The Princess Consort didn't bring the Second Prince with her today. Although the Second Prince's health has improved these days, the imperial physician still said that he shouldn't be exposed to the wind, so the Princess Consort really didn't dare to bring the Second Prince out at this time.
The weather has been getting colder lately. Although there hasn't been much rain and it hasn't snowed yet, the wind is blowing fiercely at night.
At this time, the Princess Consort naturally dared not bring the Second Prince out.
The Second Prince now resembles the frail and sickly eldest princess when she was first born. He cannot be exposed to wind or sun, and his servants are always on edge when it is windy or rainy.
In the end, the princess only blamed the servants for not being attentive enough. After all, the eldest princess had such a tragic fate and had been tormented by Song Shi, yet she had still managed to live to this day and remained healthy for a single day.
If the eldest princess has a loyal servant like Lady Wang by her side, then it's natural that the servants around the second prince aren't doing their job well enough.
As a result, the Fujin (principal wife) gave the wet nurses who served the Second Prince an even more unfriendly look.
In short, the Second Prince's health has been fluctuating.
The Fujin (Prince's wife) had only had some free time these past two days, and thinking about the Second Prince's health made her frown. Even now, looking at the children in the room, she felt only annoyance.
The princess consort calmly called for him to rise, and as she sat down, her gaze fell on the heaving belly of Lady Li below her, and her eyes darkened slightly.
“I haven’t had time to check on you all these days. I’ll skip the greetings on the fifteenth. Is everything alright? Is there anything lacking? Especially Li Shi, you’re pregnant now, so you need to be extra careful.”
The princess consort then launched into another round of routine inquiries.
Li Chenjiao was helped to her feet, and after exchanging pleasantries, she sat down at the Fujin's invitation.
This time, the princess consort didn't pay much attention to the women, but she did pay more attention to the children.
This is a rare sight to see all the children in the manor gathered together.
"You've all brought your princes and princesses out today; it's been a long time since I've seen them."
Li Chenjiao led the way, and Song Shi, Wu Shi, and Xu Shi stood up and said in unison, "This humble servant was negligent."
The Fujin waved her hand: "You have all taken excellent care of them. The children are still young and it is not convenient for them to move around easily. I am also their mother, so how could I blame you for being negligent? On the contrary, I, as their legal mother, should reward you."
Wu smiled and replied, "I heard that the Second Prince has not been feeling well lately? It was my oversight; I didn't dare to disturb you these days because I thought you were busy."
Wu's words were a veiled barb.
The princess's face turned slightly cold, and the faint smile on her lips faded even further: "It's good that you mean well. You've worked hard raising the eldest prince. Has the fourth prince visited him these days? I think the eldest prince is clever and intelligent; he's a really good child."
The Fujin (Prince Consort) was always the best at saying things that were both gentle and witty, and she could always maintain a proper and generous smile while saying them, which was a skill in itself.
At first glance, the wife's words seemed full of concern, but in reality, the Fourth Prince had been back in the mansion for almost a month. He had visited the inner courtyard several times, even going to see Madam Song, but he had not visited Madam Wu, who had given birth to the eldest prince of the mansion.
Wu paused, and after a long while, bowed her head very respectfully: "Yes. Eldest Prince, quickly go to your stepmother and pay your respects."
The eldest prince was pushed to his feet by Lady Wu. He hesitated for a moment before slowly walking up to his wife. He raised his hand to greet her respectfully, his voice still childish: "Greetings to my mother, may my mother be blessed."
The princess smiled and helped the eldest prince up, saying "good boy" twice. From a distance, she seemed to dote on him. She even had Yu Ru, who was beside her, take out a pair of jade pendants carved with fierce tigers and eagles, which were auspicious for the young prince.
"These jade pieces were a gift from the Empress when I went to the palace to pay my respects after I was made the primary consort. Now they have been made into two jade pendants, one for the eldest prince and one for the third prince. I also hope that all my children will be safe and healthy."
The Princess Consort is truly considerate of her illegitimate sons. There was only one pair of jade originally, and before the Princess Consort spoke, everyone thought it was prepared for the eldest and second princes. Unexpectedly, it was actually prepared for the eldest and third princes.
This shows how kind and generous the Princess Consort was.
Madam Xu quickly knelt down to express her gratitude, but still declined several times and dared not accept it.
It was the Fujin who spoke again, prompting the Third Prince's wet nurse to step forward and accept the gift: "This is a token of my heartfelt gratitude. I specially took it to the Baohua Hall in the palace to have it blessed by a master. I also hope that all the children in the manor can grow up safely."
Only the eldest prince and the third prince possessed this jade pendant. The eldest princess was older and could already understand some of it. She waited for Xunjiu, but in the end, she could only lower her head in disappointment.
The second princess couldn't understand the string of words. She glanced at the jade pendants from afar before looking away and turning her head back to play with the small beads that adorned Li Chenjiao's qipao.
Li Chenjiao touched the little girl's hand and tickled her. The little girl looked at her with a big smile, and the mother and daughter smiled at each other.
Alas, Li Chenjiao didn't care about any of this, since the Fujin wasn't a close person to the Second Princess anyway.
Aside from close family and friends, there's really no point in caring about other people's attitudes; being carefree is the best approach.
The mother and daughter joked with their heads down, but Song Shi didn't have such a big heart.
"Oh, so the Princess Consort only has the First Prince and the Third Prince in her heart, and has forgotten about the First Princess and the Second Princess? If this continues, our First Princess will be very envious."
Song said this jokingly, but since the Fourth Prince had always disliked the mistreatment of princes and princesses in the inner quarters, her words still sounded like a trap.
Once these words reached the ears of the Fourth Prince, the virtuousness displayed by the Princess Consort at that moment would be of little use.
The Fujin raised her hand and pointed at Song Shi in the air: "You, even if you forget anyone else, you could never forget the children in the manor. Yu Ru."
Yu Ru, who was behind the Fujin, quickly agreed and patted her hand lightly.
Soon two maids came in carrying trays of small red clay.
"We prepared a pair of eight-treasure necklaces for the two princesses, with different patterns on them, hoping that the two girls will have all eight treasures and live a safe and smooth life."
The Princess Consort really put her heart into it.
Li Chenjiao led the Second Princess to her feet and thanked them.
The eldest princess slowly raised her head upon hearing the sound, and her eyes lit up as she watched Wang Shi take the tray.
Does she have it too?
She quickly got up and bowed to the princess according to the etiquette the nanny had instructed her to do.
After sitting down again, she couldn't help but look at her mother beside her. She moved her lips, but Madam Song didn't even glance at her, her eyes and heart only waiting for the arrival of the Fourth Prince.
The little girl finally looked away with a hint of disappointment.
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