The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

When Emperor Qi Jing arrived at Fengming Palace, he discovered that it was indeed an ancient musical text from the Great Xia Dynasty.

When the Great Qi Dynasty seized power, it burned down the library of the previous dynasty, causing many ancient books to be lost.

This musical score from the Great Xia Dynasty was absolutely priceless in the eyes of Emperor Jing of Qi.

"Yan'er, where did this book come from?"

The Empress knew she couldn't hide it any longer, so she replied, "Like the flower tea, they were all gifts from Miss Su. Miss Su is just a young girl; she works hard every day from dawn till dusk to build up this little fortune."

Emperor Qi Jing laughed. The Empress actually said that this was such a small amount of family property? Is Miss Su's family property really just a small amount? Even I, the emperor, cannot produce such rare ancient books from hundreds of years ago, yet Miss Su can.

Is the Empress saying this because she's afraid he'll seize Miss Su's belongings? He's not a foolish ruler.

Even if they wanted it, they would ask for it through normal channels.

Emperor Qi Jing felt a little resentful towards Grand Secretary Liang. Grand Secretary Liang was in Qinghe County and had heard that he had a good relationship with Miss Su, but he had not informed her in advance of such an important matter as Miss Su possessing ancient books from the Great Xia Dynasty. This was truly a dereliction of duty.

Emperor Qi Jing suddenly thought of his cousin Gong Yu. That boy was currently active in Huainan, not far from Qinghe County. If he could get his cousin to marry Miss Su, it would be much easier to ask Miss Su for things in the future.

Emperor Qi Jing and his empress shared a common hobby. The two sat close together, flipping through ancient books on music, and lost track of time.

The eunuch Xiao Fuzi waited in the side room of Fengming Palace from day to night, but Emperor Qi Jing did not come out.

It seems I'll be spending the night at Fengming Palace.

Xiao Fuzi had previously accepted a piece of warm jade from Consort Xian, but she failed to accomplish her task and couldn't lead His Majesty to the Peony Palace, so she could only return the warm jade with a heavy heart.

Consort Xian waited until midnight but Emperor Qi Jing did not arrive, and in her anger, she smashed everything in the Peony Palace.

A series of crackling sounds followed.

Broken pieces of vases and teaware were scattered all over the floor.

Even the bed curtains were torn by Consort Xian, and the palace maids couldn't persuade her to stop; they could only kneel on the ground, trembling.

At Fengming Palace, the Empress only realized how late it was after being reminded by her nanny.

She gently said to Emperor Jing, "Your Majesty, it's getting late. I'm pregnant now and it's inconvenient for me to serve you. Why don't you go and spend the night with Consort Xian?"

Only after the Empress's reminder did Emperor Qi Jing remember that he originally intended to visit Consort Xian.

"Yan'er, you should get some rest. I'll come over first thing tomorrow morning."

I came here early in the morning, of course, to see the ancient books.

Emperor Qi Jing forgot that he had to attend the morning court session tomorrow! How could he have time to come to Fengming Palace early in the morning to look at ancient books!

Emperor Qi Jing was in a good mood on his way to the Peony Palace, but when he arrived, he found the palace in complete disarray.

Cabinets, tables, and chairs lay scattered on the floor, and there were broken pieces of porcelain everywhere.

With red eyes, Consort Xian questioned him, "Your Majesty, why did you arrive so late?"

The sharp nail guards on Consort Xian's hands were about to poke Emperor Qi Jing's forehead.

Emperor Qi Jing could clearly see the cat's-eye stones on Consort Xian's armor swaying back and forth, as if mocking his foolishness. The image of the gentle and lovely Consort Xian in his heart was completely shattered.

He thought of the Empress's gentle and kind smile and realized that the Empress was still more gentle and lovely.

"By imperial decree, Consort Xian is to be confined to the Peony Palace for three months."

After finishing his speech, Emperor Qi Jing returned to Fengming Palace and stayed there for the night.

The next morning, Lady Anguo learned that Consort Xian had been confined to her quarters again. She smiled and said to Princess Zhaohua, "Your friend, Miss Su, is really something. She managed to get Consort Xian confined to her quarters again with just an ancient book."

"When Miss Su comes to the capital, we must treat her well."

\

Zhang Jijiu's constant visits to Gu's Tea House led to someone reporting him to the Grand Master of Ceremonies, who was the highest-ranking official in the Imperial Academy.

The Grand Master of Ceremonies was very angry. "I used to admire Zhang Jijiu for his adherence to the law and his diligence in his studies. I never expected him to be so irresponsible now."

The Grand Master of Ceremonies decided to personally go to Gu's Teahouse to teach Zhang Jijiu a lesson.

Upon arriving at the teahouse, I was immediately captivated by the stunning orchids on the wall and couldn't tear myself away.

Seeing that the Grand Master of Ceremonies had stood in front of the painting for a full hour without moving, his attendant reminded him, "Sir, don't forget that you have important business to attend to here."

The Grand Master of Ceremonies sniffed, "It smells so good."

They must have been bewitched by the fragrance of the flowers in the painting, which is why they forgot about the important matter at hand.

The attendant pointed to another group of people and said, "Lord Taichang, I see Zhang Jijiu over there."

The Grand Master of Ceremonies walked over.

The attendant was a quick-witted man. Seeing that most of the people in the crowd were students from the Imperial Academy, he shouted loudly, "Please make way, everyone! The Grand Master of Ceremonies is here!"

When the crowd heard that the Grand Master of Ceremonies had arrived, some of them dispersed, making Zhang Jijiu, who was standing still, quite conspicuous.

The Grand Master of Ceremonies was the most stern. He stepped forward, grabbed Zhang Jijiu's sleeve, and was about to start scolding him when he inadvertently glanced at the ancient books on the table next to him.

Upon closer inspection, a shocking event was discovered.

Good heavens! This is the Chu seal script, which has been lost for hundreds of years.

The Grand Master of Ceremonies was somewhat resentful towards the Chief Minister Zhang. The Chief Minister Zhang had known all along that there were such precious ancient books in the teahouse, yet he hadn't informed him and was instead eating alone here. It was really not fair of him.

The Grand Master of Ceremonies reached out to the ancient book, but was stopped by the Chief Minister Zhang.

"Your Excellency, you mustn't! There's a red line around this ancient book; it's forbidden to touch it."

Only after being reminded by Zhang Jijiu did the Grand Master of Ceremonies realize that he had been too excited and had not seen the thick red line around the table where the ancient books were placed, and a line of large characters written on the table: "Do Not Touch."

In the following days, both the Grand Master of Ceremonies and the Grand Master of the Imperial Academy arrived at Gu's Teahouse on time.

Every day, a new page is turned on the ancient book on the table, just like opening Pandora's box, whetting everyone's appetite.

When Mr. Lu passed by Gu's Teahouse again, he found it packed with customers.

She quickly went back to her parents' home to pack her clothes and moved back to the Shen residence.

Upon returning to the mansion, he immediately sought out Madam Shen to discuss the matter.

"...Sister-in-law, Ruoxuan and the others' teahouse is very popular and business is booming. Since Gu's Teahouse is a Xu family business, the Shen family can also invest in it."

Madam Shen also regretted it somewhat. Ruoxuan had suggested that the Shen family buy or rent a shop next to Gu's Teahouse, which would definitely make money, but she didn't believe it, so she didn't rent one.

Therefore, they missed a good opportunity to make money.

But she was not a greedy person like Lu.

"Second sister-in-law, you should have brought up the issue of taking a stake earlier, before the teahouse even opened. It's a bit unfair to bring it up now that you see the business is doing well."

Undeterred, Mr. Lu brought up the matter of acquiring a stake in Gu's Teahouse again at dinner.

Xu Ruoxuan and the others were so busy that they didn't even have time to come back for dinner, but Madam Xu was there.

Madam Xu directly refused: "I'm sorry, the Xu family can't make the decision. All the capital came from Gu Ying's cousin, Miss Su. The Xu family will only help with management. Miss Su will give the Xu family 10% of the profits as management fees. They've given the Xu family so much, I have no face to mention investing."

With business so good, a 10% profit margin would be quite substantial.

She asked shamelessly, "Big sister, could I join Gu's Tea House to help manage it? Business is so good, you must be overwhelmed."

"I'm sorry, we Xu family members don't have that authority. Whether it's the waiters or members of the Xu family in the teahouse, they were all arranged in advance by Miss Su. If you want to work in the teahouse, you need Miss Su's approval."

Madam Lu felt that Madam Xu was just giving her the runaround. That Miss Su was far away in Qinghe County, and she couldn't even see her! How could she possibly get Miss Su to agree? Wasn't this deliberately making things difficult for her?

Madam Shen smiled and said, "Second sister-in-law, just wait for that Miss Su to come to the capital, and then we'll ask her about this in person."

Madam Shen also wanted to meet Miss Su in person.

I heard she's a little girl about the same age as Ruoxuan.

She's so young! I really want to see if that little girl has three heads and six arms, that she's so amazing.

Madam Lu retorted, "In terms of background, I'm far superior to Gu Ying. If Gu Ying can work at that teahouse, why can't I?"

Madam Shen found it amusing that her second sister-in-law thought herself clever, but she hadn't even grasped the crux of the matter.

"Second sister-in-law, this isn't about parents or background, it's about your cousin. You just don't have a cousin as capable as Miss Su."

With just one sentence, he successfully angered the Lu family to the point of vomiting blood.