"Cui Niang, it's the Dragon Boat Festival today, you should go home early. It's already late, let the gatekeeper call a carriage to take you home!" Lanqin said without responding to the previous comment.
"It's alright, I'll serve you back first before I leave!" said Cui Niang. Originally, Lanqin had also told Cui Niang to go back early today, as it was the Dragon Boat Festival, but Cui Niang was worried about Lanqin taking over the first family banquet in the kitchen and insisted on staying to take care of things.
"Alright, let's go back!" Lanqin didn't want to look at Fourth Master and Wuya any longer, so she turned around and left.
Seeing that Lanqin's hidden dissatisfaction had finally erupted and that it would probably take a while for things to calm down, Cui Niang glanced at Fourth Master and the others before quickly following them.
Lanqin returned to the South Courtyard in silence, went to check on Hongli, and seeing that he was sleeping soundly, she couldn't help but lower her head and kiss his little face before leaving.
"Cui Niang, you should go back now, your family is waiting for you!" Lanqin said hurriedly when she saw that Cui Niang had not left.
“My lady, you shouldn’t have argued with the master in that kind of setting today. That just played into the hands of some people, especially with the Fujin (the wife of the deceased) present!” said Cui Niang.
"Cui Niang, can't I be a little spoiled and indulge my whims? Why pretend to be so virtuous and magnanimous when you're clearly upset? He promised me he wouldn't touch that Wuya woman, he said he was just taking care of her, but now…?" Lanqin suddenly burst out, tears streaming down her face. Lanqin had been harboring resentment towards Wuya ever since that woman appeared with Consort De. From the moment Wuya started sowing discord between Lanqin and Consort De, Lanqin felt that Wuya might be a litmus test for her relationship with the Fourth Prince.
"Master!" This was the first time Cui Niang had ever seen Lan Qin cry like this. Although she had cried and made a fuss before, she had never cried like this before.
Lanqin knew she had lost her composure; perhaps she had been holding back her frustrations for too long and couldn't help but vent them on Cui Niang.
"Cui Niang, I'm fine now. I just couldn't help venting. And that's all I could tell you." Lan Qin raised her hand to wipe the corner of her eye.
“My lady, if you want to cry, then cry to me! I won’t go back tonight,” Cui Niang said quickly.
"No, that won't do. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, you shouldn't be here serving us in the first place. Go back right now, do you hear me!" Lanqin had just vented her frustration, but she was actually feeling much better.
"But my lady, how can I leave in your current state?" Cui Niang looked at Lan Qin with worry. She could no longer utter the words that advised her to think more positively, that men are just like that, having multiple wives and concubines, and always wanting more.
"I'm really alright now. I was feeling a bit frustrated, but it feels much better after talking about it. Don't worry, your master is holding up well here! I'm sleepy, I'm going to wash up and go to bed." Lanqin said with a bright smile.
Seeing that Lanqin was trying to remain calm, Cui Niang was still worried, but she couldn't go against Lanqin's insistence. She could only instruct Si Hua and Shui Ling to take good care of Lanqin while she washed up and helped her to rest immediately before leaving.
After Lanqin rolled onto the bed, she finally had time to think about how Fourth Master had embarrassed her at the Dragon Boat Festival family banquet. Had she overreacted? Even if she had, how could he have embarrassed her in front of so many people?
She then thought of the note from Lady Fucha, the words of which truly surprised Lanqin.
So, Lady Fucha also transmigrated? If she can transmigrate, then others can too!
Thinking of this, Lanqin felt a surge of nervous anticipation, as if she were about to encounter a fellow townsman. If Lady Fucha was indeed from her hometown, should she acknowledge her as such? No, definitely not. This Lady Fucha had clearly lost her mind! To write something like this on a note and show it to the Fourth Prince—she was practically courting death! She had been so careful in her interactions with the Fourth Prince, afraid he would notice something amiss. But this woman, as if she wanted the Fourth Prince to know she was her true self! It seemed this was a brain-dead, reckless fellow townsman!
With these jumbled thoughts in her mind, Lanqin finally drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile, Fourth Master was even angrier when he saw Lanqin leave with her people. He felt that Lanqin had overstepped her bounds; he hadn't even said it was time to leave, yet she had already gone ahead and gone.
"That's enough for today. Have your maid help you back. Be careful on the way." Fourth Master had lost interest in taking a walk and said to Lady Wuya.
Seeing that Lanqin and the Fourth Prince seemed to be arguing, Wuya was initially quite pleased with herself. However, now that she saw that the Fourth Prince had no intention of returning with her, she felt wronged and said, "Your Highness, then this concubine will take her leave."
After everyone had left, Fourth Master stood alone in the moonlit courtyard, feeling a longing to go to the South Courtyard.
This was the first time he and she had a falling out in front of everyone! Fourth Master felt a little uncomfortable. He didn't want to see that little woman unhappy, but she had also confronted him directly, and he really couldn't save face at the time!
"Your Highness, would you like to go and see the Sixth Prince?" Su Peisheng suggested at just the right moment.
You lackey!
Fourth Master sighed, pondered for a moment, and said, "No, it's late. Let's help you wash up!"
Su Peisheng glanced at the Fourth Prince cautiously a few times, thinking to himself that he was clearly thinking about Consort Niu, but what was going on? It seemed as if a woman named Wuya had been forcibly inserted between the two who were getting along so well.
That night, besides the awkwardness between the Fourth Prince and Lanqin, there were also Lady Nian and Lady Liu. Only one Fujin was very happy, even though Hongshi did not receive the Fourth Prince's attention and did not have a chance to recite the poem he had written in front of him.
"Caiyun, take the Fourth Prince back to wash up, and then he should rest immediately. Don't read anymore, understand?" the Fujin instructed.
“Mother, I originally wanted to recite that poem in front of Father, but Consort Niu was always by Father’s side, so I couldn’t go up and say it to him,” Hongshi said.
“No rush. Our Hongshi is intelligent and eager to learn. He will surely be valued by your father in the future. There will be plenty of opportunities to memorize poems. There’s no need to rush,” said the Fujin.
"Yes. Son, I'll remember." Hongshi followed Caiyun back to his room.
Lingxiu helped the Fujin back to her main room and hurriedly instructed a maid to fetch water. She then helped the Fujin sit down at the dressing table to remove the jewelry from her hair.
"Is the Fourth Prince dissatisfied with Lady Niohuru today?" the Fujin asked.
“It seems so. When Master and Princess Wuya went out together, the one in the South Courtyard looked quite unwell,” Lingxiu said.
"Hmph, it seems that Lady Uya can still be of some use. I thought she was useless, but I didn't expect that she could still make Lady Niohuru unhappy," the princess said.
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