News of the Fourth Prince's return to the South Courtyard quickly spread throughout the inner quarters, and those who had been mocking Lanqin fell silent. Madam Li, however, grew increasingly anxious. Although the Fourth Prince hadn't visited her, Su Peisheng came every day, urging her to find the person who had made the skateboard for the Third Prince. This was a real predicament for Madam Li. That person had long been secretly killed by her father, and now how could she possibly find someone who could make skateboards in such a short time? Madam Li knew that the longer she delayed, the more suspicious the Fourth Prince would become.

No, I must dispel the Fourth Prince's suspicions and regain his favor, otherwise I'll face endless neglect. If that happens, wouldn't everything I did back then have been for nothing?

Lady Li paced back and forth in the main room, her feet shod on flowerpot-soled shoes. Just then, she saw the Fourth Prince, accompanied by his wet nurse, toddling around the courtyard. The little fellow was quite handsome, chubby and fair-skinned, with a thin braid hanging down his crescent-shaped head. Lady Li stood before the hexagonal window, watching the Fourth Prince's babbling steps in the courtyard, and a somewhat frightening thought began to linger in her mind.

"Fourth Prince, be careful!" The wet nurse saw the Fourth Prince twist his little foot and then fall backward, landing hard on his bottom. By the time the wet nurse tried to help him up, it was too late.

The Fourth Prince pouted and immediately started crying. The wet nurse knew that Madam Li was standing in the room watching, so she was afraid that Madam Li would scold her. She quickly picked up the Fourth Prince and patted his back to comfort him.

"Wet Nurse, bring the Fourth Prince over here!" Madam Li raised her hand and lifted the window, speaking to the wet nurse who was standing there, coaxing the Fourth Prince while sweating profusely.

When the wet nurse heard Li call her, she had no choice but to carry the Fourth Prince inside. Seeing Li sitting upright in a high-backed chair by the window, she bent her knees and explained, "This servant failed to take good care of the Fourth Prince for a moment. Please punish me, Consort!"

Although she said this, she was actually very nervous, afraid that Li would be displeased and would at least be fined a month's wages, or even worse, be beaten or whipped.

Lady Li stood up, stretched out her hand, and said to the Fourth Prince, "Good boy, don't cry. Let your mother hug you."

When the Fourth Prince saw Li Shi come to hug him, he hesitated for a moment, but then opened his arms and let Li Shi hug him. Gradually, he really stopped crying. Although he was usually taken care of by wet nurses and maids, his natural attachment to his mother was indeed a child's instinct.

Unfortunately, some people are not worthy of the title "mother".

In her quest for favor, Lady Li's extreme jealousy has warped her moral compass, causing her to lose all sense of decency, even her principles as a mother. For instance, her past manipulation of the Third Prince still burdens him with immense psychological pressure and inner turmoil, yet Lady Li, to protect herself, will likely never reveal this to him.

Seeing Li Shi gently coaxing him, the Fourth Prince immediately stopped crying and smiled. In truth, the Fourth Prince's birth marked the beginning of Li Shi's gradual loss of favor with the Fourth Prince. Therefore, over the past year, Li Shi's temper had worsened, and she often focused on pleasing the Fourth Prince rather than caring for the Fourth Prince as much as she had for the Third Prince when he was young. She even felt that the Fourth Prince's birth had made her figure plump, causing her to gradually lose the Fourth Prince's favor. It was because of this belief that the idea in Li Shi's mind grew wildly like weeds.

The wet nurse standing to the side watched as Madam Li gently coaxed the Fourth Prince, and her anxious heart gradually calmed down. Usually, when nothing was amiss, Madam Li would inexplicably lose her temper with the Fourth Prince, leaving them completely bewildered as to what they had done wrong. Today, however, Madam Li hadn't lost her temper, and her attitude towards the Fourth Prince had returned to how it was when he was a newborn.

"Nanny, the weather is getting cooler, so make sure to check on Fourth Prince's blankets often. Don't let him kick them off and catch a cold. Do you understand?" Li Shi said to the nanny while making faces at Fourth Prince.

"Yes, please rest assured, Consort. We servants understand," the wet nurse said, bowing her head.

"Fourth Prince, come on, let your mother accompany you to play by the small pond. There are many tadpoles in there. Do you want to go and see them?" Madam Li teased the Fourth Prince.

"Yes~" the Fourth Prince said in a childish voice. His mother was usually a bit fierce, so it made the Fourth Prince very happy that she was speaking to him like this.

The Fourth Prince then carried the Fourth Prince out the door, and saw Mingyan and the wet nurse following behind. He said to Mingyan, "You don't need to follow me. Go and take out the tiger-head shoes that you made for the Fourth Prince the other day and continue making them for me."

Mingyan curtsied and responded without following him out.

Li and her wet nurse walked one after the other towards the reed pond in the east courtyard. This pond was specially ordered to be dug when the Fourth Prince built the east courtyard, and lotus flowers and reeds were planted in it. Although it was not large, it was quite unique in the east courtyard. In the past, the Third Prince also liked to come here to play in the water, but Li always kept a very close eye on him, and every time he came, he had to be followed by several people to prevent any accidents from happening.

Li Shi led the Fourth Prince by the hand and slowly walked to the side of the Reed Pond. She then placed the Fourth Prince on a rock, wrapped one arm around him, and pointed to the small black question marks swimming in the water with the other, saying, "Look, those are tadpoles."

The fourth prince waved his little hand, pointed at the tadpoles in the water, and said in a childish voice, "Tadpoles, tadpoles!"

Seeing that Li was squatting by the big rock, circling around the Fourth Prince and wanting to scoop up some tadpoles in the water, the wet nurse said with some concern, "Consort, please be careful, this rock is very slippery."

Upon hearing this, Li's expression changed slightly. She said, "Come, help the Fourth Prince up. My arm is a little sore." With that, she helped the Fourth Prince to his feet.

The wet nurse was about to tell him not to play there, lest he accidentally fall into the water, but the Fourth Prince, who was having so much fun, was unwilling to give up. He continued to walk sideways towards the water, muttering, "Tadpoles, tadpoles~"

The wet nurse had no choice but to follow Li's example and make the Fourth Prince squat on the rock to scoop up tadpoles from the water.

Standing behind, Li Shi watched the two figures, one large and one small, squatting on the rock, her expression shifting complexly. She turned and looked around, making sure no one was coming, then quietly moved behind the wet nurse. The wet nurse, her mind entirely on the Fourth Prince, paid no attention to what Li Shi was about to do.

"Clang, splash!" The wet nurse and the fourth prince fell into the pond. Li Shi stared blankly as the wet nurse and the fourth prince splashed around in the water for a few moments. She quickly took off her flowerpot-shaped shoes and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Help! Someone, help!!"