"Since Steward Hai is busy, Chen Shou can show this princess around," Lanqin said at the opportune moment.
After bowing, Hai Dayou led his men back to his room. Actually, he didn't have anything important to do, but he was worried that if word got back to the Fujin (the wife of the emperor), he might offend her by personally serving the princess in the South Courtyard.
"Little Shouzi, go back to your room and make some egg rolls and hot compresses. Si Hua can show me around." Lan Qin said to Chen Shou after Hai Dayou left.
“This servant’s skin is nothing to worry about. Your Highness need not concern yourself. Let this servant serve you, otherwise you might not leave. There are flowerpots everywhere here, Your Highness should be careful,” Chen Shou said, but inwardly he felt a growing fondness for Lanqin’s easygoing nature.
Seeing that he insisted, Lanqin went with him.
Chen Shou led Lanqin around the greenhouse, explaining the characteristics of various flowers and their blooming times to her.
As Chen Shou explained things, Lanqin gained a lot of knowledge and became somewhat curious about Chen Shou himself.
"Judging from your eloquence, did you study before?" Lanqin was a little tired from walking, so she let Sihua support her and followed Chen Shou into a corridor shaded by grapevines to sit down.
Here, a corridor was built along the grapevines. Under the corridor, dappled sunlight casts dappled patterns on the ground through the grape leaves, creating beautiful dappled patterns.
Lanqin looked up and saw bunches of purple grapes hanging down, and felt a sweet sensation in her throat.
"Replying to Your Highness, my father was a private tutor. Before I was twelve, I learned to read and write from my father and read some books." Chen Shou saw Lanqin looking at the grapes, so he walked to a protruding rock, stood on tiptoe, and picked the bunch closest to him.
"No need," Lanqin said. "I also grow grapes in my south courtyard. Don't pick them; they look nice hanging up."
Upon seeing this, Chen Shou quickly lowered his hand and stood before Lanqin with his head bowed.
"Then how did you end up here as a servant who tends the flowers?" Lanqin asked.
“After my father unfortunately fell ill and passed away, my mother, my sister, and I were left with no means of support. My mother later remarried, and my sister also found a husband. Since I am a man, I volunteered to be sold into slavery in the Fourth Prince’s mansion,” Chen Shou said.
Upon hearing this, Lanqin looked Chen Shou up and down and suddenly said, "He is quite a person with his own opinions. After delivering the flowers to the South Courtyard, I'm tired and will go back first."
Chen Shou stared at the figures of Lanqin and her servant for a long while.
"Hey, what's wrong with you, kid?" A large hand patted Chen Shou on the shoulder, and a burly middle-aged man appeared from behind him. It was indeed Old Qiu, who was in charge of odd jobs at the time.
"Hey, you scared me to death. Can you please stop appearing and disappearing like that?" Chen Shou immediately changed his tone upon seeing him, showing how familiar he was with Lao Qiu.
"I've always been here, but seeing you were serving a distinguished guest, I didn't want to disturb you," Old Qiu said in a vulgar tone, clearly a habitual way of speaking. He was the one who planted these grapevines.
"Oh dear, look at me, how can I possibly show my face to anyone?" Chen Shou said with a bitter expression.
"Didn't you deliver flowers to that Princess Yu this morning? How did it turn out like this?" Old Qiu saw that Chen Shou's cheeks were red, clearly indicating that he had been slapped.
"Oh, let's not talk about it. They don't have peonies, yet they insist on having peonies." Chen Shou thought of Yan Yu, but dared not say anything.
"That guy seemed kind-hearted, don't I need to remind you? If he'd taken you in, it would be better than staying here," Old Qiu said.
"That depends on whether they want me or not." Chen Shou actually had some affection for Lan Qin, but since he was on duty in the flower room, he couldn't possibly ask Lan Qin to transfer him away from there.
"I'm asking you to deliver the flowers later, so take good care of them," Old Qiu said, patting Chen Shou on the shoulder.
Meanwhile, Lanqin, supported by Sihua, returned to the South Courtyard. As soon as they entered, they saw Madam Song and Madam Geng sitting under the grape trellis.
"Where did my little sister go for a stroll? We've been waiting for her." Madam Geng said with a light laugh, waving her fan.
"I went for a walk in the greenhouse. Why are you all sitting outside? Come inside. It's cooler inside." Lanqin had walked around outside and felt a little warm.
Song and Geng followed Lanqin into the house.
“It’s so much cooler here, little sister. I’ll come every day from now on, okay?” Geng said with a smile.
“Of course, I’ll have Nianxue deliver a piece of ice to each of you. Has she delivered it yet?” Lanqin asked.
"I've sent it over. I put it in my bedroom. It's much better now. Thank you, sister," said Madam Song with a smile.
"We came here precisely for this matter. Lan'er, you gave your ice to me and Sister Song, perhaps someone is feeling unwell." Madam Geng said as she sat down, while Xicha brought Lanqin's jasmine iced tea and served each of the three of them a cup.
"Who's not feeling well? Can't the ice in my room do what it's supposed to do?" Lanqin took a sip of iced tea and immediately felt refreshed.
"I'm afraid it's because I asked for more script, and the master agreed. That person must be feeling uncomfortable about it. I just didn't know that the news spread so quickly in my room. It seems she already knew as soon as you brought the ice over," said Madam Song, holding a glass of iced tea.
Lanqin understood. After putting down the teacup that Qingyan had returned to, she said, "I'm afraid you've been unhappy about me using ice here for a while now."
Madam Song nodded and said, "Although they haven't said anything yet, I still feel uneasy. What if they say we're not respecting ancestral rules? Lan'er, it's better not to see us off."
Lanqin glanced at Song Shi, and then heard Lan Qi outside say that someone had delivered flowers to the flower room.
Lanqin immediately said to Nianxue, "Go and get a box of anti-inflammatory skin cream."
Geng and Song were unaware of what was going on. Dan Lanqin stood up and said to them, "Come on, let's go to the yard and see the hibiscus. I just went to the greenhouse, and there were really no exotic flowers or plants there."
The three of them walked hand in hand outside, where they saw Chen Shou carrying in five or six pots of hibiscus with two servants. The hibiscus flowers on them were in full bloom, some pink, some yellow, some white, some light purple, and some with rich colors such as orange, bright red, and dark blue.
"Nianxue, go and give Xiaoshouzi the Xiaojiyan medicine," Nianxue said.
"This servant thanks Your Highness for the reward," Chen Shou said, bowing to Lanqin.
At this moment, Madam Song and Madam Geng also noticed that Chen Shou, who was delivering the flowers, had been slapped on the face.
"Chen Shou, why don't you explain the characteristics of this hibiscus flower to my two elder sisters?" Lan Qin said, then turned to Song Shi and Geng Shi and said, "Sisters, come and listen to the habits of these flowers, they are really interesting."
Chen Shou said a few words to the two servants who were following him, and they walked away with their heads down. He then arranged the hibiscus flowers one by one in the corner against the wall.
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