After the Fourth Prince left the main courtyard of his wife's residence, he had just reached the gate of the front courtyard when he saw Huanbi standing at the gate carrying a food box. When she saw the Fourth Prince return, a smile appeared on her round face. She immediately stepped forward, curtsied, and said, "Master, you haven't had dinner yet, have you? This is some noodles prepared for you."
Because he was thinking about Lanqin, Fourth Master's stomach had already passed the stage of being hungry, and he had no appetite at the moment. But seeing that she had brought it over, he asked Su Peisheng to take the food box. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Go back quickly and take care of your princess."
Huanbi obediently squatted down, curtsied, and said, "This servant takes her leave!"
Fourth Master nodded, then turned and stepped into the front yard with Su Peisheng, heading straight for the study. After he sat down in the large pearwood chair, Su Peisheng deftly opened the food box, then took out the seasonings one dish at a time, finally bringing out the already soggy noodles.
"Master, the noodles are a bit soggy. I'll go get you a new bowl," Su Peisheng said, but he wondered to himself: Judging by the noodles, they must have been cooked for about fifteen minutes. Has Huanbi been waiting here for twenty minutes?
"No need for all that trouble, let me mix it myself!" Fourth Master stopped Su Peisheng from mixing the noodles, took the chopsticks and the bowl of noodles from his hand, and then personally poured the seasonings into the noodles little by little and began to mix them. As he did this, Fourth Master recalled the scene of the first time he ate mixed noodles with Lanqin.
After barely finishing two small bowls, Fourth Master put down his silver chopsticks, took the handkerchief handed to him by Su Peisheng, wiped his mouth, and said, "Let's go to the South Courtyard!"
Su Peisheng immediately bowed and extended his arm to help the Fourth Master to his feet. When they reached the door, he quickly said to Zhao Quan, "Hurry up and go to the Master's study to tidy up, then send it to the South Courtyard."
Watching Fourth Master and Su Peisheng disappear into the darkness again, Zhao Quan cursed: "All you do is order me around doing trivial tasks, but you always get to do all the good stuff yourself."
After saying that, he walked to the side room of the gatehouse and scolded a little eunuch: "You, go to the master's study and clean up the dishes. The master is waiting for you here. Go now!"
When Fourth Master arrived at the South Courtyard, he saw Xicha and Ziran still decocting medicine in the kitchen; Uncle Li and Granny Wang were also keeping watch without rest; Niu Baoquan was stewing fish porridge in a pot so that she could have some when she woke up.
Fourth Master walked to the door of Lanqin's bedroom and saw Nianxue dozing off on a small embroidered stool in front of Lanqin's bed. She had been exhausted that day. First, she was anxious about the doctor, then she was worried about Lanqin's health, and now she could finally relax. Lanqin's complexion had returned to normal.
"Master, you must be tired after a long day. I'll go relieve Sister Nianxue right away." Huanbi had been dozing in the corner of the main room. When the Fourth Master came in, he was preoccupied with Lanqin and hadn't noticed her. But when Huanbi realized it was the Fourth Master, a look of joy appeared on her face, and she quickly stepped forward and said obediently.
"Go wake Nianxue, then everyone else can leave. I'll stay with her." Fourth Master stared straight ahead at the person lying on the bed.
"Yes!" Huanbi bowed and stepped into the bedroom. When she faced the Fourth Master, a rare look of disappointment appeared on her face. The way the Fourth Master had just acted made her stare at Lanqin on the bed for a few moments. After suppressing her jealousy and envy, she raised her hand and patted Nianxue on the back.
"Sister Nianxue, the master is here!" Huanbi whispered in Nianxue's ear.
Nianxue, who wasn't a deep sleeper, woke up immediately after hearing this. Seeing that the Fourth Master had entered, she stood up, curtsied, and knelt down, saying, "This servant was momentarily careless and actually fell asleep..."
"You all go down and take turns resting. I'll watch over things here. Have the kitchen staff bring in some water so she can wash her face and head. I'll wash up too." Fourth Master decided to stay here with Lanqin tonight.
After the two maids left, Su Peisheng also left.
Nianxue immediately headed towards the kitchen. Huanbi saw Su Peisheng following behind, presumably intending to fetch water for the Fourth Master. So, she slowed her pace and deliberately waited until Su Peisheng was within her reach before whispering, "Eunuch Su probably hasn't eaten yet either. Chef Niu still has some noodles. Please go and have some. Fourth Master, I'll serve you."
Su Peisheng had originally planned to go to the kitchen to get some food after serving the Fourth Master his face and feet. When he saw Huanbi suddenly say this, he nodded in agreement. After all, the Fourth Master was sometimes served by these maids when he was here.
When Nianxue and Huanbi brought water into Lanqin's bedroom, they saw that Fourth Master was talking to Lanqin, who had already woken up, while they were leaning against the bed. Fourth Master had placed a cushion behind Lanqin's back. At this moment, her face and expression were somewhat tired, and she seemed a little weak.
"Princess, you're awake!!" Nianxue exclaimed in surprise as she carried water upstairs, and Huanbi followed her in.
Lanqin nodded at Nianxue, a slight smile playing on her lips, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Nianxue. I'm a little hungry."
Fourth Master smiled and took her hand, saying, "It's good that you're hungry, it means you have the strength. What are you all standing there for? Go and get the food."
Nianxue quickly said "Oh, oh" a few times, then took the basin of water and went out. Huanbi saw Fourth Master hugging Lanqin and whispering in her ear. This was the first time she had seen them being intimate. Her heart stirred, and she followed him out.
After the two maids left, Lanqin looked up at the Fourth Master and said, "I had so many dreams today. Can you guess what I dreamed about?"
Fourth Master tenderly cupped Lanqin's face in his hands and said affectionately, "You dream of me, don't you?"
Lanqin whispered something in Fourth Master's ear, then immediately burst into laughter and snuggled into his arms.
But when Fourth Master heard Lanqin's whisper, his eyes flickered unnaturally a few times, his brows furrowed slightly, and then he said, without saying what he really meant, "If you want to have a child with me so badly, then you must start taking good care of your health from now on. Do you understand?"
That's right, Lanqin just whispered in his ear: "Master, I dreamt that I was pregnant."
Lanqin pouted and said in a coquettish voice, "I'm usually quite strong, but I didn't expect that just a little breeze in the yard yesterday would make me like this. I really am a frail 'young lady'!"
Lanqin inwardly berated the real Niohuru Lanqin, thinking that her physique was a disservice to Lin Mengyao's strong heart.
Despite his own pain, the Fourth Master comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, I'll have the head nanny send you a batch of medicinal herbs tomorrow. Take good care of yourself and don't be lazy, I'll be checking on you every day!"
The Fourth Prince thought that he would soon give the little princess in his arms a medicine that could cause a miscarriage, so he took the opportunity to use the excuse of nourishing her body to help Lanqin recover.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
