Upon hearing this, Lady Wu stood up with neither servility nor arrogance: "Yes, this servant knows his mistake. If these words reach the master's ears, I will have to beg the princess to speak on my behalf."

When she said this, Wu Shi was completely devoid of her previous madness, and seemed to have returned to the way she was when the eldest prince was still alive.

In the eyes of the Fujin, Wu Shi no longer posed any threat. Although she was very dissatisfied with Wu Shi's previous disrespectful words, she was too lazy to pay attention to Wu Shi at the moment.

The princess slowly turned the jade bracelet on her wrist: "Fourth Prince understands you, but the rules must not be broken. The lady in the palace said the other day that you have always been the most well-behaved. Wu, don't forget the rules of hierarchy."

She didn't dwell on the previous topic with Lady Wu. Without the eldest prince, the Fujin (princess) had plenty of ways to deal with a concubine. At this moment, she was just trying to save face for herself.

After that, Wu Shi did not utter any more disrespectful remarks and fell completely silent.

Finally, the Princess Consort, in a fairly good mood, dismissed everyone.

However, it was probably a self-fulfilling prophecy, because after paying his respects on the fifteenth, the Second Prince in the main courtyard seemed to be unwell again.

That night, the imperial physician was summoned to the main courtyard, but the Fourth Prince did not return to the mansion, nor did he see the elaborate display of candles burning all night in the main courtyard.

Upon hearing the news, Madam Wu in the South Courtyard couldn't sleep. Her expression wasn't exactly one of satisfaction, but rather one of calm: "Retribution."

Juxiang stood beside her, unable to say anything about her mistress having more good fortune in the future. She knew better than anyone that her mistress's pregnancy was originally unexpected. Since then, apart from visiting the eldest prince, the master rarely asked for water when staying overnight.

Of course, some princesses may have lost interest in favoring their sons because of the presence of the eldest prince, but some princesses may also know how difficult it is to win favor.

After Wu Shi sat down, she said, "The first seven-day memorial service for the eldest prince is in a few days. Go and make preparations."

She had already planned this all along; today's visit to the main courtyard was not even a way to vent her anger.

Now, whenever she hears something bad about the Second Prince of the main courtyard, she feels nothing but lingering resentment and a sense of satisfaction.

With the Second Prince in the main courtyard not doing well, the Fujin (Prince's wife) has not had a single good day. The Fourth Prince has been staying at the Imperial Clan Court these past few days, and when he has a spare moment, he goes straight to the Ministry of Revenue for rest.

Although His Majesty ordered Suo'etu to be detained in the Imperial Clan Court, he did not say anything about how Suo'etu would be dealt with for several days. It was as if Suo'etu was just going to be detained in the Imperial Clan Court and left to fend for himself.

But Suo'etu is too old to withstand such torment. Even if he were to be put in the Imperial Clan Court, he would be in the dungeon. Suo'etu has grown up in a life of luxury. How could he endure such suffering?

Although the Fourth Prince mediated, even when the Prince of Zhi was not present, the Eighth Prince was there. Apart from sending some clothes, knee pads and medicine to Suo'etu, the imperial physicians had no chance to visit him at all.

However, the medicine that Fourth Master sent in was all sent in according to the imperial physician's instructions.

While the Fourth Prince's actions were partly due to his support for the Crown Prince, he was also genuinely worried that Prime Minister Suo might not be able to hold on given his current health.

After waiting for several days, the Fourth Prince finally received a letter from the Thirteenth Prince, who was far away in Dezhou.

"To my dear fourth brother. There have been many new people at the Dezhou Palace these past few days. The Crown Prince's health is gradually improving, but since he is still ill, I have not dared to disturb him. It has been cold in Dezhou recently. I wonder how you are doing in the capital, fourth brother? I don't know when we will meet again. I wish you well from afar."

The Fourth Prince took a break at the Ministry of Revenue to read the letter sent back by the Thirteenth Prince. After reading it, his expression became somewhat solemn.

Did the Emperor send someone to Dezhou to monitor the Crown Prince? Is this because the Emperor doesn't trust the Crown Prince, or what?

The Crown Prince also kept claiming to be ill and unwilling to see strangers, and even Thirteen was unable to see the Crown Prince more than a few times.

These were all subtly mentioned in Thirteen's letter. Fourth Master frowned, and Thirteen's final words were a coded message known only to Fourth Master and Thirteen. Clearly, the situation in Dezhou was not optimistic at this time.

Fourth Prince dared not correspond with the Crown Prince, but at this moment he had only one question in his mind.

Is the Crown Prince really ill?

He may have been sick, but whether he's better now is another question.

Several more days passed, but His Majesty still did not give a clear order on how to deal with Suo'etu. However, he did tell the Fourth Prince and others that they no longer needed to guard the Imperial Clan Court. Judging from that, it seemed that he intended to leave Suo'etu in the cold.

Fourth Master simply instructed Su Peisheng to keep a close eye on the Imperial Clan Court.

By the time Fourth Master had a free moment, it was already October 24th. However, he was invited away by the main courtyard as soon as he was allowed to enter the inner courtyard.

Fourth Master said he would go, but he didn't go to the main courtyard immediately. Wang Jinzhong had just recovered and didn't dare to stay long. Under Su Peisheng's watchful eye, he silently returned to the main courtyard to report. He first said something nice, that Fourth Master would come today, but that Fourth Master was busy and would arrive later.

Once the princess received confirmation, she ordered preparations to be made.

The Fourth Prince returned to the front courtyard. Su Peisheng, watching from the side, realized that his master was probably going to leave his wife hanging. It was obvious that his master still remembered the matter of the First Prince.

Fourth Master turned and walked towards the front yard, not forgetting to add, "Go tell your mistress, Li, that I'll go see her tomorrow. Tell her to have dinner first. How has your mistress, Li, been these past few days?"

When Li Chenjiao was mentioned, the Fourth Master was noticeably more interested in her.

Su Peisheng asked this question every day, so he naturally answered fluently: "These past few days, Master Li and the Second Princess have been weaving flower wreaths together. The Second Princess also wove some for persimmons and frozen pears, and she said... she also said..."

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