"How is the young prince?" Fourth Prince walked straight to the place where the two children were settled and asked the newly transferred wet nurse.
"Your Majesty, the young prince has just fallen asleep. He was probably frightened at noon. He didn't drink much tonight. I held him and patted his back. Seeing that he seemed fine, I coaxed him to sleep." The fate of that wet nurse had made everyone wary, and no one dared to be careless.
"How is Haiyun?" Fourth Master asked, remembering the little princess who resembled him quite a bit.
"Little Princess is doing very well. She eats and sleeps, and sleeps and eats. She looks so kind and blessed," said the wet nurse who was taking care of Haiyun.
Fourth Master was thinking about Lanqin. After looking at the two children for a while, he decided to return to the South Courtyard.
When Yan Yu saw the Fourth Master come out, she quickly went to greet him, "This concubine greets Your Highness. Your Highness, I have prepared dinner, why don't you eat here?"
Su Peisheng glanced at Yan Yu silently, thinking to himself: This one is starting to feel resentful again, but it's probably all in vain.
Fourth Master had already planned to go to Lanqin's place, so he wasn't going to stay any longer. He only said, "Both children are still young, so you need to take good care of them. If there aren't enough people, go ask the Fujin (principal wife) for a few more to serve them. That wet nurse was beaten to death, which should serve as a warning, but if you, as their mother, don't take care of them, the people under you will naturally be even less attentive." After saying that, he left without waiting for Yan Yu to argue.
Yan Yu was immediately stunned, her mind in turmoil: Was this a reprimand for not taking good care of the two children and not managing the wet nurse properly? And what did it mean to say that she should pay more attention to the two children in the future?
Meanwhile, Fourth Master had no time to care what Yan Yu thought; his mind was entirely focused on the South Courtyard.
However, when he entered the South Courtyard, the usual laughter and chatter were gone, and several maids stood at the door, all looking listless.
"Where is your princess?" Fourth Master asked Xicha as he approached.
The maids had their backs to the door and hadn't noticed that the Fourth Master had already entered. They were all startled by his sudden appearance and quickly turned around to greet him.
"Your Majesty, the Princess refuses to eat dinner in her room!" Xi Cha lowered her head, not daring to look at the Fourth Master.
"What? What are you doing now? She's pregnant, how can she not eat?" Fourth Master roared. He had thought the little princess would need several years to conceive, but since Heaven had given her a child again, he had to be careful this time.
"Princess, she...she knows." Xicha lowered her head even further.
"Know? Know what?" Fourth Master asked.
"The princess knows about the miscarriage last year." Xi Cha's voice was barely audible, but the Fourth Prince still heard it.
Fourth Master looked surprised for a moment, but then immediately asked, "How did you know? Did you tell her?"
Xi Cha waved her hand and said, "No, how could we servants dare to tell you, Princess? It was Doctor Wu who came to take your pulse today and mentioned that you had a miscarriage and told you to take care of your health."
Fourth Master muttered an "Oh" in a low voice, and then he understood.
This Physician Wu is quite capable; today he was able to diagnose Lanqin's miscarriage by taking her pulse, and it was he who saved the young prince in time.
Fourth Master stepped into the house and saw that dinner was laid out on the main table, all of which were Lanqin's favorite dishes, but she hadn't touched a single bite.
Nianxue stood at the bedroom door, unsure of what to do.
Fourth Master raised his hand to shush, then walked to the door and pushed it open. The door wasn't locked, so he went inside.
The little princess was sitting in front of the dressing table, her hands resting on the table, just like that day.
"Lan'er, Chef Niu has made steamed beef brisket with rice flour, chicken wrapped in lotus leaves, edamame with fermented rice wine, and lotus root with green peppers, all of which are your favorites. If you don't eat them soon, they'll get cold." Fourth Master walked behind Lanqin and gently patted her back.
"Why didn't you tell me before making this decision?" Lanqin's anger had subsided, and she wasn't so angry anymore. Because Nianxue had stood outside explaining for the entire afternoon, she had finally understood the situation.
The Fourth Prince's decision was good for both her and the undeveloped baby in her womb. She had a persistent high fever; without medication, she might not have survived. The Fourth Prince used medicine for her sake. It's said that medication shouldn't be used during pregnancy, so such a serious matter would inevitably harm the baby, and given her condition at the time, the baby's life was in danger.
Fourth Master chose her, but Lanqin still felt wronged. He didn't even tell her about her child before she miscarried—why?
"Lan'er, you're only fourteen. It's too early for you to have a child. I hope you can take a few years to grow stronger before having another one. Perhaps that child came at the wrong time, so I have to give him up," the Fourth Master said slowly.
"But it can't just be aborted without my approval, can it?" Lanqin still felt wronged. Perhaps it was because she was unwilling to let someone else decide the fate of the child in her womb. She always felt that Fourth Master had no right to make such a decision without her permission.
“Lan’er, perhaps the child in your womb is that child reincarnated. He has come into your womb again to be our child once more,” Fourth Master said patiently.
Alas, why would a cold-faced prince need to comfort a woman like this?
"I don't care, you have to pay for my child!" Lanqin knew in her heart that Fourth Master's decision might be right in that situation, and that making a scene now would not achieve anything and would only increase the rift between them. But she just felt uncomfortable and extremely unhappy.
"Well, we've already lost a child to you, so let's have this one first. As for the rest, I'll give it all back to you, okay?" Fourth Master stroked Lanqin's cascading black hair.
"I want you to stay with me. You're not allowed to spend the night anywhere else. You have to stay by my side until the baby is born," Lanqin continued her "foolish" act. Her previous indifference and nonchalance had vanished; she was now a pregnant woman who wanted to possess the man entirely.
The thought of her being heavily pregnant while the Fourth Master was having fun with other women made her feel uneasy, like a cat was circling around her.
"Alright, I'll stay with you. Until the child is born, and even after that, I'll stay with you." The Fourth Prince found the little princess's girlish behavior quite adorable.
"Master, from now on you are not allowed to make decisions for me without my consent," Lanqin couldn't help but say.
Fourth Master was taken aback, knowing that this little woman was different from other women and had big ideas in her mind, so he nodded without thinking.
That evening, the Fourth Prince served Lanqin her dinner and then accompanied her for a walk to aid digestion. He also took care of her sleep, coaxing the little princess to sleep before finally letting out a sigh of relief and lying down to sleep next to Lanqin.
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