By the time it ended, it was already late afternoon (3:00-5:00 PM).

He told everyone to go back, and Heyue followed the Fourth Prince's wife back to the main house.

"How do you feel?" Fourth Princess Consort asked with a smile.

He Yue scratched her head and laughed awkwardly, "It's alright." Actually, she found it quite boring after watching for a while and barely managed to get through it.

The Fourth Princess knew her temperament, so she didn't ask any more questions: "You are just too lazy. If you become the mistress of a household in the future, you can't be like this anymore. Even if you don't want to face those women, you have to deal with them rationally. You can't let them overstep the bounds of the mistress of the household, and you can't go too far and give others something to talk about. You have to grasp this balance well."

He Yue nodded, indicating that she understood.

Fourth Princess Consort instructed Ziyu: "Go to the front and ask the master if he wants to come for dinner tonight."

Ziyu agreed and went.

A short while later, Ziyu returned and said that the master would not be coming over tonight.

Fourth Princess Consort nodded to indicate that she understood, and then asked, "Are you going to rest at Li's place?"

Ziyu shook her head: "Master didn't say he was going to Consort Li's place. When I went in, Master was busy."

Fourth Princess Consort waved for her to leave, then looked at Heyue: "Our master is usually quite busy. He only comes here to rest on the first and fifteenth of each month. At other times, he is in other rooms. Of course, who he goes to depends on his mood. Most of the time, he is in the study. No matter where your husband goes, you should not ask too many questions, but you should find out where he is in a timely manner. You should not be clueless when asked."

This was yet another lesson in harmony and joy.

Heyue was utterly impressed by the Fourth Prince's wife; she was truly a model of virtue, no wonder the Fourth Prince always respected her as his primary wife.

Having achieved so much as the primary consort, she could have maintained her position even without the Fourth Prince's favor.

Perhaps it's a common trait among women, but even the most virtuous woman has one or two things that make her wary, like Li Gege.

That's why he tried every means to bring Li's two children under his care and raise them himself, thus cutting off Li's support.

But according to He Yue, Li will have another son in the future, and may even be promoted to a secondary consort because of it. She is practically an unkillable cockroach.

Not only was there Lady Li in front of her, but there was also Lady Nian behind her. Although the Fourth Prince's wife appeared glamorous on the surface, who knows how difficult things were behind the scenes.

Therefore, if you want to be a virtuous wife, you really have to be prepared to be exhausted.

Instead of that, why not live as you please, and criticize whoever you want? Why should all the good things go to men?

Thinking about all this, and considering that the Fourth Prince's wife had treated her well over the years, Heyue still asked, "Fourth Prince's wife, aren't you tired of this?"

The Fourth Princess Consort was taken aback. Seeing her curious and concerned gaze, she chuckled, "What silly things are you saying, child? Who isn't tired in life? But no matter how tired you are, you still have to keep going, right?"

Heyue shook her head: "That's not what I meant. Fourth Prince's wife loves Fourth Prince, but she has to be a good primary wife, so she has to pretend to be virtuous and treat other women and their children well. But Fourth Prince's wife has forgotten that she is also a woman. Even if she is jealous or angry, what is wrong with that? If she continues like this, she will only exhaust herself. Why bother?"

The Fourth Prince's wife was dazed by her words, a faint sadness appearing on her face, but she quickly concealed it, laughing until tears streamed down her face: "You child, what nonsense are you talking about? What love or anything, don't you know shame! Don't forget, I am a royal wife, and everything must be for the sake of the royal offspring. What do personal feelings matter? Even the Prince has many helpless situations. Many times, even when facing women he doesn't like, he has to deal with them and let them continue the royal line. Compared to me, isn't the Prince even more miserable?"

He Yue's lips twitched slightly. In the end, women are just tools for procreation. Even the primary wife is no exception. It's just a matter of reputation and status.

Such a life is absolutely unbearable for Heyue.

It's probably because the Fourth Prince's wife, a native of ancient times, received that kind of education from a young age, so it's really not appropriate to say much about Heyue, who came from another time.

Heyue picked up the teacup in front of her, tilted her head back, and gulped it down.

The Fourth Prince's wife glanced at her helplessly: "Why are you still like this? Where did all the manners I taught you go?"

He Yue chuckled awkwardly, revealing the empty bottom of her teacup, and said helplessly, "I forgot. It's all gone, so there's nothing I can do about it."

"You're just being shameless," the Fourth Princess said, but she didn't pursue the matter any further.

Suddenly, the Fourth Prince's wife remembered something and instructed Yunying: "Go and tell the kitchen to make a bowl of lotus leaf and lotus seed porridge for the master, and personally deliver it to him."

Yunying agreed and was about to go downstairs when the Fourth Princess called her back.

He frowned and pondered for a moment, then turned to Heyue and smiled helplessly: "You should go. You know that when the master gets busy, he doesn't care about anything. What will happen if this continues? If we send a maid, the master will definitely not listen. If you go, he might listen to you."

"Huh?" He Yue was taken aback for a moment, then readily agreed, "Okay, no problem."

"Thank you for your trouble. This is something a maid should do." The Fourth Princess Consort breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Heyue shook her head: "It's nothing." Heyue didn't care about this at all.

The Fourth Princess Consort instructed her maid to oversee the preparation of a bowl of lotus leaf and lotus seed porridge in the small kitchen. During this time, Heyue drank two cups of tea, this time only daring to sip them slowly and not daring to drink them in large gulps.

Fifteen minutes later, the lotus leaf and lotus seed porridge was ready. Heyue called Yuying over, but it was Hailan who came instead, saying that Yuying had gone to relieve herself.

Heyue nodded and instructed Hailan to carry the red lacquered food box containing the porridge out of the courtyard.

Not long after they left, Yu Ying came chasing after them from behind, calling out, "Princess, Princess..."

He Yue stopped, looking at her panting, and asked in confusion, "Why did you run so fast?"

Yu Ying smiled and said, "This servant is just afraid of not being able to catch up with the princess." She glanced at the food box that Hai Lan was carrying, a hint of panic flashed across her face, and she quickly reached out and snatched it away with considerable force.

Hailan was caught off guard and startled by her action. When she saw the food box in Yuying's hands, she looked annoyed and asked, "What are you doing?"

Yu Ying's face showed even more panic, but she quickly concealed it and forced a smile as she explained, "N-nothing, I just wanted to go with Gege."

He Yue was quite puzzled by her behavior, but didn't think much of it. Afraid that the porridge would get cold, she quickly waved her hand and said, "Alright, alright, Yu Ying, come with me."

Yu Ying was delighted, exclaimed "Oh!", and followed He Yue away.

Hailan stomped her foot in anger.

Upon arriving at the front yard, just as they were about to reach the main house, they saw the Thirteenth Prince walking towards them.

Seeing the food box Yu Ying was carrying, he asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"

Not surprised to see the Thirteenth Prince there, she said "oh" and explained, "The Fourth Prince's wife asked me to help deliver some porridge to the Fourth Prince and also to persuade him to rest."

The Thirteenth Prince frowned, vaguely sensing something was amiss, and muttered under his breath, "Why should I let you do this? You're not a maid. Never mind, I'll deliver it myself."

After saying that, he reached out to take the food box.

Yu Ying hurriedly took a step back, her expression flustered for a moment, but she quickly smiled again: "How can we let the Thirteenth Prince do this? This servant will just deliver it over."

The Thirteenth Prince looked at her with surprise, then smiled at Heyue and said, "You're such a sensible girl."