To prevent Hongli and Hongzhou from meeting, and because they were both still young, they were taken to the Dragon Boat Festival family banquet. Lanqin took Wuxiha and Bechuk to the front courtyard. Because of her high rank, when she led the two princesses into the room in the front courtyard where the Dragon Boat Festival family banquet was set up, the women who had already arrived automatically stood up and paid their respects to Lanqin, and some even began to bow.
Lanqin's gaze swept over the crowd and landed on the figure in the center dressed in autumn-colored clothing.
It's been more than half a year since I last saw the Fourth Prince's wife!
Lanqin thought to herself. Ever since the Fourth Prince mentioned to her that he would let her raise Hongshi, she had never heard anyone come to her to report anything about the Fujin and the Fourth Prince.
Now, upon suddenly seeing it, Lanqin's heart skipped a beat.
However, Lanqin quickly adjusted her mood and walked straight to the Fujin.
Their eyes met, and when their gazes met, they both saw a chilling coldness in each other's eyes.
"This humble servant greets Your Highness!" Lanqin bowed deeply.
Regardless of anything else, as long as she remains the Princess Consort, I must bow to her whenever I see her. This has nothing to do with who the Fourth Prince favors; if I don't bow, I'll be overstepping my bounds!
"Please rise, Consort Niu! It's been a long time since I've seen you, Miss Niu. You still look so well." The Consort gently helped her up, then looked at the two girls beside Lanqin and said affectionately, "Oh, these must be the Fourth Princess and the Fifth Princess."
Lanqin had no choice but to say to her two daughters beside her, "Ushiha, Bechuk, quickly call her 'Mother'!"
Ushiha and Bechuk rarely saw their wife, but seeing her smiling and kind, they called her "Empress Dowager" without hesitation.
"Hey! Good girls!" The Fujin beckoned to the two princesses and said, "Come here, your mother, I have something for you. The Third Princess gave you this, and these two are for you."
Seeing this, Ushiha looked at Lanqin, unsure whether he should step forward.
Lanqin watched as the Fujin took out a pair of jade pendants from her sleeve. The two pendants were crafted into the shape of white rabbits, which were quite adorable. In addition, the jade was of very good quality, smooth and translucent, clearly made from old mine material.
“Since it was bestowed upon you by your primary wife, why don’t you go and thank your primary mother?” Lanqin said.
Ushiha then walked up to the princess consort, and Bechuk, who always followed Ushiha, went with her.
The Fourth Princess looked at the two girls, touched their cheeks, and said, "Here, you two sisters, each of you will have a little rabbit. Alright, go find the Third Princess to play."
The two little girls did indeed like the little rabbit, and they took it to find Namin. Namin was standing next to Wu Shi, and when she saw Wu Xiha and Bechuk coming to find her, the three little girls immediately sat down together, chattering away.
Lanqin then walked over and sat down next to the Fourth Prince's wife.
Lady Nian was sitting opposite, and she and Lanqin exchanged a polite greeting. Her husband, Hongsheng, was not present either.
After Lanqin sat down, she began to notice Wuya. She had indeed gained a lot of weight, so Lanqin hadn't recognized her immediately when she entered.
Good heavens, what's wrong with my appetite? How did I get so fat! If this continues, I'm definitely going to have a difficult childbirth!
Wuya probably noticed Lanqin's gaze and met Lanqin's eyes.
Seeing that she was not afraid of her looking at her, Lanqin smiled and said, "Princess Wuya has a good appetite. The child in her belly must be a prince, who is desperately trying to eat you, his mother."
With just one sentence, everyone's attention was drawn to Uya.
Uya thought she could finally meet Lanqin's gaze, but when she said those words, and seeing the schadenfreude and amusement in everyone's eyes, she blushed and stammered, "I'd also like to ask you all who have given birth, how come your appetites have become so good?"
Lady Nian covered her mouth with her handkerchief and smiled, revealing a hint of amusement in her eyes. She said, "People are all different. When I was pregnant with Hongsheng, I didn't eat as much as you do!"
Madam Song chimed in, "Yes, it's a good thing that Princess Wuya can eat so much; it means the baby in her belly is healthy!"
The others who had never given birth had no right to say anything, but they all harbored disdain for Uya.
"Princess Wuya, if you keep eating like this, it will be terrible. You might have a difficult childbirth!" The Fujin looked at Wuya with surprise.
“That makes so true! Your Highness, you are the one who cares about me the most.” Lady Uya said hastily, as if she had seen a savior.
The princess frowned slightly, thinking to herself, "How come this Uya woman's mind isn't working properly now that she's pregnant?"
“What do you mean by this, Princess Wuya? Are you implying that we don’t care about you and were just laughing at you?” Nian Shi seized on the loophole in her words and retorted.
"That's not what I meant!" Lady Uya blushed with anxiety.
At that moment, the Fourth Prince appeared before the women. He happened to hear Uya's anxious voice, and it seemed there were tears in her eyes.
When everyone saw that the Fourth Master had arrived, they all stood up and bowed to him.
"Wanru, what's wrong?" Fourth Master couldn't help but ask.
His words stirred the hearts of all the women present. Especially Lanqin, whose heart ached inexplicably when the Fourth Prince openly questioned Wuya in front of so many people. She thought she could accept that the Fourth Prince wasn't devoted to her, but that was just a band-aid she had put on herself; she seemed fine on the surface, but her heart still ached.
"I'm fine, it's just that I have a good appetite and have gained weight, which has made me a little anxious," Wuya quickly said. Although she didn't say anything bad about anyone, her expression made it seem as if everyone had bullied her.
The Fujin maintained a warm smile throughout, and she smiled especially kindly when the Fourth Prince showed concern for Lady Uya.
Lady Nian glared at Lady Wuya a few times, then turned her head away, refusing to acknowledge her seductive advances towards the Fourth Prince.
Lanqin kept her head down, not wanting to see the scene that would break her heart.
Seeing that Lady Wuya was alright, the Fourth Prince nodded and walked straight towards his wife. When he reached Lanqin's side, he saw that she had her head down, so he stopped.
The Fujin (principal wife) had seen the Fourth Prince walking towards her, but when he stopped at Niohuru, she felt as if a thorn had been pierced into her heart. The Fourth Prince's actions in front of everyone, embarrassing her like this, were truly humiliating.
"Qin'er, has Hongli's cough gotten any better?" Fourth Master asked, noticing that Lanqin wouldn't look up, and remembering that Hongli had been coughing for the past few days.
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