After Su Peisheng sat down in the side room, he had only eaten two peanuts. After hearing what Xiao Luzi said, how could he not understand what Li Gege meant?
But this Lady Li is really quite interesting. She can get through to the Fourth Prince with just a word, so why bother going through all that trouble to find him?
However, Su Peisheng quickly realized that Li Gege was cherishing the opportunity to complain. Complaining to the Fourth Prince required considering the severity of the matter.
Su Peisheng took another sip of tea: "Sometimes you inevitably encounter things like these peanuts, which look insignificant but can be quite uncomfortable if they get stuck in your throat."
Xiao Luzi smiled and poured tea for Su Peisheng, saying, "Eunuch Su is right."
Su Peisheng hurriedly ate a few more bites of side dishes to fill his stomach, and as he stood up, he said in a cryptic tone, "Tomorrow is a good day."
Xiao Luzi's smile was genuine: "There will be plenty of good weather in the spring."
——
Meanwhile, at Xinlutang, Li Chenjiao guessed that the Fourth Master probably hadn't had dinner yet, so she asked Qiu Ci to go to the kitchen and order the dishes that the Fourth Master liked.
Qiu Ci ordered her meal and waited in the kitchen. Unexpectedly, the kitchen staff became very attentive, sending a eunuch to carry the food box. Along the way, the two eunuchs carrying the food box even took the initiative to chat with Qiu Ci.
The manor's kitchen naturally had more than one cook, and Qiu Ci naturally told her princess about this change in attitude in private.
Li Chenjiao smiled enigmatically.
After the Fourth Master finished his dinner, Li Chenjiao sat opposite him and talked to him.
"How was your day on the estate? Were any of your servants disobedient?"
Li Chenjiao sensed something amiss in those words, and asked with a smile, "Does Master know that the servants on the estate are disobedient?"
Fourth Master patiently explained: "The previous owner of this estate was a prince with an iron cap, who was very carefree when he was alive."
"Casual" means frivolous or reckless.
Li Chenjiao originally didn't want to tell the Fourth Master about the kitchen, but now she suddenly changed her mind.
She could tell that Fourth Master had wanted to get rid of the existing servants on the estate for a long time.
Perhaps this imperial estate was deliberately chosen by the Fourth Prince.
And sure enough, Li Chenjiao guessed right.
Li Chenjiao then briefly mentioned that the kitchen had delivered dishes she couldn't eat for two meals that day, before continuing.
"The meals delivered by the kitchen just now were quite orderly, so I suppose the kitchen isn't just a place where any one chef has absolute authority. Why not take this opportunity to get rid of the disobedient ones?"
The Fourth Master had already made up his mind when he came to this imperial estate, but now that he saw that Li Chenjiao had a plan, he felt at ease letting her do it.
"If you need anything, just ask Fulu. He's been staying at the estate a lot lately. Just send someone to the front yard to call him."
Tonight, the two of them simply slept, a rare occurrence. Li Chenjiao knew it was because they had to leave the manor early each day to report to the Ministry of Revenue in the capital.
Didn't you see that Fourth Master was supposed to be on leave today, but he was still invited back to the Ministry of Revenue by someone from the Ministry of Revenue?
All things considered, Fourth Master has indeed caused quite a stir.
——
Consort De kept grumbling in the palace about why her son was causing all this trouble. She was genuinely worried that the fourth prince's health couldn't take it from all this back and forth every day.
Granny Zhao had guessed something: "Could it be that he was frightened by the Crown Prince's affair with the personal plowing ceremony?"
Consort De frowned and shook her head. She knew her son well enough not to be easily frightened.
However, going to the imperial estate at this critical juncture does seem to be something they're avoiding.
Consort De suddenly remembered something: "Has the Ministry of Rites compiled a list of the princes who will be making a southern tour in a few days?"
Granny Zhao exclaimed, "I heard that the Ninth Prince, Tenth Prince, and Thirteenth Prince have already been chosen, and His Majesty has only selected the Third Prince from among the other princes."
Consort De finally understood.
It turns out that the fourth brother had planned ahead in advance.
After the worship ceremony at Mount Wutai is over and the Emperor begins his southern tour, it will take at least three or four months.
At that time, not only will the Crown Prince be in the capital, but also the Prince Zhi, which will surely cause chaos.
The fourth prince has been exhausted after a month of this. Once His Majesty goes on his southern tour, the fourth prince won't need to run to the capital every day anymore. He can just stay on the estate and ignore what's happening in the capital.
Consort De smiled and said, "If the Fourteenth Prince were half as good as the Fourth Prince, I don't know how much less trouble he would have to worry about."
Then Granny Zhao added, "The Eighth Prince will also be in the capital at that time. He's been quite attentive to our Fourteenth Prince lately."
Consort De also understood: "When we return later, I think it would be better to let His Majesty add another fourteenth child during this southern tour. With the thirteenth child already, I can rest assured."
——
The other princes, who were already of age, were aware that the Fourth Prince had gone to stay at the estate for a while.
Prince Zhi received the news during the day when he was feeding his beloved eagles at the Eagle Courtyard of Donghua Gate.
Prince Zhi thought about it for a while but couldn't figure out what the fourth prince was up to. He just told his confidants to keep a close eye on things.
"What I'm afraid of is that the fourth prince is pretending to be a wealthy and idle person, hoping to impress the Emperor."
Just as Prince Zhi finished giving his orders, a servant rushed up to report, "Your Highness, the Princess Consort is ill again—"
The cold smile on Prince Zhi's face immediately turned into anxiety: "When you left the manor this morning, did you see that the Princess Consort looked quite well? How were the people in the main courtyard taking care of her?"
The servant dared not conceal the truth: "This morning, the matron from Her Majesty's palace personally came to the mansion to deliver tonics to the Princess Consort."
The "Empress" in question is naturally referring to Consort Hui, the mother of Prince Zhi.
Prince Zhi had originally planned to return to his residence, but suddenly changed his mind.
"Go to Qixiang Palace."
Consort Hui was initially quite pleased to hear that her son had come to pay his respects, but when she saw him enter with a dark expression, her lips immediately twitched downwards.
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