"Your Highness, Princess, this little eunuch says he was sent by Lord Li and wants to see you." The guard said this, and the little eunuch immediately knelt down and kowtowed, looking very frightened.
"Your Highness, I did not intrude into the palace on purpose. It is only because Lord Li was concerned about Madam Li that he instructed me to come and inquire about her."
The third princess waved her hand, then nodded to Jiayin and went inside.
Jiayin thanked the guard and then asked the young eunuch a few questions.
She was relieved to hear that her second uncle and Mr. Wen were all doing well and showed no signs of heatstroke.
Then, she called Caiyun forward and gave her five small bottles.
“Caiyun, do me a favor. Go with this young eunuch and give these to my second uncle.”
Caiyun quickly smiled and agreed...
Li Lao Er and the others had been out in the sun for most of the morning, and when they finally got a short break, they were exhausted.
After taking a bite of food, each person slumped in their chairs like a dehydrated salted fish, refusing to get up, completely disregarding their image.
Caiyun and the little eunuch entered the side hall from outside. When they walked along the wall to Li Lao Er's side, Li Lao Er was drowsy. He immediately woke up when he saw the two of them.
Caiyun bowed and said softly, "My lord, I am Caiyun, the head maid of the Third Princess. The princess asked me to deliver something to you."
After saying that, she took out a few small bottles.
Li Lao Er took it, looked at it carefully, and then asked about his mother and niece.
Caiyun didn't hide anything and explained it in detail.
Li Lao Er breathed a long sigh of relief and said with a smile, "It's all thanks to His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Princess for their extra care."
When Caiyun saw many officials looking over, she quickly took her leave.
Li Lao Er rewarded the young eunuch, watched him leave, and then opened the small bottle.
Mr. Wen leaned closer, caught a whiff of the refreshing scent, and smiled. "Peppermint candy? Give me one! This weather is so hot, I could fall asleep just walking around."
Li Lao Er handed him a bottle, then went next door to find Jia An, Liu Zhiheng, and Old Master Liu. When he returned, Mr. Wen was holding an empty bottle, on the verge of tears.
Before Li Lao Er could even ask, more officials surrounded him...
After enduring until sunset, the officials and noblewomen who had been mourning the dead gradually left the palace.
The carriages and servants who had been waiting at the palace gate all day also became lively.
The thought that there were still six days left filled everyone with despair, yet no one dared to show it.
Inside the Earl's mansion, Granny Chang and her servants had already prepared the meal and prepared the bathwater.
Everyone quickly took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and finally escaped the embarrassment of being covered in sweat and odor.
When the food was served, everyone ate and talked about the day's events.
Li Lao Er sipped his lotus seed soup and said with a smile to his niece, "Fu Niu'er, bring us more mints tomorrow. The ones that were sent over today were all snatched up by others. Mr. Wen and I only managed to eat two."
Jia'an, looking both helpless and proud, chimed in, "Me too! Even strangers would chat with me for ages over a piece of candy. I might as well just give them one and save myself the trouble of talking."
Jiayin smiled as she prepared the cold noodles for her grandmother, casually replying, "We have them in our shop. If we tell them to buy from the shop, our business will definitely be even more prosperous."
"Are you out of your mind from the heat?" Jia'an chuckled, reminding him, "Isn't our shop closed?"
"Oh dear," Jiayin exclaimed in surprise, "I completely forgot! I was just telling the Lady of the Duke of Zhenguo's Heir to go to the shop to buy it back in the palace."
Grandma Li patted her granddaughter's hand and comforted her, "It's nothing. It's so late, we can't buy any more from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion anyway. We can just bring more to give as gifts tomorrow!"
Jiayin nodded. The situation was tense, and it was indeed inappropriate to send someone else. It would be best to give them another bottle when we meet tomorrow.
It wasn't that she particularly wanted to befriend the Duke of Zhenguo's family; she simply didn't want to break her promise.
Although they had no appetite, everyone still managed to eat most of what they wanted.
After dinner, Zheng He returned with news of the fleet.
“Lord, our boat has been sailing smoothly with the wind and we were already two hundred miles away by noon. It’s probably even further away by now.”
Hearing this, everyone felt relieved, and after saying a few more words, they dispersed to rest.
It seems like I just closed my eyes, and the eastern sky was already faintly turning white, and a new day had begun.
In every household, countless people were complaining and secretly cursing, but they still had to rush to the palace without missing a beat...
Compared to yesterday, today the Third Princess took charge. After only one round of kneeling, she invited Old Lady Li and Jiayin to a side hall to continue "copying scriptures".
The little fox finally had a change of heart and remembered that it had an owner, so it suddenly appeared out of nowhere to join in the fun.
But the weather was too hot, and carrying a fluffy little stove on top of that was unbearable for everyone.
Thus, the beloved little fox fell out of favor for the first time.
When the prince came over at noon, it promptly jumped into his arms and continued to cling to the dragon's leg.
The prince didn't mind, fed it fruit, said a few words to the others, and then left.
Upon seeing this, the Crown Princess and the others outside the door immediately had their own ideas...
Leaving aside how hard everyone in the palace worked, just talking about Broken Gold Beach, it was much quieter now that the children had all left.
The half-dried-up river outside the village no longer sees boys shirtless catching fish or having water fights.
The children carrying baskets to cut grass at the foot of the mountain are no longer seen.
Even in the orchard, there's no need to worry about children ruining the unripe fruit!
During mealtimes, no woman was shouting "Little rabbit!" at the top of her lungs anymore...
Everyone seemed a little out of place, and they would often gather under the big tree at the village entrance, gazing at the path, seemingly hoping for something, missing something...
In the past, the village chief would have certainly offered some words of advice, but he didn't have the time now.
He took a car and drove around the villages with Uncle Zhao.
The village heads of the villages all gave them a warm welcome, and in the end, they gathered at the home of Village Head Jing under the big locust tree to slaughter a chicken and stew meat, and then sat down to drink wine.
Taking advantage of his slight intoxication, the village chief said, "My old brothers, we've come here today for no other reason than to inform you that our village will be under lockdown for a month. Unless absolutely necessary, no one should enter or leave. Please inform the villagers and tell them not to go near us."
Jing Lizheng and the others were surprised to hear this and asked, "What happened? Why is the village suddenly being sealed off?"
The village chief waved his hand and laughed, "Isn't it because the Empress has passed away? The main families are all in the city mourning, and there's no one in the village to take charge, so we simply sealed off the village. Normally, we'd be worried about disrupting the children's studies, but now that schools in and around the city are closed for a month, even Mr. Jiang has gone to the city to play, so there's no need to worry."
Jing Lizheng and the others nodded; the reason sounded quite reasonable.
The village chief added, "Speaking of which, things have been going on non-stop since the beginning of the year, both inside and outside the city. It's really a bad omen."
"My right eyelid twitches every day, it just won't stop. I always feel like something big might happen at any time."
Jingli slapped his thigh and replied, "Brother, we're really the same. Me too, I just don't feel at ease. No matter how many years I've lived, no matter how hard life has been, I don't think I've ever felt this anxious."
My darlings, starting today I'll be posting a separate chapter. I'm working hard to build an even more exciting storyline. Hugs, good luck!
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