Hongmin and Hongchen were also listening quietly to Changning sing. Their mother's gentle voice carried a kind of inexplicable calming power, which sounded particularly clear in the quiet rainy night.
Outside, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and wind and rain raged, but inside, the lights flickered and the atmosphere was peaceful. Although they couldn't fully understand the lullaby Changning was singing, they knew that their mother was coaxing them to sleep.
Hongchen originally wanted to ask his mother to tell him a story, but given the atmosphere, he didn't want to disturb her. So he could only hold onto his mother's clothes tightly, snuggle up next to his mother and brother, and drift off to sleep.
Before falling asleep, Hongchen had one more thought: he must ask his mother to tell him a story tomorrow morning, and he wanted to continue listening to Sun Wukong!
He also wanted to know who that monkey impersonating Sun Wukong really was!
Hongmin was somewhat afraid of the sound of rain and thunder, and he needed someone to accompany him to sleep at night. But never before had his heart felt so at peace, with his mother's whispers in his ear. His little heart was filled with contentment.
Changning also enjoyed the atmosphere, and fell asleep holding her three children. When it was dawn the next day, all four of them were still sleeping soundly.
When Yinzhen arrived, he lifted the bed curtains and saw this scene of mother and son enjoying each other's company.
However, Hongmin's arms and legs were spread wide open in his sleep, as was Hongchen's, almost resembling Chang'e flying to the moon, which squeezed Changning to one side, making her look particularly pitiful. Hongyang, on the other hand, was the most well-behaved.
Yinzhen felt both heartache and amusement. He wanted to take all the children away so that Changning could sleep well, but he was afraid of waking them up. So he gently picked up Hongyang first. It was dawn, and the little guy would soon have his milk.
Sure enough, when Yinzhen held Hongyang in his arms, the boy woke up and opened his mouth to cry. Yinzhen was startled and quickly patted him a few times and coaxed him with a few words, successfully stopping his crying.
At this moment, Hongyang also noticed that his father had returned. He was very familiar with Yinzhen, after all, Yinzhen often played with him. His little eyes darted around, and he reached out to tug at Yinzhen's clothes, revealing a toothless smile.
Yinzhen was pleased by the boy's bright, dark eyes. Children's hearts are the purest, and these clear eyes can illuminate one's heart.
After coaxing the baby for a while, he was handed over to the wet nurse to be fed. Although this little guy doesn't seem as strong as his older brothers, he has a big appetite. One wet nurse can't satisfy him, and sometimes two or three wet nurses have to feed him.
The wet nurse took Hongyang and returned to the side room. While breastfeeding him, she recalled the Fourth Prince's appearance just now and couldn't help but sigh, "The Prince really loves his master Chun to the bone."
Look how long it's been since dawn. They've traveled such a long way to get back. Moreover, the Manchus are very particular about holding their grandchildren, not their own children. But the Fourth Prince didn't care about that at all. He's already quite skilled at coaxing children.
The way she loved the child was so tender that it brought tears to anyone's eyes. She really had a good master, the wet nurse thought. As long as she did her best, she was sure to have a bright future.
After all that commotion, Changning woke up and was quite surprised to see Yinzhen.
"Why are you back so early? Has the heavy rain outside stopped?"
Yinzhen nodded: "We stopped a long time ago. Are you hungry? Get up and have your meal."
As the two were talking, Tuantuan swaggered in, tail held high. Changning was even more delighted: "Tuantuan, you're here too! This is your first time visiting the estate. Hmm? What happened to your leg?"
The two children woke up and were initially happy to see their father, but their attention quickly shifted to their mother's feet, which were wrapped in gauze, following her voice.
Tuantuan meowed twice. Despite being injured, it nimbly jumped onto the bed, rubbing against Changning's arms and even showing its belly for a pat.
Changning touched her stomach and then checked Tuantuan's wound. Fortunately, it wasn't deep; she should be fine after a couple of days of rest.
Yinzhen explained, "It rained heavily yesterday, and Tuantuan ran out, but got stuck in the bushes. She must have accidentally bumped into them and was discovered by the new princess who came to the manor."
A newly arrived princess?
Changning was good at instantly grasping important words. The people left in the manor, Xingwei and Caiwei, had already passed on the news that there were two new princesses, one named Guo and the other named Gu. Both of them were honest and dutiful and rarely went out of the courtyard.
So, it seems these two are kind-hearted?
Changning revealed a playful expression: "I wonder which one it is? Princess Guo or Princess Gu? I really should thank her properly when we get back."
Yinzhen sat on the edge of the bed, pinched her nose, and laughed, "This little girl is always making fun of me. I'll just have Su Peisheng give her some gifts and that'll be enough."
Changning pouted, "I don't know about other things, but Tuantuan isn't the type to run around like that. It's hard to say what might be going on here."
Yinzhen wanted to say something, but he hesitated because the children were still present. Hongmin and Hongchen both rushed to pet Tuantuan's fur, but Yinzhen dared not underestimate them, lest they learn to talk outside.
So he instructed the nannies to take the children out to wash up, and the two little ones, holding Tuantuan, obediently left.
"What? Did I really guess right?" Changning raised an eyebrow.
Yinzhen nodded and said in a low voice, "Tuantuan must have noticed something was wrong and ran out on her own. Go out the back gate of Qingzhi Courtyard, cross the garden, and you'll find Yunqi Courtyard where the two new princesses live. I just don't know who planted these two people."
Changning also analyzed, "This selection of concubines was jointly organized by the Imperial Concubine and the Imperial Concubine Yi, and the selection was also done by the two of them. The selection of concubines is largely related to these two imperial concubines. However, Guo and Gu were probably appointed by the Imperial Concubine De..."
Changning pondered for a moment: "Both the Noble Consort and the Consort De are closely related to you, so the only one who could have done this is Consort Yi. But how did she end up planting spies in your backyard? Could it be that she still holds a grudge about what happened between Feng Sheng Ehutuli and Tuantuan?"
Consort Yi... had clashed with them before, not to mention she was the Ninth Prince's mother.
Yinzhen frowned, recalling the unusual behavior the Eighth Prince had shown towards the Crown Prince some time ago.
The eighth and ninth princes were naturally aligned. While contacting the crown prince, they also planted spies in their own residences. Yinzhen always felt that they were going to make a big move.
This must involve quite a few princes, so besides myself, there must be some spies in the other princes' residences as well.
What exactly do they want to do?
Before he could figure anything out, Changning tugged at his sleeve, signaling that it was time to eat.
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