“Miss, today the cook at the embroidery workshop fell ill…” When Chunxing walked in, she saw several delicate pairs of panties scattered on the floor, and her words suddenly stopped.

She looked from Rong Rong to the panties, standing at the door unsure of what to say.

Rong Rong, blushing, picked up the panties, crumpled them into a ball, and scolded the rogue in her mind a thousand times.

However, she maintained a calm demeanor and said, “What’s the matter? Didn’t I ask you to prepare the meal?”

“That’s what I’m trying to say. There’s no food at the workshop today. Sister Qiuyue and the others had to come back to cook. They’re cooking several dishes and haven’t finished yet. I don’t know when we’ll get to eat.”

“Since they need the kitchen, let’s not cook. We can go out and grab something to eat.” With so many people at the workshop, not only would cooking take a long time, but even after it’s done, the kitchen will be a mess that needs cleaning after they finish eating.

We might as well go out and eat.

“Alright,” Chunxing replied happily upon hearing they would eat out. “I heard there’s a Jiangnan restaurant in the South Alley. It’s cheap and good value. Miss, shall we go there?”

“Sure.” Rong Rong agreed, then glanced at the figure of Feicui outside.

Feicui stood outside the door, her head lowered, looking very reserved.

If Rong Rong hadn’t seen her with such an imposing presence at the East Palace before, she might have thought Feicui was a new maid just arriving in the capital.

“Your hand…”

Feicui quickly raised her left hand and then withdrew it, saying, “I hurt my index finger. Don’t worry, it doesn’t affect my work.”

Her left hand was missing the index finger, cut off cleanly.

Chunxing, startled, gasped.

Then she felt embarrassed, pursing her lips and falling silent.

Rong Rong looked at the maimed hand with some confusion.

Since Nanny Chen said Feicui hurt her finger while cutting vegetables, it was clearly a lie.

Rong Rong wondered what Feicui had gone through over the past four years to end up missing a finger. It must have been tough.

“Did it hurt a lot when you cut your finger?” Rong Rong asked.

Feicui was momentarily stunned by the question, looked up at Rong Rong with a complex expression, paused for a moment, then shook her head, “It was a long time ago. I don’t remember if it hurt or not.”

“Miss, where will we sleep tonight?” Chunxing asked.

The room Rongrong rented wasn’t large.

With Feicui’s arrival, they’d added an extra bed, leaving no space for visitors from downstairs.

Now, there was definitely no room for a third bed.

Rongrong thought for a moment, looking at the two beds in the room.

Chunxing’s bed was very small, only big enough for one person, while Rongrong’s bed could fit two.

“Tonight, let’s squeeze in a bit. Chunxing and Feicui can sleep in my bed, and I’ll sleep here.”

Chunxing and Feicui had no objections.

Rongrong asked Feicui and Chunxing to stay and make up the two beds while she took a box of freshly made mung bean cakes to Mei Ningxiang’s place.

When Rongrong arrived at Mei Ningxiang’s house, she found that Mei Ningxiang wasn’t home.

The door was opened by Yu Jingming.

Yu Jingming wasn’t handsome, but he had a cold and sharp presence, like a treasured sword.

Whenever Rongrong saw him, she felt inexplicably frightened.

“Brother Yu,” Rongrong greeted him reluctantly.

Yu Jingming nodded and said bluntly, “She’s at the embroidery workshop and hasn’t returned yet.”

Rongrong was about to take her leave when she noticed Yu Jingming frown. “Why are you here?”

“I…” Rongrong always felt Yu Jingming kept her at a distance.

Hearing his question now, she was stunned and didn’t know how to respond.

Just then, a gentle voice came from behind her, “I didn’t come to see you.”

“She’s not here,” Yu Jingming said and then shut the door with a bang.

Standing too close to the door, Rongrong almost had it slammed in her face and instinctively stepped back.

“Miss, are you alright?” Someone caught her from behind.

“I’m fine.” Rongrong turned to see who it was and was stunned.

Standing behind her was Lan Yin, the girl who had sung for her on the pleasure boat that night.

Lan Yin also recognized Rongrong.

After her initial surprise, she gave a soft smile. “It seems we are indeed fated to meet again.”

Rong Rong wasn’t eager to see Lanyin, as she didn’t want Mei Ningxiang and the others to know about her connection with the Crown Prince.

She still wanted to enjoy her life in the alley.

Thankfully, the Crown Prince had been wearing a mask that night, so even if Lanyin could tell he was of high status, she wouldn’t be able to identify him.

“Are you here to see Brother Yu?” Rong Rong asked.

Lanyin glanced at Rong Rong’s food box and noticed, “You brought pastries for him?”

“No, they’re for Mei Jie. I was about to leave since Mei Jie is at the embroidery workshop and not home. You arrived just in time,” Rong Rong said, not wanting to talk much with Lanyin. “Since Mei Jie isn’t here, I’ll take my leave.”

Rong Rong turned to leave, and Lanyin watched her go before heading to the nearby courtyard.

After knocking on the door and getting no response, Lanyin sighed and went towards the embroidery workshop.

At the workshop, things were bustling.

Mei Ningxiang sat on the first floor, reviewing the embroidery pieces brought in by the seamstresses.

“This mandarin duck looks like a duck! I’ve told you all before, a mandarin duck is a mandarin duck, and a duck is a duck. If you can’t even distinguish this, are you trying to ruin our shop’s reputation? Burn it!”

A brazier with blazing coals sat before her, casting a warm glow on her face.

She snorted and threw the embroidery piece into the fire, creating a large hole in it.

“What a waste of good material! If you’d said you were going to burn it, I’d have bought it for half the price,” a customer lamented as they watched the piece burn.

Mei Ningxiang laughed and said, “Even if you offered double the price, I wouldn’t sell it to you. It would ruin my reputation!”

First-time visitors to the shop were amazed by this, but regular customers weren’t surprised.

They knew Mei Ningxiang inspected the embroidery pieces every half-month.

Even if a beauty’s belt wasn’t perfectly depicted, she’d burn it.

The embroidery pieces in the shop were selected by Mei Ningxiang after the seamstresses submitted them.

In just one morning, she had burned several pieces of cloth and sachets, making it hard for the shopkeeper to maintain composure.

After finishing her inspection, Mei Ningxiang stood up and was about to reprimand the shopkeeper when she noticed Lanyin at the door. “Oh, what brings Miss Lanyin here?”

“I heard Mei Boss is making a scene in the shop and came to see for myself.”

“Any scene I might make doesn’t compare to your presence, Miss Lanyin. Please, this way,” Mei Ningxiang said with a smile, leading Lanyin to the second floor.

The second floor featured embroidery pieces worth over ten taels of silver, mostly created by Mei Ningxiang herself.

It was where she usually entertained distinguished guests.

After Lan Yin sat down, she took a sip of tea.

“What brings you here today?” Mei Ningxiang asked.

“Two new sisters just joined the boat, and they need winter clothes, so I came to take a look.”

Mei Ningxiang’s beautiful phoenix eyes twinkled as she smiled, “You look a bit down. Did you visit my house?”

A trace of sadness appeared on Lan Yin’s face, confirming Mei Ningxiang’s guess.

“That’s just his temper, don’t take it to heart.”

Lan Yin shook her head, “Not necessarily. When I went over, I saw him talking to a pretty girl at the door.”

“A pretty girl? Could it be a slender, fair beauty?”

Lan Yin nodded.

Mei Ningxiang laughed, “Then you misunderstood. That girl came to see me.”

“I was just saying. That girl is already spoken for. Even if he wanted her, she wouldn’t want him.”

Mei Ningxiang sensed something in Lan Yin’s tone and couldn’t resist asking, “Do you know her?”

“Not really. She came to my boat to listen to songs during the Lantern Festival.”

“She went to your boat?” Lan Yin asked in surprise.

Mei Ningxiang smiled without answering. It was Yu Jingming who told her about it in a moment of urgency.

“I just heard a bit about it.” Mei Ningxiang’s curiosity got the better of her, and she asked, “Did you see the person she was with?”

“I did, but not much. He wore a mask and didn’t talk much. He was generous, though. He must be of royal or noble descent.”

Royalty or nobility…

Mei Ningxiang had suspected that the mysterious man’s status was higher than that of the marquis’s heir.

Hearing Lan Yin’s thoughts made her even more uncertain.

“Why do you think so?”

“The child they brought was wearing a full white fox fur coat.”

On the night of the Lantern Festival, Mei Ningxiang was far away and didn’t see the child clearly.

If the child was indeed wearing a fox fur coat, as Lan Yin said, she would know.

A complete fox fur coat was rare, and a complete white fox fur coat even rarer.

Such a treasure was only seen in the palace once every few years.

Three years ago, when Mei Ningxiang was still in the Bureau of Clothing, a white fox fur coat was sent in.

The snow fox was still young when hunted, and the coat was a bit small for an adult.

The empress ordered the Bureau to make it into a cloak and send it to the Eastern Palace as a birthday gift for the Crown Prince’s son.

Mei Ningxiang had worked on the cloak with the palace seamstress.

“Enough, we can’t meddle in other people’s affairs.” Mei Ningxiang had made up her mind and stopped discussing the matter.

She helped Lan Yin choose winter clothes and confirmed the patterns and embroidery styles.

After Lan Yin left, Mei Ningxiang went back to her house.

Today, the maids were not around, and when Mei Ningxiang returned, Yu Jingming was in the kitchen cooking.

His cooking skills were poor.

Before Mei Ningxiang even stepped into the kitchen, she smelled something burnt.

Mei Ningxiang covered her nose and urged, “The oil is burning, hurry and add the vegetables.”

But it was too late.

Yu Jingming threw a half-basket of lettuce into the pot, and the green leaves were instantly covered with a layer of black char.