As soon as the Fourth Master returned to the manor, the news naturally spread throughout the backyard. However, since the Fourth Master did not return last night, no matter how much everyone waited, it was to no avail.
The next morning, the Fujin dressed up and went to the palace. Since the Fourth Prince had not returned home last night, the Fujin would not wait foolishly, so she went to the palace to find Consort De.
For the Fujin (consort), Consort De was someone she thought of when she needed her, but when she didn't, she would rarely enter the palace even once every two or three months.
Consort De knew perfectly well what was going on, but now that the Crown Prince's affair was happening right before her eyes, even though some things were kept tightly under wraps, various rumors had already begun to circulate in the past two days.
Since the Fujin (wife of the deceased) had arrived, Consort De decided to take the opportunity to give her a warning.
After giving Consort De a warning, he mentioned two other things. One was the upcoming general election, which would likely make the capital quite lively by the end of the month, especially since it coincided with His Majesty's 50th birthday...
In addition, His Majesty had already spoken with Consort De about choosing a few suitable candidates for the fourth prince, so Consort De naturally made her stance clear at this moment.
There was also the Second Prince's birthday. Consort De personally inquired about it: "Now that His Majesty is not in the capital, my idea is not to make it too lively. On the 28th, let the Fourth Prince bring the children, and you and Lady Li, along with the Second Prince, come to the palace for a meal."
The princess seemed somewhat surprised and hesitated slightly, but finally agreed: "Yes, daughter-in-law understands."
Consort De smiled, her nail guards lightly gliding across the table: "I only hope that the Fourth Prince's family will become more and more lively. The First Prince has been gone for almost half a year..."
Hearing Consort De talk about this Fujin really got her excited, finally giving her the opportunity to speak up and put a bad word about Li Shi from the East Courtyard in front of Consort De.
After hearing this, Consort De simply gave a soft "hmm" and said nothing more.
The princess was speechless for a moment, and she gave a dry laugh.
Consort De did not invite the Princess Consort to lunch. She inquired about the Second Prince's health and then opened the storeroom to retrieve some tonics for the Princess Consort to take back.
The Fujin returned to the mansion at noon. The weather was unusually nice, but as soon as she got back, she heard from Granny Qian that the Fourth Master had gone to Li Shi's place in the East Courtyard.
The princess sighed and waved her hand wearily: "Let's invite the Fourth Prince tomorrow... Never mind, I'll go to the front yard myself when he returns to the mansion tomorrow."
She understands now, so naturally she won't go out of her way to be disliked.
Furthermore... the Crown Prince's affair has caused quite a stir in the city, and the Princess Consort has keenly sensed that the Fourth Prince's sudden return to the capital is likely due to some official business.
Inside the east courtyard.
When the Fourth Prince arrived, he happened to find Li Chenjiao and the Second Princess having lunch. The weather was nice today, and Li Chenjiao was sleeping soundly, looking exceptionally well.
In contrast, Fourth Master's complexion looked rather sallow. Li Chenjiao noticed this at a glance and was startled. She quickly raised her hand to signal the small kitchen to prepare ginseng soup.
The lunch was quite substantial, so Li Chenjiao didn't ask the kitchen to add any more dishes. Instead, she personally stood up and served Fourth Master a bowl and chopsticks.
Fu Lu, who was standing nearby, served up some milk tea that had gone a little cold by then.
Fourth Master glanced at him: "Send it to the small kitchen."
The way Fourth Master looked at Fu Lu was like he was looking at a fool.
Li Chenjiao rested her chin on her hand and asked Fourth Master what he had brought back.
Fourth Master picked up his chopsticks, avoiding Li Chenjiao's gaze: "I don't know whose milk tea shop is outside."
Standing behind Fourth Master, Su Peisheng almost couldn't help but smile when he heard Fourth Master's words. He silently lowered his head, trying his best to hide it.
I don't know whose it is... that breakfast shop is the Fourth Prince's favorite place.
But if Fourth Master says he doesn't know, then he naturally doesn't know.
Li Chenjiao's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she almost clapped her hands and said, "Of course the milk tea that Master brought back is good. Then quickly take it to the small kitchen to heat it up."
She looked at Fulu with a smile, and Fulu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly carried the food box to the small kitchen.
Upon hearing that Fourth Master had brought back milk tea, Li Chenjiao was no longer in a hurry to have lunch. She put down her chopsticks and rested her chin on her hand, gazing in the direction of the small kitchen.
As the Fourth Master picked up his chopsticks, a slight smile appeared on his lips.
Ginseng soup takes a while to prepare, but hot milk tea is much faster.
Manchu milk tea is mostly made with goat milk, and the tea leaves often have a slightly fishy smell after being boiled. The chefs in the manor are quite skilled, and Li Chenjiao and the Second Princess would order it several times a month.
When the hot milk tea was served, Li Chenjiao first poured a small half bowl for the Second Princess. The small porcelain bowl was filled with milky white, steaming milk tea, which smelled very milky.
Li Chenjiao patted the little girl's restless hand: "It's still hot, don't be impatient."
She touched the inside of the bowl and then blew on it with a silver spoon before bending down slightly to feed it to the little girl.
The little girl first said it wasn't hot, then slightly opened her mouth, meaning she wanted more.
Li Chenjiao touched the inside of the bowl, and after a while, she let the little girl hold it herself: "Drink slowly, is it good?"
The little girl said crisply that it tasted good, and then looked at Fourth Master: "Father, good!"
Fourth Master raised his hand, clenched his fist, and coughed lightly twice.
"One should not speak while eating."
The little girl pouted, then quickly lowered her head to continue drinking her hot milk tea.
Li Chenjiao then picked up the bowl of hot milk tea that Qiu Hu had served her. The weather was still a bit chilly, and drinking a bowl of hot milk tea made her feel warmer.
Li Chenjiao praised Fourth Master, "You have such discerning eyes, even the random shop you picked has such delicious food. You should try it too."
She was very supportive of Fourth Master and didn't expose him.
She knew that Fourth Master didn't like sweet things, and even when it came to tea, he only liked one kind. If she used his teacup to brew other teas, he wouldn't touch the teacup again.
However, Li Chenjiao herself also had this habit, except that she used different teacups for different types of tea.
Fourth Master waved his hand and refused to drink. He had only had one bowl of breakfast, and since it was late, he wasn't actually very hungry at the moment.
Seeing this, Li Chenjiao didn't insist. She lowered her head, held the bowl, and sipped her milk tea, occasionally blowing on it.
"You've used the milk tea to shut me up, but all the delicacies on this table are for you."
Her voice sounded sweet, perhaps because she had drunk milk tea.
Fourth Master coughed twice more, which made Li Chenjiao look up, almost thinking that Fourth Master had caught a cold.
Just then, the small kitchen brought over the ginseng soup. Now, Fourth Master would have some to drink too.
Li Chenjiao looked concerned: "Master looks like he hasn't slept well for days."
The ginseng soup was still a bit hot, so the Fourth Prince let it cool for a while: "The Fourth Prince's birthday is in a few days?"
Li Chenjiao said yes, and then continued, "Then I should have someone send you ginseng soup every day."
The topic was brought back to the present, and the Fourth Master scolded with a stern face: "Disregarding the rules."
Upon hearing this, Li Chenjiao turned her back to the Fourth Prince and said, "Yes, I dare not."
The little girl stood in the middle, looking left and right, and then suddenly burst out laughing.
"Okay, okay, okay." The girl was laughing for some reason again. After laughing, she turned around and imitated her mother, Li Chenjiao, by turning her back to the Fourth Master.
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