"Master, Yuhen from the North Courtyard requests an audience!" Jinju entered the room and addressed the servant who was reviewing the household's expenses over the past ten days.
Lanqin looked at her and said, "Let her wait a while, until I've finished looking at the ledgers."
“Yes, but she seems very anxious,” Jinju said.
"What is it?" Lanqin asked casually.
“This servant doesn’t know either. She seems to have suffered some kind of shock; she looks very frightened,” Jinju said.
After hearing this, Lanqin smiled and said, "Then let her in."
After Yuhen entered, Lanqin heard her report Yehe's request.
"Should we invite a Taoist priest?" Lanqin said, deliberately raising her voice.
"Yes, Consort, our Princess is now unable to eat or sleep. Peach Blossom's spirit has truly returned. The Princess wishes to ask a Taoist priest to perform a ritual for her so that she can rest in peace!" Yuhen said urgently.
Lanqin looked surprised and said in an incredulous tone, "Peach Blossom's spirit has lingered for so long, is it because she has some grievance?"
Yuhen shook her head and said, "This servant does not know why Peach Blossom refuses to leave. I beg Consort to grant our master permission to hire a Taoist priest, otherwise our master may go mad!"
Lanqin nodded and said, "In that case, let's ask a doctor to calm Princess Yehe down."
Less than a day later, Lanqin sent someone to invite the Taoist priest back. The head nanny then led the Taoist priest to the Yehe clan to perform a ritual.
Lanqin, Song, and Geng sat around on the warm couch, drinking tea and eating snacks and fruit.
"This Yehe clan member seemed quite refined and elegant when she first came in. How could she be such a terrifying person?" Geng asked, picking up a jujube.
"Under her tutelage, anyone can be changed. Only honest people like you and me will be disliked by her!" Song said sarcastically.
Lanqin was putting a water chestnut cake into her mouth, and after taking a bite, she said, "I hope that this time we can eliminate the Fujin and the Yehe clan in one fell swoop!"
“But didn’t the Fujin already release Lingxiu back home? Qiuchan died, and the master doesn’t seem to have done anything to the main wife!” Gengshi said.
"Yes, she's still under house arrest. I heard that the Princess Consort's illness has improved; wasn't she said before that she was almost terminally ill?" Geng said.
"So her illness was mostly faked, or she deliberately dragged it out. Now that she knows Fourth Master doesn't believe her, she has no choice but to get better immediately. It's truly laughable!" Lanqin said.
"How is the Second Princess now? You were so affectionate towards her, but I never expected that she would actually go with Yehe to plead for the Fujin!" Song asked.
“Ever since she came back, she’s acted like she’s completely broken off with me. I’ve sent people to invite her several times, but they’ve all turned me away,” Lanqin said. She frowned as she remembered that she might still be angry with the Fourth Master.
"It seems she is ashamed to see you, which is why she refuses to meet you?" Geng said.
"What do you think?" Lanqin raised an eyebrow and looked at Madam Song and Madam Geng.
“The Second Princess must have lived with the Fujin for several years, how can you compare to her for a few months? Besides, she is the daughter of the former Consort Li, who can’t guarantee that someone won’t speak ill of you in front of her!” said Madam Song.
Lanqin looked at Song Shi approvingly and said, "Sister is absolutely right! The Second Princess has been avoiding me ever since she returned from the Fujin's place. I think she is deliberately avoiding me, which makes me dislike her even more, and makes the Master think that I am narrow-minded and intolerant of her."
Geng exclaimed in surprise, "How could a child have such a cunning mind?"
“She’s not a child anymore, she’s almost twelve, and her marriage will be arranged soon,” said Madam Song.
"Her marriage is ultimately decided by the master and the princess, so it's understandable that she doesn't want to offend the princess. After all, the princess raised her, so she still has a say in her marriage," Lanqin said. "I heard that the princess intends to marry the second princess into the Ulanara family. Isn't Wuge's eldest son about the same age as the second princess?"
"So that's how it is! No wonder." Madam Song hadn't expected this. She recalled the time when she was arranging a marriage for the eldest princess.
"The eldest princess has given birth to a son, the Xu family must be treating her differently now!" Lanqin said, noticing Song's expression. Song had even attended the eldest princess's son's third-day celebration.
"Meng Shi dares not neglect Mo Yaqi anymore. Han Shi went to Henan with her husband, and Meng Shi started letting Mo Yaqi manage the household. You are all thanks to Master for coming up with such a solution!" Song Shi smiled broadly when she mentioned the eldest princess.
“Yes, Sister Song is now a mother!” Geng said with a smile.
Song laughed and hit Geng with the fruit in her hand, saying, "Qin'er, you can't just leave the Second Princess like this. She's still living here with you. You can't just ignore her and not take care of her. Although she's not young, she still has seniority!"
"Naturally, a year passed like this. She came of age and it was time to arrange a marriage. At most, I just didn't go out of my way to provoke her," Lanqin said.
"I'm afraid she'll provoke you on her own initiative. I wonder what the Fujin (wife of the emperor) said to her?" Madam Song said.
Just then, Shui Ling suddenly came in to report: "Master, the maid from the Second Princess's side has come to say that the Second Princess is ill!"
The three of them looked at Shui Ling in surprise, all wondering how she could have gotten into trouble so soon after they started talking about her.
"I'll go check on them. You two sisters can continue having tea here," Lanqin said, clapping her hands and getting out of bed briskly.
“I’ll go with you!” said Madam Song.
"No need, you can stay here and have lunch together later." After saying that, Lanqin took Cui Niang's hand and went to Lanyue Residence in the back.
Not long after Lanqin arrived at the Second Princess's place, Doctor Lin arrived. It was Cui Niang who immediately sent someone to invite him.
Lanqin sat in the main hall of Lanyue Residence, while Doctor Lin took her pulse in the Second Princess's bedroom.
"What's wrong with your princess? She looks extremely unwell." Lanqin noticed that the second princess was quite ill after looking at her.
A round-faced maid said, "Your Highness, yes, she has fallen into the water."
"Fell into the water!?" Lanqin exclaimed, her expression changing. "What happened?"
"Reporting to Consort, the Second Princess was watching the fish outside today when, somehow, she fell into the water. Fortunately, we found her in time and pulled her out immediately." The maid was afraid that Lanqin would blame them for not taking good care of the Second Princess, so she said she would have to find Zhao Jinling.
"Who was with the Second Princess at the time?" Lanqin asked seriously. In such cold weather, the Second Princess actually fell into the water; she might have even lost her life. If only she had known this was an era where even a cold could kill!
"It's Juxiang, the princess's personal maid, who's with her," the maid said. She was one of two maids that Lanqin had specially asked the head nanny to send over for safety reasons.
"Bring her over for questioning!" Lanqin said authoritatively.
Juxiang was serving in the inner room, and when she came out to see Lanqin, she looked worried.
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