"Really? Then tell me, what message did the Fujin (princess) have Chunliu convey to you?" Fourth Prince asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The Princess Consort instructed me to take good care of the Third Prince. He suddenly lost his mother and lives alone. Without the First Prince, he must be feeling unwell. The Princess Consort instructed me to be careful." Cai Yang pondered and could only utter such an absolutely correct statement.
"Since the Fujin (principal wife) has instructed you to take good care of him, why haven't you been taking good care of the Third Prince?" The Fourth Prince could no longer contain his anger, and threw his wolf-hair brush at Cai Yang.
"My lord, please calm your anger. This servant has failed to take good care of the Third Prince. Please punish me." Cai Yang was startled and immediately knelt down and kowtowed.
"You do exactly what I hate most. It seems I've been too lenient with you servants. Instead of taking good care of the Third Prince, you're flirting with the Princess's maid. You're really becoming more and more unruly," the Fourth Prince said angrily.
"This servant only happened to meet Miss Chunliu by chance, there was nothing wrong with it, please investigate thoroughly, Your Highness." Cai Yang was in a state of great anxiety. He thought that the Fourth Master knew about his connection with the main wife, but after hearing what he just said, it was clear that the Fourth Master thought that he and Chunliu had some kind of romantic affair.
"You'd better not have it, otherwise if the master finds out, he will deal with you according to the rules of the manor," the Fourth Master said, waving his hand.
When Cai Yang came out, he felt a cold sweat running down his back and hurriedly went back to the Third Prince's courtyard.
The Fourth Prince stood up and walked to the window, still thinking about the matter that had kept him tossing and turning last night—how to deal with his wife! Fei Yanggu still held some weight in his father's heart, after all, he was a veteran minister who had made great contributions to the Qing Dynasty. The Ulanara family also had considerable influence both inside and outside the court; if he rashly deposed a member of the Ulanara clan, the negative consequences would certainly be significant.
But how could she possibly be fit to be the wife of the princess after harming the princess, stirring up trouble in the inner courtyard, and causing unrest in the household?
"Master, the Fujin has arrived. The princesses and mistresses from all over have also arrived," Su Peisheng suddenly said to the Fourth Prince from behind.
Fourth Master looked back in surprise and said, "Go to the main room. I was just about to call them over, but you came first."
Meanwhile, the South Courtyard also received the news. A maid from the main courtyard came to deliver a message, saying that the Princess Consort had something to say and asked Princess Niu to go to the front courtyard to listen in.
At that moment, Lanqin had just woken up and was letting Nianxue comb her hair when she heard these words. Lanqin was startled. Yesterday, she had learned that the servant who delivered the charcoal had confessed. Now, the Fujin (principal wife) had taken the initiative to call them all to the front courtyard before the Fourth Prince could ask, which showed that she already had a plan!
"It seems that the Princess Consort has a plan, otherwise she wouldn't have taken the initiative to call us over. Let's see what she has to say," Lanqin said to Nianxue.
“That servant has already confessed that it was Granny Li who instructed him to do that, so what else is there to argue about? But can the Princess Consort say that she didn’t ask Granny Li to instruct someone to harm the Princess?” Nianxue took out a white jade hairpin from the sandalwood dressing box and held it up to Lanqin’s head.
Lanqin was holding a jade tassel hairpin, fiddling with the tassels when she heard Nianxue's words. A sense of foreboding washed over her. She knew that this princess never did anything unprepared; since she had invited them over to listen, she must have already found a way to escape.
"I hope she won't be so heartless!" Lanqin thought to herself.
Lanqin's breakfast had already been prepared. After dressing and styling her hair, she picked out a few simple dishes and ate a little before taking the hands of Nianxue and Sihua and heading to the front yard.
When Lanqin entered, the main room was already full of people, almost all of whom were missing except for her. It seemed that only Madam Yin was not there. At that time, Madam Yin was still under house arrest and didn't seem to have much to do with her, so the Fourth Master didn't have anyone call her.
"Come and sit down." Fourth Master gestured for Lanqin to sit next to him.
The princess's eyes flickered slightly.
"What brings you here, Madam?" Fourth Prince asked, looking at Madam with a complicated expression. He hadn't yet figured out how to tell her, but she had come first.
The Fujin took a breath, as if she had made a great decision, stood up from beside the Fourth Prince, walked downstairs, and bowed to him. Li Momo also followed the Fujin out and stood beside her.
Everyone was baffled by their actions, so she said, "My lord, I have no right to hold the position of Fourth Prince's wife. I beg you to issue a letter of divorce and allow me to enter Huiguo Nunnery to shave my head and become a nun."
Upon hearing this, the people seated on either side of the Fourth Prince exchanged bewildered glances, unsure of what the Princess Consort was up to. Of course, some understood, including Madam Wang. She coldly watched the master and servant's coordinated performance, feeling a sense of betrayal towards Li Momo, like a discarded dog after the hunt was over.
Another person who vaguely understood was Lanqin. When the Fujin went down and said those words, she realized that she was going to apologize or abandon Zhu to save the king.
As expected, the Fourth Prince was taken aback and quickly asked, "Why do you say that, Princess Consort? Please explain what's going on."
The Fujin, her expression sorrowful and her gaze sincere, said, "I have failed to properly discipline my servants, leading them to repeatedly commit acts of insubordination. I am truly ashamed to continue holding the position of Fujin."
The Fourth Prince's gaze darkened, and he seemed to have a better understanding of the situation. He said in a deep voice, "If a servant makes a mistake, the Princess Consort is merely negligent in her oversight; how can she bear all the blame?"
As Lanqin heard this, she saw Song Shi on her left secretly squeeze her hand, while Geng Shi also cast a worried glance at her.
"Your Majesty, this old servant deserves to die a thousand deaths. Please punish me, Your Majesty." Li Momo suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to beg for forgiveness.
"Momo, what exactly did you do wrong that made the Fujin want the master to issue a letter of divorce?" Fourth Master gestured for Li Momo to continue.
"It was this old servant who secretly had that servant deliver charcoal laced with mercury to Consort Niu and Lady Li." Lady Li knew that she was probably doomed to die today, so she spoke with a sorrowful and resolute expression.
Sure enough, it's here!
Lanqin felt her throat go dry, wanting to say something, but it was clearly not the right time for her to speak.
"Why would you do such a thing?" Fourth Master asked with a grim face.
“It’s because this old servant has seen that Lady Li has been favored for nearly ten years and has always suppressed the Fujin. Now that Lady Niu is also favored, and the master is so cold to the Fujin, this old servant really can’t stand it, so I want to take that opportunity to get rid of these two,” Li Momo said through gritted teeth.
At this point, everyone sitting below understood what the mistress and servant meant.
The Fourth Prince was startled. No one had ever said such things to him before. Was this an accusation that he favored his concubine over his wife?
"How dare you! You're getting more and more difficult, you servant! Does the master need to worry about who he favors?" The princess consort roared angrily, turning around to yell at Li Momo.
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