Putting aside other places, there are countless people in the Fourth Prince's mansion who haven't had a good night's sleep.
In the winter months in the capital, the weather gradually gets colder. On the night of the Fourth Prince's birthday, she didn't feel it, but when she woke up the next morning, Li Chenjiao's arms were cold from the wind.
She was washing up, and had just finished wiping her face and was about to have Qiu Hu style her hair, when Lü Mei came in from outside with small steps: "Master, the main wife sent someone to say that the morning greetings are waived today."
Li Chenjiao perked up immediately upon hearing this: "What's wrong?"
Green Plum replied, "They said the Second Prince caught a chill last night because of the wind, and the royal physician stayed up all night. This morning, the main courtyard invited the imperial physician. Judging from what they said, they were afraid that too many people would cause trouble."
Upon hearing this, Li Chenjiao frowned, but simply raised her hand to signal Qiu Hu to continue styling her hair. She then listlessly picked out the jewelry she would wear that day from her dressing case.
As soon as the weather turned cool, the Second Prince's health deteriorated. However, now that the First Prince Hongming was no longer in charge, the Princess Consort was relieved. When the Second Prince's health was really bad, she apologized and did not allow him to go to the front courtyard for his studies.
Fourth Master naturally acquiesced to it.
Therefore, the Second Prince's studies were intermittent from the winter month to the Lunar New Year, and the people in the back courtyard only went to the main courtyard to pay their respects once on the first day of the twelfth lunar month.
The Fujin seemed to be in a good mood, but she still gave Li Chenjiao a few words of advice as usual, and instead comforted and rewarded Wu Shi with many things.
Later, on Laba Festival, Li Chenjiao and the Fujin took the children into the palace. The Fourth Prince took the Second Prince and the Third Prince with him. The two princesses stayed in Yonghe Palace as usual. The Fourth Prince was still young, so he also stayed in Yonghe Palace.
Consort De looked at the radiant Fujin with her eyes wide open, but did not reprimand her further.
Although the Second Prince has been ill for the past two months, it would be fair to say that he is riding high.
After all, the loss of the eldest prince was enough to make the princess happy for a year.
In addition, Li Chenjiao has always been low-key, and the Fujin (wife of the emperor) didn't say much except for occasionally giving her a few warnings.
Furthermore, Li Chenjiao did not give the Fujin (the wife of the deceased) any opportunity to make a fuss about it.
Over the past two months, the Fourth Prince has entered the backyard about seven or eight times a month. Five or six of those times he stayed in the East Courtyard, and the remaining times he went to see the Eldest Princess at Madam Song's place and to see the Third Prince at Madam Xu's place.
No matter how carefully Song dressed up, she couldn't get a second glance from the Fourth Prince.
Li Chenjiao is favored but keeps a low profile. No matter what, she wouldn't be foolish enough to overstep the bounds of the Fujin. The eldest prince has become much more low-key since Wu Shi left. For the past two months, he has been staying at home and rarely going out. However, the Fujin specifically instructed that the servants below should not mistreat Wu Shi.
Under such circumstances, the princess was naturally pleased, and as a result, she slept much better than before, and her insomnia seemed to have improved as well.
The princess can get a good night's sleep, but others may not.
Since the eldest prince's accident, Lady Wu had not slept well. The forty-ninth day memorial for the eldest prince had passed, and no one in the mansion cared about or remembered the eldest prince Hongming who had drowned.
The only person who could remember the eldest prince was his mother, Lady Wu.
The festive atmosphere during the New Year only made Wu Shi more restless and unable to sleep. She couldn't help but think about the time when the eldest prince was still alive, and she would spend the whole night weeping and unable to close her eyes.
Some are happy, some are sad; there are naturally many people in the capital who cannot sleep at night because of their worries.
With the year-end approaching, everyone had to put on a smiling face during the day.
After the Little New Year, families begin preparing for the New Year festival. Starting from the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, they begin a life of going to the palace before dawn and returning home after dark.
Every day, the Fourth Prince would take the Second Prince and the Third Prince to the Baohe Hall, while his wife and Li Chenjiao would go to the Yonghe Palace. The two little princesses would follow behind, all bundled up tightly, with the younger Fourth Prince behind them.
Li Chenjiao was always a man of few words, and when she arrived at Yonghe Palace, she simply watched as the Fujin gracefully moved about.
Because it was the New Year festival, quite a few people from various families came to pay their respects at Consort De's Yonghe Palace. In addition, since His Majesty had ordered that the Crown Prince's Yuqing Palace not be disturbed this year, even more noblewomen came to pay their respects.
Now the princess worked even harder. She knew how to read people's expressions and knew when to be humble. When she received praise from others, she nodded in response without being too proud. She simply raised her slender neck slightly, showing that she was in a good mood.
On the Laba Festival, Consort De stood by and did not reprimand the Fujin (wife of the deceased), and now that all the noblewomen are here, it is naturally not a suitable time to reprimand her.
On her left and right were the eldest princess and the second princess. Consort De didn't say much, just sat there and smiled as she watched the lively scene in the hall. When she saw Li Chenjiao standing to the side, she gently raised her hand to signal Zhao Mama to come over.
Before long, Granny Zhao had someone bring a round-backed chair to Li Chenjiao. Li Chenjiao led the Fourth Prince to sit down. Occasionally, noblewomen would come to talk to her. Li Chenjiao sat upright and spoke eloquently.
The Fourth Prince was young, and other noblewomen brought their children to the palace. Seeing that Wanwan couldn't sit still, Li Chenjiao asked the wet nurse to take him to the outer room to play. Lin Mama followed along, and Li Chenjiao only left Qiuhu by her side.
Li Chenjiao noticed that as soon as the Fourth Prince was led out, the several servants who were standing in the inner palace quickly followed him out as well.
Li Chenjiao was extremely bored, and listening to the pleasantries in the hall only gave her a terrible headache.
She was feeling bored when another noblewoman came to her side, smiling quite warmly.
Qiu Hu whispered from behind, "This is the primary consort of the current Prince Jian, Yarjianga, from the Guarjia clan, and the daughter of the Vice Minister Sabihan."
Every time Li Chenjiao entered the palace, she couldn't do without Lin Mama. Naturally, it was because Lin Mama had a good understanding of noblewomen and concubines in the harem. However, Qiu Hu herself was also ambitious and had been studying hard with Lin Mama for the past year or two. Now, she at least knew a thing or two about the noblewomen of various families.
I know a little about Prince Jian, Li Chenjiao.
"I noticed that the Fourth Prince, who is also a concubine, looks quite energetic. I also have a little monkey at home, but he just fell down and has been lying in bed for half a month."
Li Chenjiao stood up and nodded to the Guarjia woman: "I hope you are well, Fujin. Children always get more mischievous as they grow up." As she said this, her eyes were fixed on the Second Princess beside Consort De in the hall.
Guarjia was straightforward and had a similar personality to the concubine Guarjia in the Fifth Prince's mansion. However, this Guarjia had a longer face and her eyebrows and eyes had a touch of heroism. When she smiled, you could see her dimples.
Soon another maid brought over a small round chair, and the two sat facing each other in a corner.
Although this Guarjia woman would intentionally flatter Li Chenjiao when she spoke, she was not annoying. Guarjia woman also knew how to find topics to talk about. Knowing that Li Chenjiao had brought the Second Princess and the Fourth Prince today, she mostly talked about the children.
Guarjia's eldest son, Delong, is already eight years old. Li Chenjiao can really learn a lot of experience and methods from Guarjia by listening to her talk.
When the banquet was about to begin, Li Chenjiao had a slight smile on her face, and Guarjia's smile was naturally even more pronounced.
Once the banquet began, Li Chenjiao sat down below the Fujin (the wife of the deceased) and continued to quietly conceal herself.
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