When the Fujin heard Yu Ru's report, she scoffed.
"She's upset. There are three princes in the manor, but she only has one second princess. Right now, seeing the eldest prince receive a reward from His Majesty in the palace, she's probably even more anxious than I am behind the scenes. Maybe that one in the South Courtyard is the next Wu."
Whether it's a prince or a duke, in addition to the primary consort appointed by the emperor, there can be two secondary consorts in the harem according to the rules.
Currently, there is only one concubine, Li Chenjiao, in the Fourth Prince's mansion, and the position of the other concubine is still vacant.
Throughout history, although it is said that only the new concubines are seen laughing while the old ones are seen crying, to truly sit in the position of a concubine, one must naturally have offspring to be considered legitimate.
Right now, Lady Wu has the eldest son, the First Prince, in the household to rely on, and the First Prince will receive a gift from the Emperor in the palace on his first birthday. Moreover, Lady Wu still firmly holds the power to manage the needlework room and the general store.
All of this made it impossible for the Princess Consort not to be wary.
The only thing the Fujin can be thankful for right now is that Wu Shi is out of favor, and her looks are only average, plus there's still that one in the East Courtyard in the mansion—
Considering both sides, neither Wu Shi nor Li Chenjiao will, at least for now, surpass the Fujin (the wife of the emperor).
One has favor but no power and no children; the other has power and children but no favor.
In this light, it was absolutely the right thing for Fourth Master to do when he chose to request a title for Li Chenjiao.
After everyone had left, the Fujin knew very well that she could not allow Wu to become a second Li, absolutely not.
The Princess Consort would absolutely not stand idly by and watch her power over the household affairs gradually disappear again.
"By the way, what did the eunuch who delivered the reward say?"
Granny Qian replied respectfully, "They say that Prince Hongxi from Yuqing Palace also has one, as does the little prince born to Consort Zhaojia in the Third Prince's courtyard."
Then it's not just the eldest prince of the household who has it.
Upon hearing this, the princess was finally relieved; at least it wasn't the only one.
The Princess Consort pressed her temples: "Has anyone been sent home to deliver a message? We can't afford any trouble at this critical juncture. Also, has the imperial physician examined the Second Prince's pulse? Did he explain the cause of the illness?"
This morning, the Second Prince vomited again. This is not uncommon in the main courtyard. The Second Prince vomits once or twice every three to five days.
The imperial physician only said it was because the second prince was weak.
The same old arguments were being repeated over and over again, and even the Fujin herself was thoroughly tired of hearing them.
"Why is it that only the Second Prince is unwell, while the First Prince and the Third Prince in the mansion are perfectly healthy?"
These words left Granny Qian speechless.
If Lady Song were in the main courtyard at this moment and heard the Princess Consort say this, she would probably burst into laughter without caring about her image.
Didn't the Princess Consort always say that the First Princess was sickly and always ill? Now it's the Second Prince's turn to be unwell.
The saying "fortune's wheel turns" is indeed true.
All the sarcasm that the Fujin had used against Song Shi in the past has now come back to haunt the Fujin herself.
The princess herself knew that her complaints were somewhat unreasonable, but she was really angry at the moment. She pressed her chest and suddenly felt a pang of heart palpitation.
Yu Ru noticed that the Fujin's face was flushed, so she quickly raised her hand to pat the Fujin's back and gestured for the maid to serve warm tea.
The princess recovered somewhat, something flashed in her eyes, but in the end she pursed her lips.
"Alright, let's keep that one from the South Courtyard a little longer."
The one in the South Courtyard wasn't referring to Lady Wu, but to the First Prince.
Yu's hand trembled slightly without her noticing, and she quickly lowered her head, not daring to say anything more.
Granny Qian, standing to the side, calmly took the teacup from the Fujin's hand: "What the Fujin says is true. The South Courtyard will become a disaster sooner or later, but it is currently in the limelight, so we really can't rush things."
Clearly, Granny Qian and the Fujin had the same idea; neither of them intended to leave the eldest prince as a potential threat.
However, the Southern Academy is currently riding high, so we really can't rush things, or we might end up getting burned.
The princess was even more troubled: "Using someone else to do the dirty work is no longer an option. Those two in the South Courtyard and East Courtyard are not falling for the trap at all. On the contrary, we have to make them more vigilant."
The two from the East Courtyard and the two from the South Courtyard are both smart people; they would never fight each other.
Granny Qian suddenly smiled: "The reason we don't fight is because these are all trivial matters. What if they touch upon key interests?"
The princess frowned: "Does the old nanny mean the eldest prince and the second princess?"
Granny Qian lowered her head, making it impossible to see her expression: "Your Highness, you can't move right now, so why can't the Second Princess move? It would be best to involve the First Princess as well. The two in the East and South Courtyards are clever, but there are always some who aren't so clever in our household."
That's practically saying that Song wasn't smart.
The princess was very cautious: "There's no rush. Right now, I need to conserve my energy and take good care of the second prince's health. If we really have to take action, we need to be fully prepared."
The princess had learned her lesson from her children, and was somewhat like someone who had been bitten by a snake once.
Granny Qian agreed, "What the Princess Consort says is true. Even if things don't go well, there's always the new bride coming to the manor next year."
When Granny Qian suddenly brought up the upcoming imperial selection, it was clearly a reminder to the Princess Consort to mention it to the Empress.
The princess fell silent, having already made up her mind.
We dare not take a wife who is too beautiful right now; the example of Lady Xie is still fresh in our minds. Someone like Lady Wu is also out of the question; she's full of scheming and seems like she's here to seize power.
The princess was also in a dilemma, but she was having such a terrible headache that she couldn't think about it anymore.
The Fujin would ruthlessly eliminate anything that might affect her and the Second Prince's status.
Furthermore, Wu Shi has indeed been enjoying unparalleled prominence in the manor lately, but Fourth Master has not visited her. Instead, he has stayed at Li Chenjiao's place in the East Courtyard for two consecutive days.
The Princess Consort was still thinking about the conversation she had with Granny Qian and the others about His Majesty's re-examination in three days. However, the Fourth Prince had been resting in the East Courtyard for the first two days, but on the day of the re-examination in three days, he actually fell ill.
The princess was puzzled, but she still sent someone to visit her.
Li Chenjiao knew even less, but she was quite clear that the Fourth Master was faking his illness.
As for the reason, Li Chenjiao didn't want to think about it anymore; it was probably just something that happened outside.
The Fourth Prince did indeed claim to be ill, and he understood that his father, the Emperor, had allowed him to claim illness in order to put the matter of his advanced age behind him.
As for the result of the retry—
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