Lanqin received a letter from the Fourth Prince and was quite interested in the "White Snake Lady" mentioned in the letter about the bottom of West Lake. She thought about it seriously for several days, but still couldn't come up with a feasible solution.
Given the current state of the times, our technology is not yet advanced enough to produce diving equipment, let alone an underwater light source, let alone anything else.
However, Lanqin thought of something that Fourth Master hadn't considered: if there really was something under the broken bridge, then it must have been lowered there by someone. Since they could lower it, they must have been able to retrieve it. Something must have been holding it in place. Otherwise, those who lowered it wouldn't have been able to retrieve it themselves.
Thinking of this, Lanqin felt that he was really too smart, so he immediately replied, reminding the reader: check around the bridge piers for ropes, maybe the things below were dropped down by ropes.
Sigh, West Lake, Broken Bridge, the White Snake...
Hearing these familiar names, Lanqin truly regretted not going out with Fourth Master. Otherwise, she would have been suffocated by being confined to this deep courtyard, if it weren't for Madam Song and Madam Geng frequently coming to relieve her boredom.
There seemed to be no further activity from the Fujin's side. Lanqin still went to pay her respects on the first and fifteenth of each month, and was greeted with a smile, gentle words, and utmost care, as if nothing had ever happened between them.
After the Fourth Prince was born, the Princess Consort's smile gradually returned. Lanqin thought: Could it be that the Fourth Prince has made up for the Princess Consort's pain of losing the First Prince, and that she will once again be the kind and gentle Fourth Princess Consort who is not strict with her concubines and doesn't interfere much?
Let's hope so~
Lanqin silently prayed in her heart: May the Princess Consort raise her Fourth Prince well, and may she live her own life in the South Courtyard behind closed doors.
Since the Fourth Master left, the inner courtyard has been in this state: the main courtyard is quiet, the south courtyard has returned to its former liveliness, and the west and north courtyards have also shown an unusual peace.
On this day, Yan Yu asked Fang Yun to fetch Madam Liu to the mansion, because the day after tomorrow was the day after her "give birth".
The babies who had been induced into early birth had begun to arrive. Sure enough, one of the pregnant women gave birth to a son. Madam Liu then settled the infant boy according to Yan Yu's request.
Fangyun arrived at the agreed time at the place where the baby was placed, took the child from the wet nurse, and Madam Liu's sedan chair was waiting outside. Fangyun placed the newborn child in a basket, covered it with a cloth, and the child, having just had enough milk, was fast asleep.
Taking advantage of this time, Fangyun arranged a time with Madam Liu, and while the child was fast asleep, she brought him into the mansion and secretly placed him in Yan Yu's room.
Fangyun handed the silver to the pregnant woman's family, then took the basket containing the baby and went out.
"Madam, these are the tonics the princess needs. Please put them in your sedan chair." Fangyun winked at Madam Liu.
"Alright, Yu'er is about to give birth, so we should buy more tonics." Madam Liu took the basket and got into the sedan chair with it.
By the time they reached the Fourth Prince's residence, the child had already woken up once along the way. Lady Liu instructed the nanny who accompanied her to nurse the baby again before finally coaxing the three-day-old infant back to sleep.
Lady Liu's sedan chair could not be carried directly into the Fourth Prince's residence, meaning she had to carry her basket on foot and walk to Yan Yu's room herself.
If the baby in the basket suddenly cried during this time, then nothing would be kept secret. Thinking of this, Madam Liu felt her heart pounding in her chest. Fangyun was also so nervous that her palms were slightly sweaty.
"Fangyun, Madam Liu, please come in." An old woman at the side gate recognized Fangyun. She had been going out from here every day recently, and the two had become acquainted.
"Thank you for opening the door for me, Granny. This is a small token of my appreciation. Please take it and buy some tea." Madam Liu instructed the nanny to carry the basket, while she herself took out a purse from her sleeve and handed it to the old woman guarding the door.
"Thank you for your generosity, Madam. Please come in." The old woman was seated at this side door, where hardly anyone usually went, so the money was naturally scarce.
With an impeccable smile, Madam Liu entered the mansion with the old woman and Fangyun. The old woman, clutching the purse, watched the three of them walk away, chuckling. She noticed the basket but assumed it was something Madam Liu was bringing for Princess Yanyu, without giving it much thought.
"Let's go quickly, don't delay!" Madam Liu said to the two people following beside her.
The three of them quickened their pace immediately. They were afraid of running into anyone, so they tried to walk along the narrow alleys. Even if the child woke up and cried a few times, they could find a secluded place to comfort him.
When Fangyun and the others reached the side of the main courtyard, they were only fifty meters away from Yan Yu's courtyard when they saw Chunliu coming towards them.
Madam Liu had no choice but to stop and said to Chunliu, who was bowing to her, "Miss Chunliu, there's no need for such formalities. I still need to pay my respects to the Fujin later. For now, I'll just put the things for Yu'er over there."
Chunliu glanced at the basket in the hands of the nanny who came in with Madam Liu, and asked with concern, "The Fujin has prepared a lot of nourishing things for Princess Yanyu. Madam didn't really need to bring these in from so far away."
"It was a gift from the Fujin (principal wife), it was her way of showing her love. As her mother, I naturally have to do my part in showing my love as a mother," Madam Liu said with a smile.
Chunliu was taken aback and said, "What you say is very true, Madam. I will go back now."
After Chunliu left, Madam Liu picked up the basket herself, shook it, and kept chanting in her heart: Amitabha, child, if you really become my nephew, then that is our destiny.
When Yan Yu saw Madam Liu and Fang Yun enter carrying a basket, she knew the baby was inside. Slightly excited, she said to Yun Yuan, who was serving her, "Go make tea for Mother. You all go out too. I want to have a private talk with my mother."
"Yu'er, the child has already been brought in. Alas. If you give birth to a boy, your mother will take the child out again." Madam Liu had always hoped that Yan Yu could give birth to a boy on her own, so that everything they had done would be buried in their hearts forever.
In truth, Yan Yu knew that regardless of whether she gave birth to a boy or a girl, there was no turning back. The deal with the Ninth Prince had begun, and there was no going back. However, Madam Liu was naturally unaware of all this.
"Mother, don't worry. I'm determined to have a prince. Whether it's this one or the one in my belly, they will both be my children," Yan Yu said with a sly smile.
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