C27 Open a Shop of Your Own

Tuoba Jing lowered his gaze and said: "Alright, get up. Give me the secret letter."

Tuoba Jing took the letter, his posture remained unchanged as he read through it. His expression was somewhat grave as he watched Li De Quan burn it on the candle flame. He took another look at the book, but was unable to flip through it for a long time.

Li De Quan looked at her expression and carefully said, "Prince, you …"

Tuoba Jing only gave him an indifferent glance, but even so, Li De Quan could not help but shiver.

He had served Tuoba Jing for many years, so he naturally knew about his personality. This Ninth Prince had a very cold personality, and always had an expression on his face: angry, not angry, all of this was the same. There was no emotion in his eyes, and it was extremely difficult to guess whether he was angry or not.

"How did you find out about the matter This King told you to investigate?" Tuoba Jing's cold voice was heard.

Li De Quan swallowed his saliva and said carefully, "Your Royal Highness, the woman called Xia Yi Shuang that you told me to investigate was the daughter of a large family in the capital. I only found out that she was originally the daughter of a large family in the capital, but after committing a crime, her entire family was executed and she was sent to prison. Only she and her nurse escaped this calamity in the temple, but at that time, she was still young.

Tuoba Jing Mu focused his eyes and started to ponder deeply. A trace of light that was difficult to discern emerged in his normally expressionless eyes.

However, three of them were only minor officials who had committed crimes and were thrown into prison, leaving their wives and children behind. As for the other two families, one was the one with the surname of Marquis Huai Yang at the time, but the culprit was wiped out overnight, and the other was the prime minister of the season who committed the crimes at that time. At that time, the Ji Family automatically tasked the Young Master of the Ji Family with tasked the Young Master of the Ji Family to remain in prison for three months, leading the Ji Family to be infuriated.

Tuoba Jing had only set his gaze on the book in Li De Quan's hand. However, if one looked carefully, they would see that Li De Quan's ears were moving rhythmically along with his report.

"Your Highness, this is the only portrait left of the Ji Clan. It is said that this is the only portrait of Prime Minister Ji's wife, and it is said that this Madam Ji is as beautiful as a flower that can topple cities and topple empires. Even though she is over thirty years old, she still looks as charming as a young woman, and even a young woman twenty or eight years old cannot compare to her.

Li De seemed to want to say something, but he hesitated. This kind of secret palace wasn't something that a little servant like him could talk about.

Tuoba Jing only looked at the portrait that had appeared out of nowhere in Li De's hands. He took it and opened it up to take a look. Then, his gaze changed as he tightened his grip on the portrait.

The woman on top was a few years older than the girl who had shamelessly tricked him back in the cave. Her face, eyes, and nose were almost exactly the same as her.

"Where did you get this painting?" Tuoba Jing finally opened his mouth, and there were some ripples in his voice.

Li De's heart was filled with joy. He knew that he finally made the right decision.

"Your Highness, this painting was bought by this servant with great difficulty from someone who wasn't implicated by the Ji Clan's matter back then." Li Dequan lowered his head and said.

Tuoba Jing only nodded slightly.

"Prince, this servant has also heard of a matter. When Madam Ji was young, she and the late emperor were fellow disciples of the same sect."

"Li Dajun, you talk a bit too much tonight."

Li Dequan really wanted to slap himself. Look at how pleased he was with himself. This was great! He had violated the great taboo of the imperial family.

"Prince, this servant doesn't mean that. This servant wants to say, could it be that the Xia Yi Shuang that you asked this servant to investigate was the Ji Clan's orphan?" Li Dequan cautiously probed.

Tuoba Jing thought as he narrowed his eyes.

Your Highness, this servant has also heard that the late Emperor intended for Prince Yu's only son to marry this Third Miss Ji when they were young, and the two of them were around the same age. It is said that they used to hang out together when they were young, but in the end, something happened to the Ji Family, so the child's marriage was let off, and now that the Crown Prince was engaged to the Minister of Rites' daughter, he said that he did not want to marry the daughter of the Minister of Rites, but two days ago, the Crown Prince said that he did not want Third Miss Ji to marry him, that he did not want to be that ungrateful son of the Ji Clan.

Tuoba Jing's expression did not change as he looked at the book in his hands. Li De Quan frowned as he said: "Prince, when this servant was examining that woman, I also discovered that someone had reached out his hand to investigate her. Who is that person?"

Tuoba Jing's eyebrows twitched and he asked calmly: "Who?"

"It's the Fifth Prince. This servant heard that the Fifth Prince received favour from Prime Minister Ji when he was young. Perhaps he found out that Xia Yi Shuang was that Third Miss Ji."

Tuoba Jing closed the book and said in a low voice, "Put out the candle flame."

"Yes." Although Li De Quan was puzzled, he still walked over and blew out the fire in the lantern.

"Has there been any news from Fifth royal brother?"

"According to the report from the servant, the Fifth Prince has left the capital for two or three days in the name of sightseeing. As for his specific position, the servant still doesn't know."

"Continue investigating for This King."

"Yes."

Li De Quan swallowed his saliva and replied, "In reply to Your Highness, there is another matter. The Empress mentioned your marriage in front of the emperor."

The corner of Tuoba's mouth curled up coldly. Within the pitch-black tent, the sound of pages flipping could be heard.

"The empress's hand is too long. If she feels too free, Li Dajun, find something for her to do. It will save her the boredom of wanting to interfere with Ben Wang's life."

"Yes." Li Dazhu shivered, knowing that the empress was about to suffer a calamity.

"Then how does prince plan on dealing with the empress?"

"Give her some time to get sick."

A drop of cold sweat rolled down Li Dequan's forehead, as he whispered, "Yes."

"That's right, Your Highness, there's another matter. This servant found out that the girl called Xia Yi Shuang was actually a jinx who brought calamity upon herself. I don't know if Your Highness is looking for her …"

Tuoba Jing's eyes flashed and he said in a low voice: "Li De Quan, there are some things that you should not know."

Li Dequan lowered his head even more and repeatedly agreed.

"You may leave."

"Yes."

Only after Li Desheng left the tent did he realize that both of his legs were trembling.

He raised his hand to wipe his forehead, looked at the guards on both sides, and said in a high-pitched voice, "Watch out. If anything happens to your highness, you are the only ones asking."

"Yes."

Chickens were crowing and dogs were barking. The morning sun shone through the clouds to the far east, shining down on the earth.

The morning grass was still damp and cold.

Xia Yiyi poked her head out from under a thin blanket. Her eyes were closed for a while before they opened. The confusion in her eyes disappeared in two seconds, and she quickly got up from the ground.

"Ugh …"

After sleeping on the grass for the entire night, Xia Yiyi's entire body was aching. Even her nose was a little blocked.

When she got up, Xia Chun was no longer by her side. Anxious, she shouted into the forest, "Big Brother Xia, Big Brother Xia …"

Only her reply came from the forest, but there was no reply from Xia Chun.

Xia Yi Yi Yi started to worry. She looked around the forest but still hadn't seen Xia Chun. Just as she was about to go to the other side, Xia Chun's voice came from behind her, "Yi Shuang, where are you going?"

Xia Yiyi rushed in front of him, only to see a dead wild chicken and a few bright red wild fruits in his hands.

Xia Yi Yi heaved a sigh of relief. She knew that Xia Chun was going to find her something to eat.

"Big Brother Xia, when did you wake up?" Xia Yiyi asked.

"I woke up early in the morning, thinking that you would be hungry when you woke up, so I went into the depths of the forest to find something for you to eat. Come, you eat some fruits first, the wild chicken is done roasting, I'll let you have a taste of my cooking skills."

Xia Yiyi smiled like a flower. "Alright."

After they had eaten their fill, Xia Yi Yi suggested they buy some daily necessities. Xia Chun thought for a while and said hesitantly, "Yi Shuang, the people in the city must be on high alert. How about we buy something useful in a few days? I'll go into the city by myself and you can wait for me here."

"Big brother Xia, don't worry. Even if the people from the Xia family village discovered that we had disappeared, they wouldn't dare to report it to the county magistrate of the Yang Le County. They would only use all sorts of excuses to suppress this matter, so there definitely wouldn't be any officials in the county who would apprehend us."

Xia Chun thought about it for a moment and realized it was true.

"Alright, we'll take a trip into the city. But for safety's sake, we have to be careful when entering the city." Xia Chun said worriedly.

Xia Yiyi agreed one by one.

However, it was very busy and bustling, with a very large population flow. Here, there were all kinds of people, and there were also a lot of people doing business from outside the city. There were rows upon rows of shops on both sides of the street, and there were also many small stalls in front of the shops.

This was the first time that Xia Yiyi saw an ancient street market. It was even more lively than she had imagined, and the whole street was filled with an antique fragrance. The fragrance of food was also very natural.

Xia Yiyi observed with interest, even thinking that it would be great if she could open her own restaurant in the ancient times. She was from a financial background, had some experience managing accounts, and had some experience opening a shop, but now it was imperative to earn money first. Once she earned enough money, she could prepare to open her own restaurant.