Meanwhile, at the residence of the Fourth Prince in the capital.
Li Chenjiao goes to bed early at night. She is not a person who dreams a lot. Perhaps she will occasionally have some far-fetched dreams, but the only time she was frightened awake by a dream was when she was a child.
In May, ice hadn't been used in the east courtyard yet. In the darkness, she picked up the round fan beside her pillow and wiped the fine sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief, still seemingly not fully awake from her dream.
Li Chenjiao didn't disturb Green Bamboo, who was on night watch, and soon lay back down, but she still held the round fan in her hand and fanned herself from time to time.
Fourth Master must have arrived in Guangdong by now, so those things in his dream must have been fake. Yes, how could things in a dream be real?
In his dream, Fourth Master was attacked by assassins and seriously injured...
Li Chenjiao couldn't help but close her eyes, unwilling to think about it anymore.
Li Chenjiao knew that the cavalrymen accompanying Fourth Master this time, as well as the two skilled archers he was with, were all brave and skilled warriors. One of them was particularly outstanding in archery. She remembered that once when she took the children to the manor to fly kites, one of them shot an arrow through the kite that Wanwan had just taken off...
As Li Chenjiao thought about these things, her mind gradually calmed down.
Everything will be alright.
The round fan I was holding eventually disappeared...
Li Chenjiao woke up once during the night, thinking she would wake up later the next day. Unexpectedly, she woke up before 7 a.m. the next day and even took the two children to school in the front yard.
Oh, so it was delivered to the entrance of the East Wing.
After seeing the two children off, Li Chenjiao wasn't too sleepy and barely ate any breakfast. Her poor appetite worried Pingniang and Qiaoniang in the small kitchen.
It wasn't just the kitchen staff who were living in fear; the maids who served them were truly terrified. A small basket of cherries had been delivered to the front and back yards, and the cherries would be available after mid-April. However, Li Chenjiao always complained that they were too sour and didn't really like them.
When Qiu Hu brought the washed cherries into the study, Li Chenjiao was leaning against a large pillow reading a book, looking rather lazy.
Seeing Qiu Hu bring in cherries, Li Chenjiao put down her book and touched the cherry stems a couple of times. After a while, she blinked and looked at the cherries, which seemed ripe, and then she reached out and tasted one...
Then came the second, and the third.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Li Chenjiao had devoured all the cherries that had been neatly arranged on the small white porcelain plate.
After eating the cherries, Li Chenjiao's lips were moist. She wiped her hands and went to look at Qiu Hu.
Qiu Hu understood immediately: "It was sent from the front yard, a whole basketful."
Li Chenjiao's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and she immediately felt relieved. She stretched and leaned back to read, but her spirits were noticeably better than before.
Seeing this, Qiu Hu withdrew. Li Chenjiao's gaze shifted from the book in her hand, but she quickly looked away when Qiu Hu returned.
Qiu Hu returned quickly, carrying a small tray, but from a distance it didn't look like cherries.
Li Chenjiao continued reading her book, only asking, "What did the little kitchen make this time?"
Qiu Hu placed the small tray in front of Li Chenjiao: "The small kitchen is currently figuring out what to do with that basket of cherries. This is cherry jelly that Princess Niu Hulu had someone send over."
To make cherry pancakes, wash the cherries, remove the stems, and mix them with white sugar. Then, put them in a pan and simmer for about 15 minutes. Once the water has drained out, add honey and white sugar, and continue to simmer. Repeat this process until the water is drained out. The cherry pancakes are now ready.
Li Chenjiao didn't know which book she had read about how to make cherry pancakes. They were somewhat like candied fruit, but Li Chenjiao didn't really like adding honey. Last year, the small kitchen made them twice, but Li Chenjiao didn't eat much of them either.
Li Chenjiao guessed that the person who created this cherry fritter must have had a great love for sweets, because she always felt that the recipe in the book was too sweet.
So Li Chenjiao didn't move: "Go to the small kitchen and pick out some fresh cherries to give to Huiyun to take back."
Qiu Hu said yes, and as she left, she smiled and said, "It seems that Princess Niohuru hasn't sent anything for quite a while."
It must have been two or three months...
Li Chenjiao listened but didn't take it to heart.
Later, Li Chenjiao, feeling dizzy from reading, tried one. She pursed her lips, somewhat surprised.
The cherry pancakes had already been pitted; Li Chenjiao ate one and then went to get another.
The cherry jelly that Niohuru sent was probably not made with honey, but Li Chenjiao couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
Around 100 degrees Celsius, the taste is more like the real cherry flavor than the cherry pancakes made in the small kitchen.
Li Chenjiao couldn't resist eating two more. Hmm, if she were to ask Niu Hulu how she made it, wouldn't that be considered stealing the recipe?
As she was pondering this, her two children returned from school.
Li Chenjiao immediately took the cherry-flavored tea and placed it on the inside of the soft couch.
They even tried to cover it up with a large pillow.
...
Li Chenjiao didn't eat much for lunch, though she was quite fond of the plate of cherries fried in the study.
Li Chenjiao's poor appetite continued until the end of May. During this period, the Fujin went to the palace almost every other day. When the weather got hot, she gradually changed to going to the palace every two days.
The Fujin (Fujin) probably realized that Consort De was deliberately trying to torment her, so she also thought of a way to do it herself.
She couldn't possibly feign illness, otherwise people would say she was disrespectful to Consort De. But the Fujin (Prince Consort) was able to use the Second Prince's name as an excuse to feign illness.
However, this was a hardship for the Second Prince. Since the Princess Consort said he was "sick," the Second Prince naturally could no longer go to the front courtyard to study.
By the time Li Chenjiao received the news, Madam Xu had already asked the Third Prince for leave, saying that he had accidentally burned his hand.
Li Chenjiao was now in a dilemma. Should she follow the crowd and prevent the Fourth Prince from attending school? But continuing his studies in the front courtyard seemed to attract too much attention...
Li Chenjiao suddenly felt a headache coming on.
However, before she could figure out what to do, her two children solved the problem for her.
Li Chenjiao was originally waiting for the two children to come back at noon to ask them what they thought, especially what Wanwan thought.
At noon, she was greeted by two people whose faces were covered in dust, and whose clothes were stained with ink or something else...
The two children, unusually, did not walk together, but went into the east courtyard one on each side, ignoring each other.
Li Chenjiao was initially a little worried, but then she suddenly burst out laughing after seeing something.
She suppressed her laughter, then feigned concern: "What's wrong? Green Chrysanthemum, you tell me."
Dongsheng finally entered the East Courtyard and closed the gate with a miserable expression.
After the courtyard gate was closed, the mother and her two children looked at each other and burst into laughter.
The little girl smoothed her hair: "How did Mother figure that out?"
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