Traveling through time and space

"Mammy, tell me, under what circumstances would a parent place their daughter in a basin and let her float downstream?"

"Girl, you are still young. Those words were all said by that woman. Maybe that woman is lying." Nanny Shang's words woke Gu Yuanyuan up. She had been staring at what the woman said, but who knew whether what she said was true or false? In the final analysis, she still had to get the truth from that woman, or go to Yufang Village again? It gave her a headache to think about it. Should she go find her family? But on the other hand, no matter what she wanted to do, she had to finish the task at hand first. She couldn't give up on the crops halfway. After she had planted all the crops, she could think about what to do next. If she did it well, she would have money. Her mood had been up and down these past two days. She still couldn't remain calm in the face of things. She still had to practice, practice well. When she returned to the mansion, it was dark again. The days passed so quickly.

"Miss, Wan Ning is here." Dongmei came over and said quietly after just finishing her meal.

"Bring him in." Gu Yuanyuan entered the inner room and the person was soon brought in.

"I'm honored to meet you, young lady." Wan Ning came in, knelt down and kowtowed.

"Stand up and talk. I'm really sorry for putting so much trouble on you and Wan Jing, but this master doesn't want you to do this. If they knew you were his people, it would put you both in danger, which is not what this master wants. Since you are his people, this master will definitely make sure you live well."

"Please forgive me, young lady. It must have been me who told them to stay there voluntarily." Nanny Shang appeared cautiously at the door. Gu Yuanyuan looked at her curiously. "I was very angry the other day and complained to them that I had no roots and no foundation, and I didn't know how those people would bully me."

"No, it's not Madam Shang's fault. I just wanted to help you, young lady, and see what they would do. That way, I could understand what they were going to do. I only know one thing: knowing yourself and the enemy is the key to success. Only by knowing what they are going to do can you come up with a strategy to deal with it."

"Silly girl, how can you know what I'm going to do? Madam Shang, all of you stand up and talk." At this point, Gu Yuanyuan was helpless.

"Miss, last night the three of them went to the Princess's Mansion. The mother and daughter stayed at Yishu Courtyard.

The man moved into Qiuguan Garden and brought a number of servants with him, but he only had one servant to serve him. He didn't even eat with the mother and daughter. The mother and daughter spoke to him in a way that didn't feel like they were in a foreign place. Instead, they acted as if they were bossing him around and were superior to him.

"No way, isn't that her son? Wan Ning, ask the people around them." Nanny Shang asked curiously.

"Rumei, prepare some money for Wanning. Wanning, ask the people around them. I suddenly have a feeling that the prince might be a fake."

"Dongmei, tell Zhou Chun to prepare the carriage. I need to go out for a while." Gu Yuanyuan thought of a place. "Wanning, tell Wanjing that you must protect yourselves. If anything seems amiss, return immediately. And you two must hide yourselves and don't hang around in front of that prince. He looks like a pervert."

"Got it, young lady. The servants will take care of it." After they left, Gu Yuanyuan went back into the house and left the inner room under a different identity. "Little Maozi, let's go to Yancai Tower together."

"Who are you?" The two had just walked out the door and met someone they didn't want to meet.

"Your Highness, you care so much about my business," Gu Yuanyuan said, dressed in men's clothing.

"Miss Gu? What's the matter so late at night?"

"Your Highness, we are just neighbors. As neighbors, we should keep to ourselves." Gu Yuanyuan ignored him and got into the car.

"You stay, I'll go." Gu Yuanyuan watched as Prince De pulled the little Russian to the back and got into the car himself.

"My Lord, this is not good."

"Why not? I promised the Emperor that I would protect you well, so I certainly wouldn't let you go out alone in the dark of night."

"Your Majesty, I have made my point clear. I do not believe you, so please get out of the car."

"Then what are you going to do, rob or tease..."

"Your Highness, I am now dressed as a man, so I naturally have something to do. Please get out of the car."

"I will go and protect you, let's go." This feels like I'm going to stick to my guns until the end.

"Let's go." Gu Yuanyuan called out, lowered the curtain, and the carriage started moving. "Your Highness, why are you so curious about everything?"

"Of course I'm curious. A woman dressed as a man, going out in the middle of the night."

"What can we do? Of course, we can go and enjoy a life of feasting and revelry. Zhou Chun, go to Yan Cailou."

"Is Yancailou Miss Gu's property?"

"No, it's the Emperor's. I just wanted to see if I could find out something."

"What do you want to know? You can trust me. I won't tell the emperor."

"I want to find out if there's any news about Ling Yu."

"Why did you go to Yan Cailou to inquire?"

"Fish have their own paths, and shrimps have their own paths. Maybe we can get some useful information."

"What do you want to know?"

"I'd like to know how many princes there are in the Lingyu royal family. When the Queen Mother of Lingyu visited Lingyu over ten years ago, how many children did she bring with her?"

"I really don't know about this. I only know that Empress Lingyu gave birth to a son named Yu Chenglin."

"Yu Chenglin? Chenglin?" Gu Yuanyuan suddenly remembered the boy. "Ling Yu has an eldest prince, Yu Chengxiao, and a second prince, Yu Chengmo. So, is this Yu Chengxi a prince? And who fathered him? This is what I want to know most right now."

"Yancailou was a brothel. It used to belong to the He family. The He family collapsed and was seriously injured. I'm afraid we won't be able to find out anything. Even if we do, it will only be superficial." He thought for a few minutes, "pat the carriage and go to Zongshengfang."

"Where is that place? Is it the source of the prince's information?" Gu Yuanyuan asked directly.

"Miss Gu, don't you believe me? I'll only help you this once. From now on, Miss Gu, you can figure it out on your own. However, Zongshengfang sells intelligence to everyone, from the lowest level to other countries."

"Is it so complete? Your Majesty, let me ask you seriously, does the Emperor know about this place?"

"Do you care about this?"

"Of course, I've been in a bad mood recently. I think I shouldn't trust others unconditionally, including the emperor. I should protect myself and not stick to others blindly."

"Miss Gu is becoming estranged from the Emperor."

"Yes, he was the one who believed that I was his daughter back then, but now, based on just a few words from that woman, I am no longer his daughter."

"He has his own frustrations."

"Your Highness, I have my own frustrations. I just can't accept it in my heart." Gu Yuanyuan felt a little aggrieved.

"So you want to verify whether this matter, that woman, and those two children are real or fake."

"Yes, I always feel there's something wrong with that man."

"You think I am the emperor's man, so you don't trust me." Prince De said, and Gu Yuanyuan nodded firmly.

"I don't want to make enemies everywhere, but I won't give others the opportunity to betray me." Gu Yuanyuan expressed her thoughts seriously.

"This king will not betray you."

"What if I betray you?"

"No place to bury the dead."

"Okay, Zhou Chun, let's go to Zongshengfang." When Prince De just said to go to Zongshengfang, Zhou Chun just slowed down the carriage, but didn't listen to him. After Gu Yuanyuan confirmed it, she directly asked Zhou Chun to go to the place where Prince De wanted to go. "Prince, if you want me to trust you, can you agree to one condition of mine?"

"What conditions, you say?"

"I want to invest in Zongshengfang, which means I will be entitled to any information I want from Zongshengfang in the future."

"Miss, you want to become the second boss. As long as you become Prince De, you will be the second boss."

"Your Highness, are you taking advantage of someone's misfortune? My goal won't change. I won't turn myself into a dead tree in some man's backyard, waiting for my whole life. Since Your Highness doesn't want to cooperate, I'll repay you with a favor I owe you. We should have no further ties. I don't want to owe you anything, or I can repay you by teaching you how to make various kinds of dried meat."

"Three hundred thousand taels of silver." Prince De stared at Gu Yuanyuan.

"It's a good deal. Three hundred thousand taels will be handed over to the prince tomorrow. However, if the prince needs my help in the future, I will clearly state the price. All previous affairs between the prince and me are now written off."

"Forget it, I won't use the silver. Just consider it as Miss Gu owing me a big favor."

"Okay, I'll take note of this. Your Majesty, there's something I want to know. Does the Emperor still have feelings for that woman?"

"That woman is Ling Yu's queen mother. Can she enter the harem again and become Emperor Qingyang's concubine?" Prince De said, shaking his head.

"Nothing is impossible, only the unexpected. I just hope that the emperor will not fall into the tenderness of this woman." Gu Yuanyuan looked at the woman's eyes and always felt that something was going to happen. "Looking at the woman's eyes, I always feel that something is going to happen."

"Here we are. Remember, this place cannot be leaked."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I know what's going on, Zhou Chun."

"Don't worry, young lady. I understand."

"Gu Yuanyuan, please," Prince De said casually, but when he saw Gu Yuanyuan's pretentiousness,

"Mr. Gao Zeyang." Gu Yuanyuan looked at him proudly.

"Mr. Gao, let's go to the back and go up to the third floor through the window. Is that okay with you, Mr. Gao?"

"Of course." This little thing was truly trivial to Gu Yuanyuan, not worth mentioning. "Find a place to hide," she instructed Zhou Chun. Seeing Prince De walking ahead of her, Gu Yuanyuan walked into the darkness and quickly teleported to the third-floor staircase. "Prince, you're so slow," Gu Yuanyuan sneered at him.

"Who are you?" someone came out from the darkness and whispered. "Your Majesty." Prince De appeared and the man greeted him.

"Hua Jiu, this is Master Gao. When he comes next time, he will be treated the same as me."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will pass on the order."

"Go call Hua Yi over, Master Gao, please sit down." Prince De sat down, and someone soon brought him tea and cakes. "Chu Qing, you haven't left yet."

"Your Majesty, I have nowhere to stay. Please forgive me this time."

"My concubine? The prince really has a beautiful girl hidden in his golden house." Gu Yuanyuan teased.