Chapter 62

  The room was warm and cozy like spring, with plenty of sunlight, making one feel as if it were a spring day. Suddenly, Little Sister began to cry again for no apparent reason, so Nurse held her in her arms and sang softly to the tune of a gentle Jiangnan melody, coaxing her gently.

  Jueluo furrowed her brow and sighed, glancing at the warm pavilion: "Even so... such a big thing, Wangye should still go back early. If it's really because of Quan Pei being delayed, Quan Pei will also feel ashamed when she wakes up..."

  Yin Zhen furrowed his brow, constantly rubbing the jade ring on his hand.

  Hong Qian stood up: "Ama go back to Beijing, mother and sister are here with grandmother and me. The younger brother in Beijing needs Ama to take care of him now. Mother will be fine, and the younger brother will also be fine!"

  An urgent message has arrived from the capital, saying that the Fourth Prince has contracted a sudden illness and is in critical condition. Please ask Yongzheng to return to the capital immediately.

  It's just a matter of time before Yongzheng has to make a decision and return directly to the capital.

  A soft cry suddenly came from the warm pavilion, and the three people outside immediately stood up and walked in.

  Gaunt and pale, Quan Pei opened her eyes, still a bit dazed. It took half a moment for her to clearly see the person beside her. The maid hastily fed Quan Pei a few mouthfuls of warm water. After a while, she heard Quan Pei speak: "Child... are you alright..."

  He was excitedly rubbing his hands together: "Good, good, all very good!"

  Wei's mouth corners revealed a few strands of comforting smile, and she turned to look at Jueluo and Hongqian. Jueluo thought of the heartache of these days and couldn't help but shed tears, using her handkerchief to wipe away her tears, Hongqian felt like crying but held back, only reddening his eyes and softly asking: "Mother, are you still in pain?"

  "Mom won't be in pain anymore... she'll get better soon..."

  As long as she gets through the difficult production period and takes good care of herself afterwards, Quan Pei's life will be saved.

  It was as if they had been trudging through the mud for a long time, and finally saw the flat highway, making everyone let out a long sigh of relief. Yongzheng held onto Hongshi's hand, wanting to say something, but ultimately just gazed at her silently...

  Quan Pei woke up, and the son in the capital could not be ignored. Yunqi went to the Governor's Office again, entrusting the Jiangsu Governor to take care of Quan Pei and her children, and then hurried on his way.

  The nanny who took care of the Fourth Prince slept soundly at night, and was kicked off by the Fourth Prince, who had thrown off his quilt and fallen out of bed. The child woke up with a fever, which lasted for several days without abating, frightening Nalan Mingyue. Yiyi took charge and ordered the news to be sent to Yongzheng.

  The wet nurse who took care of the fourth prince was beaten half to death, but what could be done? The usually vigilant wet nurse had actually fallen asleep and didn't realize until the child fell off the bed that it had a high fever that wouldn't subside. If something were to happen to the child, dying once or ten thousand times would not be enough.

  It's still fast, from Suzhou to Beijing it takes at least ten days, and back and forth on the road is almost half a month.

  When Yongzheng returned, the fourth prince's high fever had subsided, but the child was indeed severely weakened and emaciated. Even Nalan Mingyue looked thinner, and upon seeing Yongzheng, she burst into tears: "......You've finally returned! If you'd been a little later, I wouldn't have seen the fourth prince again! Please, master, do something for me! The nanny is usually very vigilant, but how could she suddenly fall asleep so soundly that she couldn't be woken? Someone must want to harm my fourth prince! You must help me!"

  Back and forth, Yun Chen was very tired, but after a slight grooming, he came to see the Fourth Prince. The knife-cut face had no extra emotions: "What evidence do you have?"

  "What did you say?"

  "Without any evidence, who are you saying harmed the Fourth Prince? Since the child is fine now, take good care of him and don't let similar things happen again."

  Yongzheng stood up as he spoke.

  It's already the end of the twelfth lunar month, and Chinese New Year is just around the corner. However, due to various things, the mansion seems particularly deserted and devoid of any festive atmosphere. Ruyi, who was following behind, continued speaking: "......Why don't you take a rest first? The gifts from the various princes' mansions have arrived - Prince Zheng's mansion, Prince Cheng's mansion, Prince Kang's mansion, and Prince An's mansion... Do you want to take a look at the gift list? It seems like they've reduced the amount compared to previous years. Should we also reduce ours by a bit? I was thinking of making an extra set of clothes for everyone in the household. The person in charge of the ceremonial department needs your seal before releasing the silver... What do you think?"

  Why are there so many annoying things that never end, why don't they just solve these small problems themselves instead of bringing them all to him? This is clearly home, so why does he feel cold and unfeeling, anxious and uneasy?

  He stopped in his tracks and looked at Ruyi: "Don't you want to ask about your sister's situation?"

  Ru Yi was taken aback, she didn't dare look into the dark eyes of Emperor Yongzheng, and hung her head: "I suppose sister is doing well..."

  "Yes, your sister is fine and has given birth to a little prince. She will recover soon and probably return to the capital once the child grows up."

  Ru Yi heard the expectation in Yong Qi's words and smiled, saying: "That's really great!" But she didn't understand why Yong Qi wanted to say these things in front of her.

  Perhaps it was because of the different relationship between Ruyi and Quan Pei, so Yongzheng would say Quan Pei's situation to Ruyi, perhaps it was because of some other things...

  Yin Zan paused for a moment, then said after a while: "I will entrust these matters to Su Peisheng and Li Shencong, you don't have to worry about it." Quan Pei would recover soon and be back, he really couldn't afford to spend his mind on training a housekeeper, everything would be fine when Quan Pei returned, he thought so, and his footsteps quickened slightly, and he began to look forward to the New Year, because this meant that time had passed again.

  Nalan Mingyue, suspicious of gods and ghosts, was on guard against everyone, so the atmosphere in the backyard became more tense than ever before. Second Brother wanted to go see Fourth Brother, but was scolded by Wu Ruoxi. Fourth Brother's illness seemed to have opened the curtain on an invisible war, heralding the arrival of a bloody and stormy season. No one knew who would be next, or what kind of turmoil would erupt. Even Da Gege couldn't go see Er Gege now, because Li Shi had another precious Third Brother. Who knew what kind of conspiracy might be triggered by a moment's carelessness? Maybe even the mastermind behind the conspiracy was oneself, but how could one be sure there wasn't another conspiracy waiting in the wings?

  The weather warms up day by day, Suzhou's spring arrives a bit earlier, tender green leaves cover the branches, pink peach blossoms bloom brightly, warm spring light shines on people comfortably, Quan Pei wears a cloak and walks slowly in the courtyard.

  She looks much better, at least her cheeks have more color.

  Jueluo handed her a warm handkerchief after she had walked for a while: "Sit down and rest for a bit, you've been walking for so long..."

  On the red wood chaise longue, a soft tiger skin cushion was spread out. As soon as she sat down, it gently swayed, making her involuntarily feel sleepy. Quan Pei narrowed her eyes and said to Zhan Luo's mother: "I'm much better now, you should go back to the capital city. Others can be ignored, but what about my Ama?"

  "Mother wants you to relax a bit more at your place, don't you want to?"

  Ruan Yu smiled lightly: "You know I don't mean that, what if you go back and get another concubine or something?"

  "Must we spend our whole lives calculating like this? I've figured it out, some things can't be forced, if your mother has a heart, what shouldn't exist won't exist, and what should exist will."

  Jueluo thought so, Quan Pei didn't think much about it either: "Let's just set up a few more, I have the energy now, Hongqian is getting bigger too, and there's nothing else to do, this way we can also pass the time. I want to open several Tianxiang Pavilion in Suzhou City, Suzhou women love beauty and will dress up, they should like the fragrance of Tianxiang Pavilion."

  "Look at you, planning on staying for good?"

  "The child is weak since birth and isn't even one or two years old yet, it's not good to take him out for long trips, so we'll have to stay here for a while longer."

  Before the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, many gifts were sent to the capital from various places. De Fei, Kang Shu Wang Fu Jin, San Fu Jin, Wu Fu Jin, and even Jiu Gege, Shi Gege, Shi San Gege, Shi Si Gege, as well as Jiu Gongzhu, all sent gifts. Many of them were also new year's gifts for Rourou.

  According to Ninth Princess, her marriage has also been arranged. She is engaged to the nephew of Consort Tong, the grandson of Tong Guowei. The Emperor has already issued a decree, ordering them to get married next year. She begged Empress Dowager to let her come to Suzhou to accompany Quan Pei for a few days. The Empress Dowager agreed and told her to come after the weather warms up in spring.

  The Ninth Prince and Tenth Prince are also getting married this year, and the Emperor has already planned for the Fifth Prince, Seventh Prince, and Eighth Prince to move out of the palace and live separately.

  The weather turned warm and several younger children in the house were coughing. Ninth Brother somehow got a lot of good loquats, and had the imperial doctor make them into loquat paste, which was more effective than others in treating coughs.

  Yin Zheng and Ninth Brother usually got along well when they met, so he thought of asking Ninth Brother for some. However, Ninth Brother raised an eyebrow: "Is it for Fourth Sister? If it's for Fourth Sister, I'll give it to you; otherwise, forget it!"

  Yin Zhen frowned: "Your fourth aunt is far away in Suzhou..."

  Jiu Gege laughed again: "I know this, Fourth Brother doesn't go see Fourth Sister? At home there is a beautiful wife, and he has forgotten Fourth Sister. Poor Fourth Sister, such a good person married to Fourth Brother, and Fourth Brother doesn't cherish her!"

  Yongzheng was displeased in his heart, but still spoke calmly to Ninth Brother: "Who told you this?"

  "On the thirteenth and fourteenth, didn't you go to Fourth Brother's place? I heard that things were busy at home and no one had time for anything else. Fourteen even got into a fight with Concubine Fu, stormed out, and said that you don't take Fourth Sister-in-law seriously."

  When even these little brothers treated him with such respect and deference, he became an outsider.

  Fourteen scolded Nalan Mingyue for being irresponsible, saying she didn't take good care of her own child and made Quan Pei suffer, with thirteen joining in to help.

  He's already got enough on his plate, and now he has to worry about the kid's coughing, and these few little brothers causing trouble.

  Jiu Ge saw Yongzheng not speaking, hummed and took out a bottle: "I'm not someone who gives to anyone, nor is it possible for anyone to take it away without giving me silver. I was just afraid that Fourth Sister would come back and know that I wouldn't even give you a bottle of lip balm, saying that I'm stingy!"

  Who would use a bottle of loquat paste? It's too much trouble to take it back, so Yongzheng ordered the servants to fetch a few more bottles from the Imperial Hospital and bring them back. The Ninth Prince used his own bottle.

  It was said that Ji Gongzhu was currently in front of De Fei, so he changed direction and went to De Fei's palace.

  Nalan Mingyue and Ruyi were in the De Fei Palace at the time of departure.

  Unlike when Quan Pei was around, De Fei always spoke with a smile, as if she were an ordinary sister, and showed great affection towards Nalan Mingyue and Ruyi.

  "...... You two are in charge of the household, so you should share some of Yinzhen's worries. If everything has to be done by us, then what is the point of having you? Can't even take care of a child properly?! The expensive brocade from this year's New Year's gift was torn with a hole, and it was given to me like that! What if it were given to someone else? It would be such a loss of face! Not even your wife can compare to one-tenth of hers, it's really worrisome!"

  The Ninth Princess rushed out from inside, laughing and saying: "Isn't Fourth Brother going in?"

  "It's nothing, I just came to tell you that I've also prepared some things for your fourth aunt and two kids, can you help me bring them along when you go?"

  The Ninth Princess smiled and agreed, sending Yongzheng out of the palace gate. Only when she returned did she hear that there was no sound inside, thinking that Empress De had finished scolding...