"Dr. Wu, how is the Third Prince?" Lanqin asked with concern.

"Your Highness, the Third Prince has expelled all the water from his stomach. He's just a little frightened and weak from being in the water for so long, but he's fine now." Doctor Wu pulled a pillowcase from the Third Prince's hand. "I'll prescribe some herbal medicine to cool him down and calm his mind, and that should be enough."

Fourth Master let Su Peisheng take his hair down, and now, with his hair disheveled, he was still letting Su Peisheng dry it for him. Lanqin looked at his long, black hair behind his crescent-shaped haircut, and it looked just like those old men and young masters from the Republican-era dramas she used to watch.

"Su Peisheng, go and give each of those servants kneeling outside twenty strokes of the cane, then come back and report," the Fourth Master roared.

Su Peisheng dared not delay and immediately went out to punish the servants who served the Third Prince.

Lanqin recalled the oil stains on the Third Prince's clothes, which meant that no one had changed his clothes for several days.

After the servants received their punishments, Su Peisheng dragged in the Third Prince's wet nurse and the servants in charge of the main matters.

Seeing that the Third Prince still hadn't woken up, the two servants looked distressed and knelt on the ground, not knowing what to do.

"Doesn't the Third Prince usually have anyone with him? You are his wet nurse, yet you didn't send a servant to accompany him? What was he doing playing by the reed pond alone? He fell into the water, and if I hadn't happened to be passing by and heard the noise, Hongjun probably wouldn't have woken up today." The Fourth Prince tried his best to control his anger and shouted sternly.

"Reporting to Your Highness, Tian Guan'er is usually with the Third Prince, but I don't know where that little rascal went today, leaving the Third Prince to play alone by the Reed Pond," said Granny Song, the wet nurse who serves the Third Prince, with a bitter face.

"Then may I ask, Granny Song, do you manage the Third Prince's clothes and such?" Lanqin suddenly asked.

"Your Highness, I am responsible for all of the Third Prince's clothes." Not knowing what Lanqin was trying to achieve by asking this, Granny Song had no choice but to tell the truth.

"The Third Prince's clothes are often stained with oil. How do you take care of him?" Lanqin asked, frowning slightly.

Granny Song never expected Lanqin to notice this. She didn't wash the Third Prince's clothes every day, and sometimes they didn't look dirty, so she was too lazy to change them.

When the Fourth Prince saw that Lanqin had so clearly pointed out the old woman's laziness and neglect towards the Third Prince, he clenched his fists in anger. Was his son being bullied by these servants after his mother's death?

"Since you're not going to serve me properly, then don't bother serving me at all. Send me to be a eunuch!" The Fourth Prince resisted the urge to kick Song Mama over, partly because he was afraid of disturbing the Third Prince, and partly because he was afraid of frightening Lanqin and the child in her womb.

Granny Song never expected that in just a few words, she would go from being the Third Prince's wet nurse to a eunuch. She was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground until Su Peisheng called someone in to drag her out and deal with her.

The Fourth Prince then looked at Cai Yang, who was in charge of the Third Prince's daily life. Cai Yang was one of the Fourth Prince's more capable people in the past, and the Fourth Prince had specially called him over to serve and take care of the Third Prince.

“Cai Yang, when I sent you to take care of the Third Prince, I told you to take good care of him. But now, the Third Prince’s clothes are dirty and no one washes them, and no one follows him when he goes out. Are you just treating him like a wild child?” The Fourth Prince said, his rage temporarily subsided.

"This servant deserves to die, this servant is guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty. This servant neglected to discipline my subordinates, which caused them to be disrespectful to the Third Prince. Please punish me, Your Majesty." Cai Yang suppressed his fear and kowtowed repeatedly.

Lanqin listened carefully and realized that this person was really good at shirking responsibility. She claimed that she had neglected to discipline the Third Prince and that it was only his subordinates who had not served him well, and that it had nothing to do with him. Then she carried a bundle of thorns to apologize and asked the Fourth Prince to punish him.

Upon hearing this, Fourth Master indeed sent Tian Guan, who served him personally, to the Clean Army, while everyone else was flogged and had their monthly wages deducted.

Over there, the servant who delivered the charcoal couldn't withstand the torture and fainted several times. Finally, he uttered the words "Granny Li".

When the head nanny lowered her head and told the Fourth Prince the result, everyone in the room fell silent. The name "Nanny Li" meant the Fujin (Prince's wife).

Lanqin suppressed her excitement, thinking to herself: "The Princess Consort has done so much; she can't just shirk responsibility for the consequences. Everyone should be accountable for their actions."

"Reassign two more nannies to take care of the Third Prince. If there is any further mishap, have them beaten to death," the Fourth Prince said with a stern face. "Go and summon Madam Yin to look after the Third Prince."

After explaining all this, Fourth Master took Lanqin's hand and led her towards him.

Meanwhile, the Fujin was in her study, with Lady Wang sitting in the guest seat. The two seemed to be discussing something, and the air was thick and stagnant, as if it contained propolis.

"Madam, I'm afraid I might..." Madam Wang felt her heart turn cold. Just now, Madam had actually made her take the blame for framing Madam Li, saying that she had done such a thing out of jealousy and hatred.

"Don't worry, Li is already dead, and after her death, the master removed her from the family genealogy and didn't even give her a proper burial. Do you think the master will severely punish you for framing her?" the Fujin said.

At this moment, Wang felt as if she had swallowed a bitter pill; it was indeed she who had done it. At the time, she had taken the opportunity of going to look after Li Shi to secretly slip a witchcraft doll under Li Shi's bed, but all of this was at the behest of the Fujin (principal wife).

Seeing the displeased look on Wang's face, the Fujin's expression turned cold, and she said, "Sister Wang, have you ever considered what the consequences would be if you told me to do it?"

Wang lowered her head blankly. She had hesitated when she did it. But she had no time to hesitate. Without the help of the Fujin (Prince's wife), she would hardly ever see the Fourth Prince. Now she clearly couldn't escape. If she implicated the Fujin, she might not fare well. If she didn't, with the Fujin pleading on her behalf, she might only get a minor punishment.

The Fujin naturally saw through Wang's thoughts, and smiled, saying, "Don't worry, I will plead for you. Perhaps it will only be a few months of confinement. After all, the master has completely abandoned that person, and there is no reason to severely punish your sister for someone who has already passed away."

Wang felt a bitter taste rising on her tongue, as if she had always been a pawn in someone else's game, simply because she had never received the Fourth Prince's favor. She sighed silently in her heart: Why is God so unfair? I, Wang Qiujing, am no less beautiful than anyone else, so why have I become someone else's pawn?