"I've kept Eighth Princess waiting, it's truly my fault!" As soon as Lanqin entered her main room, she saw Eighth Princess Guo Luoluo sitting there, holding a cup wrapped with green branches and sipping tea.
Logically speaking, Lanqin shouldn't have received her. She was the primary consort of the Eighth Prince, how could she be received by a secondary consort? Although she was a secondary consort in charge of the household, she was still a concubine.
The Eighth Prince's wife's face was already as cold as ice, but since she had come of her own accord, she naturally couldn't keep a straight face. She had no choice but to stand up and say, "I've arrived a little early, but Fourth Brother really dotes on Consort Niu!"
"Jealousy, envy, and hatred?" Lanqin thought to herself as she looked at the Eighth Prince's wife. "Our master dotes on me, what's it to you? Why does what you're saying sound so sour?"
"It is said that the Eighth Prince dotes on his Eighth Princess Consort. How can I compare? Please, Eighth Princess Consort, have a seat," Lanqin said politely.
After the two were seated as host and guest, the Eighth Princess Consort gestured to the maidservant beside her to let Lanqin take a look at the list of gifts she had brought to pay New Year's greetings that day.
Cui Niang took the gift list from the Eighth Prince's wife's maid and then presented it to Lan Qin for review. Lan Qin naturally glanced at it and exchanged a few polite words.
This glance revealed a truly impressive list of gifts! A quick look revealed four or five gold items, two jade items, and two wooden items, all with incredibly difficult-to-pronounce names. Lanqin didn't bother to examine them all, but they were undoubtedly treasures. The gift lists for the princes were personally drafted by the Fourth Prince and sourced from his own treasury; Lanqin had never handled them and had no idea what the Fourth Prince's gift list for the Eighth Prince's residence contained.
"Eighth Prince and Eighth Sister-in-law are too kind!" Lanqin gestured to Cui Niang to put away the gift list.
“Not at all. Our Eighth Prince has always held Fourth Brother in high esteem. We live very close by, so we should visit each other often. I wonder what illness Fourth Sister-in-law has contracted. I would like to go and see her.” The Eighth Prince’s wife said to Lanqin with a stern face.
Lanqin had already relayed Eighth Prince's wife's words to Fourth Prince, who immediately frowned and refused to see her. At this moment, Lanqin wondered what Eighth Prince's wife was up to; was she trying to meddle in her brother and sister-in-law's family affairs?
"Thank you for your concern, Eighth Prince Consort, but ever since you lost the First Prince, you have been restless and fell seriously ill in the winter. You are currently recuperating in the main courtyard and it is really not appropriate for you to see anyone. Please forgive me, Eighth Prince Consort," Lanqin said.
The Eighth Prince actually only sent his wife to deliver gifts; he had no intention of letting her interfere in other people's family affairs. It was just that the Eighth Prince's wife was unhappy and insisted on seeing the Fourth Prince's wife. In reality, she just wanted to annoy Lanqin and make her life difficult.
Seeing that Lanqin refused to her face, the Eighth Princess felt a little embarrassed. She pretended not to know and said, "Sisao is sick. She should let us sisters-in-law come and see her and give her some advice, so that she won't be mistreated by some unruly concubines."
When Cui Niang and Nian Xue heard this, they both felt that the Eighth Prince's wife was making things difficult for Lan Qin in front of her.
"Eighth Princess Consort, you're exaggerating. The Princess Consort is in a bad mood; it's just that she can't figure things out. Once she's come to her senses, the Eighth Princess Consort and the other primary consorts can come to see her." Lanqin pretended not to understand and insisted on not letting the Eighth Princess Consort see the Princess Consort.
The atmosphere instantly froze. The Eighth Prince's wife looked very unhappy. She had originally planned to take advantage of the opportunity to pay New Year's respects to the Fourth Prince's wife and then ridicule Lanqin to vent her frustration. But Chen Ruzhu was pregnant, and yet she was right under her nose.
"I heard that Consort Chen in your household is pregnant. Since we live so close, as her cousin, I should go and visit her." Lanqin was also getting angry. You're trying to annoy me, so I'll go and annoy you back.
Eighth Prince Consort never expected that Lanqin would dare to provoke her to her face. After all, she was just a concubine. Shouldn't she have avoided the sharp edge of the principal wife?
“If Consort has time, why not go and see her? My younger sister is three months pregnant now and is vomiting a lot every day. Perhaps your family could go and check on her; it might help.” The Eighth Prince’s wife was always concerned about her reputation. She was never harsh on her concubines and had a very good reputation. However, Lanqin felt that this Eighth Prince’s wife was quite capable. Otherwise, how come the Eighth Prince only had one son and one daughter and so few concubines?
"Alright, I will definitely go and take a look." Lanqin gritted her teeth and continued to argue with the Eighth Prince's wife.
Seeing that Lanqin was so assertive and that she herself could not gain any advantage, the Eighth Prince's wife was no longer willing to stay. After saying a few words to get information out of her, she got up and took her leave.
Lanqin was naturally unwilling to entertain her any longer, so she got up and saw the Eighth Prince's wife out.
When Lanqin returned, supported by Cui Niang, she couldn't help but complain, "Did this Eighth Prince's wife suffer some mistreatment at Chen Ruzhu's place and come here to vent her anger?"
“Your Highness, you really startled me. She is the primary consort, and you dared to talk back to her like that,” said Cui Niang.
"So what if she doesn't support me? I'm not going to cower and listen to her show off." She's the primary wife, but she's not one of the wives in our household.
Lanqin felt annoyed and ordered, "Go and deliver the gift list she sent to Fourth Master, and ask him if he's coming over for lunch."
Cui Niang agreed and personally went to the front yard to deliver the gift list from the Eighth Prince. The Fourth Prince was chatting with several advisors in the front yard. In previous years, he would go out to pay New Year's visits, but this year he didn't go out and just stayed in the mansion.
After Cui Niang came to relay Lan Qin's message, the Fourth Prince couldn't help but ask, "Did she suffer from the Eighth Prince's wife's temper?"
Cui Niang was startled, thinking to herself: Fourth Master is so meticulous, he even knows that his master has been wronged?
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Eighth Prince's Consort insisted on visiting the Prince's wife, but Your Majesty stopped her. The Eighth Prince's Consort said a few words about concubines overstepping their bounds, but fortunately Your Majesty didn't say anything and just smiled and dealt with it," Cui Niang reported truthfully. She had to tell the Fourth Prince about this grievance; there was no reason for her to suffer in silence.
Upon hearing this, a hint of displeasure flashed across Fourth Master's face. He replied, "Replying to your master, I will be going over for lunch later."
After Cui Niang left, Fourth Master stared at the gift list that Eighth Master had sent over.
When the Fourth Master walked back to the main hall in the front courtyard, several advisors saw that he looked gloomy. Li Weijiu couldn't help but ask, "Master, is something the matter?"
"Eighth Brother is on the move everywhere these days, yet he sends such a generous gift to Master at this time. What do you think he means by this?" Fourth Master placed the gift list on the table.
Several close advisors went to see for themselves, and they were all astonished by the Eighth Master's generous gesture.
“This servant thinks that the Eighth Prince is simply giving away his wealth. Besides, one is bound to be indebted to others after accepting such a generous gift. If His Highness had accepted such a large sum, he would surely be too embarrassed to touch him again. But His Highness is not that kind of person,” said an elderly advisor.
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