Now let's talk about the Fourth Master.
He went to the Ministry of Revenue for his usual roll call, then checked the Ministry's ledgers to confirm the amount of disaster relief funds. Seeing that it was still early, he went to the palace to visit the Thirteenth Prince.
The Thirteenth Prince has fallen ill with a cold these past two days.
As the Fourth Prince left the palace, he happened to run into Longkodo.
Fourth Master and Longkodo had little contact. He cupped his hands slightly and said, "Uncle."
Longkodo smiled and said, "Fourth brother, it's been a while since I've seen you."
Fourth Master, with a stern face, said, "All is well."
Longkodo was clearly used to the Fourth Master's cold face, and still smiled: "I heard that the Fourth Master resolved the matter of the disaster relief funds?"
Fourth Master's heart skipped a beat: "The matter of disaster relief funds was conceived by the Ministry of Revenue as a whole; I only wrote a report on it."
Longkodo patted Fourth Master on the shoulder: "It's good that Fourth Master understands. If Uncle knows about this, others will naturally know about it too." He then smiled.
Fourth Master looked at Longkodo, gave a faint "hmm," and said nothing more.
Longkodo touched his nose, feeling embarrassed, and said nothing more before slowly leaving.
This fourth brother is really impossible to talk to. Oh well, the message has been delivered.
The Fourth Master stood with his hands behind his back, paused for a moment, then turned and walked forward.
"Where are you going, Master?" Su Peisheng asked, bowing.
Fourth Master waved his hand: "Let's find a place to have lunch." There's nothing much to do back at the Ministry of Revenue right now.
Su Peisheng should be the answer.
They chose a nice restaurant, and Fourth Master was dressed casually, so he didn't stand out.
But then I saw someone who caught my eye.
"Your Highness?" Fourth Master called out.
"Fourth Prince? It's rare to run into you outside. Please sit down, and keep me company... and have a couple of drinks with Second Brother." The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes slightly upon seeing the Fourth Prince.
Fourth Prince really didn't expect to meet the Crown Prince at this time. Wasn't the Crown Prince punished by the Emperor and made to reflect on his actions?
Seemingly sensing the Fourth Prince's doubts, the Crown Prince smiled and said, "Father was in a good mood yesterday, so he told me not to reflect on myself."
Fourth Master sat down, looking at the two empty wine jugs, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.
The young master drank another half cup of wine, and his usually gentle face was tinged with worry: "Fourth brother, why aren't you drinking? Oh, I forgot, you can't hold your liquor. Sigh, you still have to drink a couple of cups with me."
The Fourth Prince actually had a good capacity for alcohol, but he had to drink quite a bit at every palace banquet. Finding it troublesome, he would pretend to be unable to hold his liquor. Over time, fewer people came to ask him to drink at the various palace banquets.
Fourth Master poured himself a glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp.
Upon seeing this, the Crown Prince laughed loudly: "Alright, let's have a good drink together today, you two brothers."
Su Peisheng watched from the side, extremely worried. His master was indeed a good drinker, but last time he went to Fifth Master's place for drinks, he was made to get completely drunk. Fifth Master even said something about it back then.
"Among us brothers, besides the eldest brother who has the best drinking capacity, then there's the Crown Prince." These are Fifth Master's exact words.
If Fourth Master gets drunk again, well, he doesn't need to go to the Ministry of Revenue tomorrow.
Su Peisheng was anxious, but in the short time that had passed, Fourth Master had already been forced to drink seven or eight cups of wine.
In the end, the Crown Prince was about four or five tenths drunk, while the Fourth Prince... was already completely drunk. This drinking session actually improved the brothers' relationship considerably.
After watching the Crown Prince being sent back, Su Peisheng helped his master into the carriage and returned to his residence.
Even when drunk, Fourth Master remained well-behaved. Upon returning to the manor, he did not disturb the people in the backyard. Su Peisheng and Fulu together helped Fourth Master back to the front yard.
However, Fourth Master was already asleep.
When Fourth Master woke up, it was already dark.
Fourth Master rubbed his forehead, his head throbbing with pain, his mind a complete mess.
There was warm water on the table. Fourth Master drank two cups and slowly spoke: "Su Peisheng."
Su Peisheng hurriedly came in.
The Fourth Prince rubbed his forehead with his fingers and asked, "What time is it? Where is the Crown Prince?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is already 7 PM. The Crown Prince has been sent back by the people from Yuqing Palace," Su Peisheng replied.
The Fourth Master had a terrible headache, and pressed his forehead: "Never mind. How about the backyard?"
"The Princess Consort went to the Third Princess Consort's chrysanthemum appreciation banquet today and just returned. The First Princess is also feeling better. Princess Li didn't leave her courtyard today; I heard she's practicing calligraphy," Su Peisheng hurriedly said.
Fourth Master thought for a moment, but his head was really throbbing: "Call Li Shi to the front yard... Never mind, tell her to rest well."
The little girl has also been a burden, so let it be.
Su Peisheng was surprised for a moment, then replied, "Yes."
Fourth Master lay down again.
Upon seeing this, Su Peisheng quietly withdrew.
As the Fourth Prince lay there, only one thought crossed his mind: he would never drink with the Crown Prince again; the Crown Prince could drink too much.
...
In the palace, Emperor Kangxi naturally knew that the Crown Prince had gone out for drinks, but when he heard that the Crown Prince had met the Fourth Prince and even gotten him drunk, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"With the fourth prince's drinking capacity, how could he possibly outdrink Bao Cheng..." Emperor Kangxi chuckled.
Liang Jiugong laughed along, "Fourth Master and Crown Prince are close." This was actually a bit inappropriate.
Emperor Kangxi still smiled: "The fourth prince is a good one. His birthday is in a few days. Let's give him a generous reward."
Liang Jiugong should be the one.
Therefore, on the day of the Fourth Prince's birthday, he received many rewards from Emperor Kangxi.
After flipping through the list, the Fourth Prince said, "Send this three-panel screen with pine, cypress, plum, and orchid patterns, and this Ru ware celadon-glazed vase to the Princess Consort."
"Send this colorful brocade hexagonal box, this large red and gold-decorated begonia flower cosmetic box, and this mother-of-pearl inlaid bronze mirror to Madam Li."
"Just pick out a tea set and a bed sheet from the Song family and send them over."
"As for Bai Jia, pick a screen from the storeroom and send it to her."
"Send this pillow to the Xu family."
The Fourth Master didn't mention Zhang and Hu; in his mind, these two weren't considered people in his household.
After hearing Fourth Master's instructions, Su Peisheng had already made up his mind.
The title of Fujin (a high-ranking concubine) was given by custom; Song Gege (a concubine of the first rank) was given because of the eldest princess; Bai Jia Gege (a concubine of the first rank) was practically nonexistent; Miss Xu (a concubine of the first rank) was given because she was Consort De's person; and as for Li Gege (a concubine of the second rank), she was currently favored by the Fourth Prince.
We're spoiling them now, but as for the future, we'll see.
Li Chenjiao, having received the gift, laughed for a while: "Fourth Master is even giving gifts to the inner quarters on his own birthday?"
She looked at the items again and smiled, "Use that hexagonal box to put my earrings. Use the begonia-shaped cosmetic box to put my velvet flowers and bracelets. Leave the bronze mirror there."
"Oh, right, have Xiao Luzi deliver the Buddhist scriptures I copied to him later, and also have Xiao Luzi thank Fourth Master for me. Tell him I really like the things and thank him very much," Li Chenjiao said.
Li Chenjiao has quite a lot of jewelry now, and the two boxes that Fourth Master gave her are just right.
Li Chenjiao was tidying up her things when she heard that the Fujin (principal wife) had also given her something as a gift. It was a piece of brocade, with a bright, pale yellow color that was very beautiful.
Li Chenjiao liked it quite a bit, so she asked Qiu Ci to take it to the sewing room. Then she suddenly asked, "Since Fourth Master came back, I don't think I've seen him go to the main courtyard, have I?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
