Inside the Peach Garden, everything was as usual. Jiaming continued to live her leisurely life, eating and drinking, cooking, planting flowers and grass, playing with the children, and occasionally communicating with her eldest son who came back to stay for a day.

Outside the Peach Garden, however, various storms were raging.

Because of the struggles among the princes, the conflict between the emperor and the princes has become increasingly fierce.

The atmosphere here is quite different because of the fine tea, and more importantly, it's relaxing.

Therefore, Fourth Master quite liked going to Jiaming's place.

When Jiaming saw that Fourth Master had brought Su Peisheng, she did not go forward to greet him. Instead, she called Fourth Master "Master" and went to a table to the side, picked up a teapot, and poured herself a cup of tea.

Meanwhile, Xiao Hongjing, who was also in the room, saw his father arrive and happily called out "Father!" while staggering forward with his little golden abacus in hand.

Fourth Master walked towards Xiao Hongjing, responding to the little guy's calls while patting his fluffy little head, then took the little guy's hand and walked towards Jiaming.

As Jiaming poured the tea, Fourth Master also took Hongjing's little hand and came to her.

Because it was still hot, Fourth Master was covered in sweat when he came over. So, Jiaming took the coat that Fourth Master had taken off, put it away, and personally wrung out a wet towel to wipe his sweat.

After Fourth Master wiped his sweat and drank some tea, Jiaming personally gave him a massage.

During the massage, Fourth Master smelled the delicate fragrance emanating from the fine tea shop, which was pleasant and comforting, and his heart gradually calmed down.

After a massage, Fourth Master felt much better, his tired body felt much more comfortable.

In a great mood, Fourth Master immediately picked up his youngest son, who was sitting obediently beside him and quietly playing with his little abacus, and brought him to the mat to play with him.

Listening to the child's sweet, childlike voice and clear laughter, and smelling the faint scent of milk emanating from him, Fourth Master felt increasingly at ease.

Jiaming checked the time and realized it was time to make dinner. She told Fourth Master and then led Green Willow to the kitchen.

After dinner, Fourth Master took his youngest son's hand and strolled around the peach grove and garden in Peach Garden with Jiaming. After returning, he took a bath, chatted with Ming'er about daily life for a while, and then they took a nap together.

The next morning, he got up early, full of energy, and left.

Jiaming watched the Fourth Master's departing figure. She knew that the Fourth Master was also involved in the competition for that position, but when he came to her, he didn't mention anything about it.

She asked Hongxuan about it when he came back.

Hongxuan didn't hide anything and told everything he could, but most of it was things that Jiaming already knew.

For example, the Eighth Prince's mansion next door was bustling with people, while the Fourth Prince's mansion was kept tightly shut by the Fourth Prince's orders. Of course, before the orders to keep the gates tightly shut were given, the number of people coming to the mansion was not as many as those going to the mansion next door.

Since she couldn't get anything new out of him, Jiaming lost interest in asking any more questions.

Anyway, historically, even without her involvement, the Fourth Prince still ascended to that position. She should just live her life as usual!

After leaving the Peach Blossom Courtyard, Fourth Master felt that after being extremely tired yesterday, he was full of energy and spirit again today.

As a result, Fourth Master preferred to relax at Jiaming's place.

As a result, the Fourth Prince visited Taoyuan and Jiaming much less often than before. However, the Fourth Prince had been very busy lately and had many worries, so he didn't come to the inner courtyard often. But relatively speaking, the Fourth Prince went to Taoyuan almost all the time except for visiting his wife, which could be described as a special favor.

In the Peach Courtyard, Hongtao and Lvliu, who were loyal to Jiaming, were extremely worried. They feared that this would cause their master to face another wave of relentless targeting, and if something were to happen... For a moment, the two of them broke out in a cold sweat.

Upon seeing this, Jiaming asked curiously, "What's wrong with you all?"

The two women immediately voiced their concerns.

Jiaming chuckled and said, "There won't be anything targeted at you. Even if there is, it won't be much. Don't worry."

Hearing Hongtao and Lvliu's worried expressions, Xiao Hezi frowned as well. He was also somewhat worried and didn't quite understand why his master was saying that, so he asked, "Why not?"

Jiaming looked towards the front courtyard and said, "Your Prince is at a critical moment right now. He can't allow any unrest within the manor. Besides..."

Xiao Hezi, Hongtao, and Lvliu suddenly realized, "So that's why they didn't dare to act rashly, because they had Grandpa, this big Buddha, to keep them in check!"

“Not only because of this,” Jiaming said, gesturing towards the three courtyards of the Fujin, Hesheli Consort, and Li Shi, “the three of them are very sensible. The master doesn’t want to be distracted by matters of the manor, so of course they have to be understanding. Otherwise, what if the master gets tired of them?”

Red Hearts frowned. "But there are still those who don't know when to stop. Not everyone is smart."

Before Jiaming could answer, Xiao Hezi spoke up first: "Those people are nothing to worry about. They've tried to harm our master and the young masters before, and every time our master retaliated. They wouldn't dare to do anything bad to our master. Of course, even if they did, their clumsy methods wouldn't succeed."

Thinking back on past experiences, Hearts immediately realized how stupid her question was and felt a little embarrassed.

The green willows nearby, to help Hongtao out of her predicament, immediately changed the subject.

Just as Jiaming had predicted, Li Shi was jealous and envious of Jiaming, but she didn't intend to cause her any trouble.

But she still really hoped that the Fourth Prince could visit her.

Since the study in the front yard was forbidden to people from the back yard, the women in the back yard could only wait for the Fourth Master's arrival and could no longer take the initiative to compete.

But the Fourth Prince, after returning from the imperial palace, went to Li's Pear Courtyard once, and never went there again.

Li was in a hurry.

"Sigh, why isn't Master coming?"

Those who served Lady Li, upon hearing her words, all assumed that their mistress was hoping for the Prince's favor!

In reality, Li did not think that way, or rather, it could be said that it was not simply that kind of thinking.

She wanted to take this opportunity to offer the Fourth Prince a very useful piece of advice—when discussing the heir apparent, it was best not to be the first to speak out, as the emperor would certainly be wary of a prince who was jointly recommended by a powerful group of ministers.

Although the Fourth Prince did not take the lead in history, she just wanted to show him that her suggestions were useful, so that he would appreciate her more and deepen her position in his heart.

As a result, the Fourth Prince did not come. It wasn't until November that the Third Prince, Yinzhi, accused the First Prince, Yinti, of cursing the Crown Prince. The First Prince, Yinti, was stripped of his title of Prince Zhi and imprisoned.

Then, many ministers petitioned to establish the Eighth Prince, Yinzhi, as heir, but Emperor Kangxi refused. The Eighth Prince's title of Beile was also stripped by the enraged Emperor Kangxi.

And Li's plan also failed.

At this tense moment, in the study of the front courtyard of the Fourth Prince's mansion.

"What?" Fourth Master stood up in shock, looking solemnly at the guard who had reported the news to him.