Farewell Flower Festival

After leaving the teahouse, Chao Yan realized that someone was following her. She was not in a hurry to return to the store. She walked around the street and then entered a cloth shop.

The servant who was following the man waited outside for a long time but didn't see anyone come out. He felt something was wrong and was afraid that the man had slipped away through the back door. He quietly walked closer and looked into the store. He saw the man was still picking out fabrics inside, so he quietly walked away.

After coming out of the cloth shop, Chaoyan went into a restaurant.

The waiter sneaked to the door and looked inside, and saw Chao Yan followed the waiter to the second floor. After waiting outside the door for a while, he saw the waiter coming downstairs. The waiter came over to ask him a few words, and then left.

After receiving a silver coin as an opening fee, the waiter went upstairs to report to Chaoyan again and received another silver coin as a hard work fee.

Then Chao Yan started to follow the servant, but the servant he was following was completely unaware.

When Chaoyan saw the servant enter Xiaoyao Palace, she knew that she was being targeted.

Should we wait passively or take the initiative?

Chaoyan returned to the store thinking about this question. Feicui came over and told her that Qianfeng would come in the afternoon. Chaoyan thought about the incident of biting Mu Tianling yesterday and wondered in her heart, could it be that he came to ask her for medical expenses?

"How's business?"

As soon as she finished muttering, Chaoyan heard Han Lie's voice. Before he called out Xiao Lianzi, she asked him if he wanted to buy a box of rouge, and then introduced him to the rouge and powder in the store.

"Why did you leave early yesterday?" Han Lie asked casually.

Chao Yan said, "The princess recognized me, and she sent people to arrest me. If I don't leave, should I stay here and wait to be caught?" As she said that, she picked up a box of rouge and handed it to him, asking him to take it back to Han Min.

"Haven't you seen the Fourth Prince?" Han Lie asked again.

"Are you interrogating a prisoner?" Chao Yan didn't like the feeling of being tested.

Seeing that she was unhappy, Han Lie told her that he had found out something interesting, which was related to Lin Rou. Chao Yan temporarily stopped arguing with him and asked him what he had found out.

"It's not convenient to talk here, let's go to your place."

Chao Yan took him to the kitchen in the backyard and asked him to speak quickly.

Han Lie found out that before Lin Rou was brought into the palace, she had been engaged to a cousin from her mother's side. After Lin Rou's father and brother passed away, Lin Rou was taken away by people from her mother's side. Two months later, her cousin had an accident. It was said that he rolled down the stairs and hit his head. He died a few days later. Then Lin Rou came to the capital.

"Xiao Lianzi, come live with me. I'm worried about you living out here alone."

Chaoyan avoided Han Lie's tender gaze. She couldn't give a response now. She said she was not alone, and she still had Jade and Amber.

Han Lie asked her if there was any vacant house in the yard. Chao Yan immediately guessed his intention and expressly forbade him to move there. Seeing her determined look, Han Lie did not mention the matter again.

......

Qianfeng came over in the afternoon, and Chaoyan asked straight to the point, "Did His Highness ask you to come?" Qianfeng did not deny it and handed over the snacks in his hand. Chaoyan took a look at the snacks with mixed feelings and did not take them. Feicui took them instead.

When Qianfeng was about to leave, Chaoyan called him again and recommended the rouge in the store to him, and then Qianfeng paid for a box. Chaoyan asked him who he was going to give it to, Qianfeng hesitated, said he had something else to do, and left in a hurry.

After returning to the Jiuxing Division, Mu Tianling saw Qianfeng with empty hands and knew that the snacks had been delivered, so he chatted with Qianfeng for the first time.

……

As soon as Han Lie returned home, he received an invitation sent by Shen Cheng.

After arriving at Zhenxiulou, Han Lie followed the waiter to a private room on the second floor.

When the two met, Shen Cheng asked about his distant cousin. Han Lie also expected him to ask about this, and asked him why he was so interested in his cousin.

Shen Cheng hesitated for a while and said that she looked very similar to someone he knew.

"Who?" Han Lie asked curiously.

Shen Cheng was annoyed by his repeated questioning, and suddenly suspected that he was the mastermind behind it. He asked, "Did you arrange all this? What do you want to do?" He also warned, "Stay away from my sister. If you want to use my sister to do something shameful, I will never let you go."

Han Lie smiled and said, "Your Highness, you are overthinking. I am a gentleman and I will not have any evil thoughts towards the princess." At this point, he changed the subject and said, "But the princess doesn't look like the previous princess at all. It's a pity."

Before he finished speaking, Shen Cheng became furious and asked Han Lie what he meant. Suddenly he thought of something and his expression became alert again, "Do you know something?"

Han Lie said: "I don't know anything, but there is one person who definitely knows everything."

"Who?" Shen Cheng stared at Han Lie's face, trying to confirm whether he was lying.

"The housekeeper back then."

When Han Lie gave the answer, Shen Cheng's face changed, as if he recalled some bad memories. He looked painful. The fire that year seemed to appear before his eyes again. There was fire everywhere, and the scorching temperature made it hard to breathe...

It was not until Han Lie called him that Shen Cheng came back to his senses. Han Lie said, "I have a question for you, young prince. How did the princess find the place back then?"

Shen Cheng wanted to know Chao Yan's true identity first. Han Lie said the name of a store, and he would know the answer after he went there. Shen Cheng recounted the story of how he found Shen Xue that year.

In the sixth year after Shen Cheng followed his father Shen He to Dingcheng in the north, a general under Shen He had a baby boy. On the day of the full-month banquet, the general's brother-in-law publicly gave the child a gift, an exquisite Pisces jade pendant.

Shen He was also present at the time and recognized the jade pendant at a glance. It was the token of love he gave to his deceased wife. Later, Shen Xue got the jade pendant during her one-year-old birthday ceremony, and she has worn it ever since.

Following the clue of the jade pendant, Shen He quickly found the person.

The general's brother-in-law was a pawnshop owner. Not long ago, someone came to his shop to pawn something, and the item he pawned was this jade pendant. He also recognized the man who came to pawn the item. He was the son of Lao Wang, who ran a grocery store on the same street. The man was a scoundrel who liked to drink and gamble. Neighbors would avoid him when they saw him, for fear of being pestered by him to borrow money.

After Xiao Wang was taken from the casino to the palace, he quickly confessed the origin of the jade pendant.

According to Xiao Wang, his aunt Liu came to his house with her daughter some time ago because his uncle accidentally fell down the hillside while hunting in the mountains, hit his head on a rock, and died on the spot.

The mother and daughter had no one to rely on, so they came to his father for help. He accidentally discovered that his little cousin was wearing a valuable jade pendant, so he secretly stole it and took it to the pawnshop to exchange it for money.