First-rank palace maid Su Jixiang

Chapter 444 Don’t show off

"That's quite interesting." Su Jixiang was stunned for a moment, then he remembered the eldest princess's stupid and unaware look, and he understood why His Majesty and the prince consort had kept it a secret from the eldest princess.

"Based on the eldest princess's personality, if she knew that her husband secretly controlled the spies in the capital, I'm afraid she would do something incredible again." Su Jixiang couldn't help laughing.

"Yes. The prince consort and His Majesty kept this matter a secret from the princess. They allowed her to act outside in order to use the princess's hand as a cover." Wei Ling said.

"This capital city is truly full of traps." Su Jixiang thought about the frail appearance of the Prince Consort, shook her head and sighed, "You really can't judge a person by his appearance." She suddenly remembered the cake incident. "Have you checked the cake order from the Prince Consort's farm?"

"I checked." Wei Ling nodded and said with a smile, "Our prince consort is no ordinary man. If it weren't for the cake ordering information you provided, I'm afraid I would have made a mistake."

Su Jixiang immediately became interested. She sat up straight and looked at her husband with burning eyes. "What do you mean? What did you find out? Stop keeping us in suspense!"

Normally, she wasn't a particularly gossipy person, but since this matter concerned the prince consort, she had to dig deeper!

"It used to be said that the Prince Consort and the Princess were deeply in love, a model of affection for each other in the capital. It was also said that due to the Prince Consort's health, the couple wasn't often together. The Princess loved the hustle and bustle and all sorts of gatherings, while the Prince Consort preferred quiet. So, on weekdays, the Prince Consort would go straight to his Ximo Pavilion after leaving the Princess's residence, writing poetry and painting, and making friends through literature," Wei Ling said. "This Ximo Pavilion wasn't just a place for the Prince Consort to relax and meet friends, it was also a gathering place for secret agents in the capital."

"So, the prince consort is using calligraphy and painting as a cover to get things done?" Su Jixiang said with a smile, "That's an idea. He likes all kinds of poetry and paintings. As long as the message is delivered under the guise of sending poetry and paintings, no one will know."

"Madam, you are truly clever!" Wei Ling could not help but look at his wife with admiration. "You hit the nail on the head!"

"Did I guess right?" Su Jixiang smiled, and there was a hint of smug charm in his eyes, which made Wei Ling's heart warm, and the look he gave his wife became even more passionate.

"Yes, Madam, you guessed it right." Wei Ling smiled. "This Prince Consort has opened many literary shops in the capital. On the surface, they sell the four treasures of the study and consign famous poems and paintings, but secretly, these shops serve as bases for His Majesty's spies. Daily news is collected from these shops and brought to Ximoxuan. After being reviewed by our Prince Consort, it is then disseminated to other places."

"This is indeed easy to conceal from the public." Su Jixiang nodded, "It's a good idea. Besides, the pen and ink shop is a gathering place for scholars, and the news from all sides comes the fastest and most diversely, comparable to those in teahouses and restaurants!" Su Jixiang and Wei Ling also have their own news network, which includes the teahouses and restaurants opened by Su Jixiang.

These places receive news the fastest and are very convenient for delivering messages.

"Indeed, scholars love to show off when they get together!" Wei Ling agreed. "This is indeed a very good source of information and a channel for transmission. It must be said that Your Majesty and the Prince Consort are interested."

"You haven't told me who the birthday cake covered with wisteria flowers is for!" Su Jixiang reminded Wei Ling.

"Don't worry. Isn't that what we were about to talk about?" Wei Ling said with a smile, "After you told us that, we found someone to sneak in. But our prince consort is a bit cautious, and our people almost didn't find anything. If someone hadn't found the cake box nearby, I'm afraid I really don't know how this prince consort sent the cake."

Su Jixiang was even more interested.

"Hurry up and tell me." She urged.

"After the cake was delivered to Ximoxuan, our people sneaked in," Wei Ling said. "But for fear of being exposed, our people didn't dare to get too close, but they kept a close watch. However, they found that the prince consort didn't leave Ximoxuan all day, and no other suspicious people entered Ximoxuan."

"Our people also found it very strange, so we searched nearby. The next morning, we found someone holding our cake box on the street behind Ximoxuan." Wei Ling continued, "Our people went over and asked, and the person said he found it. Because our box was beautiful, he thought it would be a pity to throw it away, so he took it back to put something else in it. So we asked him where he found it, and then we found out that there was a woman living with her child in the alley behind Ximoxuan."

"Even after finding this woman, our people couldn't confirm whether she was related to the prince consort." Wei Ling said, "After all, we can't be sure whether the cake was sent to her just by looking at a cake box."

"Hurry up and tell me, don't keep me in suspense!" Seeing Wei Ling looking at him with a smile when he said this, Su Jixiang shook Wei Ling's sleeve and said anxiously.

"Then kiss me and I'll continue!" Wei Ling pointed to his cheek and said proudly.

Su Jixiang held Wei Ling's cheek and kissed him hard on the cheek, then gritted his teeth and said, "Is it okay?"

"Okay, okay!" Wei Ling touched the place where Su Jixiang had kissed him, and nodded with a smile.

"Then tell me quickly!" Su Jixiang patted him.

"Our people sneaked in and saw a small piece of cake left in the kitchen. Coincidentally, the cake had a custom pattern of wisteria flowers," Wei Ling said. "That small piece of cake that was left happened to have wisteria flowers on it. This confirmed that the cake Ximoxuan ordered was for the hostess of this house."

"That doesn't prove that it was delivered by the prince consort himself. After all, the person who ordered the cake didn't say it was the prince consort. He just ordered the cake in the name of Ximoxuan. It could also be a manager in Ximoxuan." Su Jixiang thought for a while and said.

"Yes, so our people went to see the woman and her son. Guess what?" Wei Ling kept the secret again.

"Hurry up and tell me!" Su Jixiang said with a smile, "Don't always tell me half and leave the other half!"

"The child that woman is carrying looks 70% like the Prince Consort!" Wei Ling laughed, "And he calls the Prince Consort 'Dad' himself!"

"Did you see the prince consort over there?" Su Jixiang said in surprise.

"Indeed, they saw the prince consort coming out of the woman's room. Coincidentally, the prince consort didn't even bring a guard with him." Wei Ling didn't keep anyone in suspense this time and spoke directly.