The Third Prince's birthday banquet was held at Changchun Garden, a garden bestowed upon him by Emperor Kangxi. The Third Prince was very proud, as this was the first time Emperor Kangxi had granted a garden to a prince. This directly led to the Third Prince's growing arrogance.
That day, the Fourth Prince instructed Lanqin and Madam Wu to dress neatly and go with him to a banquet at Changchun Garden. When Madam Nian heard that Lanqin had chosen Madam Wu, she couldn't very well complain. She was pregnant and naturally couldn't go out. Since Lanqin hadn't chosen Madam Song or Madam Geng, but instead chose the usually neutral Madam Wu, it was difficult for her to criticize Lanqin.
When the carriage stopped at the entrance of Changchun Garden, Lanqin and Wu Shi got off the carriage and were startled by the pair of stone lions at the entrance of Third Master's Changchun Garden.
Lanqin carefully examined the pair of enormous stone lions at the entrance. She counted the spiral patterns on their heads—nine in total! The Third Prince had actually used stone lions with nine head ornaments. This was clearly overstepping his bounds; if this reached Emperor Kangxi's ears, who knew how it would end?
Lanqin suppressed her fear and followed the Fourth Prince inside. The Third Prince did not come out to greet her, nor did his wife; only two stewards came out to wait at the door.
The Fourth Master's expression darkened, but he didn't show it. He entered the room and followed a steward-like person towards Chunhui Hall. Lanqin and Madam Wu, on the other hand, were led by a woman to Jifeng Pavilion, where the women stayed.
The Jifeng Pavilion was situated in a place surrounded by water, connected by a small bluestone bridge. Several large houses were located on the small island, surrounded by lush bamboo and flowers. There were even peacocks roaming freely among the bamboo groves.
As Lanqin and Wu followed the woman across the small bridge to the large house in the center, they heard the voice of the Third Prince's wife. Almost all the wives of the princes had arrived. Apart from the Crown Princess, the Thirteenth Prince's wife, and the Fourteenth Prince's wife, only the Fourth Prince's wife, who was ill, was absent. The others were all sitting in the main hall with the Third Prince's wife, drinking tea and eating snacks.
The concubines and princesses of each household were received by the concubines or princesses of the Third Prince's household, while the principal wife did not receive concubines.
As soon as the Third Prince's wife saw Lanqin enter, she said, "Consort Niu is now the head of the Fourth Prince's household. Anyway, Fourth Sister-in-law has been 'sick' all along."
At this moment, Consort Tian, who came out of another room, beckoned Lanqin and Wu to go to another room.
Lanqin was not afraid. She walked up to the Third Princess Consort, knelt down gracefully and bowed, and then bowed to all the other princess consorts present. Only then did she and Wu follow Tian to where the secondary princess consorts and the princesses were staying.
Lanqin saw several people from the palace banquet from last time meet again. She led Wu Shi to greet them one by one, and then found a place to sit down. Lanqin actually disliked this kind of socializing. They were all strangers, yet they were exchanging high-sounding platitudes.
"My dear sisters, I have some fun things here to share with you all," Consort Tian instructed her personal maid, who was holding a wooden box.
The maidservant walked up to each person one by one, allowing them to pick and choose what was inside.
"Oh, what is this thing made of? It's so beautiful and translucent!" Mao asked.
"Oh, this is a glass hairpin made by blowing glass. It's not worth much money, just something to have fun with. I think it looks quite unique on my head, so I'm giving it to everyone to have some fun," said Consort Tian.
When the wooden box was delivered to Lanqin and Wu Shi, Lanqin saw that it contained some exquisitely crafted glass hairpins. She picked out a glass plum blossom hairpin and said to Tian Shi, "Thank you, Consort Tian. This is indeed unique, beautiful and light, and not heavy to wear."
Upon hearing Lanqin's words, Madam Tian knew that Lanqin understood her feelings, so she walked up to Lanqin and personally inserted the plum blossom glass hairpin into Lanqin's hair.
"You look so beautiful in this!" Madam Tian said affectionately to Lanqin. Perhaps she felt that Lanqin, like herself, was a concubine, occupying the hearts of the men, while the primary wives were firmly suppressed beneath her.
Looking at Tian Shi's delicate appearance and gentle, understanding smile, Lanqin realized it was no wonder the Third Master doted on her. Compared to such a woman, the Third Prince's wife was utterly insignificant. Not only were men attracted to her, but even Lanqin herself seemed to like Tian Shi.
“Sister Tian, you have a wonderful idea. I wonder where this glass hairpin was made. I suddenly had a brilliant idea. If we could make some decorative items out of glass, they would be both beautiful and easy to make,” Lanqin said. She knew that glass could be used to make many things.
“I had it made by Wang’s. Their young master said he studied in the West and this is a Western craft. Their ancestors were in the business of selling foreign goods, and now that they have this craft, they’re doing even better.” Seeing that Lanqin was interested in this, Madam Tian decided to tell her about it.
Listening to Mr. Tian's praise for Western glass products, Lanqin even wondered if Mr. Tian was from the same hometown as her, and perhaps also a time traveler.
"Really? That's interesting. I'll go take a look." Lanqin and Madam Tian chatted happily. Madam Tian was not only beautiful, but also very lively and humorous. Lanqin felt more and more that it was inevitable that the Third Master would favor Madam Tian.
After chatting for half an hour, Lanqin felt that she and Tian had become best friends. If they continued chatting, Tian would probably ask Lanqin to arrange a time to meet again.
Fortunately, the Third Master's birthday banquet was about to begin. As usual, they would first go to eat the banquet, and then drink tea, eat melon seeds, and listen to the opera. The aristocratic life of the ancients was generally nothing more than these three things: watching operas and listening to music, eating banquets, and strolling in gardens.
Lanqin was constantly being held by Consort Tian, and the two quickly became good friends. The Third Prince's wife was busy attending to the principal wives of the various households and had no time to bother Lanqin. Therefore, Lanqin had a fairly pleasant half-day.
The Fourth Master didn't know what he had encountered at Chunhui Hall. Before the banquet was over, he came out and sent someone to call Lanqin and Wu back.
Lanqin, unaware of what had happened, quickly bid farewell to Consort Tian, and the two even made an appointment to visit each other when they had time.
Lanqin and Wu followed the servant outside, looking at the scenery of Changchun Garden along the way. It has to be said that the Third Master must have really pleased Emperor Kangxi to receive such a large garden as a reward.
Lanqin and her maid, along with Wu and her maid, reached the main gate, only to find the Fourth Prince already standing outside. Lanqin didn't want to question him in front of the Third Prince's household, so she simply followed him into the carriage and left.
Fourth Master sat beside Lanqin with a dark expression, only rubbing her hand without saying a word.
"Master, what's wrong?" Seeing that Fourth Master looked like a dead man, Lanqin had no choice but to ask first.
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