"There is one more thing." Hua Zhi said softly, "Aunt Fourth's due date is approaching. The midwife and the things needed for delivery should be prepared, so that we won't be confused if the baby goes out prematurely."
The old lady slapped her forehead and said, "Look at me, I forgot such an important thing. Cuixiang, go find Granny Liu and give her enough money to invite her into the house."
"Yes, I will go right away."
These were all prepared before the house was searched and never delayed until this month. It’s not my grandmother’s fault that she forgot, she just remembered them just now.
Thinking that Shaoyao should be up, Hua Zhi stood up and said goodbye.
On the corridor, Bao Xia whispered, "Madam, are you planning to bring other girls to compete with you?"
"Grandma is not doing this for her own benefit." She knows that she is in poor health and might not last long, so while she is still the ancestor of the family, she wants to find two more people in the Hua family who can help her. She should accept this kindness.
"Find a suitable time to go there and tell them what to prepare."
"yes."
***
In the study, Gu Yanxi fiddled with the silver hairpin and a few pieces of silver in the wooden box while listening to Chen Qing's report.
"The whole setup has been set up, we're just waiting for them to step in."
"Put someone next to the second brother."
Chen Qing's heart skipped a beat. "Prince, that's the prince. No matter what the result is, if you put someone next to the prince, you will not be well off once the emperor finds out..."
"So the emperor must not know about this. Send Qu Qi to do it."
"Prince..."
Gu Yanxi finally looked up at him and said, "Do I need to ask you before I can implement the decision I made?"
Chen Qing knelt on the ground, but still refused to give in. "I overstepped my bounds, but this is a royal family matter. Even if you have the emperor's trust, it is not as good as they are father and son. I am worried that you will be angered like Master Hua."
Chen Qing is not an ordinary subordinate. He is the same age as Gu Yanxi. His mother is a personal maidservant of Gu Yanxi's mother. Because of their close age, he has been serving the young master since he was a child. After the princess passed away, they suffered a lot together and almost lost their lives. Later, the master turned over and was valued by the emperor. In order not to hold back the master, Chen Qing ignored the fact that he was over the age of practicing martial arts, and relied on his tenacity to develop good skills. He became the chief steward with his own ability.
Naturally, Gu Yanxi treated him differently. He could only give five points of trust to others at most. The only one who could get this five points of trust was Chen Qing, and Shaoyao was one step behind.
The wooden box snapped shut, and Gu Yanxi finally explained a few words, "From April to now, we have captured five spies from Southern Xinjiang in Beijing. Their confessions are all correct, but there are clues to link them together. I suspect they are here to contact someone, but the people behind the scenes are cautious, and even the spies from Southern Xinjiang don't know who they are going to contact. It was not until the He family was attacked a few days ago that I confirmed my guess."
Chen Qing whispered in disbelief, "You suspect the Second Prince of colluding with the enemy?"
"He is the most suspicious, but if we move the He family, we will alert the enemy. For the time being, tell everyone to lie low. Qu Qi must not act rashly in the short term and wait for my order."
"Should we talk to the Emperor first?"
"No need." Gu Yanxi's eyes were filled with sarcasm. "You also said that they are father and son. If we report the matter before there is any evidence, the second son will at most lose the qualification to compete for the throne. Everything else will be covered up. The prince is guilty of treason, and the emperor cannot afford to lose face. And I have to bear all the anger of them."
"But you will get no good out of presenting the evidence!"
"That depends on how the evidence is provided. How about asking the eldest or the third brother to hand it over?"
Chen Qing's heart suddenly became clear, "I understand. I will inform Qu Qi immediately."
"No hurry." Gu Yanxi opened the wooden box, her brows drooping and her face no longer showing the anger she had just shown. "Send someone to the south of the city, not far from the Hua family, to buy a house. It doesn't have to be too big, just enough for Shaoyao and I to live in. I'll be at the Hua family for the next while, so don't come to look for me unless it's urgent."
Chen Qing had no idea what his own young master was up to. Why did it seem like he was trying to get close to the eldest daughter of the Hua family
"how?"
Chen Qing quickly shook his head, "You have a house in the south of the city, and there are people taking care of it on weekdays. You can move in directly."
"It's too big." How could Mr. Wu afford to live in a courtyard with so many entrances and exits? Gu Yanxi considered Mr. Wu's wealth and said, "One entrance will be enough, two at most, and we need to be quick."
"… yes."
Looking at the box that the prince kept in his hands, Chen Qing became more and more certain of his guess, and felt inexplicably relieved. It was not easy, but his master, who was already 24 years old, finally got it. If the emperor mentioned the marriage again, the master would finally have a reason to refuse!
Although the Hua family today is far from being a match for his master, he thinks that the eldest daughter of the Hua family is excellent, much better than those girls in the boudoir. Since she is not afraid of his master, he wishes that his master would marry her back as soon as possible.
After his master gets married, he can then consider his own lifelong affairs. Thinking of this, Chen Qing's heart blossomed with joy, so happy that he felt like he was floating even when he walked.
Gu Yanxi, who had no idea that the butler had thought so far, went to the Hua family early the next morning when the sky was just getting light.
The Hua family's children were told yesterday that they would be practicing boxing with Mr. Wu to keep fit. Children of this age are still interested in practicing martial arts and most of them looked very excited. Even a few who didn't want to come pretended to be very happy.
Although Hua Zhi felt sorry for the children getting up early, she had never thought of changing their schedule. The saying "A day's plan begins in the morning" was applied to the extreme here, so officials had to get up at the yin hour, and students a little later, at the you hour. Except for the young men who played all night, no one would sleep until noon.
Hua Zhi left after introducing Mr. Lu to the children. How to win over these children and make them willingly continue to study after suffering hardships all depended on Mr. Lu's ability. She only cared about the results.
Gu Yanxi's method was simple and crude. She released all her anger and made the children afraid to move. They did whatever she told them to do and were extremely obedient.
Shaoyao, who was peeking, almost rolled on the ground with laughter. In her heart, she condemned the prince for bullying the weak, but at the same time, she found it very funny. The prince acted as a martial arts teacher to a group of little kids. Hahahaha, she really wanted to go back and learn it for Chen Qing!
After Gu Yanxi performed another set of beautiful and awe-inspiring punches, all the children were present the next morning.
Which child doesn’t have a dream of being a hero? With such a great role model in front of them, they also want to become as great!
The child also wanted to save face, so even if his body was in pain and it hurt to move, he would act as if nothing had happened when he saw his brothers around him acting as if nothing had happened. He gritted his teeth and tried his best to follow the master's instructions to complete each movement, not knowing that his brothers were also gritting their teeth and persevering like him.
Everyone was chasing each other, and no one was left behind.
PS: Two updates are released together, girls remember to read the previous chapter.
Kong Kong sometimes goes to flip through the previous book. To be honest, there are a lot of problems in it. I forced myself not to make any drastic changes, but I am particularly satisfied with the ending. That scene is very graphic. If it were a drama, I could freeze the scene on that photo, and add the sentence from Zhai Muyang’s Weibo as the narration, or even add a few comments from netizens, to give a visual sense of a prosperous and stable era.