highness, this old servant is just a nobody in the estate. I have no power to do anything about such major matters."
She did not want to see Bai Ruoshu and her son come to harm, but she simply had no way to sway Prince Kang's decisions. She could not help but look over at Princess Kang. Since the princess had stopped the assassin from killing Song Qian just now and had openly brought the whole matter to light, she must have a way to resolve the crisis.
Princess Kang shook her head as she watched Song Qian happily munching on pastries. The boy was far too simple-minded, she thought, she could not imagine how he had been raised to be so naive. She shifted her gaze back to Nanny Liu and spoke slowly. "There is a Snowdan Temple outside the city. It would be perfectly normal for Sister Ruoshu to want to go there to pray for her child, wouldn't it? It will be much easier for her to leave from the back mountain of the temple. If you wait too long, it will be too late to leave."
With that, she walked over to Song Qian, bent down, and spoke to him in a gentle tone. "Qian'er, we have been out for quite a while now. Let's go back to find your mother."
Song Qian nodded repeatedly. "Mmm, I will listen to you, aunt."
Princess Kang smiled, lifted the little boy into her arms, and walked out of the pavilion. She did not pause for even a moment as she passed the rockery.
A short while later, Lin Meng, who was still hiding behind the rockery, pressed a hand to his chest and let out a long, heavy breath of relief, then hurried off to find his group of brothers.
The moment he left, a woman in a tight-fitting black outfit landed softly on top of the rockery, muttering to herself. "With skill levels that low, they still dare to run around everywhere. They are far too bold. If the Princess had not stepped in to help, they would have been caught long ago."
Over in Xinan County, Xi Qingyue's arrival had brought about tremendous changes to the entire county, and the local people were full of gratitude for her.
The county magistrate was dead, and all the policies he had put in place before his death had been abolished. The shopkeepers of every store in the city were in high spirits every day.
In the past, most villagers from the surrounding villages had been reluctant to come into town because of the entry fee, but as soon as the news that the entry fee had been scrapped spread, villagers from all the nearby villages came into the city with their shoulder poles on their shoulders or mountain goods on their backs, selling wild vegetables and local produce. The streets were bustling with crowds, more lively than they had ever been.
The news that Xi Qingyue planned to build a academy shocked the common people even more, especially when they learned that she was putting displaced people to work on the construction site.
Tea houses and taverns were packed with customers again, and Xi Qingyue's Moon-Wave Tea House was doing exceptionally brisk business.
Qi Xin had people cut watermelons into countless small pieces and set them out at the entrance for passersby to try for free. But when people finished tasting them and were delighted to buy some, he shook his head and refused to sell them.
He wore a simple, honest smile and shook his head at the crowd. "Everyone, I am truly sorry. This is our tea house's new product, called watermelon. We do not have much stock today, and we will not sell it to anyone who is not a guest in our tea house, otherwise we will not have enough to go around. We have many other new products in the shop, all kinds of food you have never seen before. If you are interested, you can step inside and take a look. I promise you will not be disappointed."
Everyone immediately grew curious when they heard there were new products, wondering if all the new food would taste as good as the watermelon they had just tried.
Some people had not wanted to go inside the tea house at first, after all, so many people had lost their lives there before. But they were so eager to get their hands on a whole watermelon that they decided to step inside anyway.
There were also some people who did not care about the past at all. After tasting the watermelon, they were so delighted that they rushed straight into the shop, shouting, "I want five of them, give them to me first!"
They were in such a frantic hurry that they looked terrified the goods would be snatched up before their turn, and the rest of the crowd scrambled to run inside after them.
The tea house was thriving, and even Xi Qingyue was a little surprised by how well things were going.
She smiled brightly and said, "There are so many well-off people in this city, none of them seem to know how to save a little money for a rainy day."
At her words, Mu Jin burst into a giggle. "Princess, if everyone lived frugally, our tea house would not be able to stay open."
She thought the two young mistresses were the most carefree people around. They never had to worry about running out of silver, and could spend money however they pleased.
All of a sudden, Xi Qingyue seemed to remember something, and shot up straight from her reclining chair. "Right, Mu Jin, I picked up a bunch of things on the road earlier. Lan'er and I have no use for them. Have someone help me sort them out and sell what can be sold. There are also some used bedding and old clothes among them, give those to the displaced people outside the city."
As she spoke, she waved her hand, and a whole mountain of items appeared in front of them: all kinds of clothes, jewelry, daily necessities, even pots, pans, ladles and spoons.
Mu Jin's mouth twitched when she saw the pile. These must have been things taken from the mansions in the capital, she thought, though some of them did not look quite that luxurious, more like belongings from ordinary rich households.
Xi Qingyue pointed at the pile and said calmly, "This is just a small part of what we have. They are all secondhand items, but the jewelry is pretty good. If any of you find something you like, you can keep it for yourselves. Sell the rest, and keep the pots and pans to use in the kitchen at the academy."
Mu Jin nodded with a smile. "Yes, Princess. The tents for the academy's staff are already set up. If we give those bedding and clothes to the displaced people, they will be even more grateful to you."
Xi Qingyue waved her hand dismissively. "These things are useless to us, but they are necessities for them. It's just a small favor, nothing to make a big deal out of."
Right after she finished speaking, Xi Weilan and Nan Yun flew in from outside.
Xi Weilan shouted happily at her. "Sister, I can fly so well now! I can almost keep up with Nan Yun's speed!"
She zipped straight into Xi Qingyue's arms, wrapping one arm around her neck. "Sister, I'm hungry. I want to eat roast chicken."
Xi Qingyue smiled and ruffled her messy hair. "Alright, you and Nan Yun can each have a whole roasted chicken."
With that, she pulled out two roasted chickens.
"Thank you so much, Princess!" Nan Yun grinned as she took her roasted chicken, then pulled Xi Weilan over to a side table where the two of them tucked into their meal happily.
Watching her little sister enjoy the roasted chicken so much, Xi Qingyue could not help but think back to the days when they first arrived in this place.
If she did not have her special abilities and her personal spatial pocket, the two sisters would have ended up worse off than the displaced refugees out there, and would have never survived to see this day.
The thought made her realize that some of the pests lingering in the city needed to be rooted out as soon as possible.
She turned to Mu Jin and gave her instructions in a calm, steady voice. "Mu Jin, it's time to make a move on the Song, Qiao and Pei families. We do it today."
