The Fourth Prince nodded slightly and hummed in agreement. Then, his gaze, which had been fixed on the canopy above his head, shifted and landed on the Fourteenth Prince.
The Fourteenth Prince scratched his head: "Fourth Brother?"
He hasn't had breakfast yet.
Fourth Brother looked at him and said, "Your clothes are not neat. Go wash up first before you come back."
The Fourteenth Prince sniffed and reluctantly withdrew.
After the Fourteenth Prince went to his room to wash up, the Fourth Prince spoke up: "Go and call your Master Li here."
Upon hearing this, Fu Lu left without stopping.
When Li Chenjiao arrived at Fululai, the teacup in front of her had already been changed once.
She was clearly somewhat surprised by Fu Lu's arrival. With a faint smile on her face, she asked first, "Has Master had breakfast?"
Fu Lu bowed respectfully: "No. Master is waiting for Consort Fu to have breakfast."
Li Chenjiao was clearly taken aback when she heard this.
After a moment, Li Chenjiao's smile seemed to become more genuine: "Alright, I've come today to serve you, Master."
Fulu laughed upon hearing this, saying, "With you here, we servants can finally slack off."
These words were spoken so kindly that Fu Lu responded in a similarly friendly manner.
Li Chenjiao didn't delay and quickly went to Fourth Master's place.
The aroma of breakfast outside was enticing, and Li Chenjiao's mouth watered at the smell of the milk buns.
She walked quickly into the inner room. The shoes were sewn by several maids when Fourth Master was sick during the Mid-Autumn Festival. There were two extra layers of soft cotton sewn into the insoles, so there was almost no sound when she walked.
However, it was warm enough to wear last winter, but now that it's almost May, it feels a bit stuffy.
She entered the inner room silently, and the curtain was pulled open. The Fourth Master was lying very properly, whether he was sleeping or taking a nap, it was unclear.
Su Peisheng brought over a cushioned square chair and placed it next to Li Chenjiao's legs.
Li Chenjiao nodded her thanks, then silently curtsied to the Fourth Master before taking her seat.
This caused quite a commotion. The Fourth Master opened his eyes, then lowered them again after a moment.
Seeing that Fourth Master wanted to sit up, Li Chenjiao quickly got up and helped him sit up slowly against the headboard.
However, after just this one movement, Fourth Master turned his face away and coughed a few times between breaths. When he turned back, his eyelids were half closed and his face was pale.
"I can still hold on, please sit down."
Fourth Master rarely looks so haggard.
Beneath the dark circles under his eyes were a pair of equally lifeless eyes.
"Are the Second Princess and the Fourth Prince doing well?"
After Li Chenjiao sat down, she first heard this question from the Fourth Master.
Li Chenjiao was stunned again. Even the most hard-hearted person couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her after hearing what the Fourth Master said.
"It's all good, it's all good. How could you be so careless, sir? It's good that you've been running around so much lately, you really deserve a rest."
After hearing Li Chenjiao's words, Fourth Master looked at her for a while.
Li Chenjiao's heart trembled. She felt a chill run down her spine from the Fourth Master's gaze. Had she really guessed right?
After a moment, the Fourth Master said, "The words may be rough, but the meaning is sound. Alright, let's have breakfast."
Li Chenjiao blinked, but did not press for details. She readily agreed, saying, "Alright, I'll have someone set up a table and bring it in."
Qiu Hu, who was behind her, hurried away.
The two sat facing each other, and Li Chenjiao remained silent, lost in thought.
Ever since she learned last night that Fourth Master had fallen off his horse, she had felt something was off.
After all, this is all too familiar. Didn't the Fourth Prince fall off his horse last time while trying to save the Crown Prince?
Furthermore, this wasn't the first time Fourth Master had feigned illness; at least, in Li Chenjiao's memory, it wasn't the first time.
Because Fourth Master had feigned illness, in Li Chenjiao's heart Fourth Master was not a particularly strict person. Although she respected Fourth Master, she did not fear him much.
However, when Fourth Master said "the words may be rough, but the principle is sound," didn't he indirectly imply that he did indeed want to take a break?
I heard that Fourth Prince has been busy with the siltation of the Yongding River lately, and this time he's accompanying the Emperor, so he must be considered quite important...
Li Chenjiao thought about it more deeply and couldn't help but feel a little alarmed.
She silently looked up at the Fourth Master, only to meet his smiling eyes.
Is Fourth Master laughing?
Li Chenjiao felt a little more at ease.
Just then, Su Peisheng and Fulu came in with a small table set up. Qiu Hu was carrying the food behind them, followed by several maids from the front courtyard, who were not unfamiliar with the place.
Looking at the small table set up in front of Fourth Master's bed, Li Chenjiao found it somewhat amusing.
She ladled out a bowl of glutinous rice porridge, which was still a little hot. She stirred it and said with a smile, "When I was in confinement, my husband never treated me like this."
She was talking about me. At this moment, my relationship with the Fourth Prince was no longer that of a master and his concubine; it was a relationship that was closer than that.
The Fourth Master didn't seem to blame her at the moment, or rather, Li Chenjiao's occasional rudeness didn't seem to matter much in his eyes anymore...
Upon hearing this, Fourth Master instinctively raised his hand and rested his elbow on the small table.
This is how Fourth Master appears to be relaxed.
"I'm a little tired..." Fourth Master didn't answer directly, but instead laughed it off.
Li Chenjiao looked at her with smiling eyes and said, "Yes, I will serve you breakfast."
While she was talking, she kept stirring the hot porridge in the bowl. She scooped up a little, blew on it to cool it down, and then fed it to Fourth Master with a smile.
"ah?"
Fourth Master looked at her with a hint of helplessness, then reached out and took the jade spoon from Li Chenjiao's hand: "I'll do it myself."
Li Chenjiao didn't insist, but simply moved the bowl in her hand closer.
"What did the imperial physician say?"
Li Chenjiao only asked about it now.
Before the Fourth Prince could reply, Li Chenjiao suddenly slapped her forehead: "I forgot about the Fourteenth Prince! I'll send someone to deliver his breakfast first..."
Li Chenjiao remembered everything when she came in, but she forgot everything as soon as she sat down.
Fourth Master stared at Li Chenjiao's forehead: "Fourteenth Master has already sent someone to deliver the food to him. Have your meal."
Li Chenjiao said that was good, and then served herself a small bowl of porridge.
"Where were we?" Li Chenjiao asked.
She realized she was quite forgetful these days, even though she was clearly a few years younger than the Fourth Master.
"These days it's been difficult for me to get out of bed, and I have some abrasions on my body," Fourth Master said vaguely.
Li Chenjiao waited two seconds before asking, "I heard that you injured your back this time, Master?"
She asked the question very cautiously.
Upon hearing this, the Fourth Master retorted, "Even you know?"
Li Chenjiao was somewhat confused by what he said.
The Fourth Prince, however, did not intend to say more: "One should not speak while eating."
Li Chenjiao obediently drank her porridge: "Okay, okay."
She followed the Fourth Master's words without showing any fear.
Fourth Master looked at Li Chenjiao, his gaze softening slightly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
