At this moment, the Fourth Prince was showing concern for the Second Prince in front of everyone, which naturally pleased the Princess Consort. As she listened to what the Fourth Prince said, the smile on her face grew even wider.
After a while, she raised her wine cup, stood up, and said a string of sweet and pleasant words to the Fourth Prince. The gist of it was that with the Fourth Prince's concern, the Second Prince's health would eventually improve, and the Princess Consort herself also hoped that the Fourth Prince would remain healthy.
The Fourth Prince picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp, showing respect. His wife smiled and sat back down. The scene looked quite harmonious.
Li Chenjiao, without changing her expression, placed a piece of food on the Second Princess's plate, then smiled at the little girl: "Why aren't you eating?"
As if knowing what the little girl was about to say, she lowered her voice a bit for the second half of her sentence: "If you don't like these, Mother will give you a bowl of soup. We'll have a midnight snack when we get back."
The little girl pouted and nodded reluctantly.
Just as Li Chenjiao had managed to appease the Second Princess, the Fourth Prince was far more picky about food than the Second Princess.
This little darling has always refused to eat food that's either too cold or too hot, and it's not something that Li Chenjiao or the wet nurse spoiled her.
The child will eventually eat when he gets hungry, but he might secretly throw a tantrum in the meantime.
However, Li Chenjiao has always been a carefree mother. She herself dislikes the bad habits of the child she gave birth to. When she dislikes them, she goes to hug the Second Princess and kiss her a couple of times.
Anyway, with the wet nurse watching over him, that brat won't starve to death.
This is the advantage of Li Chenjiao's current status. If she had married into a commoner family, she wouldn't have two children who are taken care of like she does now. She only needs to play with the children and occasionally go to see them when she wants to tease or amuse them.
Otherwise, with these two kids causing so much trouble, Li Chenjiao probably wouldn't even have time to think about what to eat every day.
Li Chenjiao was also like this. The Second Princess was easier to coax at the moment, but since the Fourth Prince was not easy to coax, she ignored him.
Anyway, the banquet won't last too long, and the child can endure it.
Li Chenjiao understood the Fourth Prince very well. This child rarely cried, but when he did cry, it was always when only she, his mother, was present.
This child is very concerned about his image at a young age and doesn't like to cry in front of others, especially when his older sister, the Second Princess, is still alive.
So it seems that although the Fourth Prince is still young, he is strangely similar to the Fourth Prince? He is extremely concerned about his image.
Li Chenjiao was coaxing the Second Princess when she suddenly noticed that the hall was somewhat quiet.
She looked up and, huh? Why does it seem like everyone is staring at her?
Oh, right, just now the Fujin (principal wife) got up and gave her congratulatory speech. According to the unwritten rule, the next one should be Li Chenjiao, the concubine.
No wonder everyone's attention was on her.
Li Chenjiao put down her chopsticks, stood up, picked up her wine cup, and said a few nice words. She said the same things every year on her birthday, and now Li Chenjiao could make up a long string of them without even thinking.
Fourth Prince also downed his wine in one gulp, but only after finishing did he say, "Second Princess has always been attached to you, her mother, so don't be so busy looking at her."
This explanation made sense of why Li Chenjiao hadn't gotten up earlier.
Beside the Fourth Prince, the smile on the Princess Consort's lips slowly faded, but she still echoed his words.
"Yes, now you are the only one in the household raising two children, Li Shi, and you are blessed with both a son and a daughter. Naturally, you have a much harder time than others. Please sit down."
Li Chenjiao sat down as instructed. She didn't respond to the Fujin's somewhat sarcastic remarks, since she didn't like them anyway, so she simply pretended not to hear them.
The concubine gave her congratulatory speech, and then it was the turn of the other princesses. After a round of speeches, the Fourth Prince's face seemed to turn a little red.
"It's about time," the Fujin suddenly said. "Look, Lu Shi, you're wearing a new dress made by the sewing room today. You've only just entered the manor; if you're not used to anything, come to the main courtyard. I heard that Cheng Shi, who came with you, has fallen ill. Although you are young, you should take better care of your health."
Since the servants only said that the concubine who came back to the mansion this time was called Miss Lu, the Fujin was too lazy to care about that. Since she was Miss Lu, she simply called her Miss Lu.
Now that they've had several rounds of drinks, everyone is eager to see where Fourth Master will rest tonight.
Even though Song herself suspected it was most likely Li's place, she still waited in secret.
Hearing what the princess said, she didn't hide it and immediately sneered, but she didn't say anything.
With the Fourth Prince still around, she wasn't in a hurry to refute or expose the Princess Consort's little scheme; she just wanted to see how the Fourth Prince would react.
Who wouldn't be jealous of the Li family in the East Courtyard? But since the Fourth Prince didn't like it, Song Shi endured it and didn't offend him.
The Fujin's words just now sounded nice, but they were merely a roundabout way of reminding the Fourth Prince that Lady Lu had been in the household for almost a month, and he hadn't even gone to see her yet...
However, judging from what the Fujin said, it seems that even when they were at the imperial palace, Lady Lu didn't receive much favor from the Fourth Prince.
The Fujin (principal wife) is probably also dissatisfied with the current favor of Lady Li, and has put forward Lady Lu instead...
It's one thing if she's not as pretty as Lady Li, but what does it matter if she can play the konghou? Every woman in the inner courtyard plays the zither. I don't know about Lady Niohuru, who comes from the Eight Banners, but women like Lady Liu, Lady Wu, herself, and the ever-favored Lady Li are all presentable.
Madam Song was just waiting for the Fourth Master's reaction. Not only was she waiting, but everyone in the room was waiting too.
Zhu frowned slightly upon hearing the words of the Fujin, but quickly put on a shy and timid expression.
Everyone in the room was a smart man; they could all tell that the Fujin was using Miss Lu as a stepping stone.
Li Chenjiao remained unmoved, finishing the bowl of soup. She put down her spoon, and Fourth Master spoke up as well.
"It's getting late, and I have official business to attend to in the front yard. I'll head back now."
Fourth Master never went anywhere.
However, the Fourth Master's tone sounded unusually cold, which made people unable to help but speculate.
The Fujin seemed somewhat surprised. She stood up, her handkerchief crumpled in her hand, but she spoke fluently: "The wind is quite strong tonight, Liu, you go with her."
Well, it seems that since the new Lady Lu didn't work out, the Fujin (wife) has turned around and ordered another one.
When Liu was summoned, she cursed inwardly, thinking, "Isn't this just asking for trouble?" But she didn't dare to argue with the Fujin (principal wife) and could only follow cautiously.
The Fourth Prince walked quickly, and by the time his wife gave the instructions, he had already reached the outer corridor, so he naturally didn't notice who was following him.
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