The next morning, when the maids tiptoed in, some of the mulberries in the basket had spilled onto the ground. Fortunately, they were only spilled because the basket was tilted and had not been damaged.
However, the girls still put them on separate plates.
When Li Chenjiao woke up, Fourth Master was nowhere to be seen. He had left the manor early in the morning to run errands as usual.
When she heard the maid talk about it, she naturally remembered that the Fourth Master had inexplicably brought in that small basket of mulberries last night.
Normally, Li Chenjiao would have simply told the maids to take the mulberries and distribute them, but this time Li Chenjiao felt a little embarrassed. She raised her hand and gestured for the maids to put all the mulberries in the outer room.
After the maids had all left, Li Chenjiao gently massaged her calves and recalled the Fourth Master's unusual behavior the night before. She muttered to herself, "Why is the Fourth Master's mood becoming more and more unpredictable these days? He always says one thing and does another."
By the time Li Chenjiao finished washing up and had breakfast, the sun was already high in the sky. In two more days, it would be the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and soon it would be the Qixi Festival, which would also be Li Chenjiao's birthday.
As Li Chenjiao listened to the maids discussing what her favorite foods should be made in the small kitchen, she just smiled and after a while said, "I'd like to play cards."
In the summer, whether you're touching a wooden card or a more delicate jade leaf card, it always feels cool and comfortable, much more so than playing leaf cards in the winter.
Li Chenjiao hasn't played the leaf cards more than twice this year, but the maids often wipe them clean or take them out to air them. Otherwise, if they were kept in the storeroom all day, the wooden leaf cards would probably get moldy.
A short while later, Green Plum found the Leaf Card that had been wiped clean recently in the storeroom.
Li Chenjiao had played leaf cards with her friends at home before, but those were made of paper and felt thin to the touch, unlike the wooden ones with carvings that were more textured in the mansion.
Li Chenjiao was already quite extravagant to play with wooden leaf cards when she was in the mansion. However, when the Fourth Prince came to visit one day, he saw them and, although he didn't say anything bad about them, he ordered Fulu to send over two sets of jade leaf cards a few days later. The carvings were so exquisite that Li Chenjiao felt it was a defilement to play with them.
Li Chenjiao usually doesn't take out those two decks of leaf cards, but in the last two years she has occasionally taken them out for the Second Princess to hold and play with.
Now that the Fourth Prince has reached the age where he can talk, he sees that the Second Princess, as his older sister, likes to play with the jade leaf pendant when she has free time, so he also imitates her by holding the leaf pendant and chewing on it...
Li Chenjiao will no longer let the Fourth Prince touch the leaf-shaped plaques, fearing that if it happens a few more times, the brat's newly grown teeth will be knocked out.
I had only found the leaf cards and hadn't played more than a few rounds when I heard that Fu Lu from the front yard had brought something over, saying that Fourth Master had sent it.
Because several maids were playing cards with Li Chenjiao, she didn't let Fulu come in. Instead, Xiaolu brought the things in.
Li Chenjiao had just pushed out a card when she turned to look at what Xiao Luzi was holding.
Upon closer inspection, she almost burst out laughing.
"Why...why did Master send such a big basket of mulberries?" Li Chenjiao was speechless when she saw it clearly.
It was a huge basket, a very large basket, more than twice as much as what Lady Niohuru had sent yesterday.
The girls standing nearby were also dumbfounded.
Green Bamboo, who didn't know how to play the card game and was just watching from the sidelines, silently swallowed his saliva: "This servant will take it to wash first."
Li Chenjiao nodded, and then said to Xiao Luzi, "Go and see Fu Lu off first. Then ask if Master has returned to the manor yet. Go ahead."
Li Chenjiao didn't need to remind her about giving some loose change for bribes.
She guessed that the Fourth Prince had probably returned to his residence, which was why he had Fulu send over the mulberries. However, the Fourth Prince had clearly shown no interest in the mulberries yesterday.
After all, the way Fourth Master stuffed mulberries into her mouth last night was hardly gentle.
Isn't it quite surprising that Fourth Master would send someone to deliver mulberries right now?
Xiao Luzi returned shortly after delivering Fu Lu: "Master, the master hasn't returned to the manor yet. I heard that the master had someone send it from the estate this morning, along with the lotus seeds that you always love to eat. The estate also sent fresh lotus flowers for you and the second princess to enjoy."
Naturally, these items were also sent to the Fujin (princess's wife) from the estate.
The mulberries in the village tasted pretty much the same, so Li Chenjiao saved the lotus seeds for later.
Li Chenjiao didn't have time to look at the lotus flowers right now, so she asked Qiu Ci, who also didn't know how to play the leaf card game, to put the lotus flowers into the outdoor jar.
Right now, the three players playing leaf cards with Li Chenjiao are Qiu Hu, Lv Mei, and Lv Ju.
After playing for half the morning, the girls got busy again when it was time to serve the meal.
Li Chenjiao didn't use the maids' monthly wages to play cards; she simply grabbed two handfuls of gold and silver melon seeds as their starting capital.
Playing leaf cards is generally addictive. Li Chenjiao hadn't played leaf cards for a long time, and even after lunch, she was still thinking about it.
But now that the second princess has come home from school, Li Chenjiao can no longer play in front of the little girl.
However, her mother had already figured out the little girl. After the girls and the little girl went out to play and got tired, they would come back and fall asleep, and Li Chenjiao would start playing the leaf cards again.
While playing with leaf cards, they ate the mulberries that Fourth Master had sent them. When they got tired of eating, they asked Qiu Ci and Lv Zhu to take the mulberries to make tea.
Since Fourth Master didn't come to the East Courtyard that day, Li Chenjiao became even better at playing leaf cards.
They played until almost midnight, and the handfuls of gold and silver melon seeds that Li Chenjiao had grabbed all ended up back in her hands.
Li Chenjiao finally felt sleepy. After slowly washing up, she was still talking about playing with Granny Lin, Qiu Ci, and Lu Zhu the next day before going to sleep.
The maids spent the day playing with Li Chenjiao, which was naturally much easier than doing errands.
On a summer day like this, even the cicadas' chirping sounds like joyful celebration.
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