Hongli would occasionally stay overnight at other maids' places, but he spent most of his time at Su Yushan's place. As for Jin Minjing's place, he never went there, as if he had forgotten about her.

Kim Min-jung also tried to feign illness and have someone inform him, but he only sent a doctor to examine her and ordered some tonics to be sent to her, without going there himself.

Seeing that Hongli remained unmoved, Jin Minjing quieted down and stopped causing trouble, hoping that the confinement period would end soon.

October arrived in the blink of an eye, and Su Yushan's birthday was approaching. Hongli had promised to take her out for a trip. After being cooped up in the mansion for a month, she had long wanted to get some fresh air and was very much looking forward to it.

The day before his birthday, Hongli specifically instructed her to prepare early the next morning so that he could go for a stroll in the western suburbs after he returned from court.

On the ninth day, at cockcrow, before dawn, Hongli had already woken up, got up to change his clothes and went to court. Su Yushan was awakened by the noise. Thinking about going to the western suburbs today, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned for a while. When there was light outside the window, she also got up and asked Changyue to do her hair and makeup.

After breakfast, she didn't go anywhere but stayed in the room, constantly looking out and waiting for Hongli to return.

This was probably the day she most wanted to see him; only when he returned would she have a chance to go out. However, she waited for an hour, but he never appeared.

Hongli had instructed beforehand that he would be taking Su Yushan out today and would not be celebrating her birthday at the mansion. Therefore, the kitchen did not prepare a banquet for her. The other maids all thought that she was not at the mansion today, and only the maids sent her birthday gifts. None of them came in person. Only Xilan came and stayed with her.

Xi Lan had planned to leave after the Fourth Master returned, but he still hadn't come back by noon.

After waiting in vain all afternoon, Su Yushan's once bright eyes gradually dimmed. Looking out the window at the warm sunlight streaming onto the ground, she sighed in disappointment.

"Looks like there's no chance today!"

"Fourth Master always keeps his promises. He hasn't returned today, so perhaps something urgent has come up? Yu Shan, don't worry, he might come back to keep you company this afternoon."

Just going out by carriage would take a long time, and a whole day might not be enough. Now that we only have half a day left, where can we go? Besides, Hongli might not even come back.

Her much-anticipated trip was ruined, and Su Yushan was very downcast. However, Xilan kept comforting her, so she couldn't show it and could only force a smile, pretending to be indifferent.

"It doesn't matter if he doesn't come back. As long as you're with me for my birthday, I'll be content."

By noon, the kitchen was too busy to prepare a grand feast, so they only prepared six dishes and cooked a bowl of longevity noodles for her. With Xi Lan by her side, Su Yushan reluctantly ate some food, and then, under the pretext of needing a midday rest, she hid in her tent alone, sulking.

She never cared whether Hongli came or not, but this time, she was really angry. He broke his promise without reason and didn't even send anyone to explain why, making her wait for so long in vain. It was truly infuriating!

If he didn't reply, that was fine; she could go out if she wanted. But she sent Changyue to ask, and the guards at the gate said that without the Fourth Master's accompaniment, she couldn't leave the mansion alone.

How could she not be furious when her only wish was dashed like this?

Hongli didn't return all afternoon, and Su Yushan was extremely depressed. She was too lazy to get up and didn't even eat dinner. Changyue advised her not to be upset.

"The Fourth Prince must have been detained by the Emperor, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't have broken his promise. It must be a special circumstance. Please forgive him, Princess. Let's wait for the Fourth Prince to return and hear his explanation."

In fact, after the lunch break, her anger subsided and she was no longer as resentful as she had been in the morning. She also understood that important matters could happen at any time in the palace, and Hongli might really be unable to get away. As long as he came back in the evening and explained to her clearly that it was an unavoidable reason for breaking their appointment, she could understand.

Unexpectedly, Hongli did not return even after nightfall. Su Yushan remembered that he had said that once the hour of Xu (7-9 PM) had passed, the palace gates would be closed and no one would be allowed to enter or leave.

Is he not coming back tonight?

Seeing that her master was restless, Chang Yue offered to go and find out what was going on.

A quarter of an hour later, Chang Yue returned. Su Yushan was sitting in the tent idly flipping through a book, but she was distracted and not really paying attention. Hearing footsteps, she put down the book and asked impatiently.

"Well? Did you find out? Did the Fourth Prince stay overnight in the palace?"

Chang Yue did not answer immediately, and there was obvious hesitation on her face. "Fourth Master... he has already returned to the manor."

What? He's back? Why didn't he come and tell her? Su Yushan was quite surprised. "Where is he?"

Chang Yue's voice trailed off, sounding troubled. Su Yushan listened carefully and realized with a start that she was saying that the Fourth Master had gone to Princess Gao's place.

It was only natural that he was with Gao Gege on her birthday. Now that it's her birthday, he broke his promise during the day and didn't come to give her an explanation in the evening. Instead, he went to someone else's place. No matter how magnanimous Su Yushan was, she couldn't calm down at this moment. The churning bitterness kept eroding her heart and lungs, making her restless.

So what does her birthday mean? A joke?

The previous harmonious relationship gave her a false impression. She always felt that Hongli treated her fairly well, and the two of them got along very well. Even if he wasn't her only friend, they were still friends, right?

Only now did she realize that she was nothing more than that in Hongli's heart. She gave a bitter laugh, then said nothing more, feeling that any complaint was superfluous, and silently slipped into bed.

"It's getting late, I'm going to sleep. You don't need to stay with me any longer, you should get some rest!"

The mistress's expression looked very peaceful, but Chang Yue could sense the loneliness in her heart from her gloomy eyes.

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