After sharing his speculation, Liang Yong felt extremely uneasy.

Both Hua Qingqing and Hua Manman were already married, and their husbands were not men to be trifled with.

Given the Fourth Prince’s current strength, it would be extremely difficult to snatch either of them away!

Li Ying lowered his gaze to the small sachet he held in his hand, remaining silent for a long time.

Liang Yong brought up another matter.

"I ran into Lin Liangyuan of the Crown Prince Mansion outside the palace. She asked me to ask you when you could meet with her. She has something very important she wants to tell you."

Li Ying asked, "Did she say what it was about?"

Liang Yong shook his head. "No. She said it was very important and that she must tell you in person."

Li Ying said, "I had you investigate her family before. Have you found anything?"

Liang Yong answered honestly.

"I have already had people investigate the Lin family. During the Lantern Festival eleven years ago, no one from the Lin family visited Shangjing."

Hearing this, Li Ying was almost certain that Lin Qingzhi was not the person he was looking for.

’But then how did she know I would be at the lantern festival?’

’And how did she know I was looking for someone?’

These two points intrigued Li Ying.

He said to Liang Yong,

"Tomorrow. I’ll go see her."

"Yes."

...

Upon arriving at the country estate, the first thing Hua Manman did was run over to the peanut fields to have a look around.

It was the height of the peanut harvest, and the tenant farmers were busy at work. They pulled large clusters of peanuts from the earth, piling them on an empty patch of ground nearby.

Hua Manman’s heart filled with joy when she saw the fresh peanuts piled into a small mound.

She ran over, wanting to pick up a couple of peanuts for a taste.

But Si Yun, who was beside her, quickly stopped her.

"Princess Consort, these peanuts haven’t been washed! They’re covered in mud; you can’t eat them."

The farmers nearby heard her voice and realized the Princess Consort had arrived. They immediately dropped what they were doing and knelt. In the blink of an eye, the peanut field was full of kneeling people.

Hua Manman had visited the estate once before. At the time, she was just a nanny. The farmers had been a little nervous to see her then, but it had been manageable.

But now, she had transformed into the high and mighty Princess.

The farmers’ nervousness instantly multiplied. They were terrified that they would do something wrong and earn the Princess Consort’s displeasure, and every one of them was under immense pressure.

Hua Manman told them all to rise.

The farmers scrambled to their feet but didn’t dare to straighten their backs, let alone raise their heads. They were so nervous they didn’t know what to do with their hands and feet.

Hua Manman knew her presence was making them uncomfortable, so she didn’t linger and left with Si Yun.

No sooner had they returned to their residence than Steward Jia arrived, personally carrying a large basket of fresh peanuts.

The peanuts had been carefully selected. Every single one was plump and had been washed completely clean, without a speck of dirt to be seen.

Steward Jia said obsequiously, "These are peanuts we just pulled from the ground. If you don’t mind, Princess Consort, please try some."

Hua Manman picked up a peanut, shelled it, and tasted it.

Fresh, raw peanuts were crisp and sweet, with a unique flavor all their own.

She couldn’t resist eating another and began to ponder the idea of making peanut oil.

Back when she lived with her grandparents, there had been an oil-pressing workshop in their village. She often went with her grandfather to have their oil pressed.

All they had to do was bring the raw ingredients, and the workshop staff would press it for them for a small fee.

Hua Manman had seen the villagers operate the machinery with her own eyes, so she had a decent understanding of the general process.

Now she had plenty of peanuts; what she lacked was the equipment to press them for oil.

Hua Manman ran to find Prince Zhao and asked if there were any highly skilled blacksmiths in the city.

After Li Ji understood what she wanted to do, he got on his horse and personally took her directly to the Ministry of War.

The Ministry of War had a special foundry for forging weapons, which employed the most skilled blacksmiths in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Besides forging weapons, they occasionally took on private jobs on the side.

All Hua Manman had to do was tell the blacksmiths her requirements.

She didn’t need to worry about the rest.

The forging process would take time, so Hua Manman and Li Ji headed back for now. The Ministry of War would send someone to notify Prince Zhao once the oil press was finished.

Hua Manman sighed with heartfelt emotion. ’It truly is good to rest in the shade of a tall tree.’

With Prince Zhao looking out for her, all she had to do was say the word, and others would take care of everything else. It was incredibly convenient.

While waiting for the oil press, Hua Manman secretly continued to work on the cloak.

To give her a chance to surprise him, Li Ji deliberately pretended to know nothing. He even used playing chess with Feihua Zhenren as an excuse to give Hua Manman time alone to prepare her surprise.

For three days straight, Prince Zhao summoned Feihua Zhenren to play chess.

He really couldn’t take it anymore.

The main issue was Prince Zhao’s ruthless playing style; he was utterly annihilated every single time.

Once or twice would have been one thing, but it was like this every single time.

Even a saint would have lost his temper by now.

When Prince Zhao came looking for him to play chess again today, Feihua Zhenren looked at him, his face ashen, and pleaded,

"My Prince, I beg you, please be merciful and spare this humble Taoist."

Li Ji was perplexed. "I just want to play a little chess with you. Why are you so resistant?"

Feihua Zhenren’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. ’Why am I so resistant? You really don’t have any idea, do you?’

Seeing his reluctance, Li Ji sighed in disappointment.

"Fine. If you don’t want to play chess, we won’t play chess. Let’s play something else."

Feihua Zhenren thought, ’You can play whatever you want, just as long as you stop toying with *me*.’

Li Ji propped his chin on his hand and thought for a moment.

"How about we play dice?"

Feihua Zhenren wasn’t very good at games of chance, but he really didn’t want to play any more chess, so he reluctantly nodded.

"Fine, then."

Li Ji had someone bring dice.

He tossed the dice in the air and caught them, saying with a smile,

"Just rolling dice is too boring. How about we add some stakes?"

Feihua Zhenren grew wary. "This humble Taoist is as poor as a church mouse. I have no money."

Li Ji chuckled. "Relax, I don’t want your money. You just have to answer a few of my questions."

It was just answering questions; it wouldn’t cost him anything. Feihua Zhenren agreed without much hesitation.

He asked, "And what if I win?"

Li Ji asked what he wanted.

Feihua Zhenren said, "I heard the Princess Consort is working on some sort of peanut oil. It sounds delicious. If I win, could I get some of that peanut oil?"

Li Ji said that would be no problem.

They decided on the simplest game: high roll wins.

Whoever rolled the higher number would be the winner.

Li Ji and Feihua Zhenren each took a die and shook it in a dice cup.

When the die finally settled, Li Ji let out a faint smile.

Seeing this, Feihua Zhenren’s stomach dropped.

When they both lifted their dice cups, they saw that Prince Zhao had indeed rolled the higher number.

Feihua Zhenren had lost. He sighed.

"What do you wish to ask, my Prince?"