Li Chenjiao wasn't interested in listening to the opera. She couldn't understand the babbling, but the performers on stage were putting in a lot of effort.
Li Chenjiao stared wide-eyed, seemingly looking very seriously, but in reality she was counting how many silk flowers the person above was wearing on their head.
After listening to almost two excerpts of the opera, Li Chenjiao's eyes were sore from staring. She covered her eyes with her fan and yawned.
Then he met the Fourth Master's gaze.
Look, even the Fourth Prince isn't paying attention to the opera.
Li Chenjiao put down her fan, pursed her lips, gave the Fourth Master a sweet smile, and then turned her head to "attentively" listen to the opera.
Fourth Master stared at Li Chenjiao for a while, and seeing her reaction, he chuckled, but his expression remained cold and aloof.
The wife sitting next to the Fourth Prince was well aware of all this. She opened her mouth slightly, but seeing the Fourth Prince's cold expression, she ultimately remained silent.
Well, it's understandable that Fourth Master is unhappy about Song Shi's matter because she didn't handle it well and left herself with a handle.
Right now, I should be thinking about how not to make Fourth Master angry.
As for the Li family, let's leave them for now. They won't cause any trouble in a month or two, and once new people come in, they won't be able to cause any more problems.
After the third act of the play ended, the Fourth Prince got up, glanced at his wife, said a few casual words, and then walked towards the front courtyard.
No one reacted, but Song felt embarrassed.
She's watched all three plays, but not the fourth one she requested. What does Fourth Master mean by this?
Seeing that the Fourth Prince had left, the Fujin (principal wife) lost interest in staying any longer. She was still thinking about Zhang Shi's matter, so she got up as well.
"I think it's getting late, everyone should leave now. We can come back to watch the play after the banquet," the Princess Consort said with a smile.
Everyone agreed and went their separate ways.
Only the princess was left, sitting in front of the stage, her smile gone.
The actors who performed at the top have long since retired.
"Granny Meng, what exactly happened with Zhang Shi today?" the Fujin asked, sounding displeased.
Granny Meng slowly knelt down: "Reporting to Madam, Miss Zhang did indeed send someone to the main courtyard to speak, but you were not at home at the time, you went to the Third Master's residence for a banquet. When you returned home, you were tired and said you wanted to rest and did not allow us servants to disturb you, so I told Yulou to explain to Madam. Could it be that Yulou did not tell you?"
Standing behind the Fujin, Yulou looked astonished: "Granny! When did Granny Meng say that Miss Zhang was ill? You're just spouting nonsense!"
Yu Ru has returned to the Ulanara clan this day. With Yu Ru gone, Yu Lou is no match for Granny Meng. After a few words, Yu Lou was speechless.
The Princess Consort gave Granny Meng a deep look: "Alright, let's send the physician to see Zhang Shi first. As for this matter, Yu Lou is at fault, but Granny Meng, you may not be without fault either, so punish both of you."
Yes, Granny Meng.
Yu Lou's expression was not good. She glared at Granny Meng, but still softly said "Yes."
That old hag actually tripped her up. Yesterday, she deliberately provoked her, making her leave in anger, so naturally she wouldn't hear about Zhang's illness.
This isn't over yet!
This little girl has a fiery temper; she's no match for Granny Meng, who comes from the palace. The main courtyard... there's more to come.
That was the end of the matter. It was just a pity for Zhang, who had been sick for several days before a doctor from the prefecture finally came.
In the front yard, Fourth Master received birthday gifts from various places.
The princess consort sent over a painting, a landscape painting by a famous artist from the previous dynasty. The fourth prince glanced at it and told Su Peisheng to put it away.
The screen that Song sent was embroidered by Song herself, and Su Peisheng said that it was embroidered with carp in spring water. The Fourth Master then had it placed there.
Then came the cloak given by Bai Jia Shi, quite thick, jet black, with two eagles embroidered on it. Fourth Master waved his hand, telling Su Peisheng to accept it.
The Fourth Prince never uses any other clothes for his personal belongings, otherwise his wife and Lady Song would have sent them to him long ago.
The Xu family sent a set of brushes, the finest Huzhou brushes, while the Zhang family sent the finest Huizhou ink; the two of them probably had planned it together.
These things were probably given to Xu by Consort De when she was serving by Consort De's side. Most concubines probably couldn't produce such things anymore.
Then there was Madam Hu, who was quite clever. She sent a firm pillow, and Su Peisheng said that Madam Hu had also stuffed a lot of calming things into the pillow core, and the pillow surface was covered with patterns embroidered by Madam Hu, such as mandarin ducks playing in the water.
Fourth Master frowned and waved for Su Peisheng to take the things away.
A hard pillow is fine, but mandarin ducks playing in the water... what's going on?
Finally, it was Li Chenjiao's turn. When Su Peisheng said it was a Buddhist scripture, the Fourth Master was stunned for a moment and waved his hand to tell Su Peisheng to bring the item up.
It really was a stack of Buddhist scriptures. Fourth Master raised his hand and flipped through it; the handwriting was still delicate and beautiful. This was it…
So the Li family sent over Buddhist scriptures?
The Fourth Prince was amused and exasperated. This little girl was quite easy to manage. He knew all about how his wife had ordered him to copy Buddhist scriptures.
Su Peisheng looked up at his master's expression and immediately understood.
Well, she's still not angry. This is something that was given to her by an unexpected person.
"Go to the East Courtyard." Feeling uneasy, Fourth Master strode up and walked out.
Su Peisheng quickly agreed and followed, feeling a little amused.
The other birthday gifts, which came in all sorts of creative ways, were not as good as that plain stack of Buddhist scriptures. What's going on here?
Halfway there, the Fourth Master suddenly turned around, stood with his hands behind his back, and after a long while spoke: "Leave the manor!"
The little girl was spoiled; she shouldn't be spoiled.
Then, the Fourth Prince, who had just left the mansion, ran into the Crown Prince again and got drunk again.
By the time they returned to the manor, it was already completely dark.
The banquet at the manor was not a pleasant experience.
It was terribly cold at night, so Li Chenjiao put on a cloak and dressed quite warmly before heading to the Qing Courtyard.
They didn't encounter many people on the way and entered the Qing Courtyard without any hindrance.
Li Chenjiao arrived at the perfect time. Xu Shi was sitting alone, while Bai Jia Shi was sitting on the other side. Song Shi and Hu Shi had not yet arrived.
After meeting Pingli, Li Chenjiao sat down to drink tea.
"Princess Li's clothes today are really beautiful. Were they made by the sewing shop?"
Suddenly I heard someone talking.
Li Chenjiao put down her teacup, turned her head and looked at it. She was a little surprised, but she still smiled and said, "It was sent from the sewing room the other day. It was made of the fabric that the Princess Consort gave me for the Mid-Autumn Festival last time."
Madam Xu lowered her eyebrows and said softly, "It is beautiful, but the colors are a bit too bright and don't bring out the princess's radiance."
Li Chenjiao keenly sensed the hidden meaning in Xu's words, but she didn't quite understand what Xu was trying to say, so she looked at Xu with a smile.
Li Chenjiao was wearing an indigo cheongsam today, which was quite conventional, and she didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
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