"Your Majesty." Mu Fengqie and Jing Xinche didn't expect to run into the Queen of Snow Feather Kingdom here, but they still stepped forward to greet her.
"What brings you two out today?" Usually, when she was free, she often took a stroll around, but she had never bumped into them.
"Your Majesty is joking. The Marquis and I often come out too, just a bit later." Jing Xinche was telling the truth. He took Qie'er out for dinner every night.
"Really? I wonder if I have the honor to join you two?"
Jing Xinche and Mu Fengqie exchanged a look. Since the Queen of Snow Feather Kingdom had extended an invitation, it would be impolite of them to decline.
"Of course. Your Majesty, please." Mu Fengqie smiled and said. Although she didn't know what this queen was up to, she was ready to face it.
"Actually, I just want to ask you if you know what Prince Wen's hobbies are." The three outstanding people walking on the street attracted many glances. People didn't recognize the Queen of Snow Feather Kingdom, but they knew Marquis Zhongning, so they just watched from afar and didn't approach.
"Your Majesty has asked the wrong people. We are not from the royal family, so we don't know Prince Wen's hobbies. You can ask Prince Wen directly, or the Emperor." Jing Xinche said.
"I was being silly. Prince Wen usually just reads books and waters the flowers. He does nothing else. I'm so worried that I just want to ask someone." As she said this, a blush appeared on her face, just like a young woman deeply in love.
"Do you think there's any special purpose for the Queen to find us today?" After Mu Fengqie and Jing Xinche got back, they both felt that the Queen was a bit strange today.
"I can't say for sure. A queen falling in love so easily... It's a bit..." illogical, Jing Xinche said.
"Right! I just remembered something. I haven't found any investors for my clothing store yet." Mu Fengqie slapped her forehead. She had actually forgotten about this.
"Don't be in a hurry. Didn't you get a list from Concubine Jing? I'll go and ask them for money tomorrow." They had embezzled so much money, so they should give some back.
As the saying goes, "Pay money to avoid disaster." If they were willing to invest, then they could talk things over. If not, he would just have to work a bit harder to find evidence of their embezzlement and confiscate their property. Anyway, he would get the money in the end, just by different means.
The next day, Jing Xinche took some people and started visiting one family after another.
"Lord Li, I'm here today to ask you for some money." Jing Xinche sat down on the main seat without any politeness.
"Marquis, you must be joking. My humble mansion doesn't have any extra money to lend you." Lord Li sitting below refused without even thinking.
"Really? But I remember that last year, Lord Li received 100,000 taels of silver in rent from your shop." Jing Xinche squinted his eyes and looked sharply at Lord Li.
"This... This is impossible. How could my shop earn 100,000 taels? Marquis, please stop joking with me." Could it be that his deeds had been discovered?
"Really? Lord Li, I've actually found evidence of what you did last year. Do you think this evidence..." Jing Xinche stopped halfway through his sentence and looked at Lord Li, who was sweating profusely, with a sarcastic smile.
He didn't really have any evidence. He was just bluffing, but unexpectedly, it worked.
"I'll pay. I'll pay." He had really made a big mistake this time. It seemed that he had to lay low for a while.
"In that case, I won't ask for much. Just 500,000 taels will do." He had found out that Lord Li had embezzled a lot every year. He could easily raise 500,000 taels by selling a few things.
"This... Marquis, isn't this too much?" Lord Li wanted to bargain with Jing Xinche, but was Jing Xinche the kind of person who would easily compromise?
"Lord Li, it's a fixed price. Will you give it or not? If not, I'll go to someone else." After saying that, he was about to get up and leave.
Lord Li quickly stopped Jing Xinche. At this point, if he didn't pay, he wasn't sure if he could even live to see tomorrow.
After getting what he wanted, Jing Xinche left and went to the next family to ask for money. In total, Jing Xinche visited about ten families, but there were still many names on the list. These people were just a small part of them.
"Qie'er, this is the invitation I got from Lord Chen when I went to ask for money today. He said it's for his eldest daughter's birthday banquet in a couple of days and he wants to invite you. Do you want to go?" When Jing Xinche came back, he brought a red invitation.
"Lord Chen?" Mu Fengqie had never heard of this person, but anyone on that list must be someone special. "Let's go. You can go with me then." It would be boring for her to go alone.
"That's what I was thinking too. I don't feel at ease leaving you alone." What if something unexpected happened?
"Who's there?" Jing Xinche looked warily towards the door. A black shadow suddenly appeared at the door.
Zhu Fei heard the noise and went out to drag the black shadow out.
"Feng Qiao? Why is it you? What are you doing outside?" Mu Fengqie had almost forgotten about Feng Qiao. If she hadn't suddenly appeared today, she would have never thought of her.
"Princess, please spare me. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I was just passing by and got curious for a moment." Feng Qiao knelt down in a flurry and said.
"Forget it. You can go." Anyway, there was nothing really important. Even if it got spread, there was no real evidence. "If you do this again, it won't be so easy next time."
"Yes, yes. I understand, maid." Feng Qiao hesitated and didn't want to leave.
"What's wrong? Do you have something else to say?" Mu Fengqie frowned and asked.
"Princess, Miss Chen is my good friend. Can I go with you that day?" Feng Qiao looked up at Mu Fengqie and said.
Mu Fengqie looked at Feng Qiao without saying a word, but Jing Xinche spoke up, "In that case, you can go with us the day after tomorrow."
"Yes. Thank you, Marquis." After getting the answer she wanted, Feng Qiao left.
Mu Fengqie looked at Jing Xinche in confusion. "Why did you let Feng Qiao go with us? Weren't you still suspecting her a while ago?"
"If we don't let her go, how can Feng Qiao have a chance to act?" Jing Xinche said.
Feng Qiao had been in the mansion for so long without showing any signs of doing anything.