Yinzhen wasn't completely ignorant, but he also lacked foresight and didn't expend much effort protecting the Second Prince. However, after Hongfen's incident, he sent people to investigate thoroughly.
There was no conclusive evidence that Song Gege was responsible, so he refrained from taking action. Upon receiving news of Hongfen's death, he pondered for a moment, but ultimately instructed Zhang Qilin to order that the eldest princess, Yierha, be moved to the main courtyard of the Fujin (Prince's wife) to be raised by her.
While the situation in the backyard was constantly changing, Qingzhi Courtyard remained calm and undisturbed.
"Zhuiyu, be gentle! You've picked all the petals off. Be careful! Look how clean Wangyue has picked them." Changning couldn't help but remind Zhuiyu, seeing how clumsy she was.
Zhuiyu scratched his head, turned around and saw the same pair of scissors and wooden basket, but Sister Wangyue had picked more and more whole pieces.
"Sister Wangyue, you are so skillful!" Zhuiyu couldn't help but exclaim.
Hearing this, Wangyue couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Alright. Zhuiyu, you go serve the master. I can take care of it. Picking flowers and pruning branches is a skill."
Zhuiyu was obedient and went to Changning's side. Changning teased, "Zhuiyu, Zhuiyu, your combat skills are really bad. In my opinion, you should just be in charge of guarding and protecting my personal safety."
“Master! You’re just teasing me. I may not be good at picking flowers, but I can climb trees. Master, do you still want pomegranates? I can climb the tree and pick them.”
"No, no, no, with Zhuiyu's strength, I'm really afraid the pomegranate tree will be picked bare."
"master!"
Just as the master and servants were joking around, Zhao Fuhai returned and said, "Reporting to Master, the pomegranates have all been delivered to your residences."
"Have you sent them to the Fifth Prince's wife, the Thirteenth Prince's wife, and the Fourteenth Concubine?"
“I’ve been to all of them. Fifth Princess even brought you a return gift.” With that, Zhao Fuhai handed over a jar. “It contains pickled bracken. Fifth Princess said it’s for you to try.”
Changning nodded. "Okay, then we'll have this for dinner tonight."
After Changning finished speaking, she noticed that Zhao Fuhai had not yet left. Guessing that there was something else he hadn't said, she asked, "What's wrong? Is something wrong at the Fifth Princess's residence?"
“No, it was the Thirteenth Prince’s residence.” Zhao Fuhai lowered his head even further. “When I went there, Consort Guarjia was also there. She spoke disrespectfully to the Thirteenth Prince’s wife and even provoked you.”
"Provoking me? What did you say?"
Changning thought about it. This Guarjia woman was quite famous. She was beautiful, and the Thirteenth Prince doted on her. She was also very fertile and gave birth to the Thirteenth Prince's eldest son and eldest daughter. Relying on these advantages, she was completely lawless in the Thirteenth Prince's mansion.
"They say you're adept at navigating social situations, scheming and maneuvering everywhere, disregarding the reputation of the Fucha clan..."
While glancing at Changning's expression, Zhao Fuhai said, "Luckily, Master didn't get angry."
In fact, he had also struggled with the matter. The Prince had instructed that there was no need to tell the master about the troublesome things; instead, he should report directly to Granny Ma or Zhang Qilin, and the Fourth Prince would handle it when he returned.
But this matter involves the Fucha family and the master's reputation, so it's no small matter. Besides, his master is Fucha Changning. Although the entire Prince's mansion belongs to the Prince, Changning is the direct superior!
Although his master was kind-hearted, he was absolutely discerning. Zhao Fuhai did not think he could hide anything from his master, so he honestly reported back.
Changning wasn't angry at all. She was pregnant, so how could she let some idiots affect her mood and hurt her baby?
However, Yun Chun's temperament was indeed a bit too soft; this Guarjia clan member was practically defecating on her neck. If she could still tolerate this, Chang Ning felt that this friendship didn't need to continue.
Therefore, Changning only instructed Zhao Fuhai to keep an eye on the Thirteenth Prince's residence and observe how things developed.
The follow-up came quickly. On the very day that Changning had just finished processing and sealing the picked osmanthus flowers, Zhaojia Yunchun came to their door.
"Sister Fucha, I'm so sorry. I didn't manage the people in the manor well, and she slandered your reputation." Yun Chun said with a face full of guilt.
"I have already written to the Thirteenth Prince, requesting the Emperor to remove her from the position of Consort and make her only a Princess. The First Prince and the First Princess have also been brought to my courtyard to be raised."
Changning nodded. That's more like it.
Therefore, Changning softened her attitude, took Yun Chun's hand, and patiently persuaded her, "Sister Yun Chun, I know you are kind-hearted and think that women should not make things difficult for each other. You have been understanding of them. However, you cannot be lenient with your subordinates all the time. You must know that you must be firm and gentle at the same time. This is the way to last."
Yun Chun sighed, "I know that's true, but since Master likes her and spoils her, I have no choice but to be more tolerant."
At this point, Changning suddenly realized that the situation was similar to her own household, except that she was from the Guarjia clan. However, she wouldn't suffer the same fate as the Guarjia clan.
The reason Changning slapped Lady Guoluo was because her words mentioned Yinzhen. At that time, Changning wasn't representing Lady Fucha, but rather the Fourth Prince's household. If she hadn't been hit, they would have really thought the Fourth Prince's household was easy to manipulate.
However, the Fourth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince were on good terms. In order to show her favored status, Lady Guarjia went against the Fourth Prince's wife and deliberately humiliated the Fourth Prince's concubine. This was a foolish thing to do and make enemies of her own master.
Therefore, Thirteen was furious after receiving the letter. He knew that Guarjia was somewhat unruly, but he did not expect her to be so arrogant and foolish! So he immediately agreed to Zhaojia Yunchun's proposal, asked the emperor to remove her from the position of secondary consort, and also asked Zhaojia to come to apologize. He also apologized to his fourth brother.
After learning about this, Yinzhen outwardly told the Thirteenth Prince that it was nothing, but inwardly he felt very sorry for Changning, feeling that she had been wronged again. Therefore, he sent a letter to Zhang Qilin, asking him to select some rare and unusual ornaments from his private treasury and send them to Qingzhi Courtyard.
Returning to Zhao Jiayunchun, Changning comforted her, "Your devotion to the Thirteenth Prince is evident to him. Right now, Guarjia is just a concubine; he only showed her more respect before because she had a child. Now that the child is with you, you must seize this opportunity!"
Zhao Jiayun knew this was a rare opportunity, so she nodded and was very grateful that Changning was still willing to talk to her so intimately.
Changning had confidence in her because, in her memory, Lady Zhaojia's relationship with the Thirteenth Prince grew better and better, and she even gave birth to four or five sons.
I can't remember exactly how many children there were, but during the time the Thirteenth Prince was imprisoned, almost all of the children were born to Lady Zhaojia.
Judging from Yun Chun's infatuation with the Thirteenth Prince, as long as the couple is harmonious, she would be happy even if she was treated coldly and scorned.
After discussing the Guarjia clan, Yun Chun inquired in detail about Chang Ning's pregnancy.
Yun Chun noticed the jar that had just been sealed and couldn't help but ask, "What's this for?"
"Making osmanthus wine."
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