Finally, the Fourth Prince held the Second Princess for a while before dinner.
This is the first time the Fourth Prince has received such treatment. None of the other princes have ever enjoyed such treatment. After all, the eldest prince is still afraid of the Fourth Prince, the second prince is often sick and the Fourth Prince does not dare to hold him, and the Fourth Prince rarely visits the third prince. Now he misses him a little, but he has not yet had the chance to visit him.
The eldest princess said that because the little girl was three years old, she had become shy and lacked the closeness she had when she was young.
Furthermore, the Fourth Prince had never seen his father, the Emperor, hold any of the princes in his arms; at least not since he could remember.
This is generally how one teaches by example. The Fourth Prince now treats his children much the same way his father, the Emperor, treats them – stern, distant, and polite.
Only when he was in the East Courtyard, seeing how Li Shi and the Second Princess got along, would the Fourth Prince slowly begin to think that not all relationships with children were like that.
However, it took the Fourth Prince a while to get used to holding the Second Princess in his arms.
After all, the little girl was as light as a tuft of cotton. It's not that the Second Princess was frail, but the princess was still different from the prince.
Holding the Second Princess in his arms, the Fourth Prince felt an indescribable sense of comfort.
Li Chenjiao let the father and daughter play, and even gave them some pointers to make the little girl more comfortable in Fourth Master's arms.
After all, practice makes perfect, and Li Chenjiao could tell at a glance that Fourth Master was still a bit rusty.
The way he held the second princess clearly showed that he wasn't very skilled at it.
Indeed, there's still a saying that people prefer having grandchildren to having children, but Li Chenjiao doesn't really believe in that, and she thinks that Fourth Master doesn't really believe in it either.
As for why the Fourth Prince had never held the Second Princess before, Li Chenjiao pondered for a moment and thought that the Fourth Prince was just being stubborn.
The little girl smelled wonderful all over; just holding her in my arms and hearing her laughter made me happy all day.
However, Li Chenjiao guessed that the reason why the Fourth Prince had never held the Second Princess before was because he had never held her before, and no one else dared to let him hold her. She didn't mention this to Li Chenjiao.
With the Fourth Prince's robust physique, the Second Princess would probably complain that it was too uncomfortable to hold him in her arms.
Sure enough, when Li Chenjiao went to the outer room to check if dinner was ready, the little girl in the Fourth Master's arms gave him a pleading look.
Although the second princess is young, she is exceptionally clever.
She couldn't quite articulate her thoughts, but the little expressions on her face were so endearing they melted your heart.
When dinner was served, Li Chenjiao had a small table set up on the side, leaving a seat for the little girl.
The little girl must be hungry by now.
For dinner, Qiaoniang made a mixed hot and sour soup. The tofu strips, bamboo shoot strips, and chicken strips were finely chopped with even knife work. The spices were Qiaoniang's own handmade. The color of the soup was so appealing that it made one's mouth water.
Drizzle sesame oil on top and sprinkle with chopped cilantro; it smells delicious.
This is a dish from Sichuan. Qiao Niang made it because she knew that Li Chenjiao loved spicy food during her pregnancy. However, it's not very spicy. Drinking this hot and sour soup in winter is quite warming.
Last time, Qiaoniang knew that Li Chenjiao loved to eat jujube paste and yam, so this time she made jujube paste balls. She mixed osmanthus sugar, diced walnuts, and rock sugar into a filling, rolled it into balls, coated them with jujube paste, rolled them into rounds, rolled them in flour, and fried them in a pot until they were 80% cooked.
Once the meatballs turn golden brown and have a crispy crust, scoop them out and roll them in honey that has been simmered over low heat. That's it!
This dish was supposed to be Li Chenjiao's favorite, but even the Fourth Prince, who doesn't have a big sweet tooth, ate two of them, making a total of only eight or nine pieces on the plate.
This is enough to demonstrate Qiao Niang's skill.
Pingniang made pearl rice balls, which sounded like a snack, but it was actually a meat dish.
It's simply a matter of mixing minced pork and fish with various seasonings, shaping them into meatballs, rolling them in glutinous rice until fully coated, and then steaming them.
Li Chenjiao quite liked this dish.
Not only did Li Chenjiao like it, but the Second Princess also liked it. However, glutinous rice is not easy to digest, so Li Chenjiao did not let the little girl have much. She only let the little girl eat a third of a piece, and finally let her eat it little by little with vegetable porridge.
Another thing is that there's fish in it, and after thinking about it, Li Chenjiao decided to let Aman eat less of it.
Otherwise, Ah Man would be crying.
Fourth Master ate a piece but didn't realize it until Qiu Hu told him that there was fish in it.
Pingniang's cooking skills were exquisite, and no fishy smell could be detected at all.
After eating, Fourth Master gave Li Chenjiao a teasing look.
These are certainly not fish from the fish tank; it just so happens that there were some fish in the small kitchen today.
There were two or three pearl rice balls left in the last basket, which Li Chenjiao affectionately called "May you have abundance every year".
In reality, it was simply because Li Chenjiao couldn't eat anymore.
In addition to the dishes prepared in the small kitchen, the main kitchen also prepared several dishes, making for a rather large spread on the eight-immortal table today.
However, the meal was very satisfying for both adults and the child.
This time, Fourth Master has truly forgotten the unpleasantness that occurred in the main courtyard a few days ago.
He only stayed in the East Courtyard for half a day and had dinner, and the gloom of the past few days dissipated completely.
Even now, when the Fourth Prince is taking a bath in the clean room, he still finds it strange.
Li clearly said nothing and asked nothing; he simply forgot everything that happened in the main courtyard.
That's really strange.
It was only in the East Courtyard that the Fourth Master could feel such comfort at all times.
The reason why the Fourth Prince hesitated to come to the East Courtyard was simply because Li Shi was pregnant, and he felt really bad that she had to take care of him during her pregnancy.
As for why the Fourth Prince was thinking about Lady Niohuru, it was simply because his mother mentioned it when he went to the palace to pay his respects to her today.
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