A business trip

Xu Qi'an didn't stay at the Second Princess's residence for long; he had to patrol the streets in the afternoon, so he took his leave.

Biao Biao, reluctant to part, frowned and said, "Xu Ningyan, I can speak to my father and have you enter the palace to serve as my bodyguard."

What future is there in being a bodyguard? Do you really expect me to be your slave? Xu Qi'an said helplessly, "Your Highness, this humble servant still has some ambitions."

Clearly, serving the princess is far more promising than serving Wei Yuan. Emperor Yuanjing dotes on Biao Biao not only because she is good at making a fuss and acting cute, but also because she is innocent, cute, and without any guile.

Princess Huaiqing, if she wanted to support her confidants to rise to power, had to find the right opportunity, such as the Sangbo case. The same applied to the other princes.

When Biao Biao's pleas for Emperor Yuan Jing to spare his life were unsuccessful, Xu Qi'an saw through Emperor Yuan Jing's true nature.

"Second Princess, why do you do this? I'm just a lowly night Nightwatchers," Xu Qi'an said with a sigh. "We're not a good match."

"No one else is as interesting as you. You talk to me so nervously." Lin'an pouted and swung her feet.

"I don't like reading, and I'm bad at everything—music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. I'm so bored in the palace. When I was little, my brother, the crown prince, would play with me, but now whenever I go to see him, he frowns and always says he has important business to attend to."

What a pitiful princess, kept like a canary in a lavish cage. But Princess Huaiqing can come and go freely, can't she? Xu Qi'an thought about it and then understood.

Huaiqing was the kind of strong woman who could conquer the world on her own if given three thousand soldiers. She was extremely learned and capable. Among Emperor Yuanjing's children, there were almost none who could rival Huaiqing in talent and skill.

Lin'an is different; she is a spoiled and willful little princess, naive and easily deceived by those with ulterior motives.

Xu Qi'an automatically removed himself from the list of those with "wolf-like ambitions".

"That's actually simple. The princess can just move back to her own residence. The imperial city is always more interesting than the palace," Xu Qi'an said.

Princess Lin'an was a titled princess with her own residence in the imperial city.

"Then come to Lin'an Prefecture to see me tomorrow," said Biao Biao.

Princess Lin'an arrived at Jingxiu Palace in a sedan chair just before lunch. Consort Chen had sent someone to inform her two children that day, inviting them to dine at Jingxiu Palace.

During the meal, as the Crown Prince ate the delicacies meticulously prepared by Consort Chen, he suddenly said, "I overheard the palace servants gossiping that Wei Yuan sent the Empress a secret recipe that cured her anorexia."

Consort Chen smiled and said, "That's true. I think it's called chicken essence? I've heard that adding a little bit when cooking makes the flavor unforgettable."

The Crown Prince noticed Consort Chen's longing and said, "If Mother would like to try some, I will ask the Empress for some."

Consort Chen laughed and said, "I heard that Princess Huaiqing went to ask for it, but the Empress didn't give it to her."

The mother and son were immediately at a loss.

Princess Lin'an looked at her mother and brother, seeking confirmation. "Is it called chicken essence?"

The crown prince looked at her, "You've heard about it too?"

The carefree Lin'an had no time to pay attention to news from the inner palace. Shaking her head, she said, "Xu Ningyan sent me something today, it's called chicken essence."

She summoned her maid and said, "Go back to the palace and fetch it for me."

A quarter of an hour later, the maid returned, panting, with the porcelain vase left in the mansion.

His Highness the Crown Prince quickly took the porcelain bottle, uncorked it, and smelled it. He detected a slightly pungent umami scent, but just smelling it, he couldn't appreciate the wonder of this substance.

"Have the kitchen reheat these dishes, add some chicken bouillon, and let's taste them?"

The prince's proposal was approved by his mother and sister.

Before long, the palace maid returned with the reheated dishes. The mother and her two children did not touch their chopsticks, but instead looked at the palace maid.

The palace maid first tested the food for poison with a silver needle, then brought out bowls and chopsticks and tried them one by one. After eating all the dishes, the Crown Prince noticed that she clearly had some lingering desire in her eyes, but dared not eat more, staring longingly at the food.

After waiting a while longer and seeing that the palace maid was unharmed, the Crown Prince urged, "Serve me a bowl of turtle soup."

As the palace maid ladled out the soup, she smiled and said, "Your Highness has excellent taste; this soup is unforgettable."

The Crown Prince eagerly took it, tasted it, and exclaimed, "It has a unique flavor! Mother, Lin'an, you must try it, try it quickly!"

Consort Chen had not seen the Crown Prince so happy in a long time, and she was delighted.

Lin'an had already taken matters into her own hands. She didn't eat the turtle soup, but instead picked up a bite of vegetables. As she chewed, she unconsciously took a second bite, and then a third.

After lunch, Consort Chen was overjoyed to see her children eating so happily, a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time.

"What a wonderful thing! How much effort must the chefs in the imperial kitchen have put in to produce something as small as this?" His Highness the Crown Prince remarked, discreetly tucking the bottle into his sleeve.

Biao Biao's eyes widened, and she lunged forward, grabbing the prince's sleeve tightly, her eyebrows furrowed. "Mine!"

"Isn't Xu Qi'an your man? Go ask him for him again." The Crown Prince said righteously, "Let go."

"I won't let go, this is mine."

The brother and sister couldn't reach an agreement, so they went to Consort Chen for judgment. Consort Chen was both amused and annoyed. "How old are you? Still acting like a child. If you want your mother to say, then you should stay with me. That's the only fair thing to do."

The Crown Prince and Lin'an turned back to continue their argument.

"So the things Xu Ningyan gave me were so valuable." Biao Biao sat in the sedan chair, playing with the porcelain bottle that was only a third full of chicken essence.

Her slight dissatisfaction with Xu Qi'an gradually dissipated. She wasn't really stupid; she just turned a blind eye to Xu Qi'an taking advantage of her.

Because if they didn't win him over, this gong would turn around and fall into Huaiqing's arms. Besides, he was good at talking and knew how to play games, so Lin'an was quite reluctant to part with him. He gave him some useless calligraphy and paintings and some silver without hesitation.

This little copper gong is very slippery, I need to go and check it out. Lin'an immediately said, "Go to Huaiqing instead."

Arriving at Princess Huaiqing's palace, ignoring the guards' attempts to stop her, Lin'an raised her snow-white chin and met the detestable Huaiqing in the front hall.

The two stunningly beautiful princesses complemented each other perfectly. Huaiqing, her delicate brows furrowing slightly on her fair face, asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I heard that Wei Yuan gave the Empress Dowager a secret recipe that cured her anorexia; the news has spread throughout the palace." Lin'an walked to the antique shelf, her red skirt trailing behind her, casually remarking as she fiddled with a blue-and-white porcelain vase.

"Sister Huaiqing, do you have any here?"

"No," Huaiqing said calmly.

"Really not?" Lin An suddenly turned her head, her eyes sparkling, her charming oval face clearly showing her eagerness.

Princess Huaiqing stared at her and said calmly, "Why would I lie to you?"

"I'm relieved you don't have it," Lin'an—no, Biao Biao—took out a porcelain bottle, shook it cheerfully, and laughed heartily, "I do have one!"

"."

Seeing Huaiqing's strange expression, she became even happier, but to avoid getting beaten up, she knew when to stop, swaying her hips as she finished her show and left.

"I'm leaving now, no need to see me off. Oh, by the way, this was given to me by Xu Ningyan."

Xu Ningyan. Princess Huaiqing's smooth forehead had bulging veins.

The next day, after having lunch at the brothel, the three brothel members, picking their teeth, strode back to the yamen with an air of utter disregard for family.

There was a half-hour break at noon, and the three planned to return to the yamen to practice their breathing exercises. Xu Qi'an was treating them again today, but this time it was purely for listening to music and eating; nothing else was done. Martial artists didn't have that much surplus food.

Feeling a little embarrassed after getting free Xu Ningyan for several days, Song Tingfeng noticed a roadside stall selling oranges and said:

"You two wait here, I'll go buy some oranges."

"Get lost, I'm going to buy it, you wait here." Xu Qi'an grabbed him.

"Ningyan, you're too kind, too kind." Song Tingfeng insisted on buying it.

"Anything else is fine, but I absolutely have to buy the oranges. If you insist on buying them, you can treat me to the Imperial Academy of Music next time," Xu Qi'an said angrily.

Song Tingfeng indeed gave up.

Upon returning to the yamen, Xu Qi'an received another summons from Wei Yuan.

Father Wei loves me more and more. He happily ran towards Haoqi Tower, and after being informed by the guards, he met Wei Yuan, who was wearing a green robe, in the tea room.

The handsome and refined eunuch, with slightly graying temples, was sipping his tea when he gestured to the seat opposite him. "Pour your own tea."

Xu Qi'an had drunk a lot of wine, didn't want to drink tea, but he still poured himself a cup, just to keep Wei Yuan.

"You can't drink while on duty," Wei Yuan admonished. "You're a man who, apart from having some sense of justice, is all bad. You're glib, disregard discipline, and frequently visit the Imperial Academy of Music. If I were your political enemy, you would have been reincarnated long ago."

"This humble servant knows his mistake." Xu Qi'an treated himself as a younger brother, no, a son, and this made him feel much better.

"Well, old habits die hard. If a person were so easy to change, there wouldn't be millions of people in the world." Wei Yuan was always a leader who was very tolerant of his subordinates' mistakes, so he didn't really want to hold him accountable.

He gulped down a mouthful of tea and pushed a file towards him. "You'll have to make a trip to Yunzhou."

Yunzhou? Xu Qi'an straightened his expression and opened the file to browse.

"A few days ago, the Nightwatchers's spies sent back a secret letter. The letter said that Yang Chuannan, the military commander of Yunzhou, was secretly colluding with mountain bandits to supply them with military supplies for personal gain and to maintain his own power." Wei Yuan took another sip of tea and said:

"The day after receiving the secret letter, Qi's faction acted swiftly, fabricating a 'corruption case' and using a group of high-ranking officials as leverage to force me to compromise."

The commander of Yunzhou is a member of the Qi faction? No wonder the Qi faction was determined to target the Nightwatchers; there was such a hidden story behind it all.

If it weren't for my incredible luck, was Wei Yuan planning to replace the Yunzhou Commander with a bunch of high-ranking officials? Wei Yuan is quite ruthless. By the way, Number Two mentioned that the reason why the bandits in Yunzhou are so difficult to eliminate is that the bandits occupy the terrain, and they all have military equipment and supplies, so they are not ordinary bandits. Therefore, they have someone supporting them.

Qi Dang, being in the capital, certainly couldn't be controlled remotely; a high-ranking local official would be needed to cooperate. Xu Qi'an suddenly realized this.

Wei Yuan continued, "After the secret letter was sent back to the capital, the spy died without a trace. His true identity was an official in the Military Command, specifically in the Bureau of Records."

"The person is dead, and the evidence has disappeared without a trace. I have reported this matter to His Majesty, and His Majesty will send the governor of the Censorate to Yunzhou to investigate the matter."

"Your job is to protect the governor and find evidence."

Xu Qi'an asked with difficulty, "Why do I have to go to Yunzhou?"

Still somewhat reluctant, Wei Yuan said, "Jiang Luzhong will be in charge of this matter; you will accompany him on this training."

Xu Qi'an was immediately relieved and said, "There's one more thing. Duke Wei, chicken essence shouldn't be consumed in excess, as it can easily cause thirst. Tell the cook to use less when preparing the dishes."

Wei Yuan had just reprimanded him, but instead of holding a grudge, he kindly reminded him. Xu Qi'an felt that he was truly too kind.

Wei Yuan didn't speak, but pointed to the door.

"This humble servant takes his leave." Xu Qi'an immediately slipped away.

PS: Requesting monthly votes! My luck is at its worst, please vote for me!!!!