"Pst! Look at that attitude. She really thinks she is something just by giving birth to a daughter. Don't we have wet nurses in the household?" Qiao Feng mumbled in disdain after Consort Li had left.
Nanny Liu nodded in agreement. "Exactly! Even if she had given birth to a boy, she still wouldn't be as honorable as our Fujin."
"Alright, stop echoing each other. I am not that weak." Ruoyin bit onto the pig trotter, which was filled with collagen that could improve one's appearance. She continued as she chewed on it delicately, "Ask around and find out why Consort Li suddenly sent the key over."
She was glad Consort Li didn't have her meal there. She was just making a kind gesture as a host.
If Consort Li had really sat down and eaten politely and amiably with her, that would have been astounding!
Moreover, knowing Consort Li's personality, she didn't seem like someone who would suddenly become self-aware enough to pass the key back to her after having flaunted her authority over it in front of her earlier in the week.
"Yes, I will go and ask around now." Nanny Liu left in haste to find out.
After a while, Nanny Liu returned with a smile. The moment she entered, she immediately broke the news. "Fujin, I've listened around and it seemed like Lord Fourth had gone over to Consort Li's place in the evening. He returned to the front courtyard not long later, and Consort Li came over with the key. Based on this, I guess that Lord Fourth had probably asked her to send it back."
"So that's why. I knew it." Ruoyin opened the mahogany box and saw that there was a bunch of about ten hollow-cut keys.
The corners of her lips gradually curved into a smile.
It seemed like Lord Fourth was rather efficient in settling such matters. She had only just whispered this issue to him this morning, and Consort Li had already delivered the key back in the evening.
When she thought about this, she instructed them in a good mood, "It is late. Prepare the bath and put the keys away."
"Yes," Qiao Feng and Nanny Liu answered.
…
In the next few days, Lord Fourth kept to his word and came over frequently.
He would come to the main courtyard every two days. Lord Fourth would arrive with a cold expression every time but would usually leave with a face full of smiles.
As for his gifts, they never ceased, even for a day. He splurged and continued to send them to the main courtyard.
The things he gave were all things that Ruoyin could use. It did not seem like mindless affection.
There were different types of intricate jewelry, rouge, many famous and rare flowers, and a can of gold powder and silver powder.
The gold powder and silver powder were of significant quantity. She reckoned that Lord Fourth had estimated an amount enough for Ruoyin to cover her entire body!
Ruoyin felt that she shouldn't focus only on how well Lord Fourth was treating her right now. No one could be clear about what might happen in the future.
She would focus on the matters regarding her role and fulfill the obligations of a wife. She would not have thoughts about her feelings or emotions.
At the same time, Ruoyin began to feel melancholic. Based on the current situation, she was afraid that she would get pregnant with Lord Fourth's child!
It wasn't that she didn't want to be pregnant. With her current status, it was beneficial to Lord Fourth and to her if they were to bear a child.
But based on history, she was a little afraid.
It was in this year, 1696, that the historical
She gave birth to a son the next year. But the child was not blessed with good fortune as he passed away when he was eight years old.
Therefore, she could be pregnant at any other time, but not right now. She had to stagger the times and move away from history!
Even though things were a little different here compared to history, some things were still the same. Her inability to grasp the accuracy of things left her terrified.
She was afraid that her child would follow history accordingly…
Any parent in this world would wish that their children could grow up healthily.
She was the same. She did not want her child to not be blessed with good fortune. Absolutely not!
Even if the probability was one in a million, she still did not want to use her child to gamble with the heavens.
Because if she made a mistake on her first step, the consecutive steps would just be mistakes as well.
In any case, there was no rush to get pregnant. It was not as if she had to be pregnant this year.
As long as she could wait 'til this year was over, it didn't matter how many she gave birth to next year.
This was why she said her body had yet to recover when Lord Fourth returned from Jinan, and why she served him only after her period was over.
It was because she had been using high-end technology from the 21st century. As long as it was during the safe period, she was not concerned and would just serve Lord Fourth.
But now that the dangerous time was coming up, she was feeling depressed!
No. She needed to think of a plan, such that she could perfectly stagger the timings and miss Lord Fourth during this critical time.
Finally, she thought of a way to harm herself. She was prepared to eat some food that could result in excessive internal heat inside her and ask someone to pass the word to the front courtyard.
Putting it into action, Ruoyin immediately executed her plan.
But the usual spicy dishes weren't able to hurt her stomach as she was immune to them.
Therefore, Ruoyin ordered some fried sesame balls and crispy pumpkin pie in the morning.
In the afternoon, she ordered crispy spiced chicken, crispy prawns, and crispy bullfrog legs.
At that time, Qiao Feng must have felt that these dishes could cause much internal heat. It seemed as though she wanted to say something but she held herself back. Ultimately, she still obediently went ahead to make the orders in the kitchen.
Eunuch Zhou from the kitchen was extremely experienced. The moment he heard that these dishes could cause internal heat, he had Chef Niu prepare an additional soup with pumpkin, kelp, and pork bones.
After hearing this, Qiao Feng let out a sigh of relief. This soup was the best at reducing heat.
But during the Fujin's meal, Ruoyin ate only the dishes and rice. She did not touch the soup at all.
Qiao Feng was shocked as Ruoyin would normally drink some soup to warm up her appetite first. Why did she eat so much heaty food this time and not drink any soup at all?
Ruoyin took notice of Qiao Feng and Nanny Liu's worried looks, but she couldn't explain herself either.
When it was time for dinner, Ruoyin ordered crisp-fried quail, spicy fried steak, and skewered prawns, leaving the rest of the dishes to the kitchen.
This time, Nanny Liu could not bear it any longer. She let out a deep sigh and went forward to advise the Fujin. "My great Fujin, why are you specifically ordering food that can cause internal heat? This won't do. What if you hurt your body? How will you be able to serve Lord Fourth?"
"I've been a little bored with the dishes recently. That's why I wanted to change my meals today. I will be fine tomorrow." Ruoyin waved her hand, gesturing to Nanny Liu to not say any more.
Nanny Liu bit her lip and ultimately stopped saying anything else. Eating like this for just one day was enough. If the Fujin escaped suffering from excessive internal heat tomorrow, she would go pray to the gods.
When Qiao Feng went to the kitchen to order more heaty dishes, Eunuch Zhou and Chef Niu were a little stunned.
Chef Niu asked Eunuch Zhou awkwardly, "Eunuch Zhou, what should we do? Do I still make those dishes?"
"How can you not make the dishes the master has ordered?" Eunuch Zhou smacked Chef Niu's head with a horsetail whisk. His instincts told him that the Fujin was doing this on purpose.
As for why that was so, he wasn't sure. As a servant, he could only let Chef Niu add a lily and jujube soup that could help to reduce heat.
But if the Fujin refused to drink it, there was nothing he could do. He had already done his utmost duty.
When Ruoyin saw the bowl of soup during dinner, she knew the people in the kitchen were rather considerate. Therefore, she asked Qiao Feng to reward Eunuch Zhou and Chef Niu with some silver.
But she still ate only her dishes and did not drink a single drop of the soup.
The next morning, when Ruoyin sat up on her bed, she could feel her throat on fire. It seemed like she had achieved her goal.
As Nanny Liu changed her clothes and noticed the pimple on Ruoyin's nose, she knew that Ruoyin was suffering from excessive internal heat.
If her stomach was hot or if there was indigestion, pimples would appear on her nose. Seeing how big and red the pimple was on Ruoyin's nose, there must have been too much internal heat!
However, she did not know how to bring this up to Ruoyin as she had yet to look in the mirror.
Moreover, just when the pampering from Lord Fourth was gaining momentum, wouldn't it be a cause for heartache for him to know about this?