Looking at the small body in her arms, Lanqin felt a sense of relief, as if she had found something she had lost.
At this moment, Song Shi and the others, who had wanted to come yesterday, entered. After the maids announced their arrival, they stepped inside. There, they saw Lan Qin holding Wu Xiha and breastfeeding her.
"The sisters are here." Lanqin smiled as she saw them arrive.
"I wanted to come and see yesterday, but I was afraid that coming would only cause more trouble. I heard that three children were unconscious yesterday, and now only two are left. Sigh. What exactly happened?" Seeing Lanqin's obviously haggard appearance, Madam Song quickly went over and asked.
The maids helped the princesses sit down, served them tea, and then let them chat.
"Sisters, do you know that barley porridge and red date soup are incompatible? Drinking both of these soups at the same time can cause a sore throat?" Lanqin saw that Wuxiha had finished eating, so she covered her chest with her clothes and then handed the child to a maid to take to bed.
"Such a thing really exists? Was this incident caused by these two things?" Geng asked. She, Song, and Wu exchanged glances, neither of them aware of such a taboo.
“Come on, let’s go to my room. This isn’t the place to talk about this,” Lanqin said.
The group went to check on Wuxiha again and found that she was indeed alright. They then went to check on the wet nurse's child, who was also awake. Only then did they feel relieved and follow Lanqin to her main room.
At this moment, Fourth Master had already woken up and came out of the house. He saw Lanqin leading Song Shi and several others walking towards them.
"Greetings to Master!" Madam Song greeted him.
"Greetings to the master!" Geng Shi and Wu Shi followed.
They were increasingly less likely to see the Fourth Master in any way they could speak of favor. Ever since Lanqin became pregnant, the Fourth Master had spent almost all his time in the South Courtyard. Even when he wasn't there, he was mostly in the front yard.
Because of the eldest princess, Song could occasionally see the Fourth Prince a few times a month. Geng and Wu were in a much worse situation; when they saw the Fourth Prince at Lanqin's place, they were both a little embarrassed.
"Go back to the front yard, and send Su Peisheng over later to deliver a message. Regarding the matter of Wuxiha, and that dead child, I will not tolerate those who stir up trouble in the inner quarters." With that, the Fourth Master strode away.
Several women bowed again to the Fourth Master's retreating figure, but Lanqin seemed less concerned than the others.
Sigh, it seems our Lanqin has gotten used to these close girlfriends being all 44-year-old women, and she doesn't care as much anymore. This thought suddenly made Lanqin feel uneasy. Was she increasingly accepting the values and rules of this time and space?
After the group followed Lanqin into the house, Madam Song led the way by curtsying to Lanqin and saying, "This concubine greets Consort Lanqin!"
The others also stood behind Song Shi and bowed to Lan Qin again.
"What are you doing? Get up quickly." Lanqin knew that after her promotion, these good sisters would all have to bow to her when they saw her again.
"Please accept this greeting from your sisters, Consort. In the past, Consort was of the rank of Gege, and we treated each other with equal courtesy. Now it's different; you are now Consort, so naturally you must accept our greetings and greetings," said Madam Song.
Lanqin knew that Song was doing this to establish her authority. From now on, Lanqin would be a concubine in the household, and she needed to establish the proper authority and etiquette.
"What do you sisters think about what happened in Wuxiha? Could it be a coincidence?" Lanqin recounted in detail how Yan Yu and Madam Yin had brought her barley porridge and jujube water.
"What coincidence? This matter seems to be related to that person. Could Yan Yu, with her personality, have come up with such a secret prescription? She just didn't expect that Chief Physician Yang would diagnose it so quickly," said Madam Wu.
“But she’s already being neglected by the master because of Li Momo’s matter, and she still won’t give up now?” Geng said.
“Based on my understanding of the Fujin, she shouldn’t do something so careless. Last time, if the Consort hadn’t accidentally discovered the secret of Que’er and the coal, how could her actions have been exposed? In the end, Li Momo took the blame and nothing came of it,” said Madam Song.
Lanqin nodded and said, "I'm afraid this time it really was Yan Yu and Madam Yin's doing. However, they can both deny it, since not many people know about such a taboo. They can claim ignorance, and there seems to be no evidence to prove them wrong."
After some thought, the group realized it was indeed difficult to accuse them of wrongdoing. Besides, the gifts they gave on the day of the full moon celebration didn't end up in the mouths of the little princess and the two children.
Although the maidservant in charge of serving Wuxiha said that Yan Yu had specifically emphasized the benefits of barley porridge for children in removing dampness and promoting urination, and instructed them to feed the little princess more of it, this still couldn't prove that she had any malicious intent. The same applied to Madam Yin; she could easily deny everything.
"Are we just going to let this go like this? Master just said that he will not tolerate those who cause trouble in the inner quarters. After all, a child has died, which is truly a pity. A perfectly healthy child died without knowing why," Madam Song sighed.
Lanqin nodded and said, "Let's see how Fourth Master handles this matter. Judging from today's incident, we can't use anything they send us from now on."
Geng said thoughtfully, "Guess where I saw Yin go today?"
Lanqin asked, "Where did you see Madam Yin go, sister?"
Geng said, "If I'm not mistaken, she should be in the main courtyard now. Lülan saw Lingxiu from the Fujin's quarters go to Yin's room."
"You see, this matter is indeed inseparable from the Fujin (the wife of the emperor). Without her instructions, I'm afraid Yan Yu wouldn't have the brains to do this. This time, it would be best to catch the Fujin red-handed to prevent her from harming others again." Wu Shi looked on with deep disgust.
"Sisters, why don't you dine here with me? Let's see how the Fourth Prince handles this. We'll soon find out whether the Fujin (princess) was involved or not," Lanqin suggested. She was currently most concerned about Wuxiha's health, and as for whether the Fujin could be brought down, she knew it wouldn't be that simple.
Lanqin had lunch with Song Shi and the others, and then went to see Wuxiha before receiving the message from the Fourth Master.
Several people walked together in the front yard, the autumn wind blowing chillily against their skin.
"Another year is about to pass, autumn has come, and winter is just around the corner," Song sighed as she caught a fallen leaf.
“After this year, who knows, we’ll probably need to bring in new people again next year,” Wu Shi added.
"Anyway, the women in the inner quarters are like spring flowers, blooming one after another, withering and blooming again, blooming and withering again, seemingly without end," said Madam Geng.
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