After returning, the Fourth Prince rested in the South Courtyard for half a month before going to the palace to handle official business. Since it was late summer and early autumn, the grain harvests in both the south and north were almost complete, and there was no worry about military provisions. Therefore, the Fourth Prince didn't have any major matters to oversee at the moment. The Crown Prince had his advisors, and each department was controlled by high-ranking officials, so the Fourth Prince didn't have any major tasks to attend to.
Because Lanqin was pregnant, the Fourth Master stayed in the South Courtyard for several days in a row. No one else dared to say anything in front of the Fourth Master, but who knows what happened behind his back.
In the main courtyard, the princess was lying on the chaise longue, smelling snuff, while a maid was squatting beside her, massaging her calves with a jade hammer.
These past few days, the Fujin (wife of the emperor) has caught a cold. In the middle of summer, she actually caught a cold and has been lying in bed for several days. The Fourth Prince has not come to visit her.
At that moment, a faint smell of medicine wafted through the room, and Lingxiu walked in carrying a bowl of medicine.
"Madam, the medicine is ready. Let me serve you." Lingxiu walked to Madam's side and said softly.
Cough cough cough...
The Fujin slowly put down the snuff bottle from her nose and coughed again. Qiu Chan, who was standing nearby, quickly came over and helped the Fujin up, placing a cushion with a five-bat longevity pattern behind her back.
"I've been taking the medicine for days, but I'm not getting any better!" The lady's face looked rather pale and ashen.
“Madam, you’ve been enjoying the cool evening air. Shall I get you a few ice basins?” Lingxiu picked up a spoon with her slender white fingers, scooped up a spoonful of medicine, blew on it twice, and then brought it to Madam’s lips.
The princess frowned as she drank the spoonful of medicine and nodded. Lingxiu continued to feed her until she finished the entire bowl of medicine.
Qiu Chan had already prepared candied fruit. After Lingxiu finished feeding her the medicine, she handed one of the candied fruits to Fujin to suck on.
“Madam, you are currently ill. Can the concubines and ladies-in-waiting from each of the courtyards come to attend to you?” Lingxiu said, wiping the corners of Madam’s mouth with a silk handkerchief.
"Hmph, just seeing their faces makes me feel suffocated. Why did I even bring them all here?" The princess felt suffocated as she saw that Lanqin's pregnancy had been saved and hadn't been miscarried. Even though Nianshi's pregnancy had indeed been miscarried, it didn't bring her any joy for more than a few days.
“Madam, Consort’s belly is getting bigger and bigger. We need to find a way to send our people to the master’s side. Otherwise, given the way things are going in the South Courtyard, if she gives birth to another prince, we won’t be able to breathe properly,” Lingxiu said.
The Fujin (principal wife) was particularly averse to such words. Sure enough, upon hearing them, she coughed violently again, beckoned to Qiu Chan to come and fetch a spittoon.
After serving her for a while, the Fujin said seriously, "Yehe came to pay her respects a few days ago. I noticed that she had gained a lot of weight back in her face, and her figure seemed even more graceful than before. She is truly a beauty. It is such a waste for her to be idle like this. And Wu, she hasn't been near the men for a long time, has she?"
Seeing that the Fujin had finally rekindled her fighting spirit, Lingxiu quickly said, "Yes, Fujin can have the two of them come to serve the sick. Then you can find an opportunity to introduce them to someone. That way they can share the favor of the South Courtyard."
That afternoon, two maids from the Fujin's courtyard went to Yehe's place and Wu's place, respectively, to convey the Fujin's message, asking them to come and attend to her. The two maids took turns serving her each day.
When Yehe and Wu saw that the Fujin had been ill for several days, they realized that something must have happened before she remembered to ask them to serve her. However, since the Fujin had given the order, they, as concubines, could not refuse.
The two arrived at the main courtyard at roughly the same time. Although Wu was over twenty years old, she was still no less beautiful than Yehe. She was wearing an orange-red cheongsam with gold cloud patterns and a set of red and green turquoise pearl flowers on her head. Her eyebrows and eyes were still as beautiful as flowers.
"Greetings, Sister Wu!" Yehe was dressed in a light green cheongsam with bamboo leaf patterns and a jade hairpin in her hair, making her look extremely elegant and refined.
"Sister Yehe has finally recovered these days. How come she was so thin a few days ago?" Wu raised an eyebrow and looked at Yehe.
"I was sick not long ago, but I've finally recovered. I didn't expect that the Fujin (wife of the princess) would fall ill and summon me to attend to her," Yehe Shi said with a smile.
The two women entered the main house together. Because they were both princesses, they were not entitled to use ice basins; the only way to cool the house was by sprinkling water. As soon as they entered the main courtyard, they felt a refreshing sensation, as if every pore on their body had been cleansed. Large ice basins were placed in the four corners of the house, and the white ice inside was emitting wisps of cool air. The whole house no longer felt like summer; it was as cool as spring.
"Greetings to the Princess Consort!" The two men bowed in unison to the Princess Consort, who was lying on the chaise longue, their thoughts unknown.
"Everyone's here, get up." The princess's voice sounded a little weak.
"What's wrong with you, Madam? You've been sick for so many days. It's really worrying," Madam Wu hurriedly stepped forward and asked solicitously.
"It's because someone, as soon as the master returns, monopolizes his place, staying there for days on end. The Fujin (principal wife) is worried that the master can't have his way with everyone, and that his offspring won't be plentiful, which is why she fell ill," Lingxiu quickly explained.
"Your Highness is kind and compassionate. I am truly ashamed that I cannot share your burdens!" Yehe said as she stepped forward.
The Princess Consort glanced at Yehe Shi, a faint smile playing on her lips, and said, "I know you all want to help me, so I'll trouble you to come here every day."
Wu and Yehe exchanged a glance and immediately curtsied, saying, "This concubine is willing to serve the Fujin (Prince Consort)."
The princess kept the two women in the room to talk until dinner time, and even then, she let them have dinner before letting them go home.
After the two left, the Fujin said to Lingxiu, "Wu Shi is better at hiding her emotions than before. Yehe Shi is becoming more and more intelligent. They both seem quite good. It's just that I've been ill for so many days now, and Fourth Prince hasn't come to visit me. How can I create opportunities for them?"
Lingxiu said, "In two days, it will be the Fujin's birthday. In the past, the master would have come back. Not long ago, with the matter of the eldest princess, why don't you invite the eldest princess back to stay for a few more days? She is pregnant now, and the master will appreciate the Fujin's kindness in taking care of the eldest princess."
The princess nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it that way."
That evening, news suddenly arrived from the palace: Consort Lan, Niohuru Helan, had passed away. The news was delivered all the way to the South Courtyard, where Lanqin heard it along with the Fourth Prince.
Lanqin was momentarily at a loss for words. She hadn't expected that Holland, so young, would die like this. That proud and arrogant girl, so full of herself and her beauty, was only seventeen years old. She had been mercilessly brought to the ground and buried in the mud by the summer sun, just like a flower after spring.
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