Li Chenjiao finally managed to "find" the silk flowers bestowed by the Empress from the eldest princess. As soon as she had a moment to catch her breath, she heard from Xiao Luzi that the head of the household had gone to the Imperial Hospital to invite the imperial physician again.
Recently, Xiao Luzi has improved his relationship with the gatekeeper, and can easily find out that the servants in the main courtyard have ordered a carriage to be prepared for the Imperial Hospital.
Upon hearing this, Li Chenjiao simply lowered her eyes and fiddled with the silk flowers on the table: "He only has himself to blame."
Today, the children of the manor went to the palace to pay their respects to the Empress. Wasn't it the Fujin (wife of the Prince) who played a part in this?
Although the second prince was born at full term, he was indeed smaller than the eldest prince and others because his wife had a difficult childbirth and almost suffered a dystocia. He also cried frequently.
Although Consort Li Chenjiao had only met him twice, she knew his methods. Why would she let the sickly Second Prince enter the palace?
It must have been something the Fujin (wife of the emperor) said to the Empress.
In this light, it seems that the Second Prince of the main courtyard has indeed suffered many misfortunes.
But if these things happened to the Fujin (wife of the emperor), what else could it be but reaping what she sowed?
Li Chenjiao waved her hand: "There's no need to get involved or concern yourself with it."
As she spoke, she stood up again, picked up the Manchu language primer from beside the small couch, and flipped to the place she had seen last time.
The two maids exchanged a glance and then withdrew. Soon after, they brought out a brush and ink on the small table to save their master from having to write with tea.
Li Chenjiao noticed that the two maids complained again: "It's no trouble at all. Using tea is convenient and cool."
The two maids couldn't argue with Li Chenjiao, so they could only smile helplessly.
Even after his master gave birth to the second princess, he remained childlike, always seeking only to avoid trouble.
In the main courtyard, the Fujin sent someone to fetch the imperial physician. Before he left, she gave him a final instruction: "You must keep this from the Fourth Prince. He must not know the whole story of what happened today."
"If the Fourth Prince asks about it, just say that the Empress in the palace wants to see the child in the manor. There's nothing I can do. I still have the nannies protect the Second Prince very well. I just didn't expect that the Second Prince would still develop a fever in the end."
The princess's words were an attempt to shift all the blame and trouble onto the ladies in the palace.
Yu Ru hesitated, “But Madam—it was clearly when we sent the Second Prince’s portrait to the palace that you first told the Empress that the Second Prince’s health had improved significantly. Only then did the Empress say that the children in the mansion could go to the palace when they had time. However, she also said that if the Second Prince’s health was not fully recovered, he would not need to go to the palace.”
The painter, following the instructions of the Princess Consort, painted the Second Prince as lovely and lifelike. With Yu Ru's words, Consort De brought up the matter of going to the palace.
The princess consort, though outwardly fierce, rebuked, "That was because Your Highness longed to see the Second Prince first. Besides, Your Highness is the Fourth Prince's birth mother. Even if the Fourth Prince finds out later and knows it was Your Highness who ordered it, he won't do anything to Your Highness. But I'm different. Do you want the Prince to treat me, his primary wife, coldly?"
Yu Ru moved her lips, but couldn't speak.
When the Fujin (Prince Consort) did this, she and Granny Qian both disapproved. The Second Prince was still young, and it was good that the Empress cared about him. There would be opportunities to see him during festivals in the future.
However, when the Fujin heard that the Seventh Fujin had recently gained favor with the Empress, she seemed to disregard everything else and tried every means to send the Second Prince to the Empress.
Ultimately, since the Seventh Prince's wife wasn't the Empress's official daughter-in-law, the Empress naturally had to be more polite to her.
However, the princess always liked to compare what she had with others, which ultimately made her feel exhausted.
Yu Ru had no choice but to go to the Imperial Hospital herself.
Before they even left the main courtyard, they heard the wet nurse and the physician say that the Second Prince's high fever wouldn't go down and he had started vomiting milk. The Second Prince's cries had become listless.
Inside Yonghe Palace, after seeing the children off, Granny Zhao gave He Zhongyi a look. He Zhongyi glanced around the hall, understood the meaning, and quickly withdrew.
After noon, Zhao Mama, unusually, did not serve Consort De during her afternoon nap inside the palace, but instead waited at the palace gate.
The little girls would glance at it curiously every now and then.
In the past, the only people who could make Granny Zhao wait for her personally were the Emperor, the Fourth Prince, and the Fourteenth Prince.
After noon, Granny Zhao spotted someone at the palace gate and quickly went to greet them.
"Your Highness hasn't rested yet. Why didn't you let Su Peisheng hold an umbrella for you? The weather in June is getting scorching; be careful not to get sunburned. Your Highness still has some ointment..."
The Fourth Master approached expressionlessly, only nodding slightly upon hearing Zhao Mama's voice.
"I've caused trouble for my mother and the nanny."
Granny Zhao knew perfectly well what the Fourth Master was talking about, but she just sighed softly and didn't respond.
Ultimately, it was Fourth Master who suffered the most in this whole affair.
The Fourth Prince had dinner with Consort De in Yonghe Palace before leaving the palace. During this time, the Fourteenth Prince, who had just returned from studying at the Imperial Study, learned that the Fourth Prince was also there, so he went directly to Yonghe Palace for dinner.
Fourteenth recounted amusing incidents from the Imperial Study, such as how Tenth Brother slept and snored in class and was punished by the Grand Tutor, how Tenth Brother had gained weight, and how Ninth Brother followed Eighth Brother around every day after school. Just the other day, Consort Yi had scolded him by the ear, and Ninth Brother's ear was still swollen yesterday. However, after Fifth Brother took Ninth Brother out of the palace for a horseback riding and hunting trip, Ninth Brother happily ran to Consort Yi to apologize.
The Fourth Prince glanced calmly at the Fourteenth Prince: "You also want to go out and ride horses?"
The Fourteenth Prince chuckled and scratched his head: "Actually, it was the Thirteenth Prince who thought it was."
The statement that the Thirteenth Prince's horsemanship and archery skills are inferior to the Fourteenth Prince's implies that the Fourteenth Prince is using the Thirteenth Prince as a shield.
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