Although the Fourth Master's words were cold, Li Chenjiao didn't find them too unpleasant to hear. It was already quite an achievement to be able to sit as if nothing was wrong.
She took these words as the Fourth Master saying that her figure was no different from before.
She opened her lips and exclaimed "Oh!", subtly but not too abruptly changing the subject: "It's so sunny here! Didn't we say we were going to stroll in the garden?"
Because they were outside, Li Chenjiao didn't dare to make any overly inappropriate moves. She simply tugged at the Fourth Master's sleeve lightly when she walked to his side.
There were guards watching nearby. The Fourth Prince immediately glared at Li Chenjiao, but his gaze wasn't particularly fierce. Instead, after a brief eye contact, Li Chenjiao couldn't help but laugh.
Alright, let's go out and have some fun today.
However, halfway through her stroll in the garden, Li Chenjiao suddenly remembered that she wanted to eat crabs. It was all because the fan was waving around and the two crabs seemed to be swaying in front of her, which made Li Chenjiao's cravings come out.
At noon, Li Chenjiao had lunch with the Fourth Prince at Wanshu Garden outside. The food at the imperial palace was naturally much more sumptuous than that at the mansion, and the taste was at least better than what the imperial kitchen prepared for various festivals.
Li Chenjiao dined with the Fourth Prince in a corner pavilion in Wanshu Garden, without disturbing too many people. The guards were also left outside Wanshu Garden, and the meal was simply brought over from the imperial palace's kitchen by Su Peisheng, Xiao Luzi, and Fulu.
The summer breeze at the palace wasn't too stifling, and the dense, tall trees also shielded her from the scorching sun overhead. Apart from the somewhat annoying cicada chirping, Li Chenjiao enjoyed her lunch quite comfortably, at least more refreshing than she had imagined.
Since no lunch was served in the East Courtyard, Bai Jia and Niu Hulu didn't need to ask too much to know that the secondary consort wasn't in the East Courtyard at the moment.
After lunch, Lady Baijia went out of the courtyard to enjoy the breeze under the eaves. Her courtyard and Lady Niohuru's courtyard were on opposite sides, with a small garden surrounded by a small pavilion in the middle. As soon as Lady Baijia and Lady Niohuru opened their courtyard gates, they could see what was happening in their respective courtyards.
Bai Jia had just come out of the inner room to digest her food when she saw Niu Hulu playing with chrysanthemums in the garden. The chrysanthemums in the imperial palace were carefully cultivated and transported from the palace flower room, and they were precious varieties. Although they were just displayed in the garden, they were still very rare.
Bai Jia was fanning herself as she walked out into the garden. As she passed by Niu Hulu, she couldn't help but speak up: "Why are you ruining these flowers for no reason?"
Niohuru curled the corners of her mouth, her face always cold and indifferent towards Baijia, which, in Baijia's words, clearly showed that she was not favored.
However, Niohuru's words were clearly more sarcastic this time: "What does it have to do with you if I ruin myself?"
"You..." Bai Jia wanted to say that Niu Hulu was being unreasonable, but then she saw the maid behind Niu Hulu squat down: "Princess Bai Jia, please understand, these are flowers that our princess herself raised in the manor, and she brought them all the way..."
Upon hearing this, Bai Jiashi remembered something. She recalled that sometimes Niohuru's servants would carry something out, and occasionally she would have a maid bring some water to the servants outside. She also said that Niohuru's consideration for the servants was because she was considerate of the chrysanthemums that she had been carrying with her.
Bai Jia's face once again showed a puzzled, strange, and somewhat indescribable expression: "...Don't you feel sorry for me?"
At least they are flowers that I raised myself.
Niohuru looked back at her with a strange expression: "So what? I'm happy to do it. Stand further away, don't block my way."
Bai Jia realized that she really couldn't reason with Niohuru, and well, it turned out that she was the one who was meddling.
Bai Jia waved her fan and headed towards the path on the other side of the garden.
No... she wasn't blocking the light when she was standing there; she was standing on the other side of the road.
What an oddball! Niohuru was indeed an oddball.
Bai Jia muttered to herself as she returned to her courtyard, closing the gate tightly behind her.
Niohuru sat in the garden for half a day.
As evening approached and darkness fell, Li Chenjiao, returning from Wanshu Garden, vaguely spotted a figure in the garden.
"Is that Princess Niohuru?" Li Chenjiao asked, waving her fan.
After having lunch with Fourth Master, he taught Li Chenjiao how to ride a horse. However, Li Chenjiao was too "delicate," and in the end, she just watched Fourth Master ride with bright eyes.
However, when Fourth Master said he was teaching Li Chenjiao, he meant it half as a joke. After all, Li Chenjiao was wearing a qipao today, which made it inconvenient for her to ride a horse. Even though she didn't ride a horse, Li Chenjiao's palms were still rubbed red from holding the whip for a while.
When Fourth Master saw her, he frowned. Whether she could ride a horse or not was secondary, as was her ability to endure hardship. What he really couldn't bear to see Li Chenjiao injured was that she had fair skin and even a small red mark looked quite alarming. Because of this, Fourth Master stopped letting Li Chenjiao touch the horse. Instead, he watched her go to the side to fly a kite. However, it was windy today, so she didn't fly it for long. The two of them simply strolled around, stopping occasionally.
I occasionally hear Fourth Master talk about how the Ministry of Works originally designed the Wanshu Garden and how many ingenious ideas were incorporated into it.
However, it was the Fourteenth Prince, who had been riding horses at the testing ground, who sent someone to urge the Fourth Prince that the princes would be having a so-called family banquet with His Majesty tonight.
The Fourth Prince had been gone for half a day, but when he returned, he wasn't embarrassed at all. He even glared at the Fourteenth Prince when he was teased.
The boy, who hasn't even grown his hair yet, is spouting a lot of nonsense. It's time for his mother to teach him a good lesson.
Fourth Master went to the banquet, and Li Chenjiao returned to the East Courtyard as evening approached.
They had only gone halfway when they spotted that familiar figure in the garden.
The candlelight and footsteps still startled Niohuru, who stood up and bowed from a distance but did not approach.
Li Chenjiao vaguely felt that Niohuru's expression was smiling, but it didn't seem so.
Since Niohuru didn't come forward, Li Chenjiao didn't go over either. She whispered a few words to Qiu Hu, then nodded slightly to Niohuru from a distance, and then went back to the east courtyard.
Qiu Hu didn't follow, but instead stopped and went to Niohuru's side: "The concubine said it's getting late, and there are a lot of cicadas and mosquitoes around, so she asked me to bring a sachet of insect repellent to the princess. I'll take my leave."
As she spoke, she handed the small medicine packet to Huiyun, who was standing next to Princess Niohuru.
Niohuru's eyes seemed to be drawn to the medicine packet.
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