"My lady, that courtyard is quite lively today." Xiangqiao tapped Li Shi's calf repeatedly with a wooden mallet. Li Shi was reclining on a chaise longue with her eyes half-closed, and wisps of smoke rose from the peacock blue glazed incense burner with its intricately carved qilin pattern on the long table behind her. A wave of intoxicating fragrance slowly drifted toward the person on the chaise longue.
Li raised her fair wrist, which was adorned with several gold bracelets inlaid with gemstones, and her slender, jade-like fingers were covered with tortoiseshell nail guards. She placed her fingers by her temple and adjusted a peacock hairpin that was tucked at an angle.
"Who are these people?" Madam Li lifted her eyebrows, which were meticulously drawn and slanted towards her temples, with a floral pattern imprinted between them. Although the Fourth Prince visited less often, she still dressed up carefully every day. She knew that a woman's appearance was nothing special in the harem of the Qing princes, but without it, she would truly drift further and further away from favor.
“This is the second time the Fujin’s family has come. Also, Niu Gege’s mother has come, and then Song Gege and Wang Gege went over,” Xiangqiao said.
"It's so lively over there, sister! It's much quieter here." Madam Li glanced sideways at Que'er beside her. Que'er understood, and quietly slipped away and went out the door.
"Master, even Wu Gege is no longer favored by the master. What can she do?" Xiangqiao asked.
"The less favored she is, the more she tries to win favor. I know her temperament all too well. Even those two blockheads, Madam Song and Madam Wang, have started to get restless, so she's even more unable to sit still." Madam Li gave a soft hum and sat up from the fragrant couch.
Que'er headed west and arrived at the west courtyard, where she saw Wu's maid, Yunxiang, running out of Wu's main room with her face covered, bumping right into Que'er.
"Oh, what's wrong with you?" Although Que'er was young, she had always been favored by Madam Li and was more trusted by her than Mingyan.
"Sister, Princess, sigh." Several clear finger marks were visible on Yunxiang's left cheek, as if she had just been slapped.
"Don't cry, take me to see your princess. Our mistress invites her over for a chat, and Princess Wu will surely not punish you." Que'er took Yunxiang's arm and walked into Wu's room.
Wu Shi was sitting silently on the main couch, with a broken teacup on the floor, and Hong Qian was kneeling on the floor cleaning it up.
"Greetings to Princess Wu!" Que'er curtsied.
When Wu saw Que'er, the annoyance in her eyes lessened slightly, but her voice still carried anger: "Que'er, get up quickly." Seeing Yunxiang following behind, she shouted sternly, "You wretched girl, you can't even pour a cup of tea properly, what use are you!"
It turned out that Wu Shi was used to drinking Yunnan Pu'er tea, but the Pu'er in the room had run out, so Yunxiang brewed her some Maojian tea instead. It wasn't that Yunxiang didn't want to brew it for her, but Pu'er was in short supply. She had asked the head eunuch for some several times, but the eunuch in charge of tea always looked like he had no stock and refused to give her Pu'er.
"Princess, I went to ask them, but they kept saying the new stock hadn't arrived yet, and all the remaining Pu'er tea was gone," Yunxiang said, covering her face and crying.
Wu was about to get angry, but seeing that Que'er was there, she held back.
“I haven’t visited Consort Wu for several days. I should go and pay my respects today.” Madam Wu stood up, and Yunxiang quickly went up to her and helped her up by the arm.
In truth, Wu knew in her heart that Yunxiang wasn't lying; those people were masters of playing favorites. Seeing that the Fourth Prince had begun to favor Niu Gege, they saved all the good things to curry favor with the newcomer.
The three of them left the west courtyard. This scene was witnessed by Madam Geng, who was standing by the window.
They still have people who can move around, but she doesn't even have a single person who can move around.
The First Lady was aloof and she couldn't get close to her; Consort Li was overly enthusiastic but also very domineering, which she disliked; Although Lady Song had a similar personality to her, they didn't live in the same courtyard and rarely saw each other; Lady Wang, confident in her beauty, never even glanced at her.
In terms of beauty, she was almost the least outstanding; in terms of family background, her father, Geng Dejin, was just a minor official, and he was stationed in the Northwest; in terms of wealth, her father was penniless, and when she first came in, she only had two thousand taels of silver with her; in terms of favor, she had been in the palace for almost two years, and the Fourth Master had visited her a handful of times.
Madam Geng sighed deeply, turned around, and said to her maid, Lülan, "Quickly deliver the letter to Lanqin to the gatehouse."
"Yes, Princess. But will Princess Niu receive your letter?" Green Orchid asked with some doubt.
"She will receive it. Whether she sees it or not, we should express our feelings." Madam Geng walked to the embroidery bed, sat down, and laid out in front of her was a screen embroidered with a gourd and a hundred sons and a thousand grandsons.
"Princess, you've been embroidering this for almost a year now, and it's finally almost finished." Green Lan picked up the envelope, walked behind Madam Geng, and said admiringly, "In my opinion, your embroidery skills are the best in this whole backyard."
“What good is good embroidery? It’s hard work that strains your eyes. If you have money, you can buy the best Suzhou embroidery.” Geng picked up her needle and thread and continued working on the gourd pattern with a hundred sons and a thousand grandsons.
“How can the affection bought with money compare to what you embroidered yourself? When the Princess Consort sees this embroidered screen, she will surely like it,” Green Orchid comforted her.
"Go on, don't be late," Madam Geng urged.
After Lülan left, Geng sighed and continued embroidering. A woman without favor could only try to curry favor with the Fujin (Prince's wife) and the favored princesses. That way, perhaps the Fourth Prince would still think of her. Time is the most fleeting thing; if she didn't take advantage of her youth to bear the Fourth Prince an heir, her future would be even more difficult. Last time she went to the Third Prince's residence, the master had chosen her, but she knew she was merely an accessory. However, even being an accessory was better than not seeing him at all throughout the year. Therefore, whether it was Princess Niu, the Fujin, or the Fourth Prince, whoever thought of her, she was grateful and determined to pass on this kindness.
When Lülan arrived at the gatehouse, she saw several eunuchs sorting through the various invitations that had arrived at the mansion in the past few days. Fatty Wang was holding a purple clay teapot, directing them on how to properly categorize the invitations.
Green Lan doesn't usually come here. If it weren't for the princess writing a letter to Lanqin, she probably wouldn't have had a chance to come at all. The last time was when she accompanied the princess to the Third Prince's residence.
Wang Pangzi had already caught sight of Lülan out of the corner of his eye—a thin, frail-looking girl he didn't recognize. He simply ignored her. Besides, Lülan was timid and accompanied by an unfavored princess, which naturally made her appear even less imposing.
“Father-in-law, this is a letter from my daughter to Princess Niu. Please take it with you.” Lülan mustered her courage and stepped forward to say.
Upon hearing the name "Gege Niu," Fatty Wang stopped Green Balustrade from standing, walked over, and took the letter from her hand.
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