"Sister!" Lanqin stared blankly at the Song family as they walked away. Suddenly, a soft, sweet voice called out from behind. Without turning around, Lanqin knew who the voice belonged to.
"Sister!" Lanqin bowed slightly to Consort Li.
"I received some melons from Xinjiang today. Would you like to try them, sister?" said Madam Li. Now, she was suspected by the Fourth Prince, and Lanqin was being gossiped about by the women in the inner quarters. The two seemed to be in the same boat.
"No need, I don't really like cantaloupe. Thank you for your concern, sister." Lanqin always kept a distance from Li Shi's advances, her sixth sense telling her that this beautiful woman was a scheming one, and it was best for her to stay away from her.
Li looked at Lanqin with deep disappointment and sighed softly, "It seems that you don't want to go to your sister's courtyard. Well, if the Fujin and her sister make a big deal out of this, I'm afraid you'll be in a very bad situation. I heard that you haven't visited me for many days either."
Upon hearing the last sentence, Lanqin felt a surge of irritation, but she hadn't lost her composure. She smiled lightly at Madam Li and said, "Thank you for your concern, elder sister. I will certainly be careful. Master has been busy with the eldest prince's memorial service these days, so I suppose he hasn't visited you much, has he?"
Her question left Ms. Li speechless.
"If there's nothing else, sister, I'll take my leave." Lanqin curtsied and left, leaving behind an embarrassed Li Shi.
"Hmph, what's with the attitude? Even I'm not going to your place anymore," Li Shi thought bitterly to herself, watching Lan Qin's retreating figure. She had originally intended to win over Lan Qin, who was feared by the other two wives, to help them counter the First Prince. Although she had schemed to eliminate the eldest prince, judging from the current situation, the First Princess seemed to be regaining favor. Li Shi never expected things to develop in this direction, so how could she not be worried?
Meanwhile, Lanqin, supported by Nianxue's hand-wielding nanny, walked forward in silence, thinking about the people and words spoken in the Fujin's room earlier.
"Nianxue, help me to the main courtyard!" Lanqin finally made a decision.
"Princess, didn't you just come out of the main courtyard? Why are you going back?" Nianxue asked, puzzled.
"I want to talk to the Fujin about Honghui's situation. Although I didn't directly cause his drowning, I did give him the skateboard!" Lanqin felt a pang of pain in her heart. Perhaps without the skateboard she had given him, Honghui could have avoided this tragedy.
The master and servant turned and walked towards the main courtyard. Just as they reached the gate, they saw Granny Li giving instructions to the gatekeepers. Then they saw Lanqin and the other two walking up the steps.
"Granny Li, please inform the Fujin that Lanqin has come to pay her respects!" Lanqin said to Granny Li, who looked astonished.
"Please come in, Princess Niu. The Fujin is writing in her room. There shouldn't be any trouble for you this time!" Knowing that the Fujin would definitely see Lanqin, Li Mama said this directly.
When Lanqin followed Granny Li to the main room, Chunliu was surprised to see Lanqin and her maid return, but she still immediately went to the door of the side room to inform the Fujin of Lanqin's visit.
The princess paused for a moment, and then a drop of ink from her brush fell onto the rice paper, smudged the characters she had just written.
"Please let her in!" The princess grabbed the piece of paper from earlier, crumpled it into a ball in her hand, and then threw it into the pile of waste paper.
At this moment, Lanqin had already entered the main room, and the Fujin immediately called out to the outside commotion, "Granny Li, please invite Sister Niu into the side room."
Immediately, Lanqin walked in and saw that the Fujin had already stepped out of the large square table and was admiring a pruned bonsai pine tree by the window.
"Lanqin greets the Princess Consort, may the Princess Consort be blessed with ten thousand years of happiness and peace!" Lanqin bowed respectfully and politely.
"Sister Niu, please get up. Didn't you just come to pay your respects? Why have you returned?" the Fujin said with a smile.
"Lanqin has come to apologize to the Fujin," Lanqin said earnestly.
"What are you saying, sister? What have you done to wrong me?" The princess consort's pupils contracted as she asked calmly.
"Eldest Prince..." Lanqin uttered these three words with difficulty. Seeing the Princess Consort's expression turn cold, she felt even more apprehensive. But since she was already there, she couldn't avoid the question any longer. So she mustered her courage and said, "The Eldest Prince drowned in an accident while skateboarding. Lanqin has felt deeply guilty ever since she heard about it. If I hadn't given the Eldest Prince the skateboard, perhaps he wouldn't have gone to the garden to skateboard. Lanqin feels extremely guilty every time she thinks of this."
“Sister, don’t listen to Yan Yu’s nonsense. That’s just how my sister is. You should keep that in mind. Hong Hui’s death was a complete accident and had little to do with you,” the Fujin said solemnly.
Lanqin was surprised that the Fujin was so open-minded and generous, and she had a very good impression of her before. Now she was even more moved and said, "Fujin, I am really saddened by the passing of the eldest prince. If I have any children in the future, I will make sure that he recognizes you as his mother and me as his mother."
The princess chuckled and said, "Are you serious?"
Lanqin said with unusual seriousness, "Of course it is true. If I had been fortunate enough to have a child with Fourth Master in the past, I would have made sure that the first child recognized the Fujin as his mother and called me 'Mama'."
"Mom?" the Fujin murmured.
"Has the Princess Consort agreed?" Lanqin was quite surprised that the Princess Consort was so magnanimous when she came to apologize.
"Then you'd better hurry up and give Fourth Master a son, so I'll have someone to call me Mother," the Fujin said with a smile.
"Yes, I will try my best." Lanqin finally felt relieved after many days of depression and was truly grateful to the Fujin.
After Lanqin left, the Fujin picked up the scissors on the windowsill and swiftly cut off several branches. Seeing her displeasure, Li Mama immediately asked, "Is the Fujin angry about what Niu Shi said just now?"
"Hmph, how audacious Niohuru! Does she really think that I, the Fujin, can never have another child?" The Fujin's face was as black as the clouds on the horizon, completely devoid of her previous gentle and friendly demeanor.
Granny Li walked over and helped the Fujin catch her breath, saying, "Niu Shi is naive. Does she really think that by coming to you to beg for peace, she can absolve herself of responsibility for indirectly causing Honghui's death?"
"How naive! I will not let Honghui die in vain. I will make all those who harmed him go down to join him!" The Fujin's voice was like a crow's at this moment, and her expression was completely devoid of her usual kind and friendly demeanor.
Lanqin felt much more relaxed at this moment. After leaving the Fujin's place, she chatted and laughed with Nianxue all the way back.
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