Three days after Honghui's burial, Kangxi's carriage finally entered the Forbidden City. Upon his return, Kangxi posthumously conferred upon Honghui the title of Beizi (a princely rank), and in the following days, people continuously offered sacrifices at his tomb, all according to the standards for a Beizi.
Fourth Master has been busy with the "First Sacrifice Ceremony", "Second Sacrifice Ceremony", "Grand Sacrifice Ceremony" and "Monthly Sacrifice" for Honghui during this period. He is so busy that he can hardly be seen every day.
After returning, the Fourth Prince was either in the front yard or at his wife's place, and it seemed that his relationship with his wife was much more harmonious than before.
Since the Fourth Prince and his wife went to the palace to pay their respects to the Emperor and Consort De not long ago, he has been spending more and more nights in the main courtyard.
Lady Li never expected that getting away with the eldest prince would result in such a turn of events. On the contrary, the long-disfavored wife seemed to be regaining favor. Lady Li was furious, but there was nothing she could do. Lady Li noticed that ever since the fourth prince became suspicious of her, he had never spent a night in the east courtyard.
Not only that, even Lanqin was neglected. The South Courtyard had never seen the Fourth Master for so long.
Lanqin didn't care. She spent her days playing cards with the maids, frolicking with Fubao, learning embroidery from Gengshi, and reading miscellaneous books in her study.
On this day, Lanqin helped Nianxue walk towards the main courtyard, because it was the fifteenth of the month, the day to pay respects to the Fujin (the wife of the deceased).
This was the first time since Honghui's death that the Fujin had received greetings from everyone.
Just as Lanqin was about to step onto the steps in front of the main courtyard, she heard a sweet voice calling from behind: "Sister, it's been so long! Why don't you come and visit me? Have you really forgotten your older sister?"
The person who came was indeed Consort Li. Today, she was wearing a bright red brocade qipao with pomegranate leaf patterns, and she looked very energetic. However, in this energetic posture, Lanqin seemed to see a sense of decline.
"Sister, what are you saying? Since the passing of the First Prince, Lanqin has been staying in her own courtyard in contemplation, not daring to disturb you." Lanqin had also heard the rumors circulating about the day the First Prince had his accident, which seemed to be related to the Third Prince, meaning it was related to Lady Li.
Historically, Lady Li was a secondary consort of the Fourth Prince. After entering the palace, she was given the title of Consort Qi. However, she was neglected by Emperor Yongzheng because of the Third Prince, Hongshi. Lanqin knew that the Third Prince, Hongjun, would not live to adulthood, and the Fourth Prince, who was only one year old at the time, should be the future Third Prince, Hongshi.
Thinking of these things, Lanqin suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, so she started chatting and laughing with Li.
"What does my sister need to reflect on?" Li asked in surprise.
"Don't forget that the skateboard was made for the eldest prince. If I hadn't made those things for them to play with, perhaps none of this would have happened," Lanqin said with some self-reproach.
“How can you explain this? The eldest prince’s death was an accident, and it has nothing to do with anyone else!” Li said indignantly after hearing Lanqin’s words.
The two stepped through the main gate of the courtyard together and walked towards the main house, one after the other. Upon entering, they found a room full of beautiful women sitting on either side of the Fujin (Prince Consort), chatting about amusing things and saying sweet nothings, which cheered her up and dispelled her usual gloom. Since the Fourth Prince began frequently spending the night in the main courtyard, the Fujin's smile had gradually returned.
"Oh, you two have finally arrived, but you're late." The Fujin glanced at Li Shi and Lanqin, feeling a surge of disgust. The Li Shi of the past was just like Lanqin now, and this woman Li Shi had even harmed Honghui. Although there was no clear evidence, the Fujin trusted her intuition. As for Lanqin, she was naturally the instigator who caused that incident.
"Greetings to the Princess Consort!" The two women bowed to the Princess Consort one after the other, and then continued her words: "I met my younger sister on the road just now and saw that she had bumped her foot on a stone and was feeling unwell. That's why I was late because I was waiting for her. Please punish me, Princess Consort."
"Sister Niu, where does your foot hurt?" the Fujin asked Lanqin with concern.
"It's alright, it doesn't hurt anymore," Lanqin had no choice but to say, forcing herself to speak. She never expected that Li would lie in front of the Fujin (the wife of the deceased).
"Please sit down, Chunliu, serve tea to Consort and Consort Niu!" The consort didn't ask any further questions.
After chatting and laughing for a while, Yan Yu suddenly said, "Alas, Madam, I have heard a rumor that someone deliberately made those stupid skateboards, which is why our eldest prince suffered this calamity!"
Upon hearing this, Lanqin's heart skipped a beat, thinking: It's finally here! She glanced at Yan Yu's exquisitely painted face and read three words from it: "scheming bitch!"
Madam Song interjected, "What Sister Yan Yu says is somewhat unfair. According to your logic, how come the Third Prince and the First Prince's many children didn't get into trouble?"
Yan Yu glanced at Song Shi. She had never taken this usually taciturn woman seriously, but her words at this moment left her speechless.
The princess glanced at Song, who felt the autumn-like gaze, but she did not lower her head as usual.
Wu, Wang, and Geng all looked at Song with considerable surprise. Song, who was usually gentle and reserved, actually dared to contradict the words of the Fujin's younger sister, which was clearly a rebuttal to the Fujin herself.
Although Lanqin did not go to see Song Shi immediately, she was indeed warmed by the news. She did not expect that Song Shi would speak up for her at this critical moment.
At this moment, Madam Geng suddenly said, "I heard that Sister Yanyu has been making rouge recently. I wonder how it's going? Could you let us sisters try it?"
Her interruption finally changed the tense and cold atmosphere, and Madam Li quickly asked Yan Yu about the rouge.
In fact, Yan Yu didn't want to talk about rouge at this moment. It was a kind of "rouge" that Fang Yun had secretly developed for her to deal with Niu Shi, which contained harmful substances to the skin. She didn't know how Geng Shi saw it, but she didn't expect to mention it on this occasion. If she wanted to do anything in the future, it would be hard for her not to be suspected.
Yan Yu glared angrily at Geng Shi and Song Shi, then looked at the Fujin (wife of the emperor), only to see the latter chatting gently with everyone as if bathed in a spring breeze, seemingly oblivious to Song Shi and the others' intention to defend Lanqin.
After chatting for a while, everyone took their leave from the Fujin's quarters.
"Sister Song, would you like to come and sit with Lanqin?" Lanqin said as she saw Song Shi come out.
"No, I feel a bit tired. How about I come visit you another day?" Song declined, but did not agree.
"Alright then, Lanqin will visit my sister another day!" Lanqin said, somewhat surprised that Song Shi declined.
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