Fourth Master went off to attend to official matters, and of course, Princess Consort did not follow him.
If she were a Gege, she might have shamelessly followed to grind ink for him.
But she was the Princess Consort and couldn’t stoop to such undignified behavior.
Fourth Master found a quiet moment and hid away in his small study until dinnertime.
Only then, at Su Peisheng’s reminder, did he step out of the small study and move to the main hall for dinner.
Princess Consort was still unwell and couldn’t use ice.
As soon as the dishes were served in the main hall, with the servants crowding the room, it became as hot as a steamer.
Fourth Master had barely taken two bites before his clothes were soaked through with sweat. Losing his appetite, he set down his chopsticks.
Seeing him put down his chopsticks, Princess Consort also set hers aside and attended to him as he washed his hands.
She was as gentle as… a completely different person.
Fourth Master raised an eyebrow: …Overdone! The act is overdone!
He truly couldn’t understand. Princess Consort was clearly as stubborn and headstrong as a mule—how had she suddenly become like this?
It almost seemed as if she was even less bold than Madam Song.
“Princess Consort, please continue eating. Ye isn’t hungry,” Fourth Master said after a moment of thought, still offering a reminder.
He had eaten late and heartily at noon, so he truly had no appetite in the evening.
He didn’t want Princess Consort to go hungry just because he wasn’t eating.
But Princess Consort directly ordered the meal to be cleared away, smiling as she said, “I’m not hungry either. I haven’t had much appetite lately.”
Oh.
Being ill, I suppose~
Fourth Master’s expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he felt somewhat uncomfortable with this “illness” persona of hers.
Other princess consorts were healthy and full of vitality, but his own princess consort, despite having no actual illness or ailment, was perpetually frail and sickly.
It irritated him, so much so that he felt a swelling sensation under his arms.
If Lin Mingyan were here, she could have described it—this was what it felt like to be so angry it made your mammary glands ache.
Don’t dismiss a man’s mammary glands as unimportant!
Fourth Master said expressionlessly, “Oh.”
With that, he instructed Su Peisheng to prepare his bath. If he didn’t wash soon, he’d start to stink.
Watching Fourth Master rush off to bathe and change, Nanny Gui was practically trembling with excitement. “Princess Consort, this is the opportunity!”
She immediately ordered people to fetch water so that Princess Consort could bathe thoroughly.
While helping her wash, Nanny Gui continued to persuade her, “Look, Fourth Master has been abstinent for over half a month. Since he’s come to the rear courtyard and is here with you, you must seize this chance.”
“Who knows? With all that pent-up energy, there might be enough for you to conceive a son in one go!”
Princess Consort retorted, “He went to Lin Shi’s place first…”
But even as she said this, Princess Consort inwardly agreed with Nanny Gui’s reasoning.
From what she knew of him, Fourth Master wasn’t the type to indulge in daytime pleasures, so his visit to Lin Shi’s place was likely just for a meal.
Tonight was the perfect opportunity she absolutely had to seize.
After a thorough preparation, Nanny Gui employed every trick she knew.
Princess Consort, fragrant and fresh, sat waiting on the Baibu Bed.
Fourth Master took his time bathing. When he finally emerged, it was already pitch dark, and he felt his vision darken.
Well, it didn’t matter. There wasn’t much to do at night anyway, so going to bed early was fine.
But as he entered the main chamber, a wave of fragrance assaulted his nostrils.
“Ah-choo!”
He sneezed loudly, his face darkening.
Well, well—so this was what awaited him here!
But he had exercised for over two hours during the day. While his legs weren’t exactly weak, he truly had no interest in anything else.
Fourth Master steadied himself and ultimately resisted the urge to turn and leave. Instead, he slowly made his way toward the Baibu Bed.
When the Princess Consort saw him arrive, her heart was delighted: “Ye, you’ve been exhausted for over half a month, you should rest now.”
Rest?
Fourth Master heard this and agreed: “Alright.”
He lay down and fell asleep immediately. The Princess Consort had originally been waiting.
She waited and waited, until she heard the sound of even breathing.
Fourth Master… had fallen asleep!
Princess Consort: No way, are you incapable?!
He just fell asleep like that?!
But no matter what, she couldn’t bring herself to kick Fourth Master awake, so she tossed and turned until dawn.
Nanny Gui waited outside, prepared for the two masters inside to call for water.
But there was no movement at all inside, and the prepared water was never called for.
She was both anxious and angry, wishing she could crawl under the bed to see exactly what had gone wrong.
However, even after Fourth Master left the next day, she still didn’t have the courage to go in and ask.
She could only kneel by the Princess Consort’s feet and cry: “My Gege, you’ve been wronged!”
The Princess Consort’s face was wooden as she watched her wet nurse cry with tears and snot, feeling uncomfortable inside.
But there were many servants attending in the room at that moment, which undoubtedly embarrassed her.
She waved her hand to dismiss them and said to Nanny Gui: “Stop crying, I’m fine. It’s not the first time this has happened!”
It wasn’t every time Fourth Master came to her that they had to be intimate; this was a perfectly normal occurrence.
She even knew that when he went to others in the rear courtyard, it wasn’t every day that he engaged in such activities either.
After all, he wasn’t some insatiable lecher—how could he think about such things every day?
“Oh, my Princess Consort, why didn’t you try to keep him…” Nanny Gui felt she had worried herself sick.
Such a good opportunity—even if he was truly tired last night, she should have seized the chance today!
That was over twenty days’ worth of essence saved up!
If that little vixen Madam Li got the advantage, she would be heartbroken for over twenty days!
“How could I keep him?” The Princess Consort massaged her forehead, feeling deeply wronged.
But in her position, she couldn’t voice her grievances.
Nanny Gui held her in her arms, comforting her as she had when she was a child.
The Princess Consort felt a sense of comfort but didn’t see the determined look in Nanny Gui’s eyes behind her.
The atmosphere in the Princess Consort’s courtyard was gloomy, and Madam Li’s courtyard was also filled with turmoil.
“That wretched woman actually sent Ye to the Princess Consort’s place!” Madam Li’s voice was still sweet, but her anger was intense.
Her head maid, Shiliu, tried to calm her: “Gege, be careful not to hurt yourself!”
Concubine Li was only a Gege and didn’t have many fine things to smash. Seeing a maid trying to persuade her, she took the opportunity to put down the teapot in her hand.
Shiliu persuaded her to sit down before reporting her firsthand news: “Gege, don’t be so quick to get angry.”
“Even if Lin Shi helped the Princess Consort, what does it matter? She herself wasn’t up to the task.”
“I heard that last night in the main courtyard, they didn’t even call for water.”
Concubine Li’s eyes lit up at this: “How do you know whether the main courtyard used water or not?”
“Don’t tell me the entire Prince’s Residence knows about it?”
Shiliu: Why do you only think of such good things?
“This servant has a tongxiang who manages the water heating in the main courtyard’s small kitchen…”
The position wasn’t important, so the Princess Consort hadn’t paid attention to it, allowing Shiliu to gather some information.
Madam Li nodded thoughtfully: “So that means Fourth Master didn’t… last night.”
“Shiliu, go stew some old duck soup. When Fourth Master finishes his studies, go and invite him directly.”
She was favored by Fourth Master not without reason; at the very least, she understood his preferences better than the Princess Consort and Concubine Song.
When Fourth Master returned from his studies, drenched in sweat, he initially intended to head straight to Lin Mingyan’s quarters. However, after hearing Madam Li’s message, he changed his direction.
He had neglected Madam Li for nearly two months now, hoping she had learned from her mistakes.
He decided to pay her a visit.