This was the first time the Fourth Prince had ever eaten dinner at midnight; it was something he had never done before, not even when he accompanied his father, the Emperor, to quell the Galdan rebellion.
It wouldn't be good to disturb the kitchen at this moment. If the Fourth Prince were in the front courtyard, there would be no need to disturb him, but since he is in the east courtyard, he is naturally thinking of Li Chenjiao.
The meals delivered by the kitchen had already been heated up on the stove in the small kitchen as soon as the maids heard the commotion. The small kitchen also prepared two more dishes beforehand, so it was no different from the usual dinner.
However, dinner was still rather bland for Li Chenjiao. During her postpartum period, Li Chenjiao held her nose and endured it.
She ate her own food, but her eyes were practically glued to Fourth Master's bowl.
After dinner, when the two of them lay back on the couch, neither of them was very sleepy.
The two chatted casually, but Li Chenjiao did most of the talking.
Later, Fourth Master took the initiative to bring up the matter of the midwife.
"Master already questioned Bai Jia yesterday and had people search her courtyard, but there were no clues. It was those two midwives who framed her."
Li Chenjiao was playing with her hands and wasn't surprised by what the Fourth Master said.
“I have no deep hatred for those two midwives. Their desire to harm the child in my womb and cause me to have a difficult childbirth is nothing more than for money.”
She didn't say much. She understood that even if the Fourth Prince found out that it was the Fujin who did it, he wouldn't completely punish her. So she didn't press the issue at this time, and her tone was unusually calm.
The Fourth Master remained silent for a long time: "Have you ever heard the saying, 'If you look at the stream when the source is muddy, or you want it to be straight when its shape is crooked, you will not succeed'?"
Li Chenjiao hummed in agreement: "I heard my brother say this when he was reading at home before. It's from the Book of the Later Han Dynasty."
This means that it is impossible to expect clear spring water to flow from a murky source, or for a distorted form to cast a straight shadow.
The Fourth Master grunted in response and then said nothing more.
After pondering for a while, Li Chenjiao roughly understood what the Fourth Master meant.
Given the precedent of Xie's difficult childbirth, the Fourth Master would surely have suspicions about Li Chenjiao's situation. Even if he didn't suspect anything, he would certainly suspect a connection between the two.
The Princess Consort is the source of that turbidity, the distorted form; the Fourth Prince's words mean he already understands the Princess Consort's character.
Li Chenjiao paused for a moment: "Have you ever heard of the saying 'One should not let a single fault overshadow one's great virtue'?"
This time, the Fourth Prince glanced at her sideways: "You've even read Zuo Zhuan?"
Li Chen chuckled, a hint of shyness in her voice: "Does Your Highness think I'm just someone who only reads storybooks?"
What Li Chenjiao just said was that when evaluating a person, one should not erase their merits because of a small mistake.
This is actually speaking up for the Fujin (wife of the emperor).
She didn't explain further, but continued, "The Book of Changes says, 'A wise man keeps his talents hidden until the right time to act.' Haven't you heard of that, sir?"
Her words were a response to the Fourth Prince's earlier comment about her having read the Zuo Zhuan.
Fourth Master smiled and said, "That's right, reading more books is not a bad thing. In the future, if you want to read anything, just have your servant go out of the manor to buy it for you."
Li Chenjiao seized the opportunity: "That's for the Second Princess's early education, not for me to see."
Fourth Master said "Oh": "You have such thoughts?"
Li Chenjiao looked at the Fourth Prince and said, "Why are you looking at me like that? But the Second Princess is still young. Let her play for another two years. She can be taught to read and understand things on a daily basis."
Only now did Fourth Master realize that his previous understanding of Li Chenjiao was somewhat narrow. He chuckled for a while and said, "It's up to you."
The two of them tacitly avoided mentioning the Princess Consort again.
Neither of them ever mentioned the word "Fujin" (a title for a high-ranking official), and some things didn't need to be said openly.
However, Li Chenjiao's words were not meant to exonerate the Fujin. She didn't have that much kindness, especially towards someone who wanted to harm her, or even harm her child's life. She had no mercy for such a person.
She didn't need to pretend so much in front of the Fourth Prince. But there's a saying that the higher you stand, the harder you fall. What Li Chenjiao wanted was for the Fourth Prince to be repeatedly disappointed in his wife, and eventually to be completely disappointed.
Okay, there's also the fact that Li Chenjiao didn't have many things to say at that moment. She subconsciously said the sentence that left the deepest impression on her, which was the sentence that her father used to say the most when she was at home.
While at home, she did indeed read a lot of books under the influence of her father, brother, and mother, including ancient books from previous dynasties and various other miscellaneous books.
But she can't remember everything.
She's not a god, so naturally she only remembers what interests her.
There were some things she remembered, but they weren't really suitable to say aloud just now, so she simply offered a profound statement.
Li Chenjiao didn't care about anything else. After eating and drinking her fill, it was time for her to go to sleep.
When Li Chenjiao woke up the next morning, she realized that she had forgotten to apply the ointment.
She applied the ointment herself after having breakfast, and then Qiu Hu told her that Xiao Lu had something to report.
Li Chenjiao raised her hand, gesturing for him to come in.
"My lord, this morning, Princess Bai sent Danqing, who was by her side, to deliver a message saying that there was some commotion in her courtyard yesterday."
Li Chenjiao asked, "What's that noise?"
"I heard the noise came from the backyard. Princess Bai didn't dare to disturb it. This morning, she found that the soil where the box was buried had been disturbed."
Li Chenjiao said "Oh": "It's because the master came yesterday and some people couldn't sit still here."
This tactic sounds familiar.
Li Chenjiao twitched the corners of her mouth, but she felt a strange mix of emotions.
"Tell Bai Jia Gege to protect herself."
Yesterday, Lady Bai came out of the front courtyard unharmed, which means that the Fujin in the main courtyard must have been getting restless.
Li Chenjiao sighed softly, feeling unhappy.
Looking down again, she saw that Shizi had somehow scurried into her arms and was lazily hooking her clothes with its paws.
As Li Chenjiao's pregnancy progressed, the maids no longer allowed Shizi into Li Chenjiao's room, but now this cat is allowed to come and go openly.
Li Chenjiao stroked his fur gently: "Take your time."
...
At the same time, the Fujin was also holding a cat in her arms, but it was much smaller than the persimmon that Li Chenjiao kept. It was like a snowball and very beautiful.
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