By the time the carriage returned to the Fourth Prince's residence, it was already afternoon. The passengers, exhausted from the bumpy ride, returned to their respective courtyards. When Lanqin and the others entered, they saw the Fourth Prince with Madam Nian, which made them even more uncomfortable. They didn't say anything to the Fourth Prince and instead led their people back to the South Courtyard.
When Cui Niang saw Lan Qin enter the room, her face was not good. When she saw Nian Xue winking at her, she knew that Lan Qin had been angry with her master.
While Lanqin was looking after the child, Cui Niang pulled Shui Ling aside and asked what was going on, why there was another unfamiliar face.
Shui Ling had no choice but to tell Cui Niang in detail what had happened at the temple.
"Oh dear, our master is just too straightforward. A few words of comfort would have been enough to make things better. Why did he have to get angry with him? Isn't that just giving others an opportunity to take advantage of us? Nian Gege has always been jealous of our master's favor, and she'll probably use this opportunity to try and take advantage of us," Cui Niang said anxiously.
“Yes, that’s what we advised Master, but when Master saw him standing with Nian Gege, he got so angry that he ignored him,” Shui Ling said. “Chun Ying was a refugee that Master picked up on the way and kept her.”
"Alright, you go and take her outside to serve. She can't just come in and leave. Let her learn the rules here first," Cui Niang instructed Shui Ling.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Master followed Lady Nian to her room. It turned out that Lady Nian had already told the Fourth Master in the carriage that she had been refusing to have her period for more than half a month.
"Why didn't you say so earlier? If you were really pregnant, what if the journey to Huangjue Temple was unpleasant and the baby got hurt?" Fourth Master said to Nian's maids with a hint of reproach.
"My lord, please don't blame them. It was all my carelessness. My period hadn't come yet, but I didn't think much of it. There have always been signs of delay. But yesterday at Huangjue Temple, I drew that lot, and then I felt nauseous and uncomfortable when I woke up this morning. That's when I started to suspect something was wrong," said Madam Nian in a delicate voice.
"It's all because these maids are careless. Hurry up and help your mistress to rest. Doctor Lin will be here soon." Fourth Master personally helped Nian Shi up. He was originally dissatisfied with her because her clothes were too bright and even surpassed Lan Qin's, but now that he saw that she was pregnant, he could no longer be harsh with her.
Lady Nian was helped to lie down on the bed by her maids, while the Fourth Prince sat down on a round stool beside her bed. After a short while, Doctor Lin was invited over by Su Peisheng and immediately took Lady Nian's pulse.
After examining Lady Nian with both hands, Doctor Lin turned to the Fourth Master and said, "Your Highness, Lady Nian is pregnant."
After the Fourth Master accompanied Madam Nian for an afternoon nap, he returned to the front courtyard. He then instructed Su Peisheng to have the head nanny send some nourishing supplements to Madam Nian, and then selected a few decorative items from the storeroom to send to her.
It was impossible to hide the fact that Lady Nian was pregnant, and Lanqin found out that evening. Cui Niang had originally planned to persuade Lanqin to send someone to invite the Fourth Master over for dinner, but upon hearing this news, she couldn't bring herself to do so.
"Cui Niang, go to my storeroom and pick out a few things for Princess Nian, clothes, accessories, and toys, don't leave anything out," Lanqin said casually, sitting on her warm couch.
The maids in the room dared not speak freely, for fear of displeasing Lanqin, and all deliberately kept their hands and feet down.
"My lady, why don't I go and invite him myself? It's just a small matter, there's really no need for you to be angry with him. Especially since you didn't even speak to him when you came in, in front of those other princesses, it's really disrespectful to him." Seeing Lanqin's displeasure, Cui Niang patiently persuaded her again.
"What's there to be angry about? His concubine is pregnant, and as her secondary wife, I'm just asking you to prepare some things and send them over to offer your condolences," Lanqin said petulantly. That man, he suspected her, and after arguing with her, he went to Lady Nian's place. He'd been frequenting Lady Nian's place a while ago, otherwise, how did the child come about!
Lanqin felt wronged and was even less willing to bow her head in front of the Fourth Master.
Seeing that Lanqin was angry, Cui Niang had no choice but to follow Lanqin's instructions and go pick out things for Nian Shi. Seeing that Cui Niang couldn't persuade her, the other maids naturally didn't dare to step forward to persuade her either.
Meanwhile, as soon as Fourth Master returned to the front courtyard, he actually wanted to go see Lanqin. The little woman had been sulking with him the whole time, and hadn't said a word to him when she came in. Had he been too indulgent with her in the past? How dare she disrespect him like this in front of others? Thinking of this, Fourth Master decided to ignore Lanqin for a few days to teach her a lesson.
Just as the Fourth Master was preparing to dine in the front courtyard, Cuiling, a maid from Madam Nian's side, came to invite him. She said that Madam Nian had a poor appetite and would vomit after eating a bite. The maids were worried that Madam Nian's body would not be able to withstand this.
Fourth Master had no choice but to skip his meal and follow Cuiling to see Madam Nian. Just then, Lanqin's congratulatory gift arrived at Madam Nian's room; the gift consisted of tea and kumquats.
When Lady Nian saw that the Fourth Prince had just arrived, she deliberately said to Xicha, "Thank you for your concern, Consort, but I am really not feeling well and cannot go to pay my respects to you."
When Fourth Master saw that Lanqin had sent gifts so quickly, he felt even more strongly that Lanqin was deliberately trying to spite him.
After Xicha and Jinju left, Madam Nian clutched her chest, looking distressed, and said, "My lord, why don't you go and see the concubine? I'm afraid she'll be unhappy if she hears that I'm pregnant."
Fourth Master frowned as he looked at the table full of meat dishes and said, "You don't need to think about these things. I know what I'm doing. I'll eat with you. How can you take good care of the baby if you don't eat something?"
"I am truly useless. As soon as you leave, I lose my appetite," said Madam Nian, pouting.
"Then I'll come and keep you company from now on," Fourth Master said.
Meanwhile, Lanqin was enjoying her meal alone. She'd had a rather hasty meal on the way, so she naturally wanted to have a proper one now. If Fourth Master wasn't coming, so be it; she absolutely couldn't neglect herself!
When Xicha and Jinju came in, Cui Niang noticed that their expressions were off, so she signaled them not to say anything out of line.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the servants have already delivered the items. Consort Nian said she wanted to come and pay her respects, but she doesn't have a good appetite right now and can't eat anything, so she didn't want to disturb Your Majesty," Xicha said.
"Let her rest. I don't want her coming to pay her respects," Lanqin said, eating a skewer of grilled lamb. She suddenly remembered how she and her colleagues used to go to a barbecue restaurant run by a Xinjiang man after work for skewers and beer—it was so enjoyable! So Lanqin instructed the kitchen to prepare some grilled lamb skewers for her.
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