After saying this, Lady Zhaojia immediately felt something was amiss, and almost instantly realized she had said the wrong thing. A look of embarrassment crossed her face as she said, "Qin'er, I'm not saying being a concubine is bad, it's just that my close friend's concubine is far more powerful than those of our older generation. And I've heard that Lord Longkodo is extremely..."
Well, Lanqin hadn't realized yet whether Zhaojia's words implied that she was also a concubine, because Lanqin's attention was entirely focused on the name Longkodo.
"Ah?" Lanqin seemed a little slow to react, but then immediately said, "Wenxiu, it's alright. Continue, what's wrong with your best friend these days?" Lanqin quickly asked when she saw the embarrassed look on Zhaojia's face.
Concubine and principal wife, well, I'm not so sensitive as to immediately associate hearing that someone else has become a concubine with myself.
“Very well. My childhood sweetheart is now the favorite concubine of that Lord Long. I heard that Lord Long was even willing to beat his own eldest son to death for her sake!” Zhao Jia said in surprise. She had heard about it from the noble ladies’ circle in the capital. It just so happened that her brothers and sisters-in-law from her maternal family came to pay their respects to her during the New Year and told her about it.
Zhao Jia was genuinely surprised, as they had often been together in their childhood. On one hand, she lamented the unpredictability of fate, and on the other hand, her close friend was indeed being talked about quite a bit in the circles of noblewomen in the capital.
Upon hearing this, Lanqin suddenly had a very bold idea, but she didn't have a concrete idea of how to do it. So she whispered to Zhaojia, "Wenxiu, I have a favor to ask of you. I wonder if you can help me?"
Zhao Jia was already grateful to Lan Qin, so when she heard her say this, she didn't even listen to what Lan Qin wanted to ask of her and readily agreed.
"Wenxiu, if I asked you to deliver a door card to your confidante and invite her to dine at our Qing Dynasty Hot Pot Restaurant, would she go because of you?" Lanqin asked.
Zhao Jia's almond-shaped eyes widened in surprise. "You want to befriend her?"
Lanqin smiled and nodded, saying, "Judging from what you just told about her childhood, this Zhao Si Jie'er must be a very interesting person."
Zhao Jia hesitated slightly, because this Zhao Sijie didn't have a good reputation among the noble ladies in the capital. Everyone was cursing her as a vixen who had caused Longkodo to favor his concubine over his wife and had even sown discord between the father and son.
"Alright, I'll go send her an invitation. Maybe she'll come." Zhao Jia said through gritted teeth. Anyway, she now looked down on those women who spent their days sitting together chatting and drinking tea, always clutching handkerchiefs and whining.
Lanqin nodded, then chatted with Zhaojia for a long time, inviting her to stay for lunch. Afterwards, they discussed how to write the invitation and which day to hold it. Zhaojia promised to take care of it immediately upon returning home and told Lanqin that she would accompany her to the meeting.
After the Fourth Prince met some officials who came to pay New Year's visits in the front yard, he did not offer them a meal. Those officials did not dare to let the Prince Yong entertain them. After drinking tea, they all went back.
When Lanqin was entertaining Zhaojia, the Fourth Prince was actually free. He knew that Zhaojia had come to see Lanqin and guessed that Lanqin would invite him to stay for a meal, so he didn't come over to eat. He only asked Su Peisheng to go to the kitchen to get some simple food.
When news of Lady Zhaojia's return reached the Fourth Prince, he headed straight for the south courtyard. Unless it was a special occasion, the elder brother-in-law generally didn't meet with his sister-in-law or his sister-in-law; that was entirely the responsibility of the women in the inner quarters.
When Fourth Master arrived, Lanqin was taking a nap on the couch in the study. Nowadays, Lanqin doesn't like to take off her clothes and go to bed for a proper afternoon nap. Instead, she prefers to stay in the study, quietly holding a book, and leisurely flipping through it.
"Has the Thirteenth Prince's wife gone back?" The Fourth Prince walked into the study with practiced ease, dismissed the maids guarding the door, and pushed the door open himself. He saw Lanqin reclining on the couch reading a book. Beside the couch, on a long sandalwood square table with the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea design, there were some fruits and snacks.
"Your Highness has arrived. Wenxiu has already returned." Lanqin saw that the Fourth Prince was wearing a straight robe with a gold dragon and fish pattern, and a delicate ruyi pendant with a square well-shaped jade pendant hanging from his waist.
"All the guests like Master have left, so I wanted to come here for a midday rest." Fourth Master sat down beside Lanqin with affection and took her hand.
Lanqin smiled gently, straightened up, and rested her head on the back of the Fourth Prince, saying, "Your Highness, Hongli insisted on going to the temple fair tonight. I couldn't resist his nagging, so I agreed."
Fourth Master said, "Let him go and take a look. Just send someone to accompany him. He's almost twelve years old, it's alright."
Lanqin said, "Yes, I've summoned Tursuo and ordered two guards to accompany you. My lord, regarding the marriage of Ushiha..."
Fourth Master paused and said, "I want to find someone close to Ushiha. But after looking around, it's not easy to find someone who is the right age and has a suitable family background. Also, Namin is older than Ushiha, so we need to get engaged to her first."
Lanqin remembered Wu's instructions and quickly said, "That's right, the Third Princess is already fifteen, we can't delay any longer."
It turns out that Namin should have been engaged two years ago, but she was Yan Yu's daughter and also Ulanara's niece. Two years ago, Yan Yu's birth mother passed away, and she had to observe mourning for her maternal grandmother, which delayed the engagement.
“Exactly. I think the second son of Inspector Zuo, the chief inspector, is quite good. He is seventeen years old and is said to be of good character and appearance.” Fourth Master said.
"That sounds good. We should talk to Sister Wu about it. She's been really worried about this," Lanqin said.
Fourth Master nodded and then asked what Zhao Jia had said. Lanqin thought for a moment and then told him about Zhao Sijie's matter.
Fourth Master naturally understood the meaning behind Lanqin's words and said, "Does one need a concubine to act as a go-between when it comes to contacting Longkodo?"
Lanqin pushed Fourth Master away, feigning displeasure, and said, "What do you mean by this, Master? Do you also despise me?"
The Fourth Prince turned around and saw Lanqin's sullen face. He pounced on her and pinned her to the couch. He stared at Lanqin and said, "Little woman, when have I ever disliked you! You know perfectly well that's not what I meant. Longkodo doesn't need to be won over; he took the initiative to talk to me."
Lanqin blinked her big eyes and said, "Oh? He took the initiative to show affection to Master?"
The Fourth Prince nodded and said, “Don’t forget, I am Empress Tong’s adopted son. My relationship with the Tong family used to be quite special. Now that he is highly regarded by Father Emperor, many people want to curry favor with him, but I refuse to do so. No matter how favored he is, he is still just a relative of the Empress. If we were to fawn over him, wouldn’t we be losing our dignity?”
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