"The lady has replied. She said she has chosen the mistress's cousin, Miss Xian, and is awaiting the mistress's confirmation."

Ulanara clan, Xianxin.

The princess slowly ate the lychees she had just peeled, which had just been taken out of the ice chest, and now they were surprisingly a little soggy.

The princess felt a sharp pain in her teeth, and her expression changed slightly. It took her a while to remember who Yu Ru was talking about.

Ulanara Xianxin, to put it nicely, was the cousin of the Fujin (the wife of the emperor).

However, over the years, the Fujin (principal wife) has never treated her as her own cousin.

She was an illegitimate daughter; her mother was nothing more than a lowly maid who served with ink and brushes, a worthless thing born from her master's drunkenness and subsequent incestuous relationship.

The princess consort had always looked down on him.

However, upon closer reflection, Xianxin did indeed have a beautiful face.

It's just that people are timid—

She's timid? No wonder her mother chose her.

Those of low status and timidity are the easiest to control. She was like the person holding the strings, and Xianxin was the puppet below, only able to be manipulated by others.

As the princess thought this, a smile appeared on her face, and her lips seemed to melt with sweetness.

"The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner. Although Fourth Master won't be at home, it's still a time for family reunion, so we should still have a lively celebration. I'll ask Mother to bring Xianxin along so I can see her."

Yu Ru silently made a mental note of it.

She had already peeled the oranges and handed them over.

The princess accepted it gracefully, saying, "No matter how loyal outsiders may seem, they can never put my mind at ease as much as people from my own clan. But I still need to deal with the Fourth Prince and the Empress."

Yu Ru sighed, knowing in her heart that this was a difficult situation.

The princess ate a segment of orange, then frowned slightly: "It's sour." She immediately threw the orange away.

"It's not a problem for Your Highness. I was injured after giving birth to the Second Prince, so this is a perfectly legitimate excuse. Your Highness naturally hopes that the family will have many children. Now that Xianxin has entered the household, I can bring her to the main courtyard to raise her child after she gives birth."

However, once Xianxin enters the household, she will not allow Xianxin to easily conceive and give birth to a child within a year or two.

Even the most timid and cowardly person would be blinded by the wealth and splendor of the royal backyard.

The Princess Consort would never allow such a thing to happen again under her nose.

She hadn't forgotten the lesson of Xie Shi's unexpected pregnancy and the birth of the Third Prince; fortunately, Granny Qian acted decisively, preventing Xie Shi from surviving back then.

But the princess only needed to learn this lesson once.

Yu Ru sighed again, her voice noticeably weaker when she asked again: "But what about Master—"

That would be difficult to handle.

The Fujin paused for two seconds: "Your Majesty has already agreed. And since the Master wasn't in the manor at the time, we can just write a letter to the Fourth Master after Xianxin enters the manor. What's wrong with that?"

Upon hearing the words of the Fujin, Yu Ru understood what she meant.

This is similar to how Liu Gege was sent to accompany the Fourth Prince; it's going to be a case of acting first and informing later.

The wife's words sounded reasonable, but Yu Ru felt inexplicably uneasy.

After observing him over the years, it seems that Fourth Master is not the type to be easily manipulated.

Ever since the Princess Consort arranged for Consort Liu to accompany him on his southern tour, the Fourth Prince hasn't sent any news back for over half a month.

He looked angry no matter how you looked at him.

Seeing that the Fujin (principal wife) was not happy to hear these words, Yu Ru did not dare to say anything more and risk offending the Fujin.

After much thought, she could only say, "Why don't we ask Granny's opinion first? She has seen more of life's hardships and is more thoughtful and considerate."

Upon hearing this, the princess consort could only give a soft "hmm" in agreement.

Yu Ru finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But she had barely caught her breath when she heard the Fujin (principal wife) ask about another matter.

"I heard that the First Prince has been in very good spirits these past few days?"

Yu Ru nodded first, then hesitated: "He's only just learned to walk and he's already trying to run—how old is the eldest prince? And Princess Wu in the south has been forcing him to grow up too fast for a long time. There's really no need for you to worry, Your Highness."

The Princess Consort didn't seem much calmer after hearing this: "Trying to help seedlings grow requires first making sure there are seedlings to pull up! And this is still summer! I've almost lost count of how many times the Second Prince has called the imperial physician on both hands—last time, Your Majesty praised the Prince's health to me, saying he was as strong as a little calf. But when she talked about our Second Prince, she only said that the wet nurses take good care of him—"

The more she spoke, the more hysterical the Fujin became.

Yu Ru dared not respond; such conversations between master and servant were not uncommon.

As the eldest and second princes grew up day by day, the thorn in the wife's heart seemed to prick her more and more, constantly reminding her what the eldest prince's existence meant to the second prince.

Only because of the Fourth Prince's warning did the Princess Consort refrain from taking action.

only--

Yu Ru lowered her eyes, feeling sorry for the Fujin, indignant at Wu Gege's disrespect and wolfish ambitions, and naturally other emotions as well.

I just hope that once Miss Xian enters the manor, she can share some of the burden with her master.

The weather in July was getting hotter day by day. With the Fourth Master away from the mansion, things were generally peaceful.

The eldest prince loved to go into the courtyard, and one day, for some reason, he was disturbed by Princess Niohuru.

Finally, the imperial physician arrived and said that the eldest prince was badly frightened, and Wu was also furious. Just as she was about to lash out, the princess arrived.

Once the Fujin arrived, Wu Shi could no longer make decisions, no matter what she did.

In the end, the Fujin only lightly punished Niohuru by confining her to her quarters for half a month. How could Wu not be furious?

Ordinary bumps wouldn't cause the eldest princess to cry and scream in her dreams, but the wet nurse Zhou said that Niohuru hadn't done anything.

It just suddenly appeared and startled the eldest prince.

Zhou was one of her own people, and Wu was someone she could trust, but she didn't believe things were that simple.

As a result, the eldest prince fell seriously ill this time. He suffered from nightmares for several days and then developed a high fever. Lady Wu stayed by his side for several nights before the eldest prince's fever subsided.

This incident even alarmed the empresses in the palace. Niohuru, who had been under house arrest for half a month, was then placed under house arrest for another three months. By then, the Fourth Prince had already returned to the capital, so this was a very severe punishment.

Lin Mama wrote down every single thing that happened in the mansion and sent it to Li Chenjiao.