Li Chenjiao spent the entire month of April at the estate in great comfort.
Oh, and the Fourth Prince too.
In early April, there was continuous spring rain, but by mid-April, the weather had completely warmed up, and the capital city enjoyed sunny weather every day.
Fourth Master didn't get up before dawn every day to ride his horse to the capital. He only went to the capital every day or two, and he would just check in at the Ministry of Revenue and stay for half a day at most before returning to the estate.
Sometimes, if the Ministry of Revenue really had something to do, they would send a message to the Ministry, and the Fourth Master would handle it on the estate.
Fourth Master often stayed in Li Chenjiao's courtyard, sometimes for several days in a row, leaving the proper front yard abandoned.
As for Wu Gege, ever since the Fourth Prince returned to Li Chenjiao's Xinlutang in the middle of the night, she has never tried to steal him away again.
The Fourth Prince would occasionally go to the East Wind Courtyard in the back, but only before lunch. After lunch, he would return to the front courtyard and then go to Li Chenjiao's New Green Hall for dinner.
Li Chenjiao was not as listless in the spring as she was in the winter.
When he got bored with reading storybooks, he would draw to pass the time, or on a fine day, he would go for a stroll in the woods with Fourth Master.
Li Chenjiao, tired from walking, sat down in a small pavilion outside the woods. She found it somewhat interesting to hear from the servants that the Fourth Master had gone hunting in the woods.
Holding the begonia-shaped fan that Fourth Master had gifted her last year, Li Chenjiao asked curiously, "Is Fourth Master very good at riding and archery?"
Both girls were a little curious.
Xiao Luzi, who was reporting back, twitched his lips and racked his brains to choose a more tactful way of putting it: "Among all the princes, the Fourth Prince's riding and archery skills are much better than the Third Prince's."
As soon as he said that, Li Chenjiao understood what Xiao Luzi meant.
The Third Master in front was a well-known figure in the capital, a pretty face who only knew how to write and paint.
Fourth Master was better at horsemanship and archery than Third Master, but that means Fourth Master's horsemanship and archery skills weren't actually very good either.
Li Chenjiao waved her round fan, still somewhat puzzled.
After all, Fourth Master does seem to be a very strong and healthy person, and Li Chenjiao has occasionally seen him exercising in the courtyard when she gets up early these days.
He doesn't look like someone with poor horsemanship or archery skills at all.
Before Li Chenjiao went to the capital for the imperial concubine selection, she had heard rumors that among the emperor's sons, the Prince Zhi was the most outstanding in riding and archery, followed by the Fifth Prince, and then the Crown Prince.
However, Li Chenjiao really didn't believe it.
As she fell asleep that night, Li Chenjiao couldn't help but ask, knowing full well that Fourth Master wouldn't be angry about it.
Fourth Master was surprised by her sudden question. He glanced at Li Chenjiao first, then asked in return, "Do you dislike me?"
You can't glean anything from the Fourth Prince's expression.
But that's not a good answer. What's there to complain about? If Li Chenjiao complains about Fourth Master's abilities, she probably won't be able to have breakfast tomorrow.
"This servant was just curious." Li Chenjiao peeked half her face out from under the covers, blinking her eyes and pretending to be obedient.
"My archery skills are just not good." Fourth Master stared into Li Chenjiao's eyes and told the truth.
Only?
So that means Fourth Master was faking it.
Li Chenjiao blinked again and quickly understood what the Fourth Master meant.
She turned over to face the Fourth Master, and naturally had to promise, "This servant will not tell anyone."
Fourth Master wasn't worried about that; he simply reached out and pulled the person into his arms, saying, "Since you're still energetic, there's no rush to sleep."
The entire month of April was spent in such shamelessness.
By the time May arrived, some people in the mansion had already begun to get restless.
It was only then that the Fujin realized that the Fourth Prince's talk of going to the estate for a short stay in March was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather a premeditated plan.
The princess was now filled with deep regret.
Although she was in charge of managing the household for the past month, there was a nanny named Xu who was constantly making things difficult for her and would use Consort De to pressure her.
This left her with absolutely no reason to have an outburst.
And then there's that charming Xie, who's always running to Song's courtyard; I wonder what she's up to.
At this moment, the Fujin truly regretted not shaking her head and refusing when the Fourth Prince asked her if she wanted to go to the estate for a short stay.
Fourth Master, this is hardly a short stay.
It's been more than two months already, and I still don't know how much longer I'll be staying at that estate.
Who knows, the Fourth Prince might stay until His Majesty's southern tour.
In May, the Fujin finally found an excuse to send someone to the estate to invite the Fourth Prince.
After all, the Dragon Boat Festival is just around the corner, which is a proper holiday.
The Fourth Prince was quite accommodating; after leaving the Ministry of Revenue on the third day of the fifth month, he returned to his residence.
When the Fourth Prince returned to the manor, he suddenly remembered something: "Are the persimmons in Madam Li's courtyard being carefully tended?"
The little princess had been thinking about eating persimmons these past few days, and now that he had stepped into the mansion, the Fourth Prince naturally thought of the cat that the little princess kept in the courtyard.
Su Peisheng had no idea about any of this. After thinking hard, he said, "I heard that before Li Gege went to the manor, she had someone stay in the courtyard to keep an eye on her."
The Fourth Prince hummed in agreement: "Send two more servants over to keep an eye on them for a while, lest they be spoiled."
Su Peisheng agreed, thinking to himself, "Goodness, Fourth Master is so fond of Princess Li that he even cares about the cats and dogs in her courtyard."
When the Fourth Prince entered the main courtyard, he reverted to his usual stern and unsmiling self.
This was something the Fujin was already used to, and she politely said, "It's almost lunchtime, Fourth Prince, why don't you have lunch first?"
Fourth Master has been having late breakfasts at the estate lately, mainly because Little Princess has been keeping him up late, so he's not hungry right now.
However, the Fourth Prince did not go against his wife's wishes. After all, his wife had indeed been much more well-behaved in the past month and had not done anything out of line just because the Fourth Prince was not in the mansion.
When the Fourth Prince nodded, the Princess Consort smiled and waved to the maids below to have lunch.
In the main courtyard, lunch was naturally always prepared with great care.
However, the Fourth Master had no appetite for the full table of dishes at the moment, but he did eat a few bites of vegetarian dishes.
When the princess consort used serving chopsticks to put food on his plate, the fourth prince glanced at him and, although he did not refuse, after taking a bite, he said in a deep voice, "Princess consort, eat more."
This means that the wife doesn't need to serve him food.
This was the first thing the two of them had said to each other since the start of lunch.
The entire hall was completely silent; even when the princess picked up food, she didn't make a sound.
Fourth Master knew the rules, but he still found the meal tasteless.
As soon as he stopped eating, his wife also stopped eating.
The Fourth Prince stood up and sat down on the small couch in the outer room: "With the Princess Consort here, everything is fine."
With just one sentence, the princess consort's idea of going to the estate was dispelled.
The Fourth Prince's meaning was very clear: the mansion could not function without someone in charge.
The wife was indeed worried that if she suggested going to the estate, the Fourth Prince would ask her to temporarily hand over the management of the household to Song Shi in the mansion.
That was something she didn't want to happen.
The words that were on the tip of the princess's tongue suddenly became awkward, and she could only stammer out, "The Dragon Boat Festival is just around the corner, and I was just about to ask Your Majesty what you think."
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