When Lanqin heard this, she didn't feel so sad, but her heart skipped a beat. It had finally come.
Seeing that Lanqin remained silent, Fourth Master felt a pang of pity and quickly comforted her, "Qin'er, I only see her as family now, a family member who needs my care. The past between us is over."
Lanqin smiled faintly and said, "Master, there's no need to say more. Just bring her in." But in her heart, she thought: That's what I think now, but once that Wu Yawan really comes in, it's very possible that lingering feelings or rekindled old flames will happen.
Fourth Master felt somewhat relieved when he saw that Lanqin finally seemed to have accepted it and didn't react much. Men are all like this, deceiving themselves. If they were asked to accept a woman's past, it would probably be harder than death.
Fourth Master naturally stayed overnight at Lanqin's place. Since Lanqin was still in her early stages of pregnancy, she couldn't do anything. Fourth Master could only hold Lanqin, at most kissing and touching her; nothing else was possible. Lanqin knew that men found this extremely difficult to endure, especially since there were other women in the inner quarters waiting for Fourth Master's favor. However, Lanqin didn't want to pretend to be virtuous at this time; she wanted to keep Fourth Master with her as long as possible.
The two lay on their sides on the bed. Fourth Master embraced Lanqin from behind, his mouth pressed against the top of her head, inhaling the fragrance emanating from her body. Lanqin felt something huge pressing against her back and knew that Fourth Master was getting impatient.
*******
After a long exchange of skills between the two, Fourth Master, still not satisfied, begged Lanqin to do it a few more times.
"Sir, please have someone come in and clean this up, the smell is too strong!"
"Hmm, let them bring water in. Why don't you accompany me for a bath?" Fourth Master's eyes were red. Lanqin's move had given him a taste of something extraordinary.
Lanqin rolled her eyes at Fourth Master in the darkness, then said after holding back, "They're all asleep, and now you're waking them up to fetch water for a bath? Isn't that just making a scene?"
Fourth Master said, "I'll do it in the water, that way you won't mind my odor." A bead of sweat dripped from Lanqin's forehead, and she thought to herself: This master is addicted to masturbation!
When Lanqin called for help and instructed them to fetch water, their faces turned red with embarrassment, and they couldn't lift their heads. Upon hearing this, Cui Niang and Nianxue understood the situation and immediately retreated, their faces flushed, to fetch the bath tubs and water.
After they brought in the large bath tub and two large buckets of hot water, they went to tidy up Lanqin's bedding. As soon as they lifted the blankets, they smelled an unpleasant odor. Nianxue blushed, packed everything up, and carried it all out. After Cui Niang instructed Xicha and Sihua to find new bedding for Lanqin, they all left.
Fourth Master personally undressed Lanqin, carrying and supporting her into the bathtub as if she were a queen. Although Lanqin had made love with Fourth Master in the water more than once, she turned her face away shyly as she watched him undress her.
As Fourth Master stepped into the bathtub, the two of them soaked comfortably in the hot water, which reminded Lanqin of Japanese hot springs. A thought suddenly struck her: "Master, have you found any hot springs anywhere?"
"Hot spring?" Fourth Master said when Lanqin uttered another strange word. "Hot spring water can be warm?"
“Sir, a hot spring isn’t actually spring water. It’s a geothermal phenomenon. It’s water underground that’s heated by geothermal energy, causing it to steam and gush out. You could dig a hot spring in such a place, and people could soak in it to treat rheumatism or other chronic ailments,” Lanqin explained. It seems that historical records from the Qing Dynasty mention hot springs in the suburbs of Beijing, but people at that time didn’t know how to utilize them. Lanqin thought that if such a place truly existed, she should encourage Fourth Master to develop it, so that there would be another place to go in the future.
"There's water like this? Is there charcoal fire underground? Where does the heat come from?" Fourth Master was completely bewildered by Lanqin's words and completely forgot the purpose of taking a bath with Lanqin.
"Um. The people underground come from deep underground. Anyway, Master, there are things beneath this land we live on that we don't yet understand. I don't know much about it either, except that it's warm underground." Lanqin knew that she had once again revealed future knowledge to the Fourth Master ahead of time.
"Qin'er, sometimes I feel like you know more than I do," Fourth Master said, staring at Lan Qin. The difference between this young woman and other women was that her mind often held ideas that even Fourth Master couldn't comprehend.
“Master, why don’t we accompany Lanqin to Yanjiao to take a look when we have the chance? See if anyone reports that geothermal activity has started to emerge in a certain area; that’s most likely a hot spring,” Lanqin said.
"Alright, but I'll be accompanying Father Emperor to Mount Wutai this summer, so I might not be able to take you with me." The Fourth Prince recalled Emperor Kangxi's plan to travel incognito and brought it up.
"Father Emperor is going to Mount Wutai?" Lanqin asked, her almond-shaped eyes wide with surprise.
"Yes, Father Emperor has been talking about going to Mount Wutai!" Seeing Lanqin's experienced expression, the Fourth Prince asked, "Is there anything wrong with Mount Wutai?"
Lanqin's mind immediately became excited. Could it be that Emperor Shunzhi really became a monk at Mount Wutai? So Emperor Kangxi was going to Mount Wutai to see his father? This had always been a favorite speculation among historians, but there had never been any conclusive evidence to prove it.
"Your Majesty, perhaps Father Emperor went to Mount Wutai to fulfill a vow!" Lanqin said meaningfully.
"What wish?" Fourth Master asked, puzzled.
"Master, what is Father Emperor's greatest regret in this life? Well, that is his wish!" Lanqin almost wanted to say that your grandfather might be on Mount Wutai!
The Fourth Prince pondered, but could not recall the biggest regret Lanqin had mentioned! His father ascended the throne at the age of eight, personally led an expedition at fifteen, captured Ao Bai, eliminated the Three Feudatories, and attacked Taiwan—all of which went smoothly. What regret could there be?
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