The Fourth Prince looked down at the little princess in his arms and thought to himself: She is a sensible girl who knows how to consider the balance of the inner quarters for him.
"It's alright. This batch of pelts includes several red foxes, white foxes, and gray foxes. The red foxes are for the Fujin (princess), the white foxes are for you, and the gray foxes are for the princesses to make a few outfits. There are also some mink and wolf pelts. The mink pelts are for the princesses to make overcoats, and the wolf pelts are for the princes to make fur coats." The Fourth Prince had already given instructions to the head nanny, and by now the pelts had probably been delivered to their respective locations.
Lanqin felt a warmth in her heart when she saw that Fourth Master had reserved something for her in advance, and said sweetly, "Thank you for your reward, Master!"
Fourth Master affectionately pinched her little nose and said indignantly, "Now you're not saying I'm being mean to you?!"
Meanwhile, the head nanny had already led her people to deliver the pelts to each courtyard, as instructed by the Fourth Prince. When the First Lady saw the two red fox pelts and several gray fox pelts delivered, she casually inquired about the distribution to the other courtyards. These things were originally her responsibility to distribute, but now the Fourth Prince had entrusted them to the head nanny, which was truly ironic for her as the primary wife.
"This time, the Imperial Household Department sent over a lot of furs. I wonder what the other sisters received, and whether it's enough. I made a red mink coat last year, so I'll make a cloak for each of the eldest and second princesses from these red fox furs," the Fujin said, holding a blue-and-white porcelain teacup.
“You should keep the fur coats for yourself, Princess Consort. The eldest and second princesses are too young; fur coats would suit them better. Look, these are some of the finest patterned fur coats that would be perfect for making overcoats for the two princesses. These two are white,” the head nanny said.
"What did Sister Li, Sister Niu, and the other sisters receive?" the Fujin asked casually.
"Reporting to the Madam, Consort Li received two gray fox pelts and two white sable pelts. Song, Wu, Wang, and Princess Yan Yu all received gray sable pelts, while Geng received black sable pelts. The princes received wolf pelts," the head nanny asked the Madam.
"What kind of fur did Princess Niu get? Don't forget her, Grandma," the Fujin reminded her.
"His Highness has already taken Niu Gege's share to be made into a coat. Madam, you don't need to worry about it." The head nanny deliberately didn't mention that Lanqin had obtained the snow fox fur.
When the head nanny didn't say anything, the Fujin naturally knew that the fur that Lanqin got must be of good quality.
After the head nanny left, the princess picked out two red fox furs and said to Chunliu, "Take these to Yanyu. She's young, and this color suits her perfectly."
Seeing that the Fujin was going to give such fine fur to Yan Yu, Chunliu felt a pang of guilt and said, "Fujin, such fine fur is perfect for making a cloak for you. If you send it to her, the rest will probably only be enough to make a vest for you."
The Princess Consort touched a pearl ring on her hand and said, "I know my younger sister best. She never wants to lose to anyone. Now she only got a ferret pelt, which is much worse than a fox pelt. And now she's pregnant, how can I let her be unhappy! However, remember to tell Niu Shi about her pelt. If I'm not mistaken, Niu Shi must have gotten a snow fox or something similar. Go and walk over to the clothing workshop and ask if they have any snow fox pelts that have just arrived."
Chunliu understood, nodded, packed up the two red fox pelts, and left.
To verify what the Fujin had said, Chunliu went to the clothing workshop to ask if they had been rushing to make winter clothes recently.
When the embroiderer saw that it was someone from the Fujin's side, she naturally told her without any deception that the Fourth Prince had just sent over the snow fox fur.
"I've been making clothes for so many years, and I've never seen such fine snow fox fur before," the embroiderer exclaimed.
"Is this coat for Princess Niu of the South Courtyard?" Chunliu asked casually.
“Exactly, three pure snow fox pelts can make a shoulder-length robe and a cloak,” the embroiderer said enviously, completely unaware of the chill in Chunliu’s eyes.
Meanwhile, Yan Yu had already obtained two ferret pelts and was instructing Yun Yuan to put them away.
Chunliu entered carrying a bundle. She bowed to Yan Yu and said, "The Princess Consort is thinking of the Princess. The Princess is pregnant and the weather is getting colder. The Princess Consort has specially ordered me to send these two red fox pelts to the Princess to make clothes." After speaking, she opened the bundle and presented the red fox pelts to Yan Yu.
Although Yan Yu had seen many fine things in the Ulanara mansion, and had even received a snow fox pelt from Fei Yanggu, her mother had made her a matching cloak because there was only one. The two red fox pelts before her were entirely red, without a single blemish; if made into a cloak, they would surely be beautiful.
Suppressing her joy, Yan Yu asked, "How many did you get, elder sister? If you give these to me, I'll feel uneasy because you won't have any fur to make clothes!"
Upon hearing her say this, Chunliu immediately replied, "The Princess Consort had her eye on a snow fox pelt, saying it was the Princess's favorite. Unfortunately, that pelt is already gone... The Princess Consort, not wanting the Princess to suffer any injustice, has given her this red fox pelt instead."
Yan Yu truly loved snow fox fur; she had cherished her old pelt for a long time. Fox pelts weren't rare, but snow foxes were indeed scarce. Legend had it that they lived in the high mountains of the west, making them extremely difficult for hunters to catch. Because snow foxes were much smarter than ordinary foxes, it wasn't surprising that a single snow fox pelt could be worth a fortune.
"A snow fox pelt? Even my sister didn't get one? Which courtyard did it go to?" A hint of jealousy flashed between Yan Yu's brows. What she didn't have, no one else could have. She knew that Niu Shi must have obtained something different from Chong.
Chunliu feigned reluctance to say anything that would upset Yan Yu, who couldn't help but ask, "The one in the South Courtyard?"
Chunliu glanced at Yan Yu cautiously and nodded.
After Chunliu left, Yan Yu glanced at the red fox pelt in front of her. It was much better than her ferret, but the thought of Lanqin getting a rare snow fox pelt made her feel extremely sad. What was there to be ashamed of? That Lady Niu was only of the same status as her, yet the things she received were always different from those of ordinary princesses.
"Princess, should we make a cloak from these two red fox pelts and the two ferret outfits we just had?" Yun Yuan asked, unaware of Yan Yu's thoughts, as she tidied up the fox pelts.
"Who told you to pack this? You'll have to return this fox fur to the Fujin (principal wife) later. How could I take the Fujin's things?" Yan Yu raised her hand and touched her slightly protruding belly.
"Princess, it's cold and slippery outside, please don't go out. I'll go back!" Yun Yuan advised Yan Yu when she saw that she was about to go out.
“If I don’t go out, how can I have a reason to let Fourth Master come, and how can I let him give me the snow fox pelt that he gave to Niu Shi?” Yan Yu said with a cold smile.
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