Li Chenjiao smelled the fragrance, her lips parted slightly, and after a long while, she stood up a beat too late.
"What's that smell? Lunch has arrived from the kitchen? Who ordered roast meat? It's just what I'm looking for."
The maids outside heard the commotion and came in. Li Chenjiao had already gotten up and gotten out of bed.
The master was still asleep, but the maids were all doing their work in an orderly manner.
Qiu Ci was the most energetic girl at this moment, and she was the one who rushed into the inner room the fastest after hearing the noise.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, it was the mutton soup and mutton skewers that Your Majesty instructed the kitchen to send over. They were served hot and ready to eat, Your Majesty is hungry now and can have some."
When Qiu Ci came in to answer, Qiu Hu also came in carrying hot water, followed by Lü Mei carrying the washing utensils.
Li Chenjiao was slightly taken aback upon hearing the voice, her dark eyelashes trembling slightly: "Did Fourth Master in the front courtyard send someone to deliver this?"
Qiu Ci smiled and said yes.
Her nod made Li Chenjiao uneasy, since she hadn't mentioned wanting to eat mutton to the Fourth Master yet.
Li Chenjiao didn't believe in the concept of telepathy. Yesterday, the Fourth Master had only come to the backyard once after recovering from a long illness. He stayed in the East Courtyard for lunch. He originally wanted to stay for a nap, but he didn't because someone from the main courtyard came. So there was no possibility that she was talking in her sleep.
However, she never mentioned wanting to eat mutton to the Fourth Master.
Li Chenjiao pondered for a long time, but she really couldn't understand why the Fourth Master had the front kitchen prepare mutton and send it over.
Could it really be a coincidence?
Qiu Ci had been beaming with joy, but seeing her mistress fall into deep thought after hearing her words, she also stopped smiling and cautiously asked, "Does Master feel there's something amiss?"
Li Chenjiao waved her hand: "It's nothing, it's just that I always have to guess what the Fourth Master is thinking when he gives me food." But since she couldn't figure it out at the moment, then so be it.
She had completely forgotten that she had mentioned wanting to eat whole roasted meat yesterday.
Qiu Ci couldn't figure it out either, so she simply shut up.
However, Li Chenjiao was really craving mutton soup and mutton skewers right now, and the aroma from outside wafted straight into her nose.
Li Chenjiao was practically drooling with envy: "If you can't figure it out, then so be it. It's a good thing nonetheless. Help me wash up. We'll have breakfast and lunch together now. Do you have any milk buns? They'd taste even better with lamb skewers."
Li Chenjiao truly has her own insights when it comes to food.
But now she's thinking about something else: "I'm craving tofu pudding right now, and it has to be savory."
As she spoke, she stood up and walked to the dressing table. She had always loved to eat, and now that she had been craving roasted whole lamb for more than half a month, her desire had been indirectly satisfied. So Li Chenjiao started thinking about other things.
Granny Lin came in from outside: "Then this servant should prepare to go to the family physician to ask for Coptis chinensis."
Li Chenjiao smacked her lips. That was indeed the case. Every year during the festivals, she always ate the best, and she could never escape getting a sore throat. The East Courtyard even kept Coptis chinensis on hand. However, this year, because Li Chenjiao was pregnant and then went through postpartum confinement, she ate a light diet for a while, so she didn't ask the physician for Coptis chinensis much.
However, the lamb skewers and lamb soup are still delicious.
White radish was added to the mutton soup to remove the gamey smell. The mutton skewers were already a bit cold when they arrived at the east courtyard, but they tasted much better when paired with the warm milk buns.
Li Chenjiao was completely satisfied with her meal.
However, as expected, Li Chenjiao got a sore throat afterwards, which made it inconvenient for her to serve the Fourth Master.
However, in the following days, the Fourth Master did not come into the backyard.
In the first month of the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi's reign, even after the Fourth Prince had fully recovered from his illness, he still went to the palace for several days in a row.
Among the female relatives, the Fujin's illness was sometimes better and sometimes worse. However, the Fujin was strong-willed by nature. When the Fourth Prince went to the palace for a banquet two days later, the Fujin went to the palace one day later as well. In this way, Li Chenjiao could not be exempted either.
Li Chenjiao knew without guessing that it was because the Fourth Prince went to the palace for a banquet that the Fujin (wife) received the news a little late that day; otherwise, she probably would have gone to the palace with him that very day.
Li Chenjiao's lip blister from the day she entered the palace hadn't healed yet, and she didn't dare eat anything too hot on her first day there, for fear of being impolite.
However, since she entered the palace on the eighth day of the first lunar month this year, and it has only been seven or eight days since she entered the palace, Li Chenjiao herself is already very satisfied.
Even though she felt inexplicably emotional every day before dawn when she followed the Fujin into the palace, she couldn't say she felt any pity for the Fujin. It was just that the Fujin's complexion was visibly getting worse day by day.
Finally, on the twelfth day of the first lunar month, even the Consort De in the palace couldn't bear to watch any longer and finally told the Princess Consort that she didn't need to go to the palace and that it was more important for her to take good care of her health.
Consort De spoke up for a reason, of course, because she couldn't stand it anymore. Also, the Fujin (princess's wife) was coming to the palace looking haggard every day. Those who knew her said it was because the Fujin was filial, but those who didn't would think that Consort De was tormenting her daughter-in-law.
Consort De was intelligent for most of her life, so naturally she wouldn't give others such an excuse to criticize her.
When Consort De spoke, all the minor concubines who were originally in front of her had already left. Only Consort De, Consort Cheng, the Fujin, and Li Chenjiao remained. The Seventh Fujin was also sent away by Consort De under some pretext.
The Fujin was quite frightened at that time. She was indeed too busy showing filial piety and trying to gain a good reputation, after all, the First Fujin had also fallen ill with a cold during the New Year.
Later, Consort Hui said that even the First Princess Consort had to respectfully endure her illness to enter Consort Hui's palace.
The Fujin (Prince Consort) is using the First Fujin as a cautionary tale, but she has forgotten that Consort De is not that kind of person.
Then there's the First Princess Consort, who's always been in the spotlight. The Fourth Prince is cautious and never tries to stand out, so he cherishes his reputation. Naturally, so is Consort De.
Consort De was usually gentle, but she was never ambiguous when it came to matters concerning the fourth and fourteenth princes.
At that time, when he asked the princess to return to the mansion to rest, his tone was very gentle.
By all accounts, the Princess Consort is only twenty-one years old, and has only been in charge of the household for three years. She is ambitious and takes the Crown Princess as her role model in everything. However, since the Crown Princess's family fell from power, she has started imitating others—
Consort De saw all of this, but as long as the Princess Consort didn't go too far, she didn't bother to point it out.
She sat at the head of the table, and while she couldn't see the expressions of the primary wife and secondary wife, Lady Li, below her perfectly, she could at least get a general idea of them.
When Granny Zhao returned after seeing Ulanara and Li off, Consort De was resting with her eyes closed on a soft couch.
Hearing footsteps, Consort De spoke, but still did not open her eyes: "Have they been sent away?"
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