When the Fujin heard the commotion at the gatehouse, she knew that the Fourth Prince had left, so she immediately helped Chunliu walk towards Yanyu's room.
"My elder sister is really something, insisting that I get up with Fourth Master. Ah~ I'm so sleepy, I'm going to go back to sleep for a bit." Yan Yu had just seen Fourth Master out when she returned to the inner room, yawning repeatedly as she prepared to continue sleeping.
"Princess, the Princess Consort is here!" Yun Yuan saw through the slightly open paper window that the Princess Consort and Chun Liu had already entered.
Upon hearing this, Yan Yu immediately went to the door and saw the Fujin (principal wife) helping Chunliu walk over. She then gave a slight curtsy and said, "This concubine greets the Fujin!"
The Princess Consort reached out her hand, adorned with a red-gold openwork tortoiseshell-inlaid nail guard, and gently patted Yan Yu, saying, "Yu'er, what are you doing? When there are no outsiders around, you are my own sister, there is no need for such formality."
Yan Yu stood up with her help and said gently, "Although the Fujin is Yu'er's elder sister, Yu'er has now entered the manor as a princess. The status of a concubine and the principal wife cannot be confused. Yu'er dares not forget the proper etiquette."
The princess smiled slightly, took Yan Yu's hand, and walked together into the inner room.
After the two sat down according to their status, Yan Yu noticed the expression on the Fujin's face and asked, "Elder sister, did you come so early because you have something to say to Yu'er?"
The Princess Consort nodded and said, "Yu'er, our original plan has now come to fruition. Do you still remember what you said to me that day?"
Yan Yu immediately sat up straight and said seriously, "Elder sister, Yu'er will never forget what you said that day. Last night, thanks to your advice, I specially prepared that item."
The Fujin was clearly pleased with Yan Yu's reaction, and a smile finally spread across her face. She said, "You are still young and inexperienced, so you should think things through carefully. In three days, it will be the Fourth Prince's birthday. Several princes will be coming to the manor then, and I would like you to help me arrange the birthday banquet. Also, you should prepare the birthday gift for the Prince with care!"
Yan Yu immediately stood up from her seat, curtsied, and said obediently, "Thank you for your guidance, elder sister. I will do my best."
The Fujin slowly stood up, walked to Yan Yu, helped her up, and said gently, "You should go take a nap first, and have lunch in my courtyard at noon. Then, we sisters can discuss together how to hold this birthday banquet for the master."
Yan Yu nodded obediently and personally escorted the Fujin out of the house. Only after they had gone far away did the smile on her face gradually fade.
"Princess, let me help you go back to your room for a nap. It's still early." Yun Yuan immediately helped Yan Yu up, and the latter nodded, sleeping until noon.
After the Fourth Prince left Yan Yu's room early in the morning, he returned to the front courtyard. Soon after, Zhao Quan from the front courtyard came to the main courtyard with the Fourth Prince's rewards. Yan Yu was taking a nap, so the Princess Consort accepted the Fourth Prince's rewards for her.
As usual, Granny Li gave Zhao Quan a purse. After the latter left with a smile, the Fujin looked at the plate of jewelry and said quietly, "Granny Li, go to my storeroom and take a pair of white jade tourmalines and a purple-gold crystal vase and send them to her."
As Li Mama went to the storeroom to get the items, Chunliu covered the tray with the red cloth again.
When Granny Li returned, she was carrying a tray with the very items the Fujin had just mentioned. She presented it to the Fujin for her to see. The Fujin glanced at the items, and Granny Li nodded. She then had Chunliu take the tray and place it alongside the Fourth Prince's gifts.
"Granny, for this birthday celebration, I'd like Yan Yu to do it. What do you say?" The Fujin walked to the purple chrysanthemum by the window and stroked a small flower as she spoke.
"Madam, this old servant doesn't think Ninth Princess is the type to be subservient to others. I'm afraid she might cause you trouble in the future. You must be careful," said Granny Li, watching Madam's retreating figure.
“I have never forgotten that, but we really need to make an impression on the master now, so we can’t worry too much. This time, the master originally intended to only bring Lady Niu with him on the tour, but I reminded him that he might not be able to serve her properly if he only brought one person, so he agreed to bring her along. Lady Niu’s importance in the master’s heart is growing, and now we can only let Yan Yu keep her in check.” The Fujin suddenly reached out and pinched off the many small chrysanthemums.
Meanwhile, in the South Courtyard, Fourth Master had already come to deliver a message that he would be coming for lunch. Lanqin naturally knew that Fourth Master had stayed overnight at Yan Yu's place last night. When she first found out, she was indeed quite uncomfortable, but in the blink of an eye, her attention turned to the items she would be taking with her on the Fourth Master's inspection tour in ten days.
"Princess, what are you doing?" Xicha saw Lanqin cutting up two bolts of brocade she had brought out of the storeroom with scissors, and felt a pang of heartache. Judging from Lanqin's appearance, she didn't seem to know much about needlework, and now she was cutting up a perfectly good piece of fabric, which really hurt Xicha's eyes.
"Make it into a backrest pillow!" Lanqin said without looking up.
"Princess, what do you need a cushion for? Besides, we have cushions available, why do you need to make one yourself!" Xi Cha said without realizing it.
"Sit down quickly and hold this down for me, otherwise you might accidentally cut it badly," Lanqin said to Xicha, picking up a piece of cloth.
Xi Cha had no choice but to take the cloth from her hand, still asking persistently, "Princess, let the embroiderer come and do it, you..."
"Are you saying my craftsmanship is so poor that it's a complete waste of fabric?" Lanqin glanced at Xicha and continued, "The cushions I'm making are different from the ones you make. In ten days, I'll be accompanying the master on his tour. The journey will be tiring, so having a large cushion in the carriage will make things more comfortable."
"This servant wouldn't dare, this servant is just afraid of tiring out the princess. This servant will help the princess with it right away." Xicha quickly lowered her head and pulled the fabric back to make it easier for Lanqin to cut.
"Don't worry, none of you will escape. I need to make five, and you all have to help with the sewing. It would be a waste of a maid's talents to do it, and I don't want too many people to know. When you go to ask the maid, you must alert the Fujin (princess's wife)," Lanqin said.
"Is the princess afraid that the princess's wife will have some complaints about the cushions she makes?" Xi Cha murmured, glancing cautiously at Lan Qin.
Lanqin nodded and said, "I was just bored, so I thought I'd find something to do."
Xi Cha said no more and helped Lan Qin cut out all the fabric pieces. Looking at the sizes, she thought to herself: How big of a cushion is the princess going to make!
After the fabric was cut, Lanqin asked Xicha to go to the head nanny to get some cotton for the inner filling, while she went to the small kitchen to give instructions about lunch.
“Princess, look at the seasonal vegetables these days. In my opinion, we can make a dish of tomato cauliflower, eggplant vines, five-color beef, and braised pork with green beans,” Niu Baoquan suggested, seeing Lanqin staring blankly at the ingredients.
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