Adorable Food Goddess

"What, the third prince is proposing? Why did he suddenly have such an idea?" Xiao Jing felt very surprised.

Xia Chunyu smiled coldly: "What's so strange about this? The third prince is of the right age and not yet married. Not to mention Princess Ah Ruan's appearance, she is also a princess of South Vietnam. Marrying her means she has the support of South Vietnam. I didn't mention it before, Maybe I guessed the emperor's original intention and didn't dare to mention it. Now that the South Vietnamese envoys have left and Ah Ruan's marriage has not yet been decided, those who are interested will naturally not want to miss such an opportunity."

"But the most important thing is the attitude of the Queen Mother and Queen. Why do they strongly agree with it? Don't they know that once the third prince marries Ah Ruan, it will be equivalent to having an extra bargaining chip in his hand?"

"Yeah, so I can't figure it out!" Xiao Jing has been in the Ministry of War for a long time now, so he naturally knows a little about the mysteries of the power disputes in the court. The third prince shows his sharpness and is likely to be the one who comes after him. His mother, Concubine Shu Guifei, She is steady and upright, and seems to be indifferent to the world, but in fact, she is secretly hidden. Step by step, she rises from concubine to noble concubine. How could she do it without some scheming skills. The Queen and the Queen Mother did not stop him, but instead agreed to let him become more powerful, which was not good for the Crown Prince. I really don't understand what they were thinking.

Xia Chunyu smiled lightly and said: "The empress and the queen mother naturally stand on the prince's side, but they cannot object. Not only can they not object, they must also agree. They are selfless and magnanimous in their hearts. They appear generous and sensible in front of the emperor without offending the three. The prince and Concubine Shu, they were singing a white-faced song, but they asked one person to come out and sing a red-faced song."

Xiao Jing felt dizzy and confused: "Who will sing the red face?"

Xia Chunyu continued: "The emperor entrusted you with the task of entertaining Princess Ah Ruan before. It was indeed with the intention of bringing you and Ah Ruan together. However, what the third prince asked for was justifiable and the emperor could not refuse. The game of chess has come to this point. With one move, the key chess piece will fall in your Prince Helian's Mansion."

Xiao Jing was shocked.

"Only you, Prince Helian, stand up. To be precise, it is your mother who stands up. As long as she says in front of the emperor that you and Ah Ruan have already been in love, the emperor will not have to be embarrassed. Xiao Jing, do you really want to look at Ah Ruan?" Are you reduced to a pawn in the power dispute between the court? Aren't you afraid that Ah Ruan will be unhappy after marrying the third prince?" Xia Chunyu's eyes were clear and compelling.

Xiao Jing muttered guiltily: "Maybe the third prince really likes Ah Ruan!"

Xia Chunyu lowered his eyebrows and smiled, with a hint of mockery: "You really like it? Xiaojing, you are not from other places. Jinling City is only that big, and the palace is only that big. What can you hide from everyone?" Human ears and eyes? You don’t know who the third prince really wants to belong to, do you?”

Xiao Jing's face turned slightly pale. Yes, he knew that without Ah Ruan, the third prince would marry next year the niece of Duke Rong Shu Xiaozhi, the third prince's cousin Lin Wanyin. It is said that they have already hit it off.

I just heard Xia Chunyu sigh and say: "Now that things have come to this, even if you don't want to, you and Prince Helian must come forward. You and Ah Ruan's marriage cannot be escaped. But, I really don't want you to be interested in this matter." The marriage is a little bit forced, Ah Ruan is a good girl, worth cherishing and having, I wanted to wait for you to figure it out slowly, but some people can't wait."

Seeing Xiao Jing in a daze, Xia Chunyu said: "Go in first and comfort him. Ah Ruan has placed all his hopes on you now. Even if you can't answer him yet, you should say something else to comfort him, and then , go back and ask your mother to see if what I said is right."

That was all he could say, and Xiao Jing had no second choice. Whether the prince's status was stable or not had little to do with the Marquis of Jing'an, but it had a lot to do with Prince Helian's palace. He knew very well that Yi Princess De Chang and He Lianxuan are both supporters of the prince, and they will never let it go and sit idly by.

Even though Ah Ruan was worse than Liuli before, Xiao Jing had no other choice but to accept it.

The rest was left to Xiao Jing. Xia Chunyu and Ye Jiayao were standing next to a canna plant in the courtyard.

After listening to Xia Chunyu's analysis, Ye Jiayao is no longer worried. Ah Ruan is so good, Xiaojing will figure it out one day, but now she is worried about another thing.

Ah Ruan first sent people to the Marquis of Jing'an's Mansion to look for them, and only then did he know that they had gone to the village. So, the Marquis of Jing'an's Mansion naturally knew that they were back. But she doesn’t want to go back yet, what should she do?

"Chunyu...can I stay here with Ah Ruan for a few days?"

Xia Chunyu laughed: "We are all in the city. It takes less than a stick of incense to arrive in a carriage. If you don't worry about Ah Ruan, if you want to accompany her, just come over during the day. You don't have to live here. If the third prince knows that it is you these days, Accompany Ah Ruan, and when the marriage changes, why don't we blame you and me? It's best to avoid the suspicion that should be avoided. "

Ye Jiayao was speechless. What Chunyu said made sense. The position of the Marquis of Jing'an was impartial. They were only loyal to the person sitting on the throne and did not want to be involved in the fight for the right to inherit the throne. It's okay for her to be friends with Ah Ruan. If she were to stay with Ah Ruan all the time, it would inevitably make Ran suspicious.

Not long after, Xiao Jing came out and said, "I'm going back to my house now, and I'll update you later."

After saying that, he bowed his hands and left first.

Ye Jiayao went in again to talk to Ah Ruan for a while. Seeing that Ah Ruan looked much more relaxed, Ye Jiayao felt relieved and returned to Jingan Hou Mansion with Chunyu.

As soon as he returned home, Xia Chunyu went to the outer study to find his father. Ye Jiayao went to greet You and then went back to his room to rest.

Qiao Xi asked Xiang Tao to stay outside and came in to answer the question.

"Second Young Mistress, there is indeed something wrong in the third room. I inquired privately. Now, only Xiaoya and Dr. Li have access to the Third Young Mistress' courtyard. The rest of the people have to obtain permission before even entering the courtyard. The access of the palace servants brought by the third young lady herself has never been so restricted. In name, the third young lady is not allowed to disturb her rest."

Ye Jiayao looked at the orchids hanging on the windowsill and asked leisurely: "Is that all there is?"

"The day before yesterday, the third young master came back early. A palace lady didn't stop him, so the third young master went in. As a result, he said he sent that person to the palace to do something, but he hasn't come back yet." Qiao Xi bit her lip as she spoke. , seemed unsure of what to say next.

Ye Jiayao smiled: "Just say what you want to say."

Only then did Qiao Xi say with lingering fear: "My slave was bold and asked Cai Lan to follow her secretly. When she saw Gong'e being kidnapped into a carriage, Cai Lan didn't dare to follow her."

Ye Jiayao was also frightened, this was clearly a silence! It seems that what Liuli wants to hide is very important.

"I understand, you did a good job, but don't let anyone do such dangerous things again in the future. If you are discovered, the consequences will be disastrous. I don't want to have an accident on my own, and I don't want you to have any accidents on my behalf. "Ye Jiayao said gently.

Qiao Xi was a little moved, but also a little ashamed. She was touched that the Second Young Mistress was so considerate to the servants. What she was ashamed of was that she underestimated the risks. Cailan was very frightened this time. She was afraid just thinking about it. What if Cailan was killed? I discovered that maybe Cailan would disappear just like Gong'e.

Ye Jiayao waved her hand: "You go down first and let me think about it alone."

Now that she's back, she can't hide, so it's better to turn from passive to active. However, it's not good for her to come forward in this matter, otherwise the resentment will be deepened.

Before dinner, Ye Jiayao went to Qiao's house.

Qiao took a few patches of Dr. Li's medicine, and she looked much better.

"I went to the farm and brought you some hens raised on the farm to replenish your health." Ye Jiayao smiled.

Mr. Qiao also doesn't mind the lightness of gifts. The second brother and sister gave him a lot of good things last time.

"Brother and sister, you are interested. I heard that you have planted many things on your farm."

"Yes, there are vegetables and fruits, but it will take time for the fruit trees to mature. When the fruits are produced next year, if my sister-in-law wants to eat, just ask me."

Mrs. Qiao smiled and sighed: "Second brother and sister, I really envy you. You manage Tianshangju so well and the farm is well organized by you. My embroidery workshop is completely exhausted."

"Sister-in-law is ridiculous. Manager Zhao is taking care of the Heaven Residence. I just make fresh dishes and think of new ideas from time to time. The farm is also managed by Manager Bai of Prince Helian's Palace. How can I understand that? "Ye Jiayao said modestly.

"Brothers and sisters, there is no need to be modest. Being able to know people and make good use of them is also a skill. Now that I am pregnant, I can no longer take care of things in the embroidery workshop. The manager of the embroidery workshop is useless. Your elder brother knows that playing with those broken stones all day long is simply useless. No matter what the business is, I have a headache! If this continues, I will lose money." Ms. Qiao was originally very proud and refused to admit that she was not good. However, the business of the embroidery shop has been deteriorating recently, which has made her stretched and quite depressed. She is really I thought about it and wanted to ask Ye Jiayao for advice on how to do business.

When she first opened her embroidery workshop, she thought she would be able to make money as long as she opened it. Who knew there were so many flowers? She was proficient in embroidery, but she was really a layman in all aspects of the business world.

Ye Jiayao couldn't understand Qiao's intention. Since she wanted to take advantage of others, she should give her some sweetness, so she asked, "Sister-in-law opens a branch of Qiao's Embroidery Workshop, right?"

"Yes, it is said that it is a branch shop, but all the investment is my own, and the income is also my own. It is just a name of Qiao's Embroidery Workshop. There are three Qiao's Embroidery Workshops in Jinling City, and their business is better than mine. That's good." Ms. Qiao was unhappy and couldn't figure out what the problem was.

Ye Jiayao smiled slightly: "The other two have been in business for many years, and their reputation is there. Plus they have stable old customers, so naturally the business is better."

Mrs. Qiao grabbed Ye Jiayao's hand: "Second brother and sister, you have many ideas, help me think of a way."

Ye Jiayao thought for a moment and said, "I don't know much about the silk and satin business. Sister, please tell me your customer positioning first. Are you targeting rich people or ordinary people?"

"Of course it's for the rich, but it's a pity that it can't compete with the Lanyifang next door."

"Then why her family's business is so good? Does your sister-in-law know?"

"I can't tell you. My materials are obviously more expensive than hers, and my embroidery skills are not inferior to hers. When it comes to styles, I think ours are also pretty good." Mrs. Qiao said unconvinced.

Ye Jiayao sighed after hearing this. It seemed that Mrs. Qiao really had no business acumen.