That day, Fourth Master returned from his day off and went to Lanqin's place. Naturally, he asked about the repairs to Hongshi's courtyard. Lanqin had already put the construction workers on rest for several days. She had intended to talk to Hongshi about it, but judging from the incident when Cui Niang invited Hongshi to the South Courtyard that day, it was clear that he was unwilling to discuss things and expressed dissatisfaction with many aspects of the courtyard repairs she had undertaken.
"Your Highness, the construction of the Second Prince's courtyard is not going smoothly. I've heard some people say that a courtyard shaped like the character '井' (well) has bad connotations and is considered unlucky in terms of feng shui. So I'd better wait for Your Highness to return before making a decision," Lanqin said to the Fourth Prince. She didn't know if Hongshi had already spoken to the Fourth Prince about this matter, but judging from his expression, he seemed unaware.
"What? Who said that? There's not much open space left in the manor, just that one plot. Wasn't the courtyard designed according to the terrain?" Fourth Master frowned upon hearing Lanqin's words.
Seeing that the Fourth Prince was clearly unhappy with what people were saying, Lanqin felt much relieved and quickly said, "I was also frightened by what you said. If I insist on continuing the repairs despite these rumors, we should wait for Your Highness's decision before proceeding."
Fourth Master said, "Whoever spread such rumors is simply up to no good. You must immediately order them to continue work without delay, lest they miss the auspicious time for Hongshi's wedding."
Lanqin quickly agreed. Since she had received Fourth Master's words, she didn't care anymore. She had originally wanted to respect Hongshi's wishes, but since he had pulled this stunt, she shouldn't be blamed.
"Did Hongshi say it himself?" Fourth Master asked, noticing Lanqin's expression. He was slightly surprised, wondering who else in the mansion would dare to comment on the courtyard's design?
Lanqin glanced at the Fourth Prince and nodded, saying, "I originally thought that since this courtyard was for him to live in, we should have them follow the Second Prince's wishes as much as possible, so that we could take into account both the construction schedule and the Second Prince's preferences. Wouldn't that be wonderful? But the Second Prince actually said that the original design was not good. He thought that the foundation had already been laid and the terrain characteristics were there, so how could we change it?"
"Foolish! He's so young, where did he get all these ideas from? Ignore him and keep working," Fourth Master said, slightly annoyed.
"Your Highness, please don't be angry. Perhaps the Second Prince just read something and thought that way for a moment." Lanqin spoke very tactfully, but how could the Fourth Prince not have thought of this? She had just mentioned to him that the concubine's daughter from the Ulanara family should marry into the family to be Hongshi's concubine, and then she caused this mess. It was simply too much.
"Hmm. It seems that Hongshi's matter has stirred her thoughts again. She just agreed to give one of her nieces to Hongshi as a concubine. It seems that this is not something that can be easily agreed to." Fourth Master said unhappily.
Seeing the Fourth Prince's attitude, Lanqin was no longer worried. She had dinner with him and the conversation turned to Kangxi's health. Lanqin was shocked to learn that Kangxi's health was already quite poor.
"The renowned doctor was killed?" Lanqin said in disbelief. That doctor was someone that the Fourth Prince had specially found for Emperor Kangxi in Jinan, yet he was killed by Kangxi.
"The person is already gone anyway. As for the specific reasons, we can only ask Liang Jiugong." The Fourth Prince said somberly, "Father's health condition is no longer easily revealed."
Lanqin listened and sensed that there was something more to what the Fourth Prince was saying, so she said, "Father, what is wrong with you? Since you're in this state, why don't you let Doctor Liang take a look? He has been traveling around these past few years, but he still writes to me from time to time, telling me where he has been, what illnesses he has discovered, and what new medicines he has found."
It turned out that Doctor Liang had left Lanqin's side five years ago. He told her he wanted to travel the world, practicing medicine and helping people. Lanqin gave him some money, and Doctor Liang would write to her from time to time, telling her where he had settled down and started practicing medicine, and what achievements he had made. Five years had passed, and Doctor Liang's letters to Lanqin filled a whole box. Lanqin hadn't thrown any of them away; she had kept them all in a wooden box.
“I’m afraid even if Hua Tuo were alive, it wouldn’t work. Isn’t the skill of a master physician high enough? If even he can’t cure it, who else can cure Father’s illness?” the Fourth Prince said.
“Your Highness, how will we know if we don’t try? I’ll write a letter to Doctor Liang and ask him to come back,” Lanqin said. All she knew was that it was the 60th year of the Kangxi Emperor’s reign, and there was still more than a year until his death. It seemed that the Kangxi Emperor was indeed seriously ill, but he had kept it a secret from the entire court, and even his most important doctor had been silenced.
Fourth Master nodded and then instructed Lanqin to write a letter to Doctor Liang, asking him to return as soon as possible.
When Lanqin finally began to write a letter to Doctor Liang, who was traveling abroad, she hesitated. After all, this return was fraught with uncertainty. Even the renowned physician had been killed by Emperor Kangxi; if Doctor Liang couldn't cure her illness, would he also kill her in a fit of rage?
Lanqin suddenly felt a pang of guilt, realizing she had put Doctor Liang in danger. However, after hearing about Kangxi's illness, she couldn't just ignore it. So she picked up a pen and wrote down Kangxi's condition in detail, all of which she had learned from the Fourth Prince, hoping that Doctor Liang would be aware of the situation and that whether or not he would return was entirely up to him.
Meanwhile, after returning to the front courtyard, Fourth Master summoned Hongshi. Before Hongshi could even speak, Fourth Master scolded him, saying that he was making trouble for no reason, and instead of helping Lanqin finish repairing the courtyard as soon as possible, he listened to some ominous nonsense.
Fourth Master had never scolded Hongshi like this before, making him wish he could find a hole to crawl into. From this, Hongshi also understood that the place that girl in the South Courtyard held in his father's heart was probably incomparable to that of his mother.
After Hongshi left the front yard, he walked back alone, his mind preoccupied with how to make amends. His father hadn't even considered why things had gone so badly; he immediately dismissed his own reasoning.
Hongshi felt that if he wanted to gain any standing in the Fourth Prince's heart, he had to find something about himself that would earn his father's favor. His wife's actions, however, were clearly a misstep.
When the Fujin learned that the Fourth Prince had reprimanded Hongshi, she was so angry that her knuckles turned white from gripping her handkerchief so tightly. However, she was helpless and could only send Lingxiu to comfort him.
Hongshi refused to talk to anyone for a while and locked himself in his room for several days before finally coming out to see people.
Lanqin immediately got the people to work, and to make up for the wasted time, they worked day and night to speed up the repairs into the city. The Fujin (principal wife) stopped causing trouble, which actually made things much faster for them.
Lanqin didn't receive Dr. Liang's letter, but she did receive a note from Sister Zhao.
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