"Outrageous! How dare someone reach out their hand to this young master!"
Dongfang Qi was so angry that steam seemed to be rising from his head. He was on the verge of overturning the Yixiang Art House.
Madam Yu of the art house quickly stepped forward to pacify him. "Oh, my generous patron, please calm down. Don't hurt your own body. If you catch that thief, you must punish them severely and teach them a lesson!"
Dongfang Qi grabbed the cup beside him and crushed it with a tight grip on his palm. "If I find out who this thief is, I will surely exterminate them root and branch and show no mercy!"
"Back to the mansion!"
Dongfang Qi turned away from the art house with a dark face, and before leaving, he didn't forget to instruct Madam Yu.
"If I come here next time, I must see Lady Meng! Otherwise, I'll have your art house closed down for good!"
Madam Yu quickly nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes, yes. Lady Meng will surely accompany you next time you come!"
Watching Dongfang Qi walking away, Madam Yu told several servants to guard all the doors and windows carefully. Then she went upstairs and entered a very secluded room at the innermost part.
"Madam Yu, is he gone?"
Madam Yu nodded, her face looking more solemn. "Are you okay? Are you injured?"
In front of the dressing table in the room, a young and charming woman was taking off the black veil on her face and loosening the ribbon in her hair to let her shiny black hair fall.
The woman curled her lips into a smile, with a hint of pride in her eyes and eyebrows. "Don't worry, Madam Yu. I'm fine. The current crown prince is just a useless fool. He only knows how to talk big and has no brains at all."
"You... should not be careless. You must act more cautiously and never expose our stronghold."
"I know, Madam Yu. Did I do a good job on this mission? Will the master praise me when he finds out?"
Seeing Lady Meng looking so expectant, Madam Yu was silent for a moment and then said earnestly, "Lady Meng, now that the prince already has a princess, you should also restrain your words and actions. I heard that the current princess is no ordinary person..."
Lady Meng curled her lips disdainfully. "In my opinion, all she can do is act pitiful. The prince won't like a strange girl like her who often loses her wits..."
"Achoo!"
Early in the morning, Feng Yunshu hadn't even gotten out of bed yet when she let out a loud sneeze.
Xiaoling had gotten up early. Hearing the sound, she rushed to the bedside in a few steps. "Master, what's wrong with you? Did you kick the quilt off again last night?"
Feng Yunshu shook her head. "No... It must be some bastard talking bad about me behind my back."
When she went out for breakfast, Feng Yunshu noticed that Helan wasn't there. She was a bit puzzled. "Steward Yan, where is the prince? Could he still be resting?"
The steward shook his head with a faint smile. "Your Highness, the prince went to court early this morning. Seeing that you were sleeping soundly, he told us not to wake you up. The breakfast was just cooked and is still hot."
Feng Yunshu looked at the delicious and fragrant breakfast on the table, and the corners of her lips couldn't help but curl up slightly.
"Why did the prince go to court so early today? I remember he usually goes a bit later."
"I heard that the emperor had something important to discuss, so he summoned everyone to court earlier. The prince also changed into his court robe and went out immediately after receiving the notice."
"Important matter? What important matter?" Hearing this, Feng Yunshu's heart skipped a beat. She remembered what had happened when Helan went to court yesterday. Could it be something related to the crown prince?
Steward Yan shook his head. "I don't know about such important court affairs."
Feng Yunshu knew that asking others probably wouldn't get her any answers. She could only wait for Helan Yanting to come back and then ask him what was going on.
After breakfast, she was thinking about her plan to make money. She made an excuse that she wanted to go to the street to look at silk fabrics, jewelry, and headdresses. Then she left the mansion with Xiaoling in her arms.
Before going out, in order to prevent the flame on Xiaoling's forehead from being too obvious and exposing its identity, Feng Yunshu asked Zilan to make a simple turban with a handkerchief to wrap its forehead and head.
Xiaoling was very resistant to this.
"Master, I don't want to wear such an ugly turban! Xiaoling is most proud of the flame on my forehead. You know, for thousands of years, few of our spirit foxes have been able to grow such a beautiful flame mark, and you still want to cover it..."
While looking at itself in the mirror, Xiaoling touched its forehead with its short paw and couldn't help but curl its lips. "And look at me. What do I look like? An Arabian fox?"
"Pfft..."
Feng Yunshu was almost laughing out loud.
It really did look like that the more she looked.
"Okay, let me tie a bow for you. Isn't it pretty now?" Feng Yunshu stepped forward to tie a bow and coaxed Xiaoling.
Sure enough, being young and easy to be deceived, after being continuously coaxed by Feng Yunshu, Xiaoling happily wagged its tail and followed Feng Yunshu out of the mansion with a pink bow on its head.
On the long street.
On the surface, Feng Yunshu was really just window - shopping. She looked around in the silk shop and the clothing store, but actually she was observing the shops on the long street.
During the day, there were quite a few people on the long street. People were coming and going in a bustling way. Suddenly, people around her all rushed in the same direction. If you didn't know, you'd think there was some treasure there.
"Hey, miss, where are you all going in such a hurry?" Zilan stopped a passer - by and asked. The passer - by kindly replied.
"Going to watch the excitement! There's a commotion in the Wuxiang Pavilion in front. Such a big piece of gossip, of course I have to go and see!"
"Wuxiang Pavilion?" Feng Yunshu didn't know where this place was. Zilan immediately explained beside her.
"Your Highness, the Wuxiang Pavilion is a famous restaurant in our imperial city. Many royal relatives and high - ranking officials like to go there to dine."
"Okay."
Feng Yunshu originally didn't plan to go and join the fun, but at this time Xiaoling tugged at her sleeve. "Master, look over there! Isn't that the little cat spirit we saw that day?"
Feng Yunshu looked up and sure enough saw the little cat spirit not far away running quickly towards the place where something was happening, clinging to the wall.
"We seem to have some fate with this little cat spirit. Let's go and see what's going on."
In the end, Feng Yunshu decided to join the fun. So they turned around and walked towards the Wuxiang Pavilion.
They had only walked a few steps when suddenly a gust of wind blew, and the pink bow on Xiaoling's forehead was instantly blown loose, revealing the red flame on its forehead.
Feng Yunshu immediately grabbed the handkerchief and tied a bow again to cover it. After making sure no one noticed, she continued walking.
However, not long after she left, a young girl dressed as a maid in the alley around the corner came out in a hurry, carrying some pastries, and rushed towards the prime minister's mansion.
...
Compared with the bustling long street, the atmosphere in the court at this time was extremely depressing. All the ministers were holding their breaths and didn't even dare to make a sound.
The emperor Dongfang Chuan on the dragon throne was looking at the crown prince Dongfang Qi kneeling below with a gloomy face. His eyes were almost spitting fire.
"Crown prince, you have really disappointed me! How dare you leave the palace privately to seek pleasure? Not only have you become a laughingstock, but you were almost killed by an assassin! I told you to study hard and practice archery and horseback riding on weekdays. Is this how you study? You've shamed the royal family!"
"Father, your son... your son has been wronged! Your son has always been acting properly in the Eastern Palace, studying music, rites, archery, and horseback riding. I have never done anything out of line!"