The fact that the Fourth Prince openly carried the Second Princess back to the East Courtyard could not be kept secret from the people in the backyard.

The Fujin had just applied ointment after hearing Yu Ru's report. She was lying on the bed, and upon hearing this, she subconsciously wanted to turn over to look at Yu Ru, but her waist was in so much pain.

She hissed softly, "She's quite cunning, keeping herself out of the picture and letting a child compete for the emperor's favor... Now she's bringing out the Second Princess, so won't she have to bring out the Fourth Prince next..."

The princess was holding her back, but her complexion was not very good at the moment.

Seeing this, Yu Ru quickly stepped forward and supported the Fujin's waist: "The imperial physician said that you should not get angry right now, please calm down. Haven't you witnessed that person's abilities over the years? Even the eldest prince was still ill and couldn't keep the master. The master only ran into the second princess in the garden and then went to the east courtyard. That's that person's ability..."

The Fujin (Prince Consort) understood this perfectly well; Li, from the East Courtyard, had already given birth to two children. Yet, the Fourth Prince never seemed to tire of her. Whether it was because she was favored by her sons or something else, the Fourth Prince seemed to know nothing about her, even though Niohuru and Liu were from the same household.

Fortunately, the Fourth Prince did not show too much favoritism towards his youngest son, the Fourth Prince; otherwise, the Princess Consort would have been even more wary.

The Fujin waved her hand, preventing Yu Ru from touching her. She had been recuperating for half a month, and the thought of that day still filled her with resentment.

"The Imperial Hospital is useless; they can drag out any illness for ages. If it weren't for the plaster that Mother sent, I don't know how long my back pain would have lasted... How's the checkup with Wang Jinzhong going?"

The topic of conversation shifted to the wife.

Yu Ruxian said, "The ointment was a prescription found by Xianxin, a young lady in the manor. The madam said that if the princess felt it was good to use, she should have a few more doses sent over in a couple of days. The princess had said earlier that this matter should not be publicized. Wang Jinzhong investigated secretly, and the beads he found were all ones we had prepared in advance. So, he didn't find any clues for the time being."

This time, the Fujin (principal wife) truly had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill. After all, she knew best how these beads ended up in the garden. Now, she could only blame the careless servants for leaving such a hidden danger, which had even caused her to be bedridden for more than half a month...

The princess gritted her teeth in anger, gently pressing her lower back: "Has nothing been happening outside lately?"

Even in February, the weather was still terribly cold; the Fujin could still breathe out warm air when she spoke.

Yu Ru answered one by one: "His Majesty is not in the capital, so things are not much different from previous years, except for a disturbance at the Prince Zhi's residence. It is said that Prince Hongyu is not doing well. Now that the Prince Zhi's second wife, Lady Zhangjia, has entered the household, who knows what kind of situation she is behind closed doors..."

A few days after the Lantern Festival, the wedding of Prince Zhi and his second wife, Lady Zhang, was held. However, it is unknown what His Majesty was thinking. After all, they were newlyweds. A few days later, His Majesty went to Mount Wutai and only took Prince Zhi with him.

These days, countless people are whispering behind his back that His Majesty is not satisfied with Lady Zhang.

However, when Prince Zhi and his second wife got married, the wife's back injury had not yet healed, and the relationship between the fourth prince and Prince Zhi had never been particularly close, so the wife used her injury as an excuse to decline the wedding.

Since the primary wife wasn't going, Li Chenjiao, as a secondary primary wife, naturally had no need to join in the fun.

Upon hearing this, the Fujin stopped massaging, and it was unclear whether she sighed or lamented, "Being a Fujin is not easy. It's just a pity about that child..."

When the topic of children came up, the Fujin quickly thought of her own son, Honghui.

She asked a couple of questions, and only nodded in satisfaction after hearing Yu Ru say that Hong Hui had been very diligent these past few days.

She was tired from asking so many questions, and finally instructed, "These days, you and Granny Qian should keep a close eye on the backyard. We can't neglect the First Prince either. While he's still recovering, this is a good opportunity for our Second Prince to catch up. Have all the accounts from last month been checked?"

The Fujin (Prince Consort) had to recuperate from her injuries, think about the Second Prince, and investigate whether her injuries had left any traces. She didn't have time to deal with Lady Li in the East Courtyard.

Li Chenjiao woke up in the east courtyard and realized that the Fourth Prince had arrived. However, the Fourth Prince was no longer playing with the Second Princess, who had already fallen asleep after playing for a long time.

The Fourth Prince then instructed Su Peisheng to move the official business he had not yet finished from the front yard to the east yard, where he sat cross-legged on a soft couch in the outer room to review the official business.

After Li Chenjiao went to the outer room, she subconsciously sat on the other side of the soft couch. She took a sip of tea from the table and then leaned back on the table.

A small fire burned on the table. Li Chenjiao did not close her eyes, but quietly watched the Fourth Master handle official business, and her thoughts slowly returned to normal.

Li Chenjiao lowered her head, her palms pressed against her face, the soft flesh of her cheeks squeezing out a faint curve. Fourth Master heard the noise and glanced over slightly, but kept his eyes steady, raising an eyebrow: "Your little kitchen here is quite nice."

Does this mean Li Chenjiao has gotten quite fat?

Li Chenjiao touched her face, the porcelain white beaded necklace on her ear dangling precariously: "Then you should come to my place more often, my lord."

This means that the Fourth Prince has lost weight.

It seems that Fourth Master never gets fat throughout the year. Every time Li Chenjiao sees Fourth Master, she has the illusion that he seems to be thinner than the last time she saw him, and this time is no exception.

After hearing this, the Fourth Master glanced at Li Chenjiao again, but did not say whether it was good or bad.

After lying down for a while, Li Chenjiao felt more awake. She propped herself up and casually picked up a travelogue from the side of the soft couch and started flipping through it.

After a short while, it was Fourth Master who spoke first: "It's getting cold today, so we need to keep an eye on Second Princess when she's playing outside."

Li Chenjiao didn't know that Fourth Master had come because of Second Princess. She blinked and laughed when she heard this: "You know Second Princess's temperament. Even if she is locked in the courtyard, she can't stay still. If she is afraid of this and that, does she want to raise children in a timid and hesitant manner?"

She didn't mean anything by saying that. The children have different personalities. The Second Princess is very active, while the Fourth Prince is still young, but it's clear that he's picky and troublesome. Li Chenjiao uses different methods with the two children.

However, if these words were said to the Fourth Master now, he probably wouldn't understand.

The imperial family has too many children, and everyone raises them according to the same method. Normally, Li Chenjiao is too lazy to argue, but now, during her period, she felt irritated by the tone of the Fourth Master's voice.

Upon hearing Li Chenjiao's words, Fourth Master instinctively wanted to reprimand her.

Li Chenjiao threw down the book in her hand, straightened up, and stretched her still-cold hand straight towards Fourth Master's neck.

“Look, even in this room with the charcoal fire burning, my hands are still cold.”