All the more reason to take care of her.
Qiao Feng stood by the side and waited. As she watched Eunuch Zhou's slick and evasive demeanor, she could understand why he was worthy of being the senior eunuch in the household.
Eunuch Zhou originally took care of the prince in the palace. He was capable and skilled. He was then appointed out of the palace to work at their household after Lord Fourth had Zhen Beile Fu.
A moment later, Chun Mei, who worked under Consort Li, came over to order some dishes. Seeing that Qiao Feng was here as well, she casually greeted her and began to order her dishes.
She then stood together with Qiao Feng and waited. When she saw that the kitchen had placed several red, pungent, and spicy dishes into the carrier and handed it to Qiao Feng, she knitted her eyebrows ever so slightly.
Qiao Feng and the kitchen were conversing, so she did not notice Chun Mei's expression. Qiao Feng took the carrier and walked back to the main courtyard with two eunuchs following her.
In the main courtyard, after rewarding the two eunuchs, Ruoyin began to dig in to her food. She first drank the bowl of thick horseshoe mackerel soup to warm up her appetite before she began to eat the main dishes.
After her meal, she had to practice her writing. She had no choice as she was used to writing cursive calligraphy, but the real Fujin wrote in proper regular script. She had to prepare for a rainy day. She couldn't let someone find out about her shortcomings if she were ever asked to write.
After practicing for about five minutes, she took an afternoon nap as she was simply too tired to continue.
After she woke up, Qiao Feng asked, "Fujin, would you like some salad? I will prepare some right now."
"You know me so well." Ruoyin truly believed that Qiao Feng was attentive. She had been here for only a month, but Qiao Feng and Nanny Liu already roughly knew all the things she liked and disliked, and they never spoke out of turn.
"Fujin is so humorous. Serving you is my role. I will go ahead and make your salad," Qiao Feng responded as she left.
Just as Ruoyin was eating the banana salad prepared by Qiao Feng, Li Fukang announced that Su Peicheng was here. Ruoyin naturally asked him to invite Su Peicheng in without thinking twice, since he was Lord Fourth's favorite.
Su Peicheng walked in with a few eunuchs following behind him, carrying boxes, jewelry cases, and small ornaments.
He walked in and bowed with a smile. "Fujin, the Lord is busy with work and he especially told me to deliver these gifts to you."
Ruoyin waved her hand and signaled for them to stand. She sent Nanny Liu a glance before showing a look of surprise that she was being pampered. She encircled the items Lord Fourth had given her several times before she said, "Please thank Lord Fourth for me. I love anything as long as Lord Fourth is the one who sent them to me."
"Oh, I will definitely relay that," Su Peicheng agreed with a smile. The Fujin's mouth was sweeter now. It was no wonder that their lord had been treating her differently recently.
Nanny Liu took out a few money bags and distributed them to Su Peicheng and the eunuchs. "Eunuch Su, here is your tip."
After Su Peicheng accepted it with a smile, the rest of the eunuchs followed along.
After sending off Su Peicheng, Qiao Feng and Nanny Liu reported on the items gifted by Lord Fourth.
After listening to the list they read out, Ruoyin said in response, "Bring the nail polishes over for me to have a look. I will paint my nails using them for the next few days. Pick out some warm satin colors and ask the staff to make a few summer outfits too. The rest can be stored in the warehouse."
She had been telling her servants what warm colors were these past few days. Nanny Liu's choices were accepted after she found a few satins in the right colors.
Ruoyin immediately looked at the nail polish on her nails. It was about time she changed it, and since Lord Fourth had sent some over, she definitely had to use them or she would be wasting Lord Fourth's good intentions.
Nanny Liu saw that Ruoyin only cared for these small items but failed to mention the colored jade vases. She carefully carried the carved mahogany box containing the vase to Ruoyin and asked, "Fujin, this jade vase is of extremely fine quality. Where should I put it?"
Ruoyin bit her lip. She almost wanted to say to store it in the warehouse, but when she swept her gaze over the jade vases, she swallowed back her words.
She stared at the two jade vases. The jade's translucent clarity would, in current times, make it be classified as an ice jade. In addition, the intricate decorative design carved onto the jade vases made them seem like a real beauty's neck.
"Fujin? Fujin?" Nanny Liu called out to her a few times as she saw Ruoyin staring off into space with her hot cheeks.
Coming back to her senses, Ruoyin cleared her throat and said nonchalantly, "Place the two vases here. Fetch some flowers for the vase when you have the time."
"Yes," Nanny Liu responded before moving the jade vases inside.
Lord Fourth was someone with extreme self-control. He was not one to excessively indulge in debauchery or covet after beauty. What happened last night was purely an accident.
Perhaps even Lord Fourth himself was unsure of why he had lost control last night.
Therefore, after a night of passion, he had decided to contain himself in his study room to read some books and evaluate some documents.
He was a Beile, after all. There were many things on his plate that needed to be done.
Lord Fourth returned to the household with a group of servants following after him. Just when he had reached the front of the study room, he saw Consort Li carrying a tray of food, standing by a flight of steps. When she saw Lord Fourth, she went forward joyously and bowed. "Paying my respects to Lord Fourth."
Lord Fourth gestured for her to rise. "Is there an issue?"
"No issue at all. I just thought about how hard you have worked in Jinan, so I prepared some desserts and soup as supplements for your health." Consort Li smiled. She just missed Lord Fourth.
"Even the Emperor took to the fields himself. How is this small amount of work I have tiring in any way?" Lord Fourth furrowed his eyebrows, disliking Consort Li's words.
Consort Li was taken aback and began to feel a little uncomfortable. "Lord Fourth is right."
"Put the food down, I'll have it later," Lord Fourth said indifferently as he glanced at the tray in her hands, and with that, he walked into the study room in huge strides.
Su Peicheng took the food tray from Consort Li and followed after.
After handing it to Su Peicheng, Consort Li turned around and glanced at Lord Fourth's tall and straight back. She escaped back to her place quickly. She had just caused Lord Fourth to be unhappy and she wished she could be as far away from him as possible.
In the meantime, Consort Song had also sent some desserts and soup over. Every woman in the back courtyard hoped to receive some pampering, but Consort Song was not as obvious as Consort Li.
Consort Song asked her maidservant to send it to Xiao Dezi. The moment he was notified, he would have He Zhongkang take the food in.
Xiao Dezi and He Zhongkang were eunuchs from the front courtyard. He Zhongkang was Su Peicheng's disciple, and Xiao Dezi was He Zhongkang's disciple. They all shared teacher-disciple relationships.
Hearing that Consort Song and Consort Li had shown their kindness to Lord Fourth, Qiao Feng was feeling a little anxious for Ruoyin. She looked at the carefree, fairy-like Ruoyin who was currently leisurely arranging the flowers for the vase. "Fujin, Princess Song and Consort Li have sent desserts to Lord Fourth in the study room."
Ruoyin could decipher the hidden meaning behind Qiao Feng's words. She was asking her to follow along as well.