Peach Blossom.

The next day, on the first day of the new year, Prince Si Yuan of Yongchang arrived at Prince Ning's Palace in Ailao County as scheduled.

Before this, Tao Ye had heard of King Yongchang countless times. She was actually quite curious about what kind of person he was.

Early in the morning, the refugees living in Prince Ning's Palace had spontaneously come to both sides of the palace gate and stood in a neat line, ready to welcome the arrival of Prince Yongchang.

Wang Yi, Wang Jing and Tao Ye were among them.

Not long after, Yongchang King Si Yuan arrived. He had no airs at all. He walked in on foot and greeted the refugees with a friendly smile.

Tao Ye stood on tiptoe and glanced at Si Yuan carefully.

Perhaps because he had suffered too much hardship in his life, Si Yuan looked older than his actual age. He was also very thin, and his face was pale, making it obvious that he had been ill for a long time.

Following closely behind him were two women, one of whom was Si Rong; Tao Ye did not recognize the other, but heard the refugees call her "Mrs. Han."

Madam Han was much younger than Si Yuan. Although she was not stunningly beautiful, she was still quite pretty. She was the most beautiful woman Tao Ye had seen since he came to Yongchang.

There were more than ten maids and servants accompanying them. Wang Jing looked at them one by one, and then, among these ten people, he saw Chen Ji and Mada.

He knew that Chen Ji's father was an old friend of Prince Yongchang, and now Princess Si Rong favored Ma Da, so Chen Ji would naturally have the opportunity to get close to Prince Yongchang, and it would not be surprising that he could serve as his attendant.

However, this does not mean that King Yongchang would trust Chen Ji.

According to Wang Jing's understanding, Prince Yongchang was the most suspicious person and would not easily trust anyone.

Prince Si Yuan of Yongchang brought a lot of cloth, and he, together with Madam Han, Si Rong, and all the followers, distributed the cloth to everyone living in Prince Ning's palace.

They were all walking and sending gifts. When Si Yuan came near Wang Jing, Wang Jing bowed to Si Yuan and said, "May the king be well. I have something important to tell you. May I see you alone?"

Si Yuan looked Wang Jing up and down with a polite smile on his face, and said softly, "What's the matter?"

Although this sentence only has two words, it exposes Si Yuan's lack of energy.

Tao Ye was very puzzled when she heard Si Yuan ask this. She had already said that it was "important" and she hoped to "see you in private", so how could she answer when he asked "what it was" in public?

Wang Jing smiled slightly and bowed respectfully again: "Private matter."

"Private matter?" Si Yuan repeated, speaking slowly and with a hint of confusion.

Tao Ye felt that, theoretically speaking, it seemed a bit strange for two strangers to have a "private meeting" when they met for the first time because of a "private matter"!

Wang Jing smiled and explained: "I am sorry for being so rude, but I do have a private matter that I need your help with."

Mrs. Han, who was distributing horses to people, heard this and came over to support Si Yuan. She smiled and said to Wang Jing, "Since this is a private matter, let's find a quiet place to ask later."

Si Yuan nodded slightly.

Wang Jing then bowed to Madam Han and said, "Thank you, Madam."

All the followers were distributing cloth, and Chen Ji was naturally among them. He had expected that Wang Jing planned to ask for an audience with Prince Yongchang today, so he stood not far from Prince Yongchang.

When he heard Wang Jing's words, he started to mock him in front of everyone: "It's normal for a brother-in-law to want to have a private conversation with his elder brother-in-law! Why do you have to go through so much trouble, brother Wang?"

As soon as these words were spoken, countless surprised glances were cast over.

Si Rong had met Wang Jing before, but she didn't know where Chen Ji got this from, so she asked Ma Da hurriedly, "What does your young master mean? Why don't I understand?"

Ma Da then pointed at Wang Jing and told Si Rong: "That person is the son-in-law of the current Empress Dowager, the brother-in-law of the late Emperor Xiaozong and the King, the husband of the Grand Princess, and the most honorable Prince Consort of the Great Qi State."

After Mada's detailed explanation, the originally surprised looks gradually changed to something different, like contempt, or even hatred...

Especially those refugees in the big vegetable garden yesterday who sympathized with Wang Jing's disability and advised him not to work, now looked at Wang Jing with particularly unfriendly eyes.

Wang Jing lowered his head helplessly. His father Wang Yi once told him that Prince Yongchang never refused any request for an audience from the people, so this "request for an audience" could be very ordinary and did not need to attract the attention of other refugees.

However, Chen Ji deliberately wanted Wang Jing's identity as the "prince consort" to attract the attention of all the people in Yongchang!

After listening to Mada's explanation, Si Rong also cast a contemptuous look at Wang Jing and roared at the top of her voice: "What a noble prince consort! Do you think it's easy to get food here? Only people who are really in need can live here! This is not a place for you to eat and live for free when you travel!"

Wang Jing just lowered his head and remained silent.

Madam Han still maintained her original smile and advised Si Rong: "Princess, he is your uncle and your elder after all. There is a difference between the old and the young. You shouldn't shout so loudly."

Si Rong glanced at Madam Han calmly: "You are asked to be a good person?"

Si Yuan coughed, his expression serious, and he repeated the four words that Madam Han had said: "There is a difference between the old and the young."

Si Rong had no choice but to shut up.

After the cloth was distributed, Yongchang Wang Siyuan followed his promise and sent someone to see Wang Jing alone.

Since all the palaces in Ning Wang's Palace were filled with refugees, the place where Yongchang Wang summoned Wang Jing could only be outdoors.

It was in a hexagonal pavilion in the old garden of Prince Ning's Palace. Si Yuan and Madam Han were sitting inside, with Si Rong, Chen Ji, Ma Da and others standing around them.

Tao Ye supported Wang Jing and they walked slowly into the pavilion together, and greeted Si Yuan and Madam Han again.

Mrs. Han asked with a smile: "Prince Consort Wang, please tell me about your "private affairs"!"

Wang Jingqing knew that with Chen Ji here, all the true circumstances would be made public sooner or later, so he didn't need to worry too much.

He took out the "Treasure House Location Map" and presented it to Si Yuan: "Yongchang has eight treasure houses. This is the location map. My "private business" is to present this to the king."

Mrs. Han took it first, counted them, and found there were seven pictures on the paper, then passed it to Si Yuan.

Si Yuan just glanced at it a few times, then looked up at Wang Jing: "Do you know that before you, someone had already brought the exact same picture?"

Before Wang Jing could answer, Tao Ye couldn't help but say, "His is a pirated copy! Ours is the genuine one!"

Si Yuan, Madam Han, and Wang Jing all glanced at Tao Ye.

Tao Ye was stunned for a moment, then slowly explained: "What I mean is... he stole it from us... he copied it!"

Si Yuan nodded: "What's the proof?"

Wang Jing nodded and replied, "There are eight vaults, but only seven are shown on the map. The proof is naturally... the location of the eighth. I guess the person who presented the map to Your Majesty first must not know."

Chen Ji, who was guarding outside the pavilion, was a little surprised when he heard this.

Ever since he first saw Wang Yi in Yongchang, he had never let Wang Yi escape the surveillance of his spies. Even until Wang Yi moved into the Ning Palace, his spies had been guarding outside the Ning Palace, ready to follow Wang Yi as soon as he stepped out of the palace.

Under such circumstances, how could it be possible that Wang Yi found the eighth vault while he knew nothing about it?

He quickly thought of another possibility, that is, the eighth vault was in Prince Ning's palace...

However, Si Yuan did not ask about the location of the eighth vault, so Chen Ji was unable to confirm his guess at this moment.

Si Yuan did not ask Wang Jing any more questions, but turned around and looked at Chen Ji.

Madam Han understood and called out, "Please ask Master Chen to come over."

Chen Ji stepped forward and bowed to Si Yuan and Madam Han.

Mrs. Han asked with a smile: "This girl said that you copied the painting from Prince Consort Wang. What do you say?"

"To be honest with you, Your Majesty, I did copy the picture from him, and it was this girl who assisted me in copying it." Chen Ji smiled faintly and admitted it generously.

Tao Ye looked at Chen Ji in astonishment, not knowing what he was up to, but it was definitely not the same thing as before!

Si Yuan also looked at Chen Ji and asked in a low voice, still speaking slowly: "Why do you want to copy?"

Chen Ji glanced at Wang Jing and replied, "If I hadn't copied it, how could he have presented the treasure to the king?"

Si Yuan and Madam Han looked at each other, and Madam Han said, "Please explain it more clearly, Master Chen."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Your Majesty and Madam, you don't know that the Wang family traveled thousands of miles to Yongchang to search for treasures because they were entrusted by Emperor Xiaozong. The map of the treasure they drew was naturally to be presented to Emperor Xiaozong. My father was devoted to following Your Majesty during his lifetime. I stole this thing to present it to Your Majesty in accordance with my father's will. The girl standing in front of Your Majesty was originally my confidante, but she was kidnapped by Prince Consort Wang, who also revealed my theft to him. Prince Consort Wang knew that I was going to present the map to Your Majesty, and that it happened to be the time when Emperor Xiaozong passed away, so he went with the flow and surrendered to Your Majesty."

Tao Ye really wanted to beat Chen Ji up after hearing this! As the saying goes, a loyal minister does not serve two masters. Isn't Chen Ji's words clearly accusing Wang Jing of being a fence-sitter who goes with the flow?

Since he was a child, Si Yuan had heard the rumor that his grandfather Xianzong had secretly hidden eight treasuries when he was forced to flee, but he was not sure whether the rumor was true or not, and he didn't know that the treasury was in Yongchang. However, the only person who could confirm the truth of the rumor and had clues about the treasury was his father Xianzong.

Xianzong was bewitched by Meng and passed the throne to his younger brother Xiaozong. It is very likely that he told Xiaozong about the matter of the treasury before his death.

He intuitively felt that Chen Ji was not lying, but he still needed real evidence, so he asked again: "What evidence do you have?"

"The proof is... Prince Consort Wang's father, Wang Yi, has visited Yongchang many times over the years and sent secret letters to Emperor Xiaozong many times." Chen Ji said as he took out a dozen letters from his arms and presented them to Madam Han.

Mrs. Han took it and passed the letter to Si Yuan.

Wang Jing looked at the dozen letters and felt like he was struck by a blow.

He was not surprised to hear Chen Ji's statement just now, because although what Chen Ji said was unfavorable to him, it was also true.

But now, seeing this dozen of "evidences", he couldn't help but be shocked!

Those were secret letters sent by Wang Yi to Emperor Xiaozong Si Yu. The messengers were all people whom Wang Yi trusted extremely much and were very skilled and efficient. How did Chen Ji have the opportunity to get those letters?

Wang Jing had to verify the authenticity of the letters with his own eyes. He stepped forward and pleaded with Si Yuan: "Can I take a look at these letters?"

Si Yuan nodded slightly and handed the letter to Wang Jing.

Chen Ji stood aside and smiled faintly: "Prince Consort Wang, please take a good look. Situ Wang's calligraphy is the most famous in our Great Qi State. It is impossible for ordinary people to imitate it!"

Wang Jing read the letters one by one and found that they were all written by his father. Judging from the contents of the later letters, they were clearly discussing and exchanging the contents of the earlier letters.

This means that these letters were safely delivered to Emperor Xiaozong. So Chen Ji did not intercept these letters from the messenger, but directly from Emperor Xiaozong...

Wang Jing didn't dare to think any further... Emperor Xiaozong had just passed away mysteriously not long ago, and Chen Ji had just not been in Yongchang...

Chen Ji bowed to Si Yuan again and said, "Your Majesty, the father and son of the Wang family served Emperor Xiaozong yesterday and are now serving Your Majesty. Tomorrow, we don't know who they will serve! I think such two-minded people should be executed on the spot!"