Although the Second Princess of the East Courtyard is currently the youngest heir in the entire household, she has been extremely well-behaved during her trip to the palace.
After returning to the East Courtyard and waking up, she laughed and greeted Li Chenjiao. Li Chenjiao held the Second Princess in her arms and examined the gifts from the palace ladies one by one.
I looked at it with the Second Princess, and there happened to be a small box of silk flowers inside, all in bright and beautiful colors that little girls wear.
Li Chenjiao gave a flower to the Second Princess to play with, and then gave instructions to the two maids.
"From now on, whatever the Empress, the Fourth Master, or the Fujin bestow upon the Second Princess, should be registered and stored separately. Make room in the back room for Aman, and have Xiao Luzi go to the treasury tomorrow to get a larger display shelf. The wood doesn't need to be expensive; walnut wood will do."
The two maids understood Li Chenjiao's meaning and agreed.
Li Chenjiao, holding the Second Princess, seemed to have thought of something again. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "My sister-in-law gave birth to Yi'er more than a year ago. Let's pick out a good set of writing materials and send them back during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Right now, it's not a holiday, so sending things out won't attract attention."
Last year, during the New Year, when Li Chenjiao sent a letter home to her father and mother, in addition to finding some precious medicinal herbs from her private treasury, she also selected some fabrics and had her two maids make clothes for her nephew.
As for giving it to her sister-in-law, Jue Luo, whom she had never met, Li Chenjiao simply rummaged through the chests and found a pair of gold pendants and a gold bracelet.
Most of the jewelry here at Li Chenjiao's place bears the imperial seal of the Imperial Household Department, and any jewelry that leaks out will be subject to strict inspection. Although gold pendants and bracelets are considered vulgar, they can still be converted into several decent pieces of jewelry when converted into silver.
Furthermore, we should also observe the character of this Jue Luo clan member whom we have never met.
Her own father, mother, and brother were all trustworthy. Now that Li Chenjiao had become a concubine, she could openly send letters home during festivals, and her family would naturally know that Li Chenjiao was somewhat favored in the Fourth Prince's household.
Li Chenjiao had never met Jue Luo Shi. Although she knew her mother had a sharp eye, she was still afraid of trouble in the inner quarters.
Like the Ulanara clan, the maternal family of the Fujin, the Fujin's father, Feiyanggu, was quite capable and had a prominent position in the imperial court. However, his four sons, namely the Fujin's three older brothers and one younger brother, were all hopeless and incompetent.
I heard that the other day, the younger brother of the Fujin (a concubine of the emperor) went to the Ministry of Revenue to ask the Fourth Prince for a job.
Li Chenjiao herself was favored in the Fourth Prince's mansion, but she wouldn't be so foolish as to mention things like promoting her family members in front of the Fourth Prince.
As long as she can maintain her position in the Fourth Prince's mansion, her family won't be too upset.
Her father's official position over the years wasn't for nothing. It's just that Li Chenjiao was unaware of Luo's character and didn't want to say too much to her mother in the letter. However, her mother could probably understand what she meant.
Gold pendants and bracelets are ultimately only worth a small amount of money; they don't really test people's hearts.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, my family wrote back, saying as usual that everything was fine at home. However, my mother mentioned my sister-in-law, Jue Luo, in the letter, which was quite unusual.
It is said that after receiving the pair of gold pendants and bracelets during the New Year, Lady Jue Luo first asked her mother's opinion before breaking the jewelry and exchanging it for a pair of longevity locks. This was naturally prepared for the Second Princess, who was not yet born at that time.
The remaining money of the Jue Luo clan was not spent on herself, but instead she picked out a pair of jade bracelets with excellent quality for her mother. From the meaning in her mother's letter, Li Chenjiao also understood that the Jue Luo clan had probably added their own money to the bracelets.
At that moment, Li Chenjiao understood and breathed a sigh of relief.
My family members are all smart and don't cause trouble, which makes things the least worrisome.
Li Chenjiao would often take out the pair of longevity locks prepared by Jue Luo Shi to tease the Second Princess.
The Second Princess wasn't wearing any jewelry at the moment, neither gold, jade, nor silver. Even though it was summer and the maids would make her warm when they put jewelry on her, Li Chenjiao still told the maids to put away all the jewelry, keeping only the ones given by the Fourth Prince and those sent from home, just to tease the Second Princess.
When the two maids asked Li Chenjiao out of curiosity, she replied casually, "Second Princess is still young. Although Madam Chen always keeps an eye on her, there are bound to be times when she overlooks things. When Second Princess is older and more sensible, she can choose these things herself. There's no need to make a fuss about it now."
At this moment, Li Chenjiao asked two maids to prepare writing materials for her nephew, and naturally she did not forget about Jue Luo's, so she took out a luminous pearl from the storeroom.
Li Chenjiao received a pair, one of the many gifts bestowed by the Fourth Prince during the last year's New Year.
It probably came from the Fourth Prince's private treasury, as there are no official seals from the Imperial Household Department on the left, right, or top.
After Li Chenjiao and the other two maids found the pearls and looked at them, they didn't feel any pain in their eyes: "I'll give one of these two luminous pearls back to my sister-in-law. When I'm not at home, I'll need to take good care of Father and Mother. Even though I'm not at home, if anything happens at home in the future, I can still provide some light like this luminous pearl. That's fine, just take these words back with you."
Li Chenjiao spoke without any airs, which pleased both maids on either side.
Li Chenjiao had just finished giving her instructions when she realized that there were still two months until the Mid-Autumn Festival, and then it would be the Fourth Prince's birthday in October. She was still wondering what to give him for the New Year.
Li Chenjiao, holding the Second Princess, said, "Why don't we just give Aman to your father?"
The second princess couldn't understand at all; she just looked at Li Chen and smiled sweetly.
Qiu Hu, standing to the side, couldn't help but chide in reproach, "Master—"
Li Chenjiao cleverly covered her mouth and said, "Okay, okay, I won't say anymore. I can't bear to part with her. Your father doesn't even know how to hold our little Aman. If I were to give my little Aman to your father, I'm afraid he would drop her and make her cry on the very first day."
Li Chenjiao loves to talk to the Second Princess whenever she has free time. Even though the Second Princess is too young to understand anything, Li Chenjiao still talks to her happily.
However, Li Chenjiao actually thought about it carefully after saying that.
The Fourth Prince is so busy that we only see him at night. Who knows, maybe Fulu from the front courtyard or Su Peisheng will find a wet nurse to take care of the Second Princess.
Li Chenjiao hugged the Second Princess in her arms again, and naturally thought of the Third Prince who was being carried to Madam Xu.
Li Chenjiao paused for a moment, then casually asked a question.
Qiu Ci hadn't heard much about what had happened since Miss Xu moved into the new courtyard.
"Although Miss Xu adopted the Third Prince, she seems to be the same as before, still living a secluded life, and there is not a word about the Third Prince."
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