“Father is very hostile to foreigners these days, so it’s best not to do it now,” the Fourth Prince insisted.
Lanqin then began whispering to Zhaojia about women's topics, ignoring the Fourth Prince.
Fourth Prince and Thirteenth Prince started drinking again, not afraid of getting drunk, since they could just stay at Thirteenth Prince's residence if they did.
Sure enough, he got drunk after drinking. Fourth Master and Lanqin were arranged to stay in the east wing of the main courtyard. Madam Zhao sent people to serve them, but Fourth Master refused to let anyone near him, only allowing Lanqin to cooperate. Lanqin had no choice but to stay and accompany Fourth Master. First, she had to help him wash up, but in the dead of winter, she couldn't manage it all by herself.
Fourth Master got drunk and became incredibly talkative, constantly whispering in Lanqin's ear.
"Consort, this servant has taken off my shoes for the master. Please speak to him so he won't be uncooperative," Su Peisheng said, looking at the Fourth Prince who had become a chatterbox.
Lanqin had no idea that Fourth Master was so excited today. She could only coax him to take off his clothes as if he were a child, and coax him to cooperate in wiping his body and face. In the end, she even had to change his clothes.
It took the two of them a long time to get the Fourth Master ready. Lanqin was already sweating a little. Seeing that the Fourth Master had fallen asleep, she asked Su Peisheng to leave.
Lanqin asked Yuxiao and Chunxi, whom she had brought, to fetch water. After washing herself, she went to sleep in the side room outside the east wing.
Lanqin didn't sleep well that night. Perhaps it was the Fourth Prince's sudden drunkenness, or perhaps it was the Thirteenth Prince's sudden return, that had made her too excited and unable to sleep. The Kangxi Emperor was seriously ill and had moved to Changchun Garden. These events largely matched the historical records, but some details didn't quite match. Lanqin pondered these things before finally drifting off to sleep.
The two maids slept on makeshift beds in the outer porch. It was almost November, and thankfully there were hot water basins in the room, otherwise it would have been really cold.
The next day, after Fourth Master and Lanqin got up, they were led by others to have breakfast with Thirteenth Master and Zhaojia.
After the two men finished eating, they went out together to Changchun Garden to see Emperor Kangxi.
Lanqin and Zhaojia sat together talking. Since they were already there, they weren't in a hurry to go back.
“Lanqin, the business of Daqing Hot Pot is so good now, I want to continue running it. But Thirteen told me yesterday that I should close Daqing Hot Pot.” Zhao Jia said to Lanqin while drinking a bowl of millet porridge.
"Close down Daqing Hot Pot?" Lanqin was taken aback and looked up at Zhaojia.
"Yes, the master said that we are all royal wives, and it would be a disgrace to the royal family to show our faces in public like this. Now that he has returned, he will naturally take care of the household's daily expenses." Zhao Jia said, with a hint of timidity in her eyes, as if she had already agreed to Thirteen.
"Pedantic!" Lanqin blurted out. "I never imagined that the carefree Thirteenth Prince would be so old-fashioned. Doesn't he realize who was struggling to support him in this mansion when he was imprisoned in the Bee-keeping Alley?"
“That’s what I said too, but Thirteen said that Fourth Brother is about to do something big, so we should clean up all of this to avoid giving people something to talk about. He also said that it would be best if Lanqin locked up those too!” Zhao Jia said, carefully observing Lanqin’s expression.
Lanqin was so angry she was speechless. She said with a half-smile, "Wenxiu, how come you've turned back into the same old Wenxiu as soon as the Thirteenth Prince comes back?"
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