Li Chenjiao woke up once during the night because she was hungry. She had been up too late and was not only tired but also hungry.
The kitchen had been shut down long ago. Li Chenjiao wasn't afraid of the maids laughing at her in the middle of the night; she just found it too much trouble.
Fortunately, there were still two plates of jujube paste cake and milk cake on the soft couch in the outer room that hadn't been removed. When the Fourth Master personally got off the couch to bring them in, Li Chenjiao even asked him if he wanted some.
Fourth Master patted her on the back: "There's only iced tea at night, so eat slowly."
"...There's hot tea in the side room." Li Chenjiao had indeed eaten a bit too dry food.
However, she didn't want to make a fuss, so why was Fourth Master speaking so quietly, as if the two of them were doing something shady?
Fourth Master really forgot that the maids and servants on night watch are always prepared for their master to get up at night, and hot water is always being prepared in the side room next door.
Fourth Master is just being too concerned.
Too lazy to move, he simply called out, "Someone come here."
Fulu and Lümei were on night watch tonight. When Fulu heard that it was the Fourth Master calling him, he jumped up and quickly crouched behind the screen, saying, "This servant is here."
"Bring me a cup of hot tea." The Fourth Master's voice came from the inner room.
Fu Lu exclaimed "Yes!" and hurried off.
When Fulu brought in the tea, the curtains were drawn to cover him, so he didn't dare to look around. This wasn't the first time; he had just been dozing off.
He quickly left again.
Li Chenjiao took a couple of sips of tea. Oh, and Fourth Master even tried to take the tea from her. The two of them each had a cup, and they almost finished half a pot of tea.
Alright, now that I'm full and satisfied, I can sleep peacefully.
The next morning, the Fourth Master went to the yamen again. Before leaving, he didn't forget to instruct the maids to put away the blankets in the study.
The maids would naturally do it without the Fourth Master's instruction; it was just that their master was concerned, so they all smiled and agreed.
When Li Chenjiao woke up, she couldn't remember anything about the blanket. But when the maids talked about the blanket, she remembered the plum wine that Niu Hulu had sent last night. She was a little thirsty now. Last night, because the Fourth Master had returned, she had been more rational and didn't dare to drink too much wine, only one cup.
However, Li Chenjiao still remembers that feeling.
Li Chenjiao was just telling Qiu Hu to bring over the jar of plum wine when Xiao Luzi came from outside to report that Liu Xu, who was by Song Gege's side, had arrived.
Li Chenjiao had just gotten up and hadn't had time to wash up yet, so naturally she wouldn't go to see Liu Xu. She waved her hand, signaling Qiu Hu to go out and meet people.
Qiu Hu understood and went out to see Liu Xu.
Li Chenjiao lay there for a while, thinking that she and her mother must have had breakfast by this time yesterday. Li Chenjiao blinked and suddenly wasn't so sleepy anymore. Oh, she was still sleepy. She yawned twice and slowly stretched and got up.
She got up, and Green Plum and Autumn Porcelain came in to help her wash up. After Li Chenjiao finished washing up and her hair was styled, Autumn Plum returned.
Li Chenjiao heard footsteps but didn't turn her head: "Did Song Gege send her to apologize?"
Qiu Hu smiled upon hearing this: "Master is so insightful, she came for this very reason." She then repeated exactly what Liu Xu had respectfully told her earlier.
Heaven knows how flustered Liu Xu was when she saw Qiu Hu realize that the concubine was busy, only worried that the concubine was unhappy because of what happened last night.
Upon hearing this, Li Chenjiao asked, "Has the person left?"
Qiu Hu said she personally escorted the person out of the East Courtyard, but Liu Xu still waited outside the courtyard for quite a while.
Li Chenjiao listened and didn't ask any more questions.
Whether it was intentional or unintentional yesterday, it doesn't really matter anymore.
All Li Chenjiao wanted to do at that moment was drink that sip of plum wine.
She was really craving the wine, and before the maids could even heat it up, she drank two small cups. After two cups, Li Chenjiao shivered from the cold, but her smile widened: "That was refreshing."
Compared to the warm wine I had last night, it tastes much better now that it's ice-cold.
Seeing this, Qiu Hu quickly went with Qiu Ci to take the plum wine away.
Li Chenjiao only drank two sips of cold wine, and at that time she did feel very good. She was fine at noon and was waiting for the second princess to come home from school so that the three of them could have lunch together. However, when Li Chenjiao woke up from her afternoon nap, she developed a high fever.
When the imperial physician came to examine her, Li Chenjiao regained consciousness for a moment.
After taking a nap, Li Chenjiao woke up to find that she could no longer speak.
Li Chenjiao looked up at the canopy above her head and thought to herself that she really shouldn't be too reckless in winter; she had been reckless for half the night last night...
She didn't think it was because of those two glasses of wine, after all, it wasn't the first time she had eaten something cold in winter, and her body wasn't that weak.
Li Chenjiao also stopped the two children from coming in, but let them sit on the embroidered stools behind the screen and talk for a while.
The news arrived quickly from Niohuru's side. At first, she didn't think about the plum wine she had sent, but later, after she asked Huiyun to get information from the physician in the mansion, she learned that the concubine had caught a cold and indulged in coolness. Suddenly, she couldn't help but overthink it.
She worried for a while, but still couldn't sit still and went to the east courtyard, not caring whether the Fourth Prince would come to see his concubine after returning to the mansion or whether she would run into him.
When Niohuru arrived at the East Courtyard, Baijia was just about to leave. Upon seeing Niohuru, she unusually refrained from arguing and instead raised her hand to make a shushing gesture.
"The concubine has just finished drinking porridge, taking her medicine, and gone to bed. Her high fever hasn't subsided yet, so don't go in and disturb her."
Niohuru frowned slightly; a beautiful woman's furrowed brow is always endearing. "I'm a little worried. I'll just take a look from the window..."
Bai Jia considered herself loyal to the concubine, and she wasn't afraid of catching the illness herself. She had just gone in to check on her, but she noticed that Niohuru seemed much more nervous than she was.
Bai Jia's heart was filled with alarm bells. Her courtyard was already far from the concubine's courtyard, and she couldn't often come to the east courtyard. Niu Hulu was in a better position because of her proximity...
Don't let her outshine you.
Qiu Hu was also afraid of causing trouble, but Niohuru didn't give her a chance to refuse and directly took her arm and led her to the latticed window of the main room.
The outer window was slightly ajar because Li Chenjiao felt suffocated while taking her medicine. However, Niohuru, standing under the window with her head slightly lowered, could only see a tiny part of her figure, which was mostly obscured by the screen.
She watched quietly for a while, completely unaware of when the Fourth Master arrived.
The Fourth Prince returned to the manor a little late today because Princess Wenxian's wedding is approaching, and he has been going to the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household Department every day.
He had previously worried about Lao Qi's marriage, and he could even give a detailed account of what to pay attention to in the matter.
However, it was quite late when he returned from the Imperial Household Department. Upon hearing that Li Chenjiao was ill, he went straight to the East Courtyard and had Fulu take his waist token to fetch the imperial physician before the palace gates were locked.
Lady Bai stayed a while because of Lady Niohuru's imposing manner; she was the first to notice the arrival of the Fourth Prince.
Her greetings did not bring Niohuru to her senses. Baijia stood up, gritted her teeth, and coughed lightly twice.
As a result, Niohuru on the other end still seemed deaf.
Bai Jia Shi: ...The emperor isn't worried, but the eunuch is. She was so anxious she wanted to stomp her feet.
Oh, I'm so angry.
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