Seeing Lanqin lost in thought, Nianxue assumed she was still upset about the matter of paying respects to the Fujin (princess), so she went up to persuade her, "Princess, look how nice the weather is, why don't we go for a walk? I heard that the garden in our mansion is very nice, we've never been there before. It's said that there are mountains and water there, and the scenery is beautiful."
"You're new here too, how do you know so much?" Lanqin was genuinely intrigued. She had been thinking about so much and her head was feeling a bit uneasy. She decided to go for a walk to clear her mind.
“I met Geng Gege’s maid, Lülan, when I went to fetch water,” Nianxue said.
Geng Shi is indeed a calm and composed person. However, Lan Qin is not the type to enjoy socializing; rather, that's Lin Mengyao's personality. She is naturally forthright and dislikes women forming cliques and scheming against each other.
"Then let's go. You two don't need to bother anymore, come with me," Lanqin said.
Xi Cha immediately ran happily into the bedroom to find a parasol for Gege. She had just heard Nian Xue say that she was going to stroll in the garden, and she was worried that Gege would only take her there.
The three of them locked the door and walked together toward the garden of the Fourth Prince's mansion.
Nianxue carried a basket containing some fruit, a teapot, and several cups, then covered it with a cloth. Although this courtyard was within the manor, it would still take a quarter of an hour to walk there, and if she wandered around inside, the princess might get thirsty.
Sure enough, the May sun was already quite strong. Xi Cha took a light pink oil-paper umbrella and immediately covered Lan Qin with it.
The three of them, master and servant, arrived at the courtyard gate, where they saw a young eunuch standing guard. Upon seeing them, the eunuch first bowed and then said, "This servant greets the princess!" He noticed that Lanqin was an unfamiliar face and did not know who she was, so he simply ignored her surname.
“Our princess would like to stroll around the garden, please open the gate,” Nianxue said to the young eunuch.
The young eunuch hesitated for a moment, then took a bunch of keys from his waist, walked to the garden gate, and opened it.
The courtyard was bathed in the vibrant colors of spring; upon entering, one was greeted by a shimmering expanse of water. A long corridor stretched along the lake, leading all the way to its center. Actually, it wasn't a true lake, but rather a large pond. For the sake of elegance, a stone stood by the water's edge, inscribed with the words "Mirror Lake." Willows were planted along the lake's edge, and it was now the season for their swaying branches and gentle lake breezes.
Lanqin and her two servants walked along the lake shore. Every now and then, birds would land on the lake surface, seemingly pecking at the fish and insects in the water.
"Gege, this bird is so beautiful! Its feathers are snow-white like fluff, and its beak is indeed blood-red and hooked." Xicha raised her hand, pointed to a white waterbird in the center of the lake, and said excitedly.
Lanqin stopped and stared at it for a while after taking one look.
"The Crimson Bird!!" Lanqin couldn't help but exclaim.
Damn, Lin Mengyao only learned about this red-beaked white bird for the first time in an episode of "The Extinct Animal World"! There really were birds like this in the Qing Dynasty!
The two maids didn't know what Lanqin meant by those two words, but they did feel that this bird was indeed extraordinary.
Suddenly, a boy of about five years old appeared out of nowhere, picked up a stone from the ground, and threw it at the bird. Although the bird wasn't hit, it was startled and flew away with a whoosh.
The three of them, including Lanqin and her servants, were stunned by this sudden action.
“Xiaopen… how could you hit a bird with a stone? That’s wrong, we…” Lanqin couldn’t help but speak up and educate the little child.
"Third Prince, where are you? Third Prince..." came an anxious cry.
The little boy showed a look of annoyance when he heard the voice of his personal eunuch.
Lanqin and the others turned around and saw a little eunuch running over.
"This servant greets the princess!" The little eunuch saw that it was Lanqin. Although he did not recognize her, he knew that she was the master's concubine. Otherwise, how could she have entered this courtyard?
"Are you the Third Prince?" Lanqin smiled; this was the first time she had seen the Fourth Prince's child.
The Third Prince did not answer, but a group of eunuchs said, "It is indeed the Third Prince!"
"Who told you to say that? You dog servant!" The Third Prince was still angry because Lanqin had just told him he shouldn't have shot the bird!
When Lanqin saw the Third Prince's expression, and realized that a child of only four or five years old was speaking so rudely, she immediately wanted to teach the child a lesson.
"Third Prince, you should answer politely when adults ask you questions. Also, that bird was eating happily just now, you shouldn't have thrown stones at it! Children should love and protect animals!" Lanqin almost went on to lecture the Third Prince further, but she stopped herself.
"You're just a princess, how dare you lecture me!" The Third Prince glared at Lanqin and her two servants, looking down on them.
"Even if I'm just a princess, I'm still a lady in the palace, as your grandmother pointed out. You little brat, who told you to be so disrespectful to your elders!" Lanqin grabbed the Third Prince's ear. She just wanted to get closer to the Fourth Prince's child, and she also liked children.
Upon seeing this, the young eunuch was immediately dumbfounded and hurriedly said, "Princess, please let go! Even Consort Li has never been willing to hit the Third Prince."
"I didn't hit him. I was teaching him not to talk back to his elders and not to bully small animals!" Lanqin released the Third Prince's ear and deliberately spoke to him.
“What’s so great about a bird? Father taught us how to draw a bow and shoot arrows. We’ve shot and killed countless birds when we went hunting,” the Third Prince said, still unconvinced.
Lanqin was momentarily speechless, leaving the four- or five-year-old child speechless.
"You dare to pull my ear! Wait till I tell my mother, and you'll be punished!" The Third Prince shoved Nianxue's basket aside and then swaggered past them.
The young eunuch could only bow slightly to Lanqin and the others before chasing after the Third Prince.
"Princess, you shouldn't have provoked the Third Prince just now. You might have offended Consort Li." Nianxue was two years older than Lanqin, and she would remind her when they were at home, and sometimes she would advise her on things she did wrong.
"What did I do to offend him? He just suddenly came over to shoot birds and acted like he had no respect for his elders." Lanqin didn't take it seriously. She had only taught Xiao Erduo a lesson, and nothing serious had happened. Why make a fuss over such a small matter?
The three of them, master and servants, admired the flowers in the garden for a while before heading back.
As soon as I walked into the west courtyard, I saw that Fourth Master was also coming over.
"Greetings, Your Excellency!" Lanqin bowed, and the two maids followed suit.
Fourth Master nodded, pulled Lanqin along, and the two walked inside hand in hand.
As Wu opened the back window of her bedroom, she witnessed the scene just now, and her eyes were filled with hatred that seemed capable of shooting daggers.
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