Jiaming, who had been teased by the Fourth Master again that night, was still fast asleep the next morning. She didn't wake up until the sun was high in the sky, and then slowly got out of bed with the help of Hongtao.

After having breakfast, Jiaming, as usual, took a walk in Taoyuan to aid digestion.

"Hehe, this is a difficult situation for the Princess Consort." During her walk, Jiaming casually glanced at two corners and said lightly.

“Yes!” Hongtao nodded. “Before Prince Hongyun passed away, Consort Li was quite arrogant. She could even stand up to the Prince Consort and confront him head-on.”

Now that she's given birth to another prince, he's likely to become even more arrogant; how can the princess consort not have a headache?

Jiaming: "..." That's not what she meant.

What she meant was that it would be even more difficult for the Fujin (princess's wife) to deal with her.

Sure enough, the wife in the main courtyard, who had been thinking about Jiaming, lost her composure upon hearing the words of the maidservant below her.

"What?" The princess suddenly stood up, her gaze fixed intently on the maid standing respectfully below her. "Say it again."

The maid trembled at the sight of the princess's glare. She swallowed hard and kept telling herself that the princess wasn't angry with her and that she shouldn't be afraid.

After silently repeating this three times in his mind, he opened his mouth and said, "Madam, it seems that there is another surveillance operation secretly taking place in Taoyuan."

The princess's heart skipped a beat, a hint of worry flashed in her eyes, and then she asked anxiously, "Whose person is it?"

Is it the master's?

Or was it one of the other women in the household? Was it Li, Song, Guarjia, or...?

Thinking of this, the Fujin's eyes turned cold again. If it were them, then Li Shi would be their cautionary tale.

After sensing the sudden increase in the aura emanating from the Fujin, the maidservant, who had just calmed herself down, suddenly tensed up and began to stammer, "Fujin, it seems, it seems, that is the Prince's, Prince's man."

"What?! It really is one of my men!"

The Fujin suddenly slumped back into her chair, her face extremely pale. If the master's men discovered anything, Li Shi would be a cautionary tale!

The thought of this possibility made the Fujin's face turn even more ashen, and her hand holding the handkerchief trembled incessantly.

"Fujin?"

Amidst Liu Mama's worried calls, the Fujin snapped out of her unease. Her gaze suddenly fell upon the maidservant to the left, and she said rapidly, "Quickly inform them to withdraw."

Seeing that the princess consort did not take her anger out on her, the maid secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly bowed and accepted the order, saying, "Yes!"

"Wait." Seeing the maid respectfully retreating, the Fujin suddenly thought of something and hurriedly stopped her, saying, "Don't act rashly. Let's first find out if the Prince has discovered them monitoring Taoyuan. If not, leave one person away from the Prince's people to observe. The rest, quickly withdraw."

Hearing the princess's words, the maid had a vague feeling of unease. She asked cautiously, "What if we get found out?"

The princess looked coldly at the maid, then closed her eyes after a while. When she opened them again, she said coldly, "Let's cut off all contact!"

The implication is that she abandoned those people who had been discovered by the Fourth Prince, even those she had painstakingly trained and those who were extremely loyal to her.

However, in order to prevent the Fourth Master from tracing the origins of these people, she had no choice but to abandon them. Moreover, because of their loyalty, even if she abandoned them, she was not worried that they would implicate her if the Fourth Master caught them.

Besides, even if she confessed, so what? The princess gripped her handkerchief tightly. What the prince would find out would only be dubious information. Given his suspicious nature, if he continued to investigate, he would discover that she had been framed.

Remembering her prior arrangements, the Fujin, who had been slumped over, suddenly straightened up.

Clearly, she was no longer afraid of being exposed; she felt confident.

Days passed by, and it was now April, with just the right weather. Moreover, thanks to the protection the Fourth Prince had secretly arranged for, there were no one else causing trouble or plotting against her, and the Princess Consort had exempted her from paying her respects at the main courtyard. Life should have been quite comfortable and peaceful.

At first, Jiaming did think so. But as time went on, she didn't think so anymore. For example, she was picking at a pastry in a bad mood, but she didn't put it in her mouth for a long time, which was very unusual and contrary to her recent cravings.

"Master, what's wrong?" Hongtao suddenly remembered that since her master became pregnant, her mouth had been acting up, wanting the same thing after eating it. So she patiently asked, "Is the pastry not to your liking? Would you like to change it?"

"Nothing much, just bored because nobody's looking for trouble or scheming against me."

"Master!" Hongtao was speechless. No one was causing trouble or plotting against them, which was a great thing! Her master was really strange. She glanced at Jiaming disapprovingly.

Jiaming received a look from Hongtao, swallowed the pastry she had just stuffed into her mouth, and then said, "Sigh, I don't really want to be bothered, but I've been having a lot of nothing to do lately. All I do is eat and sleep all day. That's the life of a pig. Your master is a human, and life needs more things."

For example, I could tend to the flowers and plants, but you stopped me; I could read storybooks, but your master confiscated those too, saying they couldn't corrupt the baby in my belly. How could I not be bored?

Hongtao thought about her master's recent life, and then put herself in his shoes. If she were living like that, life would be rather boring. So, she couldn't help but nod.

As a maidservant by her master's side, she should try her best to relieve his worries and troubles. If her master is bored, she should make good use of her abilities, otherwise, compared to Xiao Hezi and Granny Sun, she would be too useless.

So useless, she felt that the position of first-class maid was too hot to handle, and that she should be on the same level as Green Willow.

Hongtao put her mind to work and, after thinking for a while, actually found something that could get her master's attention.

"Master, have you forgotten that the talent selection was brought forward this year? If the Prince's mansion gains new talents, aren't you worried..."

Listening to Hongtao's words, Jiaming picked up some snacks from the plate and said casually, "Whether or not new people are brought in has nothing to do with me. That's something for the masters, princes, or wives in the palace to consider. Your mistress is just a lowly concubine. How could I possibly have the ability to interfere in whether or not people are brought in to the mansion?"

Hongtao thought about it and realized that her master really couldn't and had no way to interfere in whether or not new people were being brought into the manor.

However, when asked, "Master, aren't you worried that the new concubine will steal your favor?" Hongtao swallowed the rest of the long sentence, "Your appearance is the worst in the manor. If someone else steals your favor, it will be difficult for you to win favor again, given your appearance," and didn't dare to say it aloud.

After all, those words were somewhat hurtful.

Hearing Hongtao's words, Jiaming remained calm and said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, didn't I say before that your master likes me quite a bit?"

Hongtao suddenly remembered the impudent words her master had said back then, and how he had caught her in the act. Her face flushed red.

The conversation was getting a bit awkward, and the shy Red Peach backed down.

And so, having run out of things to talk about, Jiaming continued her boring and quiet days. (To be continued.)