Meanwhile, as the Fourth Prince left Yuqing Palace, he felt inexplicably heavy-hearted and uneasy.
Su Peisheng had been guarding outside without going in. When he saw his master come out looking preoccupied, he didn't dare to utter a sound.
"Master, what should we do now—"
Fourth Master thought of the basket of frozen pears he had seen in the Crown Prince's room earlier that day: "Let's go back to the manor."
Su Peisheng quickly responded.
After returning to the manor, the Fourth Prince went straight to Li Chenjiao's east courtyard.
The Fourth Prince has been so worried about the Crown Prince lately that he hasn't even been to the inner courtyard many times.
Tomorrow is the Little New Year, and things will be busy. I wonder if the Fourth Prince took the Crown Prince's words to heart, because he also wants to have some fun right now.
The only place in the entire mansion where he could relax a little was with the little princess.
When Fourth Master arrived at the East Courtyard, Li Chenjiao was playing shuttlecock under the eaves, while the two maids, Qiu Hu and Qiu Ci, were keeping count.
Li Chenjiao, being a nobody, naturally didn't have as many worries as the Fourth Master. Throughout the entire twelfth lunar month, Li Chenjiao ate very well.
However, Li Chenjiao was worried that she would gain weight, so she would play shuttlecock under the eaves when she had nothing to do.
When she got tired of kicking, Li Chenjiao sat down on the rocking chair that Xiao Luzi had specially asked her to get from the storage area.
If the sun happens to come out occasionally, lying in a rocking chair and looking at the square sky above is incredibly pleasant.
This was the scene that Fourth Master saw when he arrived.
The Fourth Master stood there for a while, and seeing that the master and servants seemed completely unaware, he raised his hand to rub the back of his neck, feeling increasingly uneasy.
Fourth Master raised his hand to stop Su Peisheng from summoning him, and went straight around the covered corridor and entered the inner room behind Li Chenjiao's rocking chair.
The Fourth Prince lifted the curtain and sat on the soft couch by the window, casually picking up a scroll from the table.
It's the storybook that Little Princess was reading when I last visited her.
Fourth Master casually flipped through a few pages, and upon hearing the sound of the curtain being lifted, he looked up as if unintentionally.
But then Su Peisheng brought in hot tea.
Fourth Master immediately withdrew his disdainful gaze.
Su Peisheng served hot tea, touched his nose, and stood behind the curtain to wait.
It was easy to see that their master found the small table set up on the soft couch uncomfortable, so they saw their master pacing around in the inner room, occasionally flipping through other books on the shelf.
Su Peisheng glanced outside again, the rocking chair swaying gently. Li Gege probably didn't even know her master had entered.
The master wasn't complaining about the small table being uncomfortable; he simply didn't want to stay in the room to read.
Fortunately, the two maids, Qiu Hu and Qiu Ci, noticed Su Peisheng pouring tea outside. They quickly helped their mistress up and told her that the Fourth Master had arrived.
Li Chenjiao had just finished playing shuttlecock and was feeling weak all over. She barely managed to get up and go into the inner room.
"How could you not inform your master when he arrived? This is truly negligence."
The Fourth Prince glanced at her, and he could see the weariness in the little princess's eyes as she spoke.
Fourth Master dismissed the servants in the room.
"Tired of playing shuttlecock?" Fourth Master's voice was cool.
Hearing this, Li Chenjiao naturally took advantage of the situation: "This servant is idle all day long, unlike Fourth Master who is always working hard in the wind and rain. It's rare for you to have some free time, so why not get a good night's sleep?"
Fourth Master sat on the soft couch listening to Li Chenjiao's nonsense.
However, when the little princess boldly pulled his sleeve to lead him into the inner room, the Fourth Prince did not show any resistance.
They just let Li Chenjiao do as she pleased.
Even when he was lying on the bed, the Fourth Prince still felt a sense of unreality.
It was broad daylight outside, but the one next to him was already fast asleep and kept snuggling into his arms.
The Fourth Prince patted the little princess's head and sighed softly.
Before coming to the East Courtyard, he thought of many ways to spend time with the little princess, but unexpectedly, the little princess chose the most convenient one.
Fourth Master knew without a doubt that whether he went to his wife, Consort Song, or Consort Wu today, he would serve them with utmost respect, only to end up exhausted.
It would be better to just take a nap like this.
It wasn't actually quiet outside; there were sounds of servants sweeping snow and young maids talking.
But on such an afternoon, Fourth Master did not find it noisy.
The Fourth Prince suddenly understood why the Crown Prince had pretended to be sick; some fatigue was accumulated over the years.
Little Princess had somehow snuggled into Fourth Master's arms, seeking warmth as she wrapped her arms around his.
Fourth Master did not push him away, but slowly closed his eyes.
Fourth Master slept soundly, and when he woke up again, it was already getting dark outside.
Fourth Master hadn't slept so soundly in a long time, at least not in the past month.
Li Chenjiao woke up a little earlier than the Fourth Master, but she didn't move. She waited until the Fourth Master woke up before asking with bright eyes, "Master, shall we have hot pot today?"
Little Princess didn't take off her hair accessories before going to sleep. Now her hair is a bit messy, and there are also marks from her earrings on the side of her face.
No wonder Fourth Master always felt something small beads poking his arm in his sleep.
The Fourth Prince chuckled and gently rubbed the flower mark on the little princess's cheek with his fingertip, saying only, "You can arrange it."
Li Chenjiao then got out of bed and instructed Xiao Luzi to order the meal.
After ordering the food, Li Chenjiao borrowed the bronze mirror on the dressing table to glance at the blurry marks on her face.
Li Chenjiao didn't care about that, but suddenly remembered something else and eagerly ran back to the bedside, asking as if she was very curious.
"When I was a young lady, I heard that there was a kind of mercury mirror in Southeast Asia that could reflect people as clearly as the surface of water. Do you know about it, sir?"
The Fourth Prince glanced at the little princess, knowing all about her little schemes.
"want to?"
Li Chenjiao had a good understanding of what it meant to be a favored concubine, and immediately pouted as if she were wronged: "Can't I?"
This was the first time Li Chenjiao had ever asked the Fourth Master for something, and it felt quite novel. In the past, the Fourth Master would send whatever he wanted to the East Courtyard.
The Fourth Prince pondered for a while and said, "The palace does use those things to make windows. As for making them into mirrors, I'll have Su Peisheng ask him about it."
In fact, as far as the Fourth Prince knew, it wasn't just people in the palace who used those things to make windows. The first person in the capital who knew about it was his nominal uncle, Longkodo.
Longkodo spent so extravagantly just to make that Li Si'er smile.
When the Fourth Prince came to his senses, he looked at the expectant little princess in front of him and reached out to pinch her cheek.
"As long as you follow the rules, I won't mistreat you."
Fourth Prince wasn't afraid of becoming like Longkodo, who favored his concubine over his wife. First and foremost, he believed that the little princess beside him wasn't like Li Si'er.
Naturally, he wouldn't act like Longkodo, pushing his beloved woman into the eye of the storm.
Fourth Master suddenly reached out and pulled Li Chenjiao into his arms. It was supposed to be a comforting hug, but in the end, Fourth Master's hands became unruly.
When emotions ran deep, Li Chenjiao couldn't understand why the Fourth Master suddenly became so ruthless, so she could only give vague and incoherent responses.
"Who, who broke the rules?"
She only breaks the rules in front of the Fourth Prince, okay?
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