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Upon returning to the residence, the Fujin first ordered someone to send Madam Yin back to her room, and then sent people to guard her day and night. Doctor Bai had also been ordered to guard there long ago.
Lanqin had just returned to the South Courtyard when, before they could ask anything, Li Mama from the Fujin's quarters arrived.
"Princess Niu, the Princess Consort has decreed that you must stay in the South Courtyard until Princess Yin recovers and are not allowed to go out without permission." Granny Li said with a businesslike expression, all her usual kind and amiable smile gone.
"Granny Li, is the Fujin (principal wife) confining our princess's feet?" Huanbi asked.
"This old servant dares not say, but I have already made my meaning very clear, Madam. Consort Yin has not yet woken up, so Madam requests that Consort Niu refrain from wandering around the mansion for the time being. This is also for Consort Niu's own good." After saying this, Granny Li gave Lanqin a slight bow and left.
Xi Cha and the others spent the whole afternoon listening to the servants in the mansion say: Niu Shi and Yin Shi had a fight at the Third Prince's residence because of a disagreement. Yin Shi was pushed to the ground by Niu Shi, and the four-month-old baby prince miscarried. Yin Shi has been in a coma and it is hard to say whether she will survive.
"Princess, are those rumors true?" Xicha was timid and immediately became extremely worried upon hearing those things. Huanbi, Ziran, and Uncle Li were not too panicked, but they knew that their master was in such a predicament and things were bound to turn out badly.
"Princess, it seems that Princess Wu started spreading rumors as soon as she returned," Nianxue said resentfully.
"Nianxue, what exactly happened? How could Princess Yin have a miscarriage? What does this have to do with our princess?" Xicha asked anxiously. The little girl had never experienced anything like this before, and her voice trembled slightly.
"Why are you panicking? The princess was framed by that Yin woman. We did nothing wrong, and the Fujin will naturally clear our names and give us justice." Nianxue glared at the timid Xicha and then looked at Lanqin.
Lanqin had been silent since she returned. She was sitting on the couch, drinking a cup of plum juice that Ziran had given her. Seeing that everyone had finally fallen silent, she slowly said, "Just now, Granny Li only said that I shouldn't wander around, she didn't say that you couldn't go out. Nianxue, I'll write a letter later, can you secretly send it to the head nanny in the front yard for me?"
With the mind of a modern 21st-century woman, Lanqin felt that the trap set by Lady Yin was not something she had done alone. Moreover, she believed that given Lady Yin's age and experience, she shouldn't have had such a do-or-die spirit, risking her unborn child to complete this matter. There must be someone supporting her, and the two most likely supporters in this courtyard were none other than the First Lady and Consort Li.
Well, before Lin Mengyao traveled to the Qing Dynasty three hundred years ago, she had watched a lot of palace dramas and domestic dramas. She was not an inexperienced naive girl.
Seeing Lanqin's calm expression, Nianxue and the others suppressed their anxiety and stopped whispering among themselves, each going off to do their own thing.
At the hour of Hai (9-11 PM), a long-awaited downpour began, the large raindrops pattering against the ground. Lanqin, having slept poorly due to the events of the past few days, was quickly awakened by the sound of the rain outside. She tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall back asleep.
Will Fourth Master believe me? This question kept lingering in Lanqin's mind.
At this moment, Lanqin, who had thought she could peacefully enjoy a life of wealth and luxury in the Fourth Master's inner quarters, realized how ridiculous her previous thoughts had been. She wanted to live a peaceful and comfortable life here, but she couldn't escape the struggle. Even if she didn't want to cause trouble, others wouldn't tolerate her. Unless she was as indifferent as Madam Song and willingly lived here like duckweed, letting others decide her happiness and death.
No! Lanqin immediately rejected that kind of life.
Before going to sleep, she had given the letter she had written to Huanbi, instructing her to secretly go to the front courtyard under the cover of night and deliver it to the head nanny. In the letter, Lanqin recounted in detail what had happened to Madam Yin at the Third Prince's residence. When Nianxue returned, she only said that the head nanny had instructed them to temporarily follow the Prince's instructions, and that she would find a way to inform the Fourth Prince of everything.
Therefore, Lanqin kept wondering if the Fourth Prince would believe her. She knew that at this moment, the First Lady and Consort Li would not treat her sincerely. They were probably hoping to confirm the matter of Lady Yin so that she would lose faith in the Fourth Prince.
Sigh, if our Fourth Princess knew that Lanqin had long suspected her of interfering, she would probably be so angry she'd vomit blood! Who told her to be so unlucky as to run into a rival from the 21st century!
The next day, after a night of heavy rain, the sun shone brightly again. However, the once cheerful and lively South Courtyard suddenly became deserted. Huan Bixi went out and no one fawned over her anymore. Even the ice delivered by the head nanny finally stopped supplying after three days.
"What a bunch of snobs who fawn over the powerful and scorn the weak! They used to call us 'auntie' like we were family, but now they treat us like we don't care at all." Huanbi went to the kitchen to collect some fruit, but was ridiculed by several eunuchs under Eunuch Huang.
It turned out that Eunuch Huang, who was in charge of the Fourth Prince's kitchen, had originally wanted to curry favor with Lanqin, but since Niu Baoquan arrived, Lanqin had stopped going to the kitchen to take meals for him, so he naturally had no chance to do so.
People are like that—they say the grapes are sour when they can't have them. Seeing that he couldn't get anything good from Lanqin, Eunuch Huang naturally turned to other masters for favor.
Xi Cha was fanning Lan Qin from behind. Since the ice was gone, the room was like an oven. Lan Qin was sitting on the cool couch, flipping through a deck of cards. After being confined to her room, she had nothing else to do, and it was very hot outside, so she spent her days holed up in the room playing cards by herself.
"Quickly take the watermelon to the kitchen and soak it in water. Once it cools down a bit, cut some for the princess." Nianxue glanced at Huanbi and added, "Why bother with them? As long as our expenses aren't reduced, that's fine."
Meanwhile, the Fujin was eating chilled watermelon in her room. Granny Li was beside her, telling her about the events that had transpired in the South Courtyard these past few days.
"It seems we underestimated Lady Niu. I didn't expect her to be so composed." The Fujin took the handkerchief handed to her by Dongxue and wiped the remaining juice from the corner of her mouth. Her tortoiseshell nail guards, inlaid with pearls, shimmered elegantly in the dappled sunlight streaming into the room.
"Madam Yin has started to recover these past few days. She's lucky to have survived; she came back from the brink of death," said Granny Li.
“Master will be back in a few days. This matter will have to be resolved when he returns. For now, I can only confine her to the South Courtyard. Have someone keep a close eye on that area. I want to see how she can clear her name.” The Fujin stood up and said, “Come, come with me to see Madam Yin.”
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