For Li Chenjiao, the Emperor's southern tour and the Fourth Prince's regency did not make much difference.
The princess consort stayed at the estate for a short time after the Qingming Festival. After the emperor's southern tour, Li Chenjiao finished her postpartum confinement. Both the imperial physician and Granny Zhong said that her body had recovered well, and Li Chenjiao herself felt the same way.
In the end, she did not have to undergo a double postpartum confinement period, but the Fourth Prince still had the imperial physician continue to take care of Li Chenjiao's health.
After the Fourth Prince took over the reins of government, he became even busier. Li Chenjiao could clearly feel that she saw the Fourth Prince less often. Most of the time, Su Peisheng or Fulu would come to deliver messages. The rare occasions when she saw the Fourth Prince were late at night after the children had played and gone to sleep.
However, Fourth Master looked full of energy and spirit, even more so than Li Chenjiao.
This was quite rare. Since the Fourth Master hadn't eaten dinner, Li Chenjiao had the small kitchen quickly prepare some food, which she also ate as a late-night snack.
Fourth Master had been busy for over half a month. One night, he pulled Li Chenjiao aside and talked for a long time. Li Chenjiao listened in a daze for a while, then suddenly jolted awake: "What did you just say? What did you mean by repairing the garden? What did you mean by building river works? Wasn't Qingyi Garden just repaired? How come..."
She was about to sit up when the Fourth Prince pressed her down: "Sleep well. I think you're still half asleep. What I was talking about was the repair of Changchun Garden..."
She was still half asleep and naturally didn't hear clearly.
However… Li Chenjiao thought to herself, wasn’t it just recently repaired? But she quickly realized, “Is it because of what happened last year? Then it definitely needs to be repaired…”
The Fourth Prince hummed in agreement: "Yes. The Ministry of Revenue is facing financial difficulties lately, and what I mean is..."
Li Chenjiao quickly answered, "Let me guess, does Your Highness intend to make a move from Guangdong? Pirates are rampant there, so it must be quite prosperous."
Actually, she wanted to say that the most prosperous places were Suzhou and Hangzhou, but since the Emperor was on his southern tour and was going there, it would be inappropriate to say that.
However, since Fourth Master had mentioned the wonders of Guangdong and Fujian when he returned last time, Li Chenjiao compromised and mentioned it again.
The Fourth Prince hummed in agreement again: "We've reached the same conclusion, but this matter can't be rushed. If we want the national treasury to be full, we have to make people spit out the gold they've been holding in their mouths, which is a difficult task."
The Fourth Prince understood this very well; no emperor throughout history had ever been free from this worry.
However, the Qing Dynasty is rich and powerful, and it is not time to worry now. But who would not want the people to live better and better lives?
The Fourth Prince is currently only acting as regent, and can only gradually come into contact with some state affairs that he couldn't access before, but that's all. Similarly, his ambition can only be revealed in some ways.
Everything requires method and cannot be rushed.
Fourth Master clearly knew what was going on. Li Chenjiao didn't understand why he was telling her. She felt that Fourth Master had been acting strangely lately. It was one thing for him to tell her about things outside, but she just assumed that he couldn't find anyone to talk to. Why did he always want to tell her about other people's affairs?
Sometimes she wondered how the Fourth Prince knew which princess had given birth, which prince had turned one year old, and he would just blurt it all out in her ear, regardless of whether she listened or not.
However, at the end of March, when the Fourteenth Prince got married, Li Chenjiao made an appearance. She had met the Fourteenth Prince before, as well as Lady Wanyan. At the wedding banquet, she got to know another member of the imperial family.
As the tide rises, so does the boat. With the Fourth Prince overseeing the country this time, more noblewomen came to talk to Li Chenjiao. Fortunately, Lin Mama had told her in advance about the noblewomen of the imperial family that she would meet in Da Hui, so Li Chenjiao managed to recognize most of them.
In addition, the Fourth Master had talked to her a lot lately, so much so that when Li Chenjiao saw other noblewomen, the first thing she thought of was their family affairs...
The next day, Li Chenjiao woke up with a headache.
I never expected that Fourth Master's nagging would be so troublesome; it was simply unbearable.
In April, the weather was warm and the breeze was gentle. The Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince changed every day. Wanwan couldn't leave his two younger brothers' room after school every day.
Li Chenjiao said that she couldn't tell anything from the two children's eyebrows and eyes, but the maids all said that the Fifth Prince looked like her and the Sixth Prince looked like the Fourth Prince, so Li Chenjiao just listened to the maids and enjoyed it.
Nothing much happened in April after Qingming Festival. The Princess Consort stayed at the estate and didn't send any messages back. By the end of April, the estate manager subtly mentioned that the Princess Consort wasn't feeling well when he brought fresh fruits to the east courtyard.
This matter couldn't be kept secret. Whether he was speaking to the Fourth Prince or his wife, Physician Xia would naturally tell them the best possible outcome, but even he himself couldn't be entirely sure what the actual situation was.
However, to outsiders, it appeared as if the princess had suddenly fallen ill.
Li Chenjiao was naturally puzzled when she received the news. She asked when it happened, but the steward couldn't say.
It was only said that Physician Xia from the Imperial Hospital often came and went, and the maids around the Princess Consort often brewed medicine, and the kitchen would occasionally make various nourishing soups, so naturally they could find out a thing or two.
Li Chenjiao gave Xiao Luzi a reward, and after learning that the Fujin was not well, she did not change much.
Strangely enough, she wasn't too surprised that the wife was unwell.
Li Chenjiao was actually somewhat indifferent. The impact of the Fujin's life or death on her might be that she would welcome a successor Fujin? That wouldn't be good news.
She and the Fujin were never really on good terms; there were quite a few disagreements between them. It's unlikely that the Fujin's life or death required her sympathy or concern.
She waved her hand: "Just pretend you don't know."
She wasn't particularly curious whether the Fourth Master knew or not, but since even she knew it, it was unlikely that the Fourth Master didn't know.
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