Song Bairan walked up to Meng Qi with a wooden stand in his hand and said with a smile, "Mother, please take a look at the gift I gave to my eldest brother."
Meng Qi took the strange creature and said in surprise, "Did you make this yourself?"
Song Bairan nodded, "Put the pen down for big brother."
Meng Qi then realized it was a pen holder. "Hmm, that's really nice. This pen holder is a great gift. If your brother sees it, he'll surely study hard every day. And look at this kitten, its whiskers are so long."
After Song Bairan heard what she said, his face, which had just been smiling, turned dejected. Meng Qi looked up at Zhao, who gave him an awkward smile. "Maybe the Second Young Master drew this based on his cloth tiger. It doesn't look quite like it."
Meng Qi understood that Song Bairan had drawn a tiger, and then laughed, "I haven't finished yet. I mean, look at this little cat's apprentice, his whiskers are really long."
Song Bairan was happy again when she heard her say that. "Mother, I know that the cat is the tiger's master."
"Yes, do you like painting?"
Song Bairan nodded vigorously, "I like it."
Meng Qi looked up at Zhao and said, "If the Second Young Master likes it, I will talk to the prince and ask him to hire a professional calligraphy and painting master to teach him."
Zhao smiled and said, "That's great. I've been looking for an opportunity to talk to you about this, but you're so busy that I really don't want to bother you with such trivial matters."
Meng Qi handed the pen holder to Yuan Yue and said, "Go find a beautiful box to put it in." Then she extended her hand to Song Bairan and said, "Come on, let's go to your big brother's yard and take a look."
As they walked, he said to Zhao, "No matter what the Second Young Master does, it's not a small matter. From now on, if it's about the Second Young Master, even if I'm busy, you can just go find Mama Liu or Yuan Dong and Yuan Yue."
Zhao responded respectfully, and as she watched Meng Qi walking out holding Song Bairan's hand, a stone fell from her heart.
When she first learned that the prince was going to move the second young master to the princess's courtyard, she was surprised and disapproved. Ever since the princess married into the family, she had heard so many things that she couldn't believe a young lady from a marquis's mansion could do such a thing.
Although she wasn't married into the family as part of Gong's dowry, she was truly valued and favored by Gong. Because she was the second young master's wet nurse, her family lived a good life. Furthermore, when Gong was still around, she trusted her very much and even betrothed her younger sister to the son of a capable steward of the Gong family. Now, her younger sister was living a very good life in the south.
Later, Gong passed away, and her mother and maid who served her were unable to stay for various reasons, so she had a greater responsibility to protect the second young master.
At first, she thought that the second young master was confined because the princess was protecting him, so the prince felt bad and wanted to move the second young master to Jing'an Garden, hoping that he could have more time to interact with the princess and have some fun.
But on the third day after the princess returned, Madam Liu told her that the Second Young Master would be living permanently in Jing'an Garden. She really didn't know whether this was the prince's idea or the princess's, and the Second Young Master's situation in the mansion was still very awkward.
The eldest young master is protected by Concubine Lin. Even if her method of protection is a bit extreme, Concubine Lin really wants the best for the eldest young master. Moreover, the eldest young master's mother's family is in Beijing, so he can go to the Lin family from time to time, and people from the Lin family often come to visit him.
The eldest daughter is a girl, and secondly, she is raised by Wu's biological mother, so naturally she will not be bullied.
The Second Young Master, whose mother's family lived far away in Jiangnan, was left with only a single wet nurse. She was extremely cautious, never daring to let the Second Young Master take too much notice, fearing he might bring bad luck to others. Even Concubine Li's special favoritism for the Second Young Master frightened her to death, fearing that one day Concubine Li would ask the prince to take the Second Young Master to her courtyard to raise him.
After more than a month of careful handling, the princess's behavior convinced her that the Second Young Master had simply moved to a new place. Everyone in Jing'an Garden treated the Second Young Master with great respect and care, and he and the princess shared meals from the small kitchen.
She was always considerate and careful on weekdays, and the princess had no intention of making things difficult for the second young master. Apart from normal greetings, she never allowed him to go to the upper room, which made Mother Liu feel relieved.
Now that I think about it, it's good for the second young master to stay with the princess like this. Now the eldest young master has moved to the outer courtyard. Judging from the prince's behavior, I'm afraid that in three or four years, the second young master will do the same. During this time, he can cultivate more feelings with the princess. Especially if the princess has a child in the next few years, the child will definitely be close to the second young master, which is a good thing for the second young master.
Meng Qi didn't know that Mother Liu had thought so much in such a short time. She held Song Bairan's hand and walked along the path along the flower wall without getting in the sedan chair.
A breeze blew by, bringing with it the fragrance of flowers. She seemed to have never walked so relaxed in Prince Rui's Palace before.
Meng Qi gave Xiao Lin the full authority to handle the matter of Song Baimo moving to the outer courtyard. Xiao Lin originally wanted to invite the women of the Lin family, but Song Chengze rejected her idea. He only agreed that after Song Baimo moved to the outer courtyard, Xiao Lin would take him back to the Lin family.
As they walked out of the second gate, Wang Chenghai came up to greet them with a smile. "I was just thinking of inviting you. Why didn't the princess come in a sedan chair in this scorching sun?"
Meng Qi smiled and said, "It would be nice to take a walk, feel the breeze, and smell the flowers. Are you ready?"
Wang Chenghai stretched out his hand, and Meng Qi took his arm and stepped over the threshold.
"Yes, I just came from the eldest young master's courtyard. Concubine Li and Concubine Wu have gone to the banquet, and the prince has not returned from the palace yet."
"Does the young master like it?"
Meng Qi chose a large desk for Song Baimo. It was carved from a single tree root, and the pen holder, pen holder, and inkstone were all part of the same piece, making it quite rare. Meng Qi had asked Meng Wei to help her find it, as he was very skilled at finding such unique items.
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