Meanwhile, the Fourth Prince walked with a sullen face to the main courtyard. The servants at the gate had already seen him and immediately bowed respectfully, not daring to be negligent in the slightest. His master was visiting his wife less and less often, only coming on the first and fifteenth of each month. The rest of the time, he would only come to sit for a while; meals and overnight stays were almost nonexistent. Although the wife was the mistress of the Fourth Prince's mansion, life without favor was truly difficult. She held only the empty title of principal wife, and was even worse off than a favored princess! Granny Li was instructing the servants in the courtyard when she saw the Fourth Prince suddenly arrive. She was momentarily stunned; today wasn't the first or the fifteenth of the month, so why was her master here, and so late at night?

"Greetings to Master!" Granny Li waved away the servants and immediately stood still. Before the Fourth Master could approach, she curtsied and bowed.

"Is the Princess Consort asleep?" The Fourth Prince paused slightly, and Su Peisheng behind him immediately stopped as well.

"Not yet, he's in the small Buddhist hall praying to Buddha. Every day, Master prays to Buddha for the peace and prosperity of the entire household, so he doesn't rest until after 9 PM. Master, please come in. This old servant will go to the Buddhist hall to call the Princess Consort over." Granny Li was afraid of saying something inappropriate, so she said all this on the spot, hoping that the Fourth Master would consider the Princess Consort's feelings and stay a little longer.

Fourth Master said nothing and walked into the main room. Granny Li immediately jogged over to the small Buddhist shrine on the west side.

After waiting for a while, the Fourth Prince suddenly stood up and said to Chunliu, who was waiting in the room, "Is the eldest princess asleep now?"

Chunliu, who had been standing like a wooden stake by the door, was startled when she heard the Fourth Master's question. She quickly suppressed her surprise and said, "Your Highness, the First Princess should be asleep right now."

The Fourth Prince was silent for a moment before saying, "Lead the way, I'm going to see the First Princess!"

Chunliu was taken aback, but then curtsied and responded. She then led Fourth Master eastward to a small courtyard with one entrance and one exit, located to the east of the main courtyard, separated from this side by a crescent-shaped archway.

"Tell me about the daily lives of the eldest and second princesses," the Fourth Prince asked suddenly, following behind Chunliu.

"Reporting to Your Highness, the eldest and second princesses get up at Chenshi (7-9 AM) every day. After breakfast, they learn some needlework from Granny Zhao, and then, with a little care, they have lunch and rest for a while before studying music with Granny Qiu. After dinner, the eldest and second princesses usually read for a while until Xushi (7-9 PM) or Haishi (9-11 PM) before going to bed." Chunliu fluently recounted their daily routine.

"What about the daily morning and evening greetings?" Although the Fourth Prince knew that his wife had never made any demands in this regard, she was always strict about the offspring. Otherwise, how could Honghui be so rigid? Even after he moved Honghui to the front courtyard, he still made sure to come to him every morning to pay his respects. If he was there in the evening, the First Prince would also come to pay his respects.

"The Princess Consort said that the eldest and second princesses are exempt from these formalities," Chunliu said truthfully, unaware of what the Fourth Prince was thinking. In fact, she also knew that the eldest prince, Honghui, would come to the main courtyard every morning and evening to pay his respects to the Princess Consort.

The Fourth Prince didn't ask any more questions until Chunliu led him to a house. Chunliu woke up the maid who was keeping watch by the house, then opened the door and had the maid hold a candle and lead the Fourth Prince inside.

Fourth Master walked to Moyaqi's bedside and sat down on the edge of the bed. Looking at her sleeping face, he raised his hand and stroked her smooth forehead. Moyaqi looked a lot like Madam Song, gentle and elegant.

The Fourth Prince didn't have a deep impression of this daughter, because she was born in poor health, and he decisively gave her to his wife. Since the Fourth Prince and his wife had never been close, Moyaqi rarely enjoyed his company.

After watching her quietly for a while, the Fourth Prince straightened the corner of the quilt for the eldest princess, then stood up and walked out.

As for the Fujin, upon hearing that the Fourth Prince had arrived, she immediately followed Granny Li from the West Buddhist Hall to the main house. However, when they returned to the main house, they found that the Fourth Prince was not there. Upon asking Xiahe, they learned that Chunliu had taken him to the courtyards of the First and Second Princesses.

The princess consort's eyes shimmered slightly as she slowly exhaled and instructed, "Xiahe, bring out the Imperial Dragon Well. The master should be back soon."

Sure enough, before Xiahe could even brew the tea, Chunliu returned with Fourth Master and the others.

“My lord, Moyaqi and Erlinzhu are fast asleep. If you miss them, would you like to have dinner with me and the two sisters tomorrow at 7:00 PM?” The Fujin stood up, took a few steps, and went to greet her.

"Yes, tomorrow you should have the two sisters wait for me to come back so we can have dinner together." As soon as the Fourth Prince sat down, his wife took the tea that Xia He handed him and personally served it to him.

"You may all leave. I have something to say to the Princess Consort." The Fourth Prince took the cup of tea, brought it to his lips, and used the lid to smooth the floating tea leaves.

After everyone had left, the Fourth Master took a small sip and placed it on the stool beside him.

Seeing the Fourth Prince's expression, the Princess Consort knew that he must have something important to say since he came so late, so she waited quietly for him to continue.

"Today in the palace, Father Emperor summoned several of us princes who had left the palace to establish our own residences to the Imperial Study for a talk about Moyaqi and Erlinzhu," the Fourth Prince said solemnly. Seeing that his wife was listening quietly, he continued, "The Dzungars and the grasslands are again asking the Qing Dynasty for a princess and rewards."

The princess's expression changed, and she asked in confusion, "Does Father Emperor want the princesses who are about to pass the imperial examinations from the princes' residences to go?" The Fourth Prince glanced at the princess and nodded silently.

Hearing this, Li Mama, who was waiting outside with Su Peisheng, felt a tremor in her heart. In fact, she and the Fujin had more contact with the two girls. Most of the time, she was in charge of taking care of the two princesses' daily life and studies.

"I wonder if Fourth Prince prefers Moyaqi or Elinzhu. Moyaqi is quite old, but Elinzhu is more beautiful." After thinking for a moment, the Fujin felt that this was an opportunity to increase Fourth Prince's favor with Emperor Kangxi, so she said this.

Upon hearing the Princess Consort's words, Li Mama, who was outside the house, frowned immediately, thinking to herself: "It's not right for the Princess Consort to say that now, alas!"

As expected, upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince not only ignored his wife's words but also looked displeased and asked, "Does the wife intend to send one of them away?"

Even if the Princess Consort was slow-witted, she would naturally understand that her words had displeased the Fourth Prince. However, based on her understanding of him and his affection for his two daughters, she knew he shouldn't be so angry. Therefore, she suppressed her shock and forced a smile, saying, "Your Highness has misunderstood me. I was just thinking that Father Emperor has already sent away no fewer than seven or eight princesses for the sake of the Qing Dynasty's stability. Now that there are no more princesses of marriageable age, it is perhaps Moyaqi and Erlinzhu who can relieve Father Emperor's worries. As Father Emperor's children, Your Highness and I should naturally share his burdens and those of the Qing Dynasty."