Lanqin was sitting in the room tying a beautiful tassel on the jade pendant she had prepared for the Fourth Master. The Fourth Master deliberately didn't want anyone to call out and quietly walked up to Lanqin. He saw her concentrating on tying the tassel with her head down, completely unaware that the Fourth Master had already come up behind her.
"Is this for me?" Fourth Master finally couldn't help but interrupt the little princess.
"Fourth Master! Why are you silent?" Lanqin tried to hide the love knot in her hand, but it was too late; the Fourth Master had already seen it.
"I wanted to surprise you, but Master found out so quickly. Humph, how boring!" Lanqin shoved the unfinished jade pendant knot into Fourth Master's hand and then fell silent, pouting.
"This is the birthday gift you gave me, and it's so ugly?" Fourth Master pinched the knot and looked at it for a while, deliberately provoking the little princess with his words.
"If you don't like it, then I won't give it to you, Master." Lanqin snatched the knot from Fourth Master's hand, angrily wishing she could throw it away.
"Don't throw it away. Although it's ugly, I like it very much!" Fourth Master said again. "Make this tassel look nice for me. I'm going to hang it in my bedroom."
"You're just saying that!" Lanqin suppressed a laugh and snatched the knot from Fourth Master's hand.
The two of them nestled together on the couch, the Fourth Prince embracing Lanqin while Lanqin continued weaving the tassel. The maids outside dared not come in to disturb them. The Fourth Prince held the little princess like a precious jewel, as if this was what Tian Di Xian (the author's pen name) loved to do most.
"Lan'er, when a father knows that there is a dead end ahead, yet still sends his own daughter to the enemy side, do you think there is such a father?" Fourth Master suddenly asked.
"Is Master referring to Moyaqi? Has it been decided yet?" Upon hearing the Fourth Master's words, Lanqin naturally thought of the matter that had been discussed a few days ago.
"Moyaqi is lucky; Father Emperor has already chosen her." The Fourth Prince wasn't exactly sad, but he wasn't happy either. As a man with blood on his hands, he would feel ashamed of such a thing.
"Which family's princess did the Emperor choose?" Lanqin couldn't help but ask.
“Ailanzhu, the eldest daughter of Prince Zhi!” The Fourth Prince recalled the expression on Prince Zhi’s face when he came out of the Qianqing Palace. He must have argued with Emperor Kangxi inside, but he eventually agreed.
"The person you just mentioned is Prince Zhi?" Lanqin asked in surprise. Although she wasn't familiar with Qing history, she did know a little about Prince Zhi, the first prince to be granted the title of king by Emperor Kangxi. He was Mingzhu's uncle and nephew, and along with Crown Prince Ying Shi, they had always been the two most popular contenders for the throne.
"Yes, it is him. Seven years ago, my eldest brother chased down and killed Gerdan with the courage of a young hero, and has been trusted by Father Emperor ever since. This time, when choosing a princess, I originally thought to choose one from the princesses between my third brother and myself, but I didn't expect that they would both be Prince Zhi. Why Father Emperor chose my eldest brother's daughter is really a bit puzzling."
"There are only two reasons: First, the Emperor no longer likes the First Prince, so he chose his daughter; second, the enemy specifically requested the daughter of the Prince of Zhi," Lanqin said confidently.
The Fourth Prince's pupils contracted slightly. The first possibility was almost zero, while the second explanation could resolve all the doubts.
“Gerdan’s brother, Gringe, has led the remaining soldiers to recuperate for seven years. Now he has grown bolder and dares to challenge our Great Qing. The reputation of our elder brother must have a certain deterrent effect among them, after all, their Khan died at the hands of our elder brother.”
“I’ve heard that the Dzungars trust the Khan implicitly, because they hate Prince Zhi and even the entire Qing Dynasty to the bone. Why did they single out his princess? There’s only one possibility I can think of: to use this princess to restrain Prince Zhi,” Lanqin said without hesitation.
Fourth Master looked at Lanqin with disbelief, then became excited, because a problem that he and Mr. Dai had been pondering for a long time had actually been solved by Lanqin.
"So, what should we do? The Dzungars want to use the princess they sent to control the Qing Dynasty, while the Qing Dynasty wants to use the princess to cover up our determination to prepare for war," Fourth Master said. After hearing Lanqin's words, his gaze gradually became complicated, as if he was thinking about something.
“Your Majesty, did the Emperor and Prince Zhi send the eldest princess away to lull the enemy into a false sense of security, so that they could launch a surprise attack when the enemy shows signs of weakness? Although the plan is good, it is too cruel to Ai Lanzhu. She is just a sacrifice!” Lanqin said, expressing her strong disagreement with Kangxi’s move.
"But for the sake of the 400 million people of the Great Qing, Ailanzhu's sacrifice was worthwhile. Father Emperor had a private talk with Prince Zhi, presumably to comfort him," the Fourth Prince said.
"Well, this is how Ailanzhu was sacrificed for your so-called political purposes, and she can't even utter a word of complaint. It's really pitiful."
"I'll compile a gift list tonight, and I absolutely must make sure that Princess Gulun's gift list is arranged properly. This is the only thing I can do for her." Fourth Master finally snapped out of his reverie, as if he had made up his mind.
"Master, I'm hungry. Shall we have dinner first?" Lanqin's stomach was starting to rebel.
"You must be a reincarnation of a starving ghost, always thinking about food." Fourth Master tapped Lanqin's forehead, then stood up and pulled her up from the couch.
Because he needed to sort out the gift list, the Fourth Master left immediately after having dinner.
"Princess, let's go back inside, it's getting chilly outside," Nianxue advised when she saw Lanqin sitting on the swing.
"I don't want to sleep yet. It's cool here. We can even see the stars. Don't worry, I'm fine," Lanqin said.
Suddenly a cool breeze blew by, and Lanqin, wanting to stay cool, stood in the wind for a while longer.
"Princess, each autumn rain brings a chill. Don't stand in the cold wind, go back inside." Nianxue helped Qilanqin and led her back to the inner room.
Seeing that nothing was wrong, Lanqin took off her clothes and jewelry and lay peacefully on the bed to think about her own affairs.
The next day, the Fourth Prince went to the palace early in the morning, and Lanqin suddenly developed a fever for some reason. This worried Nianxue greatly. Lanqin was lying on the bed with a flushed face and was starting to talk nonsense.
"Quickly, go and invite Doctor Zhou to come and take a look!" Nianxue said to Xicha.
"Should we report this to the Fujin (principal wife)? Should we go and tell her?" Xicha asked.
“The princess is burning up like this. The princess is always easy to talk to. Let’s call a doctor first, and then we can talk to the princess,” Nianxue said hurriedly.
"I'll go to the Fujin's place. You should have Huanbi go and fetch the doctor," Xicha said hurriedly.
"Go quickly. I'll immediately ask Huanbi to fetch a doctor." Nianxue brought over a basin of cold water, wrung out a wet towel, and tried to cool Lanqin down. But even after changing several towels, Lanqin's fever did not subside at all.
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