Of course, she had to go out, and with Li Tiao's keen intuition, she thought this was an excellent opportunity.
However, given that the Fourth Prince is such a scoundrel, Li Tiao would have to find out more about him before she went.
"My lord, it's not that I don't want to go out, it's just that I'm afraid of making you lose face."
The Fourth Prince raised an eyebrow and sized up Li Tiao.
Li Tiao was extremely uneasy and explained a few more words: "My lord, what I mean is that you are going to the Crown Prince's Yuqing Palace for a banquet, and I am just a concubine. Is it appropriate for me to accompany you to the social event?"
"Just go when I tell you to. Whether it's suitable or not is up to me."
Alright, since that's how it is, Li Tiao naturally has no reason to refuse. However, thinking that she could use this opportunity to escape, Li Tiao carefully observed the Fourth Prince for a while and saw that he did not show any signs of being in a bad mood.
So Li Tiao said, "My lord, but this servant is not very good at drinking."
"You're still thinking about drinking?"
"If Master doesn't want to drink, should this servant be sensible and drink for you?" Li Tiao thought to herself that one of them should get drunk so that it would be easier to escape.
After scrutinizing Li Tiao for a long time, the Fourth Prince spoke with an ambiguous meaning: "It's rare that you have such thoughts. It seems that I made the right decision to take you to the banquet at the Second Brother's place."
"Then, sir, please have a drink..."
Although Li Tiao sensed a hint of sarcasm in the Fourth Prince's words, she couldn't help but want to confirm it for the sake of her own plans.
"I don't like drinking."
Don't like it? Is it drinkable or not?
Li Tiao wasn't quite sure, so she humbly asked again, "Then should the kitchen prepare some hangover soup for you, Master?"
"You're the one who serves the master, why are you asking the master?"
Li Tiao paused for a moment, but quickly composed herself: "This servant understands."
"Is there anything else you want to ask?"
She still had some questions, but when the Fourth Prince asked her like that, Li Tiao felt like she was about to be sold out by this man, so she swallowed all her doubts.
With a smile, Li Tiao said, "Replying to Your Highness, this servant has nothing more to ask."
"Then let's get ready, so as not to be impolite at Yuqing Palace."
As the Fourth Prince was about to leave, Li Tiao suddenly remembered something very important: "Your Highness, since the Crown Prince is hosting a banquet for his child, shouldn't I prepare a small gift for the young master? And shouldn't I also give something to the young master's mother? But as you know, Your Highness, I'm not exactly well-off lately, so what do you think..."
Having said all she could, Li Tiao felt she had made herself perfectly clear, so before she had even finished speaking, she had already extended her hand in front of the Fourth Prince.
"I'm ready. I'll just say it was your choice. Your house arrest... we'll let it go for today and continue tomorrow."
After a moment of hesitation, Li Tiao quickly smiled again: "You're so thoughtful, Master."
The Fourth Prince chuckled softly and left.
Li Tiao took a deep breath, walked to the dressing mirror and sat down. Looking at herself in the bronze mirror, she patted her face and muttered to herself: Cheer up, maybe victory is in sight.
Thinking about her plan, Li Tiao quickly stood up and looked outside. Not seeing Chunxi, she closed the door, locked it from the inside, climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), found a piece of clothing from the bottom of a trunk in the cabinet at the head of the kang, and put it into her bundle.
After opening the door and looking outside, she still didn't see Chunxi. Li Tiao felt that heaven was on her side. She picked up her bundle and tried her best to look very natural. Then she leisurely left the prince's residence.
Stepping out of the palace gates of the princes' quarters and walking a few steps away, Li Tiao looked back but saw nothing unusual. She quickly turned around, her pace quickening, and gradually began to jog.
After finally finding a place to hide her bundle, Li Tiao quickly headed towards the prince's residence.
Li Tiao had never been this nervous before when she went out to hide things. Now, perhaps because she had been caught by the Fourth Prince so many times, Li Tiao's heart was pounding and she could barely walk. The distance to the prince's residence was not long, but she was panting heavily as she walked.
Not only that, but as soon as he stepped into the palace gate of the Prince's residence, he was startled by Chunxi: "Master, I've finally found you."
Calming herself down, Li Tiao asked, "What's wrong?"
"Master instructed that he would take you to Yuqing Palace for a banquet, and said that I should help you get dressed, but I've been searching everywhere for you..."
"Chunxi, you're getting more and more long-winded. I'm back now, aren't I?" Li Tiao interrupted Chunxi guiltily, "Let's go. But I don't have anything special to dress up for. It's just a change of clothes. But we're going to congratulate someone, so the clothes don't need to be too flashy. Just something simple will do. It won't take much effort. I'm not in a hurry, so why are you?"
Because she felt guilty and spoke first, Chunxi indeed didn't say anything more.
However, Li Tiao was right; she didn't really need to dress up. But to show her congratulations, she changed her clothes.
When the time came, Su Peisheng came to call Li Tiao, and Li Tiao went to Yuqing Palace with the Fourth Prince.
Although the invitation to the Crown Prince's banquet stated that it was a drinking party among brothers and that female relatives were allowed, only the eldest prince to the fourth prince brought their female relatives; the other brothers came alone.
Although some of the other princes had servants, they were all maids or concubines, and none of them were betrothed by Emperor Kangxi.
So Li Tiao sat at the same table with the women of the First Prince, the Crown Prince, and the Third Prince.
They were all of higher status than Li Tiao, so Li Tiao should have socialized with them, but she didn't seem to care; she was only focused on eating.
In Li Tiao's eyes, these women may look glamorous now, but few of them end up with a good ending, since their men all end up in bad situations.
More importantly, Li Tiao had to keep a close eye on the Fourth Prince to see how much he drank. If he drank too little, Li Tiao would get herself "drunk".
The princes' wives and concubines were all shrewd and clever. Just when they were worried about having nothing to say to Li Tiao, they discovered that Li Tiao would occasionally glance at the Fourth Prince.
"Sister Li, it's a new marriage, let's have a good chat. Why do you keep looking at Fourth Brother?" The Crown Princess teased Li Tiao with a smile.
Upon discovering that the Fourth Prince seemed to abstain from alcohol, Li Tiao panicked, fearing her plan would fail again. Hearing the Crown Princess's teasing, she decided to play along, smiling sheepishly.
"Your Highness, I am foolish and not good at speaking. I am afraid that I will cause trouble for my master." Li Tiao pretended to be shy. "The weather has been very humid lately. My master suffered from heatstroke before, so he is not in good health when it gets hot. I am afraid that my master will drink too much."
The women's table wasn't far from the table where the Fourth Prince and his group sat, so they heard what Li Tiao said.
Before the Crown Princess could say anything, the Crown Prince chimed in, "Fourth Brother, you usually seem so serious, but I never expected the Princess to be so considerate."
"Fourth Brother's health isn't good when the weather is stuffy, as all the brothers know. We weren't planning on having him drink anyway. Fourth Brother, since your princess has said so, how about letting her do it for you?"
Li Tiao was shy and timid, but her actions were quite bold. When she raised her wine cup to toast everyone, the Fourth Prince whispered something in her ear, which startled her so much that she almost spilled the wine in her hand.
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