After leaving Madam Li's place, Fourth Master immediately returned to his study in the front courtyard. His face was gloomy the whole way, and even Su Peisheng could tell that Fourth Master was in a terrible mood.
"Bang!" Just as Fourth Master reached the desk, he suddenly raised his hand and slammed it on the desk, probably startling Su Peisheng who had just stood still.
"Su Peisheng, immediately send someone to keep an eye on the main courtyard, especially that Granny Li. The Prince needs to know everything the Fujin does!" the Fourth Prince roared angrily.
"Yes, sir!" Su Peisheng dared not be careless and immediately bowed and retreated.
"Ulanara Xiayu, when will you finally stop caring about your family and truly become my primary wife! For your own selfish gain, you're spreading rumors and confusing the public at this critical juncture. Do you even consider me your husband?" The Fourth Prince clenched his fist and swung it at a blue-and-white porcelain vase on the desk. With a crash, the vase shattered on the floor!
Su Peisheng went to the head nanny's place, so Zhao Quan took his place and waited outside the study. He heard a sudden sound of a porcelain vase shattering inside the room, and immediately stood outside with utmost caution, asking, "Master, I heard something break. May I come in and clean it up so as not to hurt your hand?"
Silence, deathly silence! There was no response from inside the room, so Zhao Quan could only wait outside with his back bent and head bowed. He dared not go in without the Fourth Master's permission. Currently, only Su Peisheng could freely enter and leave the study with the Fourth Master, and even the head nanny could only enter with the Fourth Master's permission.
"Come in and tidy up!" After a while, Zhao Quan finally heard a deep voice.
Zhao Quan immediately asked a young eunuch for a broom and dustpan, and gently pushed open the door. He saw the Fourth Master sitting behind his desk, his face buried in his hands, looking somewhat tired. When he saw Zhao Quan come in, he raised his head from his hands, switched hands, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
As Zhao Quan swept up the broken pieces on the ground, he suddenly heard the voice above him that held the power to decide the fate of everyone in the mansion: "Hurry up and get out of here. Then go to the head nanny and tell her to pack up some jewelry and send it to Princess Yan Yu's room!"
"Yes, sir!" Zhao Quan quickly cleaned up the broken pieces on the ground and immediately went out.
As he jogged towards the head nanny's room, he saw Su Peisheng, who had already come out of the head nanny's place. Zhao Quan immediately smiled and said, "Master!"
Su Peisheng almost fell for his trick. He glanced at Zhao Quan from head to toe and said, "Hey kid, what are you rushing off to do?"
This was the first time Zhao Quan had received a direct task from the Fourth Master, and he became a little carried away, saying, "This disciple is on the orders of the Master to go and do some errands for the Head Madam!"
Su Peisheng chuckled, patted Zhao Quan on the shoulder a couple of times, and said, "Good lad, hurry up and get on with your errands, lest you delay your master's business!" With that, he put his hands behind his back and immediately walked toward the Fourth Master's study.
Zhao Quan thought he was starting to attract the attention of the Fourth Master, so he started humming a little tune and headed towards the head nanny's room.
Su Peisheng approached the Fourth Master, who was spreading out a large sheet of paper, on which the Fourth Master's magnificent and unrestrained characters began to appear. Su Peisheng dared not disturb the Fourth Master's enjoyment and stood silently to the side.
"To the South Courtyard!" Fourth Master tossed his large calligraphy brush into the bristles. "I'm hungry."
Seeing that Fourth Master's expression had finally softened, Su Peisheng immediately and carefully rolled up the paper that was spread out on the desk for Fourth Master and placed it in a blue and white porcelain jar next to him.
The mistress and servant followed the tree-lined path to the south courtyard. Meanwhile, a young eunuch sent by Su Peisheng was guarding a corner outside the main courtyard. Sure enough, Li Mama changed into casual clothes and quietly came out of the main courtyard. The young eunuch followed Li Mama until she arrived at a small side gate in the northwest corner of the Fourth Prince's mansion. She said a few words to the eunuch guarding the gate, and then seemed to slip something to him. The eunuch then let her out.
The young eunuch had already received the Fourth Prince's edict. He showed it to the gatekeeper, who immediately and respectfully saw him out. Granny Li hurried along, completely unaware that she had been followed. As soon as she reached the street, she took out a bamboo hat with draped curtains from her bundle and put it on. If the young eunuch hadn't already known it was her, no one would have recognized Granny Li in this disguise.
Meanwhile, Yan Yu was resting in her room when suddenly the Fujin (principal wife) arrived with the head eunuch. Behind the head eunuch was a young eunuch carrying a large tray. On the tray were a set of red gold headdress inlaid with sapphires and rubies, two pearl and tortoiseshell hairpins, and two pairs of jade earrings that seemed to drip like pearls.
"Yan Yu, come over and thank Fourth Master for his reward!" The Fujin glanced at Yan Yu with an inscrutable expression, then turned to the head nanny and said, "My sister is truly blessed. It's kind of you to come, head nanny. Why don't you come to my room for a cup of tea later?"
"You flatter me, Madam. This old servant will ramble on for a bit!" the head nanny said politely, then turned to look at Yan Yu and said, "This is a gift from the master to Princess Yan Yu. Please accept this reward, Princess!"
Originally disappointed, Yan Yu was overwhelmed by the sudden gift of dazzling jewelry on the plate. She glanced at the jewels, gave Yun Yuan a look, and the latter took the tray from the eunuch. She then said to the head eunuch, "Thank you for your generous gift, brother-in-law. Please convey this message to him!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the head nanny politely agreed and then said to the princess, "This old servant will go with you to have a cup of tea!" After saying that, she immediately turned around, and the princess had no choice but to follow her, giving Yan Yu a slightly reproachful look.
"My sister is really something, she still scolds me even now. Seeing my brother-in-law give me jewelry, she must be so jealous," Yan Yu said nonchalantly.
“Princess, these jewels are so beautiful. The Fourth Prince must have taken a fancy to you, otherwise why would he send these gifts for no reason?” Yun Yuan said.
"Hmph, did you see that? When my elder sister came in with that old woman, her face was unusually ugly! She said that my brother-in-law was already suspicious of us and told me to hurry back to the manor. She was obviously afraid that my brother-in-law would treat me differently. It's really hateful. She said such nice things to me before, but it turns out she was just lying to me!" Yan Yu's face was full of disdain.
"Princess, don't be angry. Let me help you try on these jewels!" Yun Yuan said.
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