"Hongli, tell your mother, how did Hongzhou end up meeting the Fujin's niece?" Lanqin didn't want to take Hongzhou back to the South Courtyard to scold him, so she had to call Hongli over to interrogate him. She knew that the two brothers had been like conjoined twins for years, with no secrets between them.
Seeing Lanqin's serious expression, Hongli knew that Hongzhou was in some danger this time. However, he didn't understand why it was his own mother asking him this question; shouldn't it be Aunt Geng?
Seeing the puzzled look on Hongli's face, Lanqin guessed what he was thinking. She quickly clenched her fist, coughed lightly as if to pretend not to care, and said, "It was your Aunt Geng who asked me to ask you. Tell me the truth, what exactly happened?"
When Hongli heard Lanqin say this, he put aside his doubts and said, "Mother, I'm afraid Hongzhou has really fallen for the Fujin's niece."
Privately, Lanqin never allowed her children to harbor hostility towards the Fujin (principal wife) or disrespect her, but she also never forced them to accept that the Fujin was their legitimate mother. If possible, Lanqin selfishly felt it best never to mention it to them. However, when she encountered the Fujin at the gate today, Ushiha's flushed face and Bechuk's extremely unnatural voice made Lanqin feel uncomfortable time and time again, yet she had to accept the fact that her own children had to call her their legitimate mother.
Now, Lanqin heard from Hongli's own mouth that Hongzhou had actually fallen in love with the Fujin's niece, another daughter of the Ulanara family who was about to marry Hongshi. This news caught Lanqin off guard.
"Hongli, this matter must not be mentioned again. Hongzhou is probably just overthinking things; he'll be fine after a while," Lanqin could only comfort herself in this way. If Hongzhou really had feelings for that woman, Lanqin couldn't bear to imagine her son actually marrying a woman from the Ulanara family. In that case, she would have to fight that family to the death for the rest of her life.
Hongli nodded and said, "I heard that she is the Fujin's niece, but I have never met her. Mother is right, after a while, Hongzhou will forget about her."
Lanqin nodded, feeling a bit overwhelmed as she thought about how to explain the issue of how to address the children regarding the title of Fujin.
Fortunately, they didn't see the Fujin often, so this matter only gave Lanqin a headache for a while before it was dropped.
The Spring Festival was quickly coming to an end, and Lanqin's life returned to its usual tranquility. The only thing keeping her busy was the wedding of Hongshi and Namin. Hongshi's wedding was set for the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, while Namin's wedding was set for the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. The two dates were only two months apart.
After Hongshi gets married, he will definitely need to live in a separate courtyard with his wife. There are quite a few empty spaces in the main courtyard of the Fujin (Prince's wife), but it seems the Fourth Prince doesn't want Hongshi to live there and specifically wants to build a new courtyard for his wedding. The location has already been chosen, and construction is just beginning. Lanqin, seeing that there are less than four months left, wanted to curse. However, the wedding date had already been set and couldn't be changed. And since the Fourth Prince had spoken to her so solemnly about Hongshi, she had no choice but to agree.
Hongshi's new courtyard was under construction at a rapid pace. Lanqin would go to the site every day to check on the progress and urge them to hurry up. Because once a courtyard was completed, it still needed to be decorated and paved, and the time required for that was unpredictable.
Besides Lanqin visiting the house daily, Hongshi himself would also go to check on it, since it was his own courtyard after all. Lanqin also instructed the craftsmen who built the house to listen to Hongshi's requests as much as possible, since it was his residence and they should try to meet his demands. Otherwise, if they were accused of not doing their best, they would end up with nothing but complaints.
As it turned out, Hongshi was indeed quite dissatisfied with the construction drawings that the Fourth Master had already seen, and he wanted to make many changes, which caused a lot of inconvenience to the construction. After hearing about these things, Lanqin was really worried about Hongshi's situation.
The Fourth Prince is so busy these days that he's rarely seen. Because Emperor Kangxi lives in Changchun Garden for most of the year and is almost never in the palace, many things fall on the Fourth Prince's shoulders. He often rests in the palace and is busy for ten days or half a month without returning home.
On this day, the craftsmen came to Lanqin again to complain that Hongshi wanted to change the plan again, making it difficult for them to carry out the construction.
"How does he want to change it?" Lanqin asked, suppressing her discomfort.
"Reporting to Consort, the Second Prince says the courtyard's grid-like layout is bad. He thinks a 'well' represents a frog at the bottom of a well, which has a bad connotation. He wants it built in a '回' shape. He and his wife would live in the middle, with the other servants surrounding them, reducing travel time. Most importantly, the character '回' symbolizes return and inclusion. He thinks the meaning is very important, so he insists we tear down those buildings and redesign it," the steward in charge of the courtyard construction said with a bitter face. Construction had been underway for half a month; the foundations of the main buildings were already laid, and they were just about to start building the walls when they were asked to completely revise the plans.
Lanqin frowned as she listened to the manager's report, then said, "You shall rest for the day!"
The steward asked timidly, "Consort, what about tomorrow? Should we redo it according to the Second Prince's wishes?"
Lanqin shook her head and said, "Let's talk about tomorrow's matters tomorrow. Let's leave it at that for today."
After the steward left, Lanqin slumped onto the couch, pondering how to handle the matter.
Cui Niang has returned. After hearing the steward's report, she said to Lan Qin, "Master, I think this matter is of great importance. We should report it to the Prince so that he can make a decision."
Lanqin said, "Yes, if we go and tell the Prince to take charge of this matter, everything will be much easier. But I can't go to the Prince rashly. The Prince is very busy these days and hasn't been home for quite some time. He has already entrusted these matters to me. If I go to him after I don't handle them well, how will he feel comfortable entrusting things to me in the future? Besides, if I interfere too much in Hongshi's construction of the courtyard, it might give people a reason to say that I am sowing discord between father and son."
After hearing this, Cui Niang seemed to understand Lan Qin's meaning.
“Most importantly, the person behind the Second Prince. If I tell the Prince that he can’t manage it well, will the Fourth Prince hand over the matter of Hongshi building the courtyard to someone who can manage Hongshi?” Lanqin added.
"Oh dear, I was so confused. Your Highness is so thoughtful! If Your Highness were to complain, the Prince would feel sorry for you and might even let her take charge." Cui Niang immediately realized her mistake.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
