The Duke's Daughter is Reborn

On the sandalwood desk in Linhu Courtyard, Yang Qi carefully spread out the renovation records of Kongyang Academy in recent years.

The candlelight crackled in the sheep-horn lamp, making the ink marks on the paper flicker. In the past ten years, the academy has undergone seven major and minor renovations, but this library has been renovated four times in three years.

"An ordinary library is just a place to store a few old books. Why does it need to be built every year?"

Yang Qi's fingertips slid across the annotation "Rebuilding the gable in March and replacing the beams in May", and suddenly stopped, looking up at the sparkling water of the Back Lake, "Unless..." The ending tone was as light as a butterfly landing on the water, "Unless someone has hidden something in the attic that shouldn't be seen by the light."

The evening breeze outside the window lifted up half of the Xiangfei bamboo curtain, causing the map under the paperweight on the desk to rustle.

Yang Qi clenched her knuckles in her sleeves. Secret passage, dark room - these words circled in her mind and finally settled on the Fifth Prince.

That year, the underground secret passage of Lingshan Temple and the hidden bunker in the mountains where the Xihu troops were stationed, which one of them was not secretly done by the Fifth Prince?

Today, the library of Kongyang Academy seems to have been carved according to the model of that time.

"Adu, Xiaoqing." She tapped the table with her fingertips, and the hesitation in her voice faded away.

Ever since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince secretly returned to the Imperial City, Yang Qi withdrew Xiao Qing from Pei'er.

With Peilin, a secret guard with many years of experience, Xiaoqing can play a greater role by his side.

After Ah Du and Xiao Qing entered the house, Yang Qi pushed the teacups in front of them one by one and said, "Ah Du, you should go to Kong Yang Academy at noon tomorrow.

Focus on checking the library - on the beams, in the columns, under the floor tiles. If there are any signs of a mechanism, report it immediately. "

She paused, "If you see someone strange, don't be alarmed, just take note of their appearance and report directly."

"Xiao Qing," Yang Qi turned to another maid in a moon-white shirt, "give this secret letter to Peilin, and ask Peilin to pass it to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." She lowered her eyes and glanced at the eight words "Kong Yang's unusual movements, investigate carefully" on the letter, calmed herself down, and breathed a sigh of relief.

The prince has a long-standing relationship with Kongyang Academy and has never missed the spring and autumn classes over the years. My eldest brother always said, "The prince copied scriptures in the academy and his ink could dye half of the pool of spring water."

But now there are unusual movements in the academy. Is it that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to investigate something, or is it that the Fifth Prince wants to hide something?

Yang Qi looked out the window at the gradually rising dusk, and suddenly remembered what the Queen said yesterday: "The Hundred Flowers Banquet must be held in a grand manner, but some things must be done quietly under the flowers."

Now it seems that the situation is more complicated than imagined. There are so many people who want to take advantage of the Hundred Flowers Banquet to do some secret tricks.

Yang Qi stood in front of the table and slowly unfolded a map of the imperial city with vermilion streets and alleys painted on it. The lines and patterns on the map were clearly visible, as if the entire imperial city was presented before his eyes.

Her fingertips gently rested on the location of Kongyang Academy, which should have been a quiet study where students studied classics and discussed academic matters.

However, the Kongyang Academy today is like a crumpled piece of paper, with countless wrinkles hidden, which makes people feel suspicious.

As the Hundred Flowers Banquet approaches, forces from all sides are pouring into the imperial city like a tide.

Originally, the security of the imperial city was jointly the responsibility of the Jinwu Guards and the Yulin Guards. They each performed their duties and cooperated with each other to ensure the safety of the imperial city.

However, since the Crown Prince was going to Jiangnan, he needed sufficient escort, so all the Yulin Guards were taken to Jiangnan. As a result, only the Emperor's personal guards, the Jinwu Guards, were left in the Imperial City, and the manpower seemed a little insufficient.

Yang Qi originally wanted to go to Kongyang Academy in person, but she had no choice but to move into the Queen's palace the day after tomorrow to be closer to the Queen and to this muddy water.

"The Hundred Flowers Banquet is approaching, and this undercurrent must be uncovered as soon as possible. We must not let a slight negligence ruin the entire situation." Yang Qi closed the map and suddenly laughed. No matter what was hidden under the Kongyang Academy, since it had come into his sight, it should see the light of day.

Yang Qi's stay in the palace this time was ostensibly to assist the Queen in organizing the Hundred Flowers Banquet, but in reality it was to assist the Fifth Prince in his conspiracy.

Even though Mother He insisted on going along, Yang Qi still chose to bring Nanny Zhu and Xin Che into the palace. Nanny Zhu was familiar with the affairs within the imperial city, and Xin Che was a secret guard, so he could handle emergencies more flexibly.

Coincidentally, the day chosen by the Queen for Yang Qi to stay in the palace was exactly the time when "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince" was returning to the capital with his ceremonial procession.

According to the news from the Eastern Palace and Yang Qi's guess, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince should have quietly left the Imperial City last night and is now secretly meeting up with the ceremonial guard returning to the capital.

Even though Yang Qi set out for the Imperial City early in the morning, he could still feel that the atmosphere of the Imperial City today was very different from the past.

The official road that the prince's procession took back to the imperial city was already crowded with onlookers on both sides, and even the best seats in the restaurants along the way had been reserved early by the wives of officials.

When they reached the Queen's Palace, Yang Qi was climbing the stairs holding up her skirt when she met a female official from the Palace Bureau waiting in the corridor with a new palace dress in her hands.

The light blue satin was embroidered with peony branches, and the stitches were so fine that the veins of each petal could be clearly seen - it was the material selected by the Queen herself, who said it was "best suiting Miss Song San's complexion."

"Miss Yang Qi is here." Aunt Rong Pei lifted the door curtain. The queen was leaning on the couch reading a book. When she saw her come in, she put the book on the table and pointed to the opposite side: "Sit closer, there are many things to discuss today."

The Queen raised her hand and asked the female official of the Shanggong Bureau to bring the dress into the room. Her fingertips brushed over the newly made dress on the table and said, "The light blue satin that the Shanggong Bureau just sent over looks the best on you. I think it suits you best. I'll change into it later."

Although A Yuan had already quietly entered the city and the two must have met privately, the Queen still wanted Yang Qi to dress more delicately for today's meeting - the light blue satin made her skin look like snow, and the peonies between the embroidery seemed to be blooming from the fabric.

Yang Qi's fingertips trembled slightly, and when she took the dress, she caught a glimpse of the smile that the queen could not hide in her eyes.

Although the Queen Mother had made many dresses for Yang Qi during her time in the palace, the one she wore today seemed to be specially prepared for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, which made Yang Qi blush for a moment.

"What are you standing there for?" The Queen tapped the table. "Put it on and show it to me."

Yang Qi lowered her head and smiled, holding the dress in her arms: "Yes, Madam."