In the afternoon, Yin returned to his tent. Neither Sulan nor Sushu dared to approach him again, and Suzhu went directly to fetch the plum juice.
Su Peisheng glanced at the two of them out of the corner of his eye and thought to himself: "Idiots."
"Master, the master hasn't woken up yet," Su Zhu said quickly.
Yin nodded and went directly into the inner chamber.
As soon as he entered, he saw the bed curtains scattered on the carpet. Through the hazy light, he could see the beautiful figure sleeping soundly on the bed. She hadn't slept all night; he felt sorry for her.
"Sweetie, get up and have lunch." He lifted the bed curtains, pulled her into his arms, and swayed her from side to side.
She half-opened her eyes, and Yin's smiling face came into view.
"Four...four..." Her voice became even sweeter as she drifted off to sleep.
He lifted her sleeping face and placed a kiss on her pink lips.
"Get up quickly, or I'll start eating," Yin threatened in her ear.
As soon as she finished speaking, Qingyan instantly woke up, pulled the silk quilt up high to cover the lower half of her face, her almond-shaped eyes wide open, looking at him warily.
"Master, we can't stay in bed during the day," Qingyan said awkwardly.
Her face was rosy, and muffled sounds came from under the covers.
"Alright, get up quickly, lunch is almost ready." Yin patted her bottom through the blanket and left with a smile.
The banquet was over, but the Fourth Prince's humor was less than flattering.
"Master, the Third Princess Consort came again, but Bayan sent her away immediately," Su Lan said in a low voice as she helped Qing Yan tidy up.
She stared intently at the jewelry in the box, as if she were choosing which jewelry to wear that day.
In the bronze mirror, Qingyan looked at her updo, picked up a cloisonné gold hairpin, and flicked it. She then took a gold hairpin adorned with pink gemstones, pearls, and other precious stones, shaped like a hibiscus flower.
The center of this hibiscus hairpin is made of a white pearl the size of a thumbnail. It is surrounded by pink gemstones of various sizes, which are gathered little by little with fine gold thread to form a hibiscus flower. The gold thread is made from a single piece, so if you are not careful, the whole hairpin will be ruined.
“You two didn’t get enough rest yesterday either. Today, let Suzhu serve you so you can both get some rest.” Qingyan glanced at Sulan; her dark circles were even more pronounced, so it was clear that Sushu wasn’t in much better shape. “Fourth Prince, have you been punished?”
Qingyan remembered that she hadn't told Yin about staying up late last night, and Sulan and Sushu must have been scolded.
At this moment, Su Lan smiled helplessly: "Master, this punishment is also good. This servant and Su Shu can go and train under the head nanny."
That morning, Sulan and Sushu discussed the matter in their room, fearing that they might be transferred away from their master's side.
Qingyan was speechless. They even thought it was a good thing that they were being punished.
“It was our mistake. We couldn’t guarantee your safety outside, and we let you go to the study alone at night,” Su Lan said cautiously.
In the Qing Dynasty, the master was never wrong, and the servants had to admit their mistakes in advance.
"Alright, it won't happen again next time. What brings the Third Princess Consort here?" Qingyan asked.
She opened the makeup drawer, took out a magnetic box, pressed it with her right hand, rubbed some jasmine balm on it, and applied it behind her ear.
This is a unique aromatherapy product in China; he doesn't like overly strong scents.
She changed into a light blue casual outfit and went straight to the study.
"Sisi... Have you chosen the clothes yet?" Qingyan asked with a fawning smile.
"Yes, it's that set of characters with the border. Is there enough time?" Yin didn't want Qingyan to ruin her eyesight.
Many women had their servants embroider, so that all they had to do was make the embroidery at the sewing area.
"We should make it in time!" Qingyan said, her face contorted with worry.
"Fine, let the servants do the embroidery. Sulan and Sushu don't need to serve you for the next few days; let them do the embroidery." Yin treated this task as punishment.
Su Lan and Su Shu heard this at the door and their bodies went limp. Their mistress's embroidery skills were beyond the reach of ordinary people.
The Fourth Master meant that this embroidery task was part of their punishment, and they... might not be able to complete it as well.
"Fourth Brother, I'd better do it myself." Qingyan is definitely a bit of a perfectionist; she has to find everything she makes to be very pleasing to the eye.
Yin frowned, and Qingyan secretly realized that she had been too relaxed and had spoken her mind. She quickly thought of when to resign.
“I just wanted to…make all your clothes by hand,” Qingyan said, rolling up a handkerchief as she leaned closer.
He was satisfied with her actions, but his face remained tense, showing no intention of letting Qingyan off the hook.
"You always do it for your own good," Yin said to Qingyan earnestly, his face stern.
She had never been so heavy before; her face flushed, and her almond-shaped eyes became moist.
He quickly pulled her into his arms and comforted her.
She leaned on his shoulder, her almond-shaped eyes curving into a smile. Sure enough, he had a weakness too; he liked it when women acted coquettishly sometimes.
"Fourth Brother, there are still servants outside," Qingyan complained.
The tent is not soundproof, so it is easy for the people serving outside to hear it.
Yin laughed unkindly; was she worried about these things?
"Alright, next time when I'm not out, okay? Stop crying, or people will think I've made you suffer some great injustice," Yin quickly said.
Qingyan wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned on his shoulder, and nodded.
Yin sighed. What if such a delicate child were given to someone else?
That's enough!
He should pay more attention to her; she doesn't like to get involved, so just let her be pampered and live her life as it is.
"Don't overwork yourself. Leave some of the embroidery work on the clothes to the servants. Don't do it all by yourself." Yin knew that the regular clothes should be done by the servants. It would be good if the women could even provide a design pattern.
The elegant banquet before him placed him first.
Qingyan was unaware that her actions would cause him to misunderstand.
"Okay!" Qingyan wiped her eyes with her handkerchief and pouted.
Every time she did something similar, Yin thought the girl was just being coquettish.
He placed her on the soft couch beside him and pinched her cheek to calm her down.
"After lunch, go and rest for a while, okay? Don't tire yourself out." It was difficult for Yin to keep an eye on her every day, so he could only rely on the maids to look after her.
Although Qingyan doesn't seem to care much about the servants, in reality, Sulan and the others are quite afraid of him.
He noticed the problem and was quite puzzled.
"Master, do you want to take a nap later?" Qingyan looked down and fiddled with the purse at his waist. It was a gift from Qingyan during the Ghost Festival. The next day, they embarked on the journey to Qiumi.
"Yes, we'll go to the arena around 1 PM." Yin nodded. He had been sitting upright in his chair all morning, and his body was getting stiff.
Qingyan calculated the time and figured it would be around one o'clock when she went to the arena. Even with the sunshade, it would still be extremely hot. She wondered what Sulan would bring for afternoon tea.
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