After finishing the meal, Lu Qing suddenly asked Zhu Yu, "How about taking you out to see the excitement in a few days?"

"Duchess Yan’s birthday banquet?" Zhu Yu guessed what he was referring to but was still very surprised. "Do you have a way to sneak in?"

"Do you know why the person who knows you best is always your enemy?" Lu Qing laughed, "Because you have to spend a lot of effort watching them, looking for their weaknesses and flaws.

Duke Yan used to pay a lot of attention to me years ago, whether I was at Shanqing Temple or when I had just returned to the Capital and established my dukedom for a short time.

But at that time, I was essentially alone, and after watching me for a while, he didn’t find much of a clue. After that, he just left spies on me and shifted most of his attention elsewhere.

The simpler a person is, the harder they are to find flaws with. On the contrary, someone like Duke Yan, with a big family and extensive business, has many people and power, which is true, and having so many holes and flaws that it’s like a sieve is also true.

So, by comparison, Duke Yan is doing a losing trade. I know much more about him than he knows about me.

He has a clan relative who took advantage of Duke Yan’s name in the frontier army to get himself a nominal position without substantial duties, receiving a monthly stipend from the court, which is neither too much nor too little.

Zhao Bi found it troublesome at the time, and he ordered that the position should only benefit that clan relative himself, and when that clan relative passed away, the stipend would be stopped and his descendants would not be allowed to inherit the position.

And that clan relative fell seriously ill years ago and passed away, having long since departed this world.

His family was reluctant to cut off the unearned stipend early, so they secretly buried that person in their backyard and mentioned it to no one outside, pretending he was still alive to continue deceiving and obtaining money.

The person was originally in a nominal position, neither needing to attend roll call nor having any duties, so over the years, no one discovered it, and due to the confidentiality of this matter, the family dared not publicize it and certainly dared not come to the Capital to celebrate.

So why don’t we just send some gifts on behalf of this family to their outstanding relative and enjoy some wine."

"Are you sure there won’t be any issues?" Zhu Yu asked.

"Sure, our people are quite well-informed, and that family is not well-received among the clan relatives and hardly interacts with anyone. The Zhao Family is considered a big family with many branches, and Zhao Bi couldn’t even recognize them all," Lu Qing nodded. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Alright, then let’s go see exactly how grand the Duchess’s birthday banquet is." Hearing this, Zhu Yu felt reassured but then thought of another problem, "Do I need to present myself as a woman that day? Otherwise, male guests probably wouldn’t have a chance to see the Duchess’s dress, right?"

Lu Qing shook his head with a smile, "Madam, you’ve forgotten, Duchess Yan is no longer a youthful lady. She is over seventy. According to custom, noble women over seventy are no longer restricted in this way, and during the banquet, she can share the table with guests.

Think about it, if the old lady could only stay in the backyard and not come out to the front, only the female family members would be able to see her dress robe. Then all the drama beforehand would be wasted, wouldn’t it?"

"I almost forgot Duchess Yan’s age!" Zhu Yu laughed upon hearing this. "That’s great. Originally I was worried that if I had to sit with the female family members, I might be bored to death and worried about unintentionally exposing flaws.

After all, my father has never hosted a banquet, so I have absolutely no experience in this aspect."

"No worries. We both are but insignificant characters, just using some money to buy gifts and treating it like paying for drinking wine while waiting for the show to begin," Lu Qing assured her, adding, "We just hope the other party can live up to expectations, so we’re not left with empty joy."

That night’s hot pot was particularly enjoyable, with the banquet invitation occupying her mind, Zhu Yu couldn’t help feeling slightly nervous yet excited throughout the evening. She got up early the next day, and with Lu Qing, donned fake skins, went out for a stroll, and after careful selection, chose a jade carving about two palms big, made of ordinary jade with mediocre grade but excellent craftsmanship, adding a decent touch.

Then they bought a very exquisitely beautiful brocade box and placed the jade carving inside, completing the preparations.

Since they were going disguised and sending gifts too fine and expensive would attract attention and be inappropriate.

If they were too stingy, being imposters of such distant clan members of Zhao Bi, who wasn’t really a close relative, giving overly poor gifts would be somewhat insulting.

As the saying goes, "Without visiting for three years, relatives are not relatives anymore," not to mention and in several layers, if one doesn’t give face, being denied entry would be a wasted effort.

So it was necessary to show ample sincerity yet remain inconspicuous, enough for a spot on the sidelines was considered good.

Thus, after more than ten days passed, during which He Min’s wounds healed, he enthusiastically began teaching the young apprentices and maids at Yunyin Pavilion literacy with utmost seriousness and strictness, yet because of his extensive knowledge and ability to cite classical references made his explanations easy to understand and intriguing to listen to.

Initially, Liu Yueyao hadn’t intentionally arranged for musicians or dancing girls to learn from Mr. He. However, within days, they started approaching Liu Yueyao themselves, expressing their desire to learn literacy as well.

During this process, He Min gradually learned from the apprentices and musicians that Headdress and Shoes Workshop’s prime status in the Capital was largely due to its frequent dealings with the Duke Yan Mansion. There were rumors publicly that Duke Yan Mansion was the secret patron behind the Headdress and Shoes Workshop.

Since Lu Qing had previously mentioned that many parties were intertwined behind the Headdress and Shoes Workshop, it needed extracting without alarming them, when He Min heard this, he did not appear too agitated or furious but restrained his emotions.

Finally, on Duchess Yan’s birthday, Zhu Yu and Lu Qing woke up early, dressed in outfits not overly dignified yet not shabby, faces adorned with fake skins, and took the prepared brocade box out the door.

Today, Zhu Yu’s identity was as Lu Qing’s youngest brother, having thoroughly understood the clan relative’s information previously from Lu Qing.

Arriving at Duke Yan Mansion’s gate surprised Zhu Yu. Although she had previously joined Lu Qing to celebrate at General Cao’s Mansion and found the setup quite remarkable at the time.

Seeing the scene in front of Duke Yan Mansion today makes the previous bustle at General Cao’s Mansion somewhat pale in comparison.