The Princess Consort stood up a beat late. She hesitated for two seconds and glanced at Yu Ru beside her. Yu Ru was obviously also confused and did not know why the Fourth Prince's expression had suddenly changed.
The Fujin looked away irritably, pondering her words again. She assumed that her words had offended the Fourth Prince, which was why he was displeased.
The princess lowered her eyes, unable to help but wonder, "Hasn't the master always been the most particular about rules? How come—"
Consort Fu couldn't understand it. She stroked her long eyebrows and went to the dressing table in the inner room to signal Yu Ru to remove her hairpins and rings so she could rest.
I guess I'm still in a bad mood.
Nothing was said that night, and naturally no water was called.
The next day was October 11th, which was not supposed to be the day for paying respects on the first or fifteenth of the month. However, early in the morning, the Fujin (principal wife) helped the Fourth Prince with his washing and dressing when he got up, and then she couldn't stay awake any longer and went to sleep for a while.
It was quite late when she got up. The Fujin sat in front of the dressing table and let Yu Ru do her makeup. At the same time, she did not forget to instruct the maid to invite everyone to the main courtyard.
That means there's something to discuss or something to instruct.
Although they were all a little confused, they all arrived at the main courtyard one after another very quickly.
Yesterday, the Fourth Prince did not come to the East Courtyard, so Li Chenjiao went to bed early, which was rare for her. The next day, the Second Princess woke up and started crying, and Li Chenjiao also woke up.
When the maid from the main courtyard came to the east courtyard to deliver a message, Li Chenjiao was having breakfast while teasing the Second Princess.
Li Chenjiao's expression remained calm after hearing the message: "I understand. I'll be at the main courtyard shortly. Have someone escort her there."
Qiu Hu bowed and went out, seemingly pointing casually at a maid: "Lvlan, go and see Xiacao off."
There were originally two first-class maids in the main courtyard, but now there is only one, Yu Ru. There are four second-class maids who were originally of the "silver" generation, and four third-class maids who were of the "wood" generation.
I don't know what the Fujin heard, but a few days ago she changed the names of several second and third class maids to medicinal herbs.
Xia Cao, who came to deliver the message today, has been serving the Fujin (principal wife) quite well lately, and I heard she will soon be promoted to a first-class maid.
Green Orchid let out an "Ah," and after several seconds, she finally replied, "Yes, this servant will go right away."
Qiu Ci watched as Lü Lan and Xia Chong disappeared into the distance. She snorted and quickly turned around to go back into the inner room to help her mistress change her clothes.
Since we're going to the main courtyard, we can't be as casual as we are in our own courtyard.
Li Chenjiao got up early today. By the time the people from the main courtyard came to announce her arrival, she had already had breakfast. All she needed to do now was change her clothes and pick out some extra jewelry.
So Li Chenjiao arrived at the main courtyard earlier today; when she arrived, not everyone had arrived yet.
Wu was always the first to arrive, as was Bai Jia. Li Chenjiao had just sat down when Song arrived. She was dressed conservatively today and covered her lips with a handkerchief as soon as she sat down.
"It's only October and it's already so cold that people are shivering. Who knows what it will be like in a few days? Oh, the concubine has arrived early today."
As Song was speaking, she happened to see Li Chenjiao sitting opposite her, and the topic suddenly changed. The change of tone was not unpleasant.
Li Chenjiao did arrive much earlier today, but what Song Shi really meant was that Xu Shi hadn't arrived yet.
In the past, Xu Shi was always the first to arrive when paying her respects, but today was quite unusual. Even Li Chenjiao had arrived, yet Xu Shi was the one who arrived late.
However, it was clear that Madam Song was just saying it casually; at this moment, her mind was more on why there was no stove in the main courtyard.
Song was sensitive to the cold, a condition she developed after giving birth to the eldest princess. Right now, she was holding a warm hot water bottle in her arms.
Wu spoke up for Xu, saying, "We're all just mortals; everyone gets sick sometimes. As long as it doesn't delay the appointment, it's fine."
Hearing Wu's words, she did indeed have some of the air of a Fujin (princess).
Song snorted and didn't bother to pay any attention.
She didn't care about Xu Shi at all; she was only paying a little attention to her now because Xu Shi had adopted the Third Prince.
Although Lady Xie is gone, Lady Song will never let the Third Prince forget who his birth mother was. Lady Xie never had any ill intentions towards her when she was alive.
It's a pity, though, that the Third Prince was still young, and Madam Xu was a cautious person, so it was rare to see or hear of Madam Xu taking the Third Prince for a stroll in the garden.
As a result, Madam Song had not yet had the chance to whisper in the Third Prince's ear and remind him who his birth mother was, and that the person currently raising him was just a lowly concubine who wanted to use this to climb the social ladder.
As for why the Fujin (principal wife) would send someone to invite everyone to the main courtyard today, Song Shi didn't think much of it. She assumed that the Fujin had to give instructions about the upcoming Golden Festival in a few days, which was why she had called everyone to the main courtyard.
However, while Madam Song was deep in thought, Madam Xu arrived at the main courtyard about half a cup of tea later, arriving just in time, almost at the time for her to pay her respects.
Before Madam Xu could even apologize after taking her seat, the Fujin (principal wife) emerged from behind the screen at the head of the table, and everyone stood up to pay their respects.
The princess still looked a bit haggard today, but her complexion was still rosy, and she sounded to be in a good mood.
"No need for formalities, please sit down."
Everyone then took their seats.
This time, the princess consort, unusually, didn't engage in much small talk and went straight to the point.
"When Fourth Master came yesterday, he mentioned that he would be accompanying the Emperor on a northward inspection tour soon after the Golden Festival, and naturally the sisters from the inner courtyard would be accompanying him."
Just that one sentence was enough to whet the appetite of everyone below.
However, everyone's eyes couldn't help but fall on Li Chenjiao first, clearly everyone knew who was the most favored in the whole mansion at the moment.
Li Chenjiao naturally knew that she wouldn't be going north with the Fourth Prince this time. At this moment, listening to the words of the Fujin, she simply lowered her eyes and drank a sip of hot tea without any ripples in her heart.
“I originally thought it would be you, Li Shi, who would go north with the master. You entered the manor earlier and have always been the most considerate and understanding of the master’s thoughts. However, I heard from the fourth master yesterday that you did not want to go north with him. You have put me in a difficult position. In the end, I made the decision to choose Bai Jia Shi to go north with the fourth master this time. Bai Jia Shi, you should make good preparations in the next few days.”
The princess's words were like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating countless splashes.
The crowd below reacted with a variety of expressions upon hearing the Princess's words.
Upon hearing the Fujin's words, Li Chenjiao put down her teacup without much fanfare, and at the same time let out a soft sneer.
She had originally thought that the Princess Consort would get straight to the point today and not resort to those disgusting tactics, but she didn't expect that this whole ordeal would make her feel utterly disgusted.
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