The Seventh Prince's wife wasn't particularly favored, but she was a very obedient woman. Now that the Seventh Prince was with Yinzhen, she was willing to stay by Changning's side.
Seeing that everyone had gathered around, Changning felt a little embarrassed: "Have you all already visited the garden? I'm quite clumsy and can't move around much, so you don't need to worry about me."
Fifth Princess Consort Shufen laughed and teased, "I know you're lucky. This is your umpteenth pregnancy. You've seen all the sights outside. Now it's time to share in your good fortune."
After he finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.
Yun Chun covered her mouth and laughed: "We can't envy Fourth Sister-in-law's good fortune. I just saw Hong Yan and Thirteenth Master practicing wrestling. Thirteenth Master can't even beat him now."
Changning paused, and Yun Chun's address of "Fourth Sister-in-law" was genuine, without any surprise from the others.
It seems everyone knows the truth perfectly well.
So, from then on, the younger siblings kept calling her "Fourth Sister-in-law" over and over again, making Changning so smug she almost lost her bearings.
Tsk tsk tsk, suddenly I feel that without those annoying Third and Ninth Prince's wives, the sisters-in-law are all so harmonious.
The women chatted and laughed for a while before having their meal and watching the opera.
The princes in front were also having a lively time.
Thirteen and Fourteen, arm in arm, drank two bottles of wine and said that the lake water in the garden was cool. In high spirits, they wanted to take off their clothes and go swimming in the lake.
Yinzhen's head started to ache as soon as he saw it, and he quickly ordered someone to stop him. What if he drank too much and got cramps while swimming? The lake was so big, it would take a while to save him.
Hongzhao was still stirring things up: "Fourteenth Uncle, Hongchun said you're really good at swimming, won't you show us?"
Upon hearing this, Fourteenth Prince couldn't hold back any longer and jumped down with a "plop" while shirtless. Su Peisheng tried to stop him but couldn't. He quickly turned around to look at Yinzhen's face, which was indeed as black as the bottom of a pot.
Yinzhen forced out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Why aren't you getting him out of there yet!"
With the Fourteenth Prince's temperament, even granting him the rank of Beizi would be too much for Father Emperor.
So, a group of people hurriedly fished the fourteenth prince out of the lake.
Yinzhen practically gritted his teeth as he had people carry him away to wash up and give him hangover soup.
The fifth brother, holding a wine jug, came over and comforted him, saying, "Fourth brother, although the fourteenth brother is carefree, at least he hasn't gone astray. This younger brother hasn't held you back."
At this point, could Yinzhen not sense the hidden meaning in his words?
Isn't this a veiled criticism of his troublesome ninth brother?
Yinzhen couldn't help with this matter either. The Emperor's decree that spared his life was already considered very kind.
So he patted the fifth brother on the shoulder: "Fifth brother, you are different from the ninth brother. You are honest and kind-hearted. Father Emperor will not implicate you."
The Fifth Prince gave a bitter laugh: "As an elder brother and as a son, I have failed. The Ninth Prince is finished, but I don't know when Mother will be released. Fourth Brother, I respect you and your wife. When your wife gives birth to your nephew, I will write a petition on your behalf."
Looking at his slightly distressed, drunken face, Yinzhen knew that this was his condition, but he was not one to be easily manipulated: "Fifth Prince, I am powerless to help Consort Yi. Father has already issued the imperial decree, how can we change it?"
Seeing Yinzhen's dark face, the fifth brother smiled bitterly. He wasn't going to make demands, so he quickly waved his hand and said, "Fourth brother misunderstands. It was my fault. I shouldn't have forced you to do something you didn't want to do. If you have any doubts or troubles and can help me, I will definitely do my best to assist you."
After saying this, Yinzhen's expression softened considerably; he didn't want his relationship with his brothers to become too strained.
The seventh brother also rushed over to smooth things over: "Fifth brother, I heard you brought over Wu Daozi's original work today. You really went to great lengths to part with it!"
The Fifth Prince waved his hand and laughed, "I'm just a roughneck, how would I know anything about these things? Fourth Brother is much more refined, he's proficient in both calligraphy and painting. I'm just a commoner, I should hurry up and find a good owner for this painting."
Yinzhen's expression improved even more: "Alright, I understand. You all should drink less. The servants have tidied up the rooms. If you're sleepy, go to sleep."
The fifth brother finally relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. The seventh brother teased him, "Fifth brother, I also like calligraphy and painting. Do you still have any calligraphy by Wang Xizhi or paintings by Huang Gongwang?"
"Go away, go away," the fifth brother waved his hand and glared at him. "Do you think your fifth brother is some kind of antique prince? I got this painting by chance. Stop dreaming."
The seventh brother laughed heartily, put his arm around the fifth brother's shoulder, and the two of them went to drink together again.
When it comes to calligraphy and painting, the one who knows best should be the Third Prince. Yinzhen looked over and saw him counting peanuts by himself, taking a sip after each peanut, looking rather carefree.
As long as they don't cause trouble, his brothers get along quite well.
Today's banquet was a complete success. Apart from the farce of the Fourteenth Prince's attempt to jump into the water, there were basically no unexpected events, and the Third Prince and his wife were able to enjoy a rare moment of peace and quiet.
However, the conversation between Prince Zhi and Yinzhen in the study before Prince Zhi left is still ongoing.
Changning and the children stayed together at Natural Picture. There were many guests today. Hongmin and Hongchen were very well-behaved. They were touched and held by the aunties, but they didn't cry or fuss. Instead, they ran around everywhere, as lively as little monkeys.
The mother and her children sat together by the window. Chuixue brought over a fruit platter with peaches, grapes, and other fruits. They ate the fruit and chatted, enjoying this rare moment of leisure.
Hutu fed Hongmin a piece of peach with a fork, but suddenly noticed a few green lights on the window.
"Mother! Look, those are fireflies!"
Changning looked in the direction of the sound and, sure enough, it was pitch black outside, but a few faint rays of light shone through the window, exceptionally clear.
Hongzhao and Hongchen also got excited.
"Wow! It's fireflies! How beautiful!" Hongzhao couldn't wait to stuff all the grapes in his hand into his mouth, and wanted to go out and catch a few. "Mother, I'll go catch two and bring them back for you to see."
Hutu and Hongyan also went out together. The children were in high spirits and kept asking Fubuki to bring them some bottles.
Hongchen couldn't sit still either. He flapped his little legs and wanted to go with his older brother and sister.
In the blink of an eye, only Hongmin and Hongyang remained by Changning's side.
Hongyang was still too young to understand anything; he could only stare at the fireflies with his dark eyes. The fireflies would sometimes gather together, sometimes scatter, sometimes cluster together, and sometimes fly away again, making him dizzy with excitement.
Hongmin stared intently, while Changning, with a mischievous glint in her eye, asked, "Hongmin, count how many there are in total?"
Hongmin can count now. Hearing his mother's words, he stretched out his little finger and pointed: "One, two, three, four, five... Huh?"
Before he could count to ten, the cluster of fireflies flew away and moved to a different spot, so he had to start counting again: "One, two, three, four, five..."
Before he could even count to ten, Hongzhao had already grabbed the bottle and started catching bugs.
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