Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 425 Singing Opera
The envoy from Western Xia has arrived in Bianjing and is currently staying at Banjing Pavilion.

The wine and banquet bestowed by the Emperor were delivered by the Prince of Huai with his men. Although those vassal states had only been there for a day or two, their spies had already gathered a great deal of information.

Prince Huai guessed that the Western Barbarians would try to find out some inside information about the border trade from him, but he did not expect that they would first inquire about the reliquary of Yunqi Temple.

The envoys from Western Xia who had stayed in Daming Prefecture had also witnessed the Buddha's manifestation at Baode Temple. It is estimated that the reliquary was enshrined at Baode Temple at that time. Now that the same thing has happened at Yunqi Temple, they are more convinced than anyone else that the reliquary is extraordinary.

The people in the porcelain trade were trying every means to prevent the porcelain from the Xie family of Daming Prefecture from entering the capital. They even had a plan to deal with the Xie family. If the Xie family opened a porcelain shop in Bianjing, they would increase the trade fees, assign more of this year's labor service to the Xie family's shops, and raise taxes... In short, they wanted to make it impossible for the Xie family to open a shop in Bianjing.

Unexpectedly, Xie did not follow the usual path. Instead, she used a reliquary to open up a new business for her kiln.

No wonder those people couldn't find the Xie family. They were focused on the porcelain in the market, never imagining that the Xie family had settled down at the South City Wharf and opened a restaurant and a perfume shop.

The porcelain she brought from Daming Prefecture was not put out for sale at all. Instead, it was displayed in the renovated pavilion. According to Xie's original plan, the pavilion was to be used as a teahouse, so that guests could appreciate the porcelain fired in their kiln while enjoying tea.

But it turned out that there was no need to go to the final step at all.

Because of the fame of the reliquary, Xie Yuyan completed all these steps in one fell swoop.

If the goods sold at the border market catch the eye of the Western Xia envoys, there is no need to wait for the court to select them; they can be directly recorded in the register, and no one else can interfere.

After all, the buyers are from the Western Xia Dynasty. If they want to buy, how can you refuse to sell?
Furthermore, even the Cining Palace knows about the reliquary. Such a precious item will surely remain in Bianjing. There are rumors that the Xie family will donate the reliquary.

At that time, who will be able to overshadow the reliquary and the coal kiln?
The Prince of Huai increasingly felt that this woman from the Xie family of Daming Prefecture was truly extraordinary. He first heard of her because of the case of Prefect Liu, whose coal kiln had caused chaos in the porcelain trade.

Once she's established herself in Bianjing, what kind of trouble will she cause?
Xie Chengxin didn't quite understand what the Prince of Huai had said, so the Prince of Huai didn't say anything more. The two of them arrived at the Xie family's gate, and before they even entered, they saw someone coming out of the Xie family's house.

Xie Chengxin recognized him; he was the steward of the Xia family.

"What are the Xia family doing here?" Xie Chengxin asked in a low voice, avoiding the Prince of Huai.

The Xie family steward hurriedly replied, "It must be for the Second Young Master's marriage."

Xie Chengxin immediately frowned. It seemed that the Xia family was determined to arrange a marriage between them, except that it was him before, and now it was his second brother.

As Xie Chengxin was thinking this, the head maidservant beside Madam Zhou came out to greet him. She bowed to Prince Huai and then said, "Madam is waiting inside the room."

The head maid lifted the curtain at the front, and Prince Huai entered the room. He saw Madam Zhou sitting in the main seat, smiling and talking to Xie Wenjing beside her.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Prince Huai subtly raised the corners of his mouth. The Xie family clearly intended for Xie Wenjing to meet him; a two-year wedding was still far off, and the Xie family was afraid something might go wrong.

The Prince of Huai bowed to Lady Zhou.

Madam Zhou smiled and said, "How can you do this? Prince Huai, please get up."

“It is only right,” said the Prince of Huai. “The lady is an elder and is at home, so we should observe proper family etiquette.”

Despite saying that, Xie Wenjing still performed a curtsy on behalf of Madam Zhou. Prince Huai's gaze fell on Xie Wenjing, and he nodded slightly to her.

Seeing this, Madam Zhou's smile deepened. Her husband was right; judging from the Prince's expression, he clearly missed Wenjing terribly. Since she had intentionally released Wenjing, the Prince had been visiting their home even more frequently.

The Prince of Huai asked, "Has the lady fully recovered? I wonder if the medicine I sent last time has come in handy?"

A while ago, Madam Zhou suffered from headaches, and Prince Huai specially sent her a lot of medicinal herbs. When this was mentioned, Madam Zhou said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I am much better now."

As she spoke, Madam Zhou looked at Xie Wenjing and said, "It's all thanks to Wenjing taking care of me and making me medicinal meals every day that I recovered so quickly."

Prince Huai seemed to recall the time when Lady Xie saved him, and nodded in agreement: "Lady Xie is knowledgeable in medicine; few women in the capital can do that." This time when he came to the Xie family, Xie Wenjing seemed to have an even stronger scholarly air about her, obviously because he kept praising her medical skills.

Now, not only Xie Wenjing, but even the servants serving him can name several medicinal herbs. Ever since the news spread that he was going to marry Xie Erniangzi, he suddenly had many women around him who were knowledgeable in medicine.

The Prince of Huai was also pleased with this outcome.

Isn't it great that everyone around him caters to his preferences? Whether he actually likes it or not, only he knows.

When Prince Huai went to see Xie Wenjing again, Xie Erniang was much more composed than when she first arrived in Bianjing, and could be considered a clever person.

Prince Huai pondered that if she continued like this, he didn't necessarily need to expose the truth. Having leverage over her meant he wasn't afraid she would cause trouble. As long as she posed no harm to him, it wasn't a bad idea for her to continue this charade; he could always back down at any time.

Rather than falling out with the Xie family now, he was more interested in knowing what the Xie family was planning.
After exchanging a few more casual words with the Prince of Huai, Madam Zhou asked Xie Chengxin, "How is things going with the Ministry of Justice?"

Xie Chengxin said, "They still won't let us see anyone, but the Prince has found out that my second brother has passed the interrogation. The yamen has confirmed that he has nothing to do with the demonic sect, so he should be able to return home soon."

"That's good," Madam Zhou breathed a sigh of relief. "Actually, this matter originally had nothing to do with Erlang."

The Prince of Huai responded, "Wait a few more days. If the government still hasn't made a move, I'll send someone to inquire again and get Erlang out as soon as possible so he won't suffer any more."

Madam Zhou hurriedly said, "Then thank you very much, Your Highness."

After finishing his cup of tea, the Prince of Huai got up to take his leave.

Madam Zhou tried to persuade her to stay, saying, "Why don't you have a meal before you leave?"

“I still have to go back to the palace to serve,” said the Prince of Huai. “I’m busy with affairs these days. I’ll come to pay my respects to the Lady after I’ve seen off the Western Xia envoy.”

Madam Zhou smiled kindly: "I'll have Chengxin invite the Prince to the banquet then."

The Prince of Huai got up and left.

Xie Wenjing watched the Prince Huai's retreating figure. Everyone said that the Prince Huai was in love with her, and indeed, whenever the Prince had free time, he would come to the Xie family, especially recently, he had been coming more and more frequently.

But she still felt uneasy... Even though her every move seemed to resemble the Xie Wenjing in his heart...