"Well, I don't know. The courtyards of the Eastern Palace are all excellent."
However, she actually liked the Chengde Palace, the main palace of the East Palace, because there were many peach trees in that courtyard, and she could eat peaches there.
She could also make some peach cakes.
Zhao Yi was silent.
The Chengde Palace was where he lived.
This little girl was kind of audacious.
Zhao Yi thought that he should give her Wutong Place to her. It was right next to the Chengde Palace.
This was the largest palace except for the Chengde Palace. She could get rid of all the Wutong trees in the yard and plant peach trees.
The meal ended happily.
On the way back, Taotao said to Li Baojia, "Miss, the day after tomorrow will be the Lantern Festival. Are we really going to prepare nothing?"
When Taotao mentioned the Lantern Festival, Li Baojia thought of the token again, which made her very upset.
Li Baojia said, "Of course, we are going out then, but we don't need to prepare anything. We could walk around to see the scenery."
Taotao sighed and said, "But the noble women in Imperial City will perform in the cabins. I heard from the servant girl of the imperial censor next door that her young lady master had been practicing for more than a month just preparing to dance."
Li Baojia knocked on her head and said, "Do you think I am worse than those girls? I'll write a poem at that time."
Speaking of the young miss of the imperial censor, Li Baojia suddenly remembered something.
It seemed that, in the previous life, just the day before the Lantern Festival, a brothel in Imperial City caught fire. Fortunately, it was daytime, and the girls ran out in time.
Therefore, when the building collapsed, only a few people were slightly injured, but the fire was extreme, and the government sent people to extinguish it.
It was said that when the house collapsed, there was a hole in the ground. People went in with a torch and found a lot of silver.
It was said that it was the stolen money of a member of the imperial court.
That night, the whole family of the imperial censor was arrested.
When Li Baojia thought of this, she suddenly came up with a good idea.
Although it seemed a little stupid, that was all she could now.
The two of them talked and entered the mansion. Li Baojia carefully recalled the details of her previous life and secretly kept them in mind.
In Furong Courtyard, Qin Ke was dyeing her nails. Although she was a mother of three children, she protected her hands very well.
Xixi applied the crushed balsamine juice on Qin Ke's nails, wrapped them with leaves, and banded them with thread.
Qin Ke leaned her head against the low table beside her and said, "Have you dealt with that?"
Xixi said, "Don't worry, madam. I have already taken care of it. Mr. Qin is now in Imperial City and lives in a nearby inn."
Qin Ke nodded and said, "It's good enough for him to marry the daughter of the Grand Preceptor. Tell him to behave well at the Lantern Festival."
In fact, it was way too good for him.
This Mr. Qin's name was Qin Yongzhan. He was the youngest son of Qin Ke's elder brother. He was a total bully at home. With Qin Ke, the wife of the Grand Preceptor, as her aunt and backer, he was living a good life in Lian City.
But the Qin family knew they were powerful only in Lian City. So they wanted to stay in Lian City forever.
Qin Yongzhan had been going to the brothel since he was eight. Now he was only an illiterate bully.
And he was violent. He usually beat servant girls at home.
Qin Ke's brother got this son when he was kind of old. Therefore, he valued this son very much.
So Qin Yongzhan was spoiled, and his temperament became worse.
Xixi said, "Can Miss Baojia accept him?"
Qin Ke said, "It doesn't matter if she could accept him. Since they will have sex, they have to get married after that."
Then she said with a cold snort, "Her reputation will be ruined. Even if she were born in the Grand Preceptor's family, it would still be good enough for her to be the first wife of Qin Yongzhan."
Xixi hurriedly said, "You are completely right, madam. Well, Qin Yongzhan is handsome, right? They will make a cute couple."
This was just flattery.
Qin Yongzhan was just not ugly. Besides, he had way too much sex and was always weak. When he walked, he seemed unable to keep steady like other regular guys.
Qin Ke had already communicated with the Qin family about this matter. Although her sister-in-law was a little worried, she knew the decent family who loved their daughters in the city would not let their daughter marry Qin Yongzhan. Therefore, there was no other way to marry the daughter of the Grand Preceptor.
Therefore, despite some risks, the Qin family agreed to send Qin Yongzhan to Imperial City and wait for the marriage between Qin Yongzhan and Li Baojia.
At this time, Qin Yongzhan was enjoying himself in the brothel.
It was the first time he to come to Imperial City. Without the control of his parents, he was even more lawless.
With several silver notes, he entered the largest brothel, Yixian Mansion, in Imperial City.
This Yixian Mansion had a powerful background. It was said that the boss behind it was Prince Duan.
Prince Duan was the younger brother of the emperor and the only Prince who had stayed in the Imperial City instead of going to a fief.
It was because he had helped the emperor to seize the throne. Therefore, he was allowed to stay in Imperial City.
However, this was just one of the more reliable statements of the boss behind the Yixian Mansion. Various statements had emerged. Even some of them said it was the crown prince.
However, this was too absurd and was immediately denied.
Now, it was just a late afternoon. The common brothels had not opened for business, but this place was already full of people.
Singing and dancing in it, the dancing partners of the dancers on the big stage were more beautiful than the most famous courtesan Lian City.
There were more than ten tables on the first floor, and Nanny Gui of Yixian Mansion was serving the guests. She was very enthusiastic.
Qin Yongzhan ate sunflower seeds for several minutes. Then he couldn't stand it anymore.
He took the silver notes in a hurry, patted Nanny Gui, and said, "Are you in charge here? Give me the most popular courtesan here."
Nanny Gui turned to see him and said with a smile, "This is your first time to come here, right, young man? We don't directly give you the girl. It all depends on them."
She glanced up and down at Qin Yongzhan. She knew that the young man must have a lot of sex in ordinary times. His eyes were puffy, and there were dark circles. His face was sallow. It was easy to tell that he was a total goat.
She also noticed that he was wearing some old-fashioned clothes.
Nanny Gui wondered where this guy came from.
Qin Yongzhan felt despised for the first time. He was furious, took two silver notes, and said, "What are you talking about? I am paying for this!"
Looking at the two silver notes, Nanny Gui said, "If you want to have a good time with some lady, you can bid on the big stage and recite a poem or give a reward. The girls on duty today will return to the stage later to perform one by one."
Although he didn't quite understand the meaning, he still got the point. He could pay for sex, but only in a more complicated way.
As for poetry, he could not do it.
However, he had a lot of silver notes. He took many of them at home before he left and then asked his aunt Qin Ke for many notes.
The reason was straightforward. He came here for a wife, and he had to spend some money on the girl.