Gathering Information

After the meal, Zhao Jingtai was escorted to Slender Bamboo Courtyard by Matron Zhou on Lady Zhu's orders. Zhao Ruxi stayed behind because she had something to say.

"Go on, go on." The old lady waved her hand, watching Zhao Ruxi's figure disappear through the door, and sighed deeply.

During this time, the system has been neglected by Zhao Ruxi, and it has become much more obedient than before. At least it won't make random noises in Zhao Ruxi's mind when she is talking to others.

Just as Zhao Ruxi stepped out of the main courtyard, the system's voice rang in her mind. "Host, I can help you investigate the movements of the Earl of Zhongqin's Residence. If they intend to harm you, I will inform you immediately."

Zhao Ruxi already had a plan.

She pretended to hesitate for a moment. "But I'll soon have enough points to buy the Agility Pill. If I spend them, I don't know when I'll be able to buy Agility Pill again."

"This problem only requires fifty points," the system patiently explained. "You can easily earn that back by practicing ten essays in a short while."

Zhao Ruxi scratched her cheek. "But if I don't inquire about information, my points will increase by another fifty, bringing me one step closer to the Agility Pill."

The system fell silent.

Zhao Ruxi ignored the system for a while, and only said when she was almost at Slender Bamboo Courtyard, "Alright. But we don't need to investigate whether the Earl of Zhongqin's Residence will harm us. Instead, we need to investigate Zhao Yuankun's situation at the Office of the Grand Steward."

This problem was much simpler than the one at the Earl of Zhongqin's Residence, and the system's voice even sounded excited, "Okay." Then it went silent.

After Zhao Jingtai finished painting for half an hour and left Slender Bamboo Courtyard, the system's voice sounded again, "Host, I've found out. Zhao Yuankun did two things exceptionally well, finally attracting the Crown Prince's attention. The Crown Prince has already inquired about him once. However, the Crown Prince doesn't trust him so easily, so he hasn't immediately given him an important position, but intends to observe him further."

"Heh." Zhao Ruxi sneered, "You really are capable, showing your talent so quickly."

"Host, I've also discovered that someone in the Office of the Grand Steward is jealous of him and is desperately trying to suppress him. That person is He Zhengtao, Zhao Yuankun's superior. Because once Zhao Yuankun catches the Crown Prince's eye, the first position he'll likely be promoted to is probably this superior's."

"Very good," Zhao Ruxi said, then asked, "This message is included in Zhao Yuankun's message, right? I don't need to deduct any extra points, do I?"

The system incurs costs in reselling Agility Pill to Zhao Ruxi, and those costs are not low. Furthermore, because Zhao Ruxi starts relentlessly pushing down the price, the system can only earn a small amount of hard-earned points.

While gathering information does consume some energy, information about someone of Zhao Yuankun's caliber is easy to obtain, making the energy consumption negligible. These fifty points are practically pure profit. Therefore, it's quite willing to sell information to Zhao Ruxi.

Furthermore, at the beginning, it had a very strong presence in Zhao Ruxi's life and was especially favored. Suddenly, Zhao Ruxi ignored it and didn't pay attention to it for so long. It was like a concubine who had been banished to the cold palace, full of resentment. The whole place felt empty, lonely, and hateful.

Therefore, it dares not act arrogantly anymore. When it was gathering information just now, it tried to find out as much detail as possible so that Zhao Ruxi could get her points for free.

At this moment, it said with a smile, "Of course it's included, no need to deduct points separately." Its service attitude could be described as excellent.

Zhao Ruxi was satisfied and said a few kind words without reservation, then added, "Go and find out which faction the Duke of Wei's Residence belongs to."

The Duke of Wei's Residence was arguably the closest powerful family to the Earl of Suiping's Residence. The original book didn't say much about them, only mentioning that when the Earl of Suiping's Residence was raided and the old lady hanged herself, the old lady of the Duke of Wei's Residence sent people to mourn her; when Zhao Yuanxun and others were exiled, their mansion also sent people to deliver silver, clothing, and food.

But all of this is just for show. Everyone in the capital knows that the two families are related and quite close. The Earl of Suiping's Residence was raided, and the Duke of Wei's Residence did nothing, which inevitably makes people say that they are too cold-hearted.

As for whether the Duke of Wei's Residence took advantage of the situation, tried to help them, or stood idly by during the raid on the Earl of Suiping's Residence, it remains unknown.

Through the Jia Junze incident, we can test their attitude. But Zhao Ruxi also wants to know their political leanings.

This time, the system disappeared for quite a while. It wasn't until Zhao Ruxi had taken a bath and practiced calligraphy under the lamp that it spoke again, "Host, we've found out. Their household is neutral; they don't associate with any of the princes."

Zhao Ruxi was finally relieved.

"Host, I've also heard some news for you. The Princess of Zhennan has sent someone to the Earl of Zhongqin's Residence to plead for you. The Earl of Zhongqin wife were originally arguing fiercely about beating their son, but when the Princess of Zhennan's people arrived, they were both terrified. The Wife of the Earl of Zhongqin also realized that this matter had escalated, so she hurriedly ran back to her parents' home for help. The Earl of Zhongqin and his son originally wanted to go to the palace to apologize, but the palace was already locked, and the father and son were directly driven back by the Imperial Guards."

Zhao Ruxi felt a warmth in her heart.

Xiao Ruotong was fine with it. She really didn't expect that the Princess of Zhennan would stand up for her.

It's true that adversity reveals true character. Only in times like these can you see who treats you well and who doesn't.

Because it was difficult to explain the source of the message, Zhao Ruxi didn't pass the message on to the old lady and Lady Zhu, and went to sleep after washing her hands.

With Kang Shilin and the Prince of Zhennan's Residence taking action, this matter only needed to be allowed to ferment, and no further action was required. Therefore, Zhao Ruxi ate breakfast as usual the next day and went to Beining early in the morning.

Today is the day for the newly purchased houses to take their places. After arriving in Beining, Zhao Ruxi went to her own courtyard first.

She called Zhou Chun and Ma Sheng over and asked, "Have you figured it out? Do you know why I split the craftsmen into three groups?"

Ma Sheng shook his head.

Zhou Chun didn't understand it at first, but he gradually figured it out.

He then said, "Is what the young lady is making quite valuable and confidential? That's why we need to have them make a part separately and then put it all together at the end. Dividing it into three parts is to prevent them from figuring out what it is and thus revealing it?"

Zhao Ruxi nodded approvingly. "That's exactly right."

Qingfeng suddenly realized.

Ma Sheng once again felt the gap between himself and Zhou Chun. He secretly resolved that he must think more carefully in the future, and even if he couldn't do as well as Zhou Chun, he must not fall too far behind.

Zhao Ruxi looked at Ma Sheng: "So later, you take Wushi and hire a mule cart to take Shao Zhengping and his group to the workshop in the south of the city; after returning to Beining, hire another one to take Han Yi and the others to the workshop in the west of the city. Finally, take Yang Daxing and the others. Don't let them have any contact with each other, and don't let them or the mule cart driver know any other addresses."