August arrived quickly, and things got even hotter in August.
I heard that His Majesty's imperial procession has arrived at the Rehe Imperial Palace, but I don't know when it will return to Beijing.
Fourth Master rested in the East Courtyard yesterday. Li Chenjiao also heard Fourth Master mention that he seems to be busy with some matter concerning the Summer Palace. Judging from the looks of it, His Majesty will be heading south again next year.
Li Chenjiao inwardly grumbled, but Fourth Master was busy again.
Preparing for the construction of the mountain villa was naturally the job of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, with one providing the money and the other providing the labor.
Fortunately, given the weather, Fourth Master didn't have to go to the Summer Palace; otherwise, the back-and-forth trip would have been a real ordeal.
Li Chenjiao thought about it again and realized that if she really sent the Fourth Master, the round trip would be too much trouble.
However, Li Chenjiao was still worried about going to the main courtyard to pay her respects. The sun was really scorching hot, and Li Chenjiao didn't have the Second Princess's energetic and lively spirit.
Even when wearing light and airy summer clothes, once outside, the hot wind hits you in the face and the sun is scorching. Li Chenjiao's fan only blows hot air.
Li Chenjiao hadn't paid her respects at the main courtyard for a while. Because she was afraid of the heat, she went to the main courtyard early today, since the sun wasn't so strong then.
She had just left the east courtyard when she ran into Niohuru and her servant, who had also just come out.
The Niohuru clan and their servants seemed somewhat surprised, and both were a beat late in paying their respects.
Li Chenjiao waved her hand, saying no: "Are you feeling better?"
At the same time, Niohuru spoke in a cool tone: "Is the concubine's cold better? She looks much better."
Upon hearing Li Chenjiao's voice, Niohuru smiled instinctively: "Thank you for your concern, Consort. I'm fully recovered. I heard you caught a cold, so I have some loquat syrup. I'll bring it to you personally later."
When Niohuru mentioned loquat syrup, Li Chenjiao smiled. Because she was afraid of the heat, she raised her hand to hold a round fan to shield her face, but her face was even whiter than the fan surface.
Niohuru was unconsciously stunned.
Li Chenjiao smiled at her: "Yes, I haven't thanked you for the loquat syrup you sent. I still have quite a bit left, so you can keep the rest. There's really no need for you to go to all that trouble."
Niohuru could tell that Li Chenjiao didn't want to get too involved, so she didn't insist: "Yes."
She didn't say anything more, but simply stepped aside to let Li Chenjiao go first.
Li Chenjiao didn't refuse much, but simply nodded slightly to Niohuru, and then walked forward, gently waving her fan.
This Niohuru clan is really interesting. At first, she was somewhat hostile towards her, but now she seems to want to get closer to her.
However, Niohuru didn't do anything, so Li Chenjiao never showed any displeasure.
Li Chenjiao liked this nodding acquaintance the most in the backyard.
Li Chenjiao arrived and left today. When she arrived, only Madam Xu was there. She had just sat down when Madam Niohuru arrived.
Next were Baijia and Song.
However, Bai Jia was slightly taken aback when she entered. It was because she was usually seated below Consort Li, but today... her seat had been taken by Consort Niohuru.
What does "Girl Niohuru" mean?
Putting everything else aside, Princess Niohuru entered the manor later than her, so this is really disrespectful to her.
Li Chenjiao got up early today. After entering the main courtyard and sitting down, she felt a little drowsy. She opened her eyes when she heard some noise and seemed to sense something.
Only then did she notice that Niohuru had sat down next to her at some point.
Should Li Chenjiao speak now or remain silent?
She sighed softly and said jokingly, "I know it's cooler up there near the ice basin, but since Princess Baijia has arrived, Sister Niohuru can't enjoy this cool breeze anymore. Let someone move the ice basin to the middle."
There was a separate ice basin placed in front of the head wife.
Niohuru looked at Li Chenjiao who was speaking, her beautiful eyes darting around as if she were thinking of something. After a while, she stood up and sat down in the seat below her.
Seeing this, Bai Jia smiled at Li Chenjiao before sitting down, but did not say anything more.
Li Chenjiao was speaking from a strategic perspective; otherwise, once everyone arrived, Niohuru would likely become the target of public criticism.
Song Shi merely scoffed at Li Chenjiao's words and didn't say anything more.
It was obvious that Niohuru had overstepped her bounds. Even if Li hadn't spoken up, she would have. However, at this moment, she found Niohuru even more displeasing.
Soon Wu arrived, which was unusual for her to arrive so late.
It was almost time to pay respects, and as for Liu Shi who hadn't arrived yet, it was already this late, so it was obvious that Liu Shi had already arrived at the main courtyard to serve the Fujin.
Wu arrived late, and explained, "Thinking that the time was just right, I went to see the eldest prince first."
Upon hearing this, Madam Song smiled and said, "Is Sister Wu worried that the people in the front yard aren't taking good care of her? She goes to the front yard three to five times a day."
Wu's visit was not as exaggerated as Song's description; at most, she went once a day, though she stayed a little longer.
The Fujin was quickly helped out by Liu, and the empty seat at the very bottom naturally belonged to Liu.
After taking her seat, the Princess Consort greeted everyone as usual: "The weather is getting hot, so we need to be careful everywhere. If we catch a cold, we'll be sick for a while. Now, the eldest and second princes are in the front courtyard, preparing to start their studies. It's clear that the children are growing up."
The princess's last words carried a hint of wistfulness.
When the topic of the princes going to school came up, several people in the room became restless.
For example, the Wu family and the Xu family standing at the very bottom.
The eldest and second princes are now in the front courtyard, the fourth prince is still young, while the third prince in the middle is in a somewhat awkward position.
Wu was the first to speak: "I haven't heard Master mention it."
She hadn't heard a single word about the princes going to school.
However, when it comes to further education, given the Second Prince's sickly appearance...
Wu lowered her head to hide the sarcasm on her lips.
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