The eldest princess, accompanied by Madam Song, sat in the side room of the main courtyard of the Fujin (Prince's wife) to wait for the auspicious time.
In the main hall, all kinds of tables, chairs and benches have been placed in their respective positions according to the rules of the Jiji ceremony.
Lanqin and the other concubines were all in the west wing. They were to wait until the Fourth Master and his wife went to greet the guests, and then follow behind them as the crowd.
Fourth Master had told Lanqin to rest in her room and not to come early, but because she was thinking about that person, she told him that she was bored staying in her room and would rather come to the main courtyard to chat with her sisters.
The Fourth Prince expressed strong disbelief, but the Little Princess genuinely wanted to live peacefully with her sisters in the backyard.
“Today, all the princes will be here with their wives, except for the Crown Prince and the Prince of Zhi,” Yan Yu said.
"Yes, but perhaps Prince Zhi will also return. When his second daughter and Jili were born, the master and his wife went to see them." Madam Wang was referring to something that happened two years ago.
"Oh, it's said that Prince Zhi dotes on his wife? Well then, we'll have to see this loving couple today," Yan Yu said with an awkward smile.
Lanqin and Gengshi were too lazy to respond to her, their expressions indifferent, as if their thoughts were not in the room.
Actually, Yan Yu wasn't concerned about whether Prince Zhi and his wife were loving or not; she was worried about Ninth Prince. Fang Yun's incident hadn't been long ago, and Ninth Prince still had leverage over her.
"It is said that Prince Zhi's children were all born to his wife. From this point of view, it is true that the couple is very loving," Wu said suddenly, a look of longing and envy on her face.
Lanqin glanced at her and replied, "Everyone envies a perfect couple; I suppose Prince Zhi and his wife are one such couple."
Wu glanced at Lanqin, a faint smile playing on her lips. Lanqin returned the smile with a slight smile.
When Lanqin first entered the household, Lady Wu, relying on her former status as Consort Li, repeatedly made sarcastic remarks towards Lanqin. Lanqin did not hold back and retaliated time and time again. Both of them knew that they were straightforward people who showed what they were thinking, unlike some people who appeared kind and tolerant on the surface but actually harbored malicious intentions.
"Oh, Princess Niu's belly is so big. Aren't you afraid of getting tired, running around all day? Why don't you just stay in your own courtyard and rest? At a time like this, you can't wait for the master to watch over you?" Yan Yu looked at Lan Qin's big belly and couldn't help but feel jealous, so she made a sarcastic remark. It was because Lan Qin had helped Geng Shi clear her name of the poisoning suspicion last time that she was very unhappy. She just couldn't find a suitable opportunity. Now that she heard Lan Qin say the words "a perfect couple," although she had never heard them before, she knew what they meant, so she couldn't hold back anymore, as if Lan Qin had monopolized the Fourth Master.
Lanqin really didn't want to talk to this person. Not only was he mentally challenged, but his mouth was also extremely annoying.
But since they've come to such lengths, it's clearly not Lanqin's style not to retaliate. Besides, Lanqin suddenly felt like giving Yan Yu a piece of her mind, so she retorted, "I just love being with everyone and having a good time. What can I do? Master is very worried about me. He told me to go back and rest, but I'm not happy about it. So Master just lets me be."
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Yan Yu's expression twisted involuntarily, her eyes seeming to want to poke two big holes in Lan Qin.
Sigh, we were both concubines to begin with, but you always act superior just because you're the younger sister of the Fujin (principal wife). It's like the pot calling the kettle black.
Lanqin turned away in disgust, unwilling to look at her again. Inadvertently, she caught a glimpse of the obvious smile on Wu's lips.
At this moment, the curtain was lifted, and Xia He entered, saying to the crowd, "Ladies, the Princess Consort invites you to enter."
With Nianxue and Gengshi's help, Lanqin followed the others out of the west side room. There, she saw that the main courtyard was decorated with bright chrysanthemums, hibiscus, violets and peonies. In the middle, a red carpet was laid out, stretching from the doorway to the steps of the main house.
Both sides of the carpet were lined with identical high-backed rosewood chairs.
Upon exiting the house, one could see the Fourth Prince and his wife standing on the steps of the main entrance, with Kangxi's numerous retainers already standing below them, the men on the left and the women on the right. Behind the princes were naturally court officials who were on good terms with the Fourth Prince, while Lanqin and the others stood behind the other guests.
Looking at that group of handsome men dressed in colorful brocade robes, it was truly a case of like begets like. Each of them was exceptionally handsome, with looks comparable to male gods of the 21st century.
Suddenly, Lanqin instinctively felt a sharp gaze sweeping towards her. She instinctively looked back at that gaze and saw that Fourth Master was staring at her.
Her expression clearly said: Don't look at other men! Don't you even respect me?!
Lanqin pouted at the "stingy" man, then gently patted her belly, as if to say: Don't be mean to me, or I'll beat your son! I only glanced at him a few times.
The Fourth Master was speechless and could only soften his gaze, turning away from Lanqin and looking elsewhere.
All the musicians responsible for playing the music were gathered in the left-hand corridor, and then they began to play. The beautiful konghou (a type of harp) started first, followed by the flute, pipa (a Chinese lute), erhu (a two-stringed bowed instrument), and other instruments. It was quite a grand symphony. Lanqin (a musician) couldn't understand the music, but he found it fragrant and quite pleasant to listen to.
Su Peisheng was also dressed in new clothes today. He stood to the left of the Fourth Master and called out to the crowd: "Open the ceremony!"
Then, the Fourth Prince began his address, reciting a long string of classical Chinese phrases, the gist of which was, "My daughter is performing her coming-of-age ceremony today; thank you all for coming."
After the Fourth Prince finished his opening remarks, Su Peisheng announced, "Please welcome the Eldest Princess!"
The drumming began again, and a very melodious tune was played on the Kongtong instrument.
Then several maids came from the right side of the corridor. The eldest princess had changed into the pink qipao that Song had made for her, and she slowly walked over with the help of the maids who served her.
They were all very young girls, the oldest being only twelve or thirteen years old.
Surrounded by her maids, the eldest princess slowly walked to the foot of the steps facing the Fourth Prince and his wife, where a red cushion had already been laid out.
The eldest princess first bowed to the Fourth Prince and his wife, then turned around and bowed to the guests.
Everyone greeted the eldest princess with gentle and satisfied smiles, and Madam Song couldn't help but wipe away a tear.
“Sister, this is a wonderful day for the eldest princess, you should be smiling!” Lanqin whispered to Song Shi.
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