Ever since the Fourth Prince had Song Gege carry the eldest princess from the front yard back to her own courtyard, Song Shi has no longer had the opportunity to even use the excuse of visiting the eldest princess in the front yard and linger there a little longer.
When Song Gege first heard the Fourth Prince ask her to take the eldest princess back to her courtyard, she thought it meant that the Fourth Prince had forgiven her, and she was originally overjoyed. But now she felt really bad.
Because the Fourth Prince still never stayed overnight in her courtyard. You should know that before she became pregnant with the eldest princess, the Fourth Prince would come to her place at least three or four times a month.
How could this not disappoint the Song family?
If she had given birth to a prince, it would have been fine, but she was born a princess.
What use will a princess be when she grows up?
It's rare that we can even share the title of the Fourth Prince.
The reason why the Fourth Prince seems to value the First Princess so much right now is simply because she is currently the only one in the manor.
The Fourth Prince only cherishes the eldest princess because she is the first child in the mansion. Once the child in Wu Gege's belly is born, if it is a prince, just wait and see. At that time, the eldest princess will have no chance.
Besides, the eldest princess looks rather sickly right now.
What displeased Song the most was that the eldest princess's full moon celebration was not held in the past because she was premature and weak, but that was fine.
The eldest princess is much better now, but the Fourth Prince hasn't mentioned holding a 100-day celebration for her.
It seems that the outside world is unaware that there is a newly born eldest princess in the Fourth Prince's mansion.
The Song family has truly misunderstood the Fourth Master.
The Fourth Prince has always remembered that he owed the eldest princess her third-day celebration and full-moon banquet. However, he has also asked the Imperial Hospital, and although the eldest princess has survived the winter, her health is still much weaker than that of ordinary children.
They were afraid that holding a big celebration now would diminish the eldest princess's good fortune, but the Fourth Prince had already planned to hold a grand celebration for the eldest princess's first birthday.
The more Song thought about it, the angrier she became. She twisted the silk handkerchief in her hand and almost ground her teeth to powder.
He was already angry when he heard the eldest princess crying from inside the room, which made him even more annoyed. The gentleness and tenderness on his face when he was outside had long since been replaced by impatience.
"Why is she crying so much so late at night? How did the wet nurse take care of her?"
Liu Xu repeatedly told him to calm down and quietly went to the inner room to take a look.
Song cursed a few times, but after a while she heard the eldest princess's crying getting louder, so she stood up and went into the inner room.
"How did you serve the eldest princess?" Madam Song immediately began to berate the wet nurse.
The wet nurse, who had been in the front courtyard for two or three months, was now quite assertive: "Princess Song, don't say that, or you'll upset the First Princess and the Fourth Prince will find out—"
On the surface, Madam Song still appeared to dote on the eldest princess, but she was speechless at the wet nurse's words: "Madam Wang, how dare you!"
Wang held the eldest princess in her arms and gently coaxed her. When Song spoke, she covered the eldest princess's ears with her hand: "It's late, princess, you should rest early."
Song took a deep breath and didn't argue with Wang.
This old hag was a highly experienced nanny whom the Fourth Prince had Su Peisheng select from the Imperial Household Department, and even Madam Song dared not offend her.
Besides, she couldn't afford to break ties with Madam Wang right now, otherwise she would suffer if Madam Wang said anything bad about her to the Fourth Master.
Song's resentment persisted until, for several days in a row, the backyard was filled with the sounds of tidying up boxes and items.
Everyone in the backyard except for Madam Song was busy packing things to take to the estate.
The weather was excellent on the first day of the third lunar month.
It happened to be the Fourth Master's day off, so he also went to the estate.
Since they were seeing off the Fourth Prince, the Fujin (principal wife) and Madam Song naturally had to see him off early in the morning at the main gate of the mansion.
Princess and her concubine, Ziranshi, were to leave the mansion through the side gate, but Li Chenjiao and the others still had to bid farewell to the Fujin.
When they parted, the princess consort naturally put on a show and said many words of advice.
"Once you arrive at the estate, you must serve Fourth Master well and keep to your duties."
“Girl Wu, you are pregnant, so you must be extra careful on the road. If anything goes wrong when you get to the manor, just ask the manor manager. Of course, you can also ask Granny Xu.”
Yes, this time when the Princess Consort went to the estate, she also sent her trusted confidante, Granny Xu. The official reason was that the Princess Consort was going to manage the affairs of the manor, so the affairs of the estate would be handed over to Granny Xu for the time being.
Everyone could see that the Fujin (principal wife) did not want anyone to seize power after Li Chenjiao and the others arrived at the estate.
Oh, especially afraid of Li Chenjiao and Wu Gege.
The Fujin even spoke gently to Xu Shi, saying, "Xu Shi, you used to be someone by the Empress's side. Now that you're on the estate, you must take even better care of the Fourth Master."
Compared to the two princesses, the one the Fujin (princess) trusts the most right now is naturally Lady Xu.
Moreover, Xu's status was low, she was just a concubine. If she were to actually become pregnant, the Fujin (principal wife) would surely be overjoyed.
When the time comes, Xu's child can naturally be brought to the main courtyard.
Xu Shi had always been inconspicuous in the mansion, but when she was suddenly stopped by the Fujin, her attitude remained very respectful but without any flattery: "This servant will remember Fujin's teachings and will certainly do my duty to serve the Fourth Master."
The princess was barely satisfied with Xu's answer, and finally waved her hand to let them leave the mansion through the side gate.
Song stood behind the Fujin, her face still showing a very docile expression, and she listened very attentively as the Fujin spoke.
Only Liu Xu, standing beside Song Shi, caught a glimpse of her princess's fingernails digging into her flesh when she looked down.
Liu Xu was stunned, completely bewildered as to when her princess had changed into her current state.
Watching the Fourth Prince leave, the Fujin turned around and looked at Song Shi with a smile: "Song Gege, they've all left, why are you still here? Look at me, I forgot you can't go, Song Shi. Alright, go back to your courtyard and stay here to take care of the First Princess."
The Fujin (principal wife) would never forget how Song Shi, who had already entered the Fourth Prince's harem, had tripped her up when she first entered the mansion after her wedding last year.
While the Fujin (wife) couldn't deal with Wu Gege and Li Gege on the estate, she had plenty of ways to torment Song Gege.
——
Meanwhile, Li Chenjiao and Wu Gege left the mansion together, where the Fourth Prince was already waiting on horseback.
The servants were still carrying their trunks and baskets, while the three carriages were naturally prepared for Li Chenjiao, Wu Gege, and Xu Shi.
Normally, Xu Shi, being a concubine, shouldn't ride in a carriage alone, but since she's the only concubine in the household right now, those rules don't apply.
When it came time to get into the carriage, Wu Gege was very modest: "Li Gege entered the manor earlier than me and is more senior. Li Gege, please get into the carriage first."
These are indeed trivial matters, so Li Chenjiao nodded and smiled in response: "Passing the buck back and forth will only waste time, so I will not refuse Princess Wu's kindness."
Li Chenjiao nimbly stepped onto the carriage using a small table.
The carriages in the mansion were no different from the ones I used to ride in when I was still in my boudoir, except that the decorations were slightly more luxurious.
The two girls sat close together, making more room for Li Chenjiao across from them, their faces full of joy.
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