Lord Fourth's daughter was at the age where she was starting to learn how to talk. Upon seeing Lord Fourth, she called out, "Ama, ama."
Unable to help himself, Lord Fourth picked up his daughter to play with her.
Consort Li watched them from the side and smiled, but she still lectured the girl, "Daughter, the weather is hot. Don't keep sticking to your Ama."
"No~ No~" The girl shook her head unhappily.
Lord Fourth laughed as he looked at his daughter.
It was indeed sweltering on this June day.
There were already a few tubs filled to the brim with ice around the house, but they could cool the heat only marginally.
Even though there was a subordinate fanning him, the wind felt hot and he dismissed him.
Lord Fourth pursed his lips and commented, "This year feels hotter than last year. It's time to head to the manor to avoid the heat."
Consort Li felt overjoyed upon hearing this and could not help but rejoice in the Fujin's misfortune, for she was confined to her grounds.
It was the Fujin's own fault for making a mistake, and it was merely that she had to spend her days in the furnace of her residence.
Thus, she tried to sound things out cautiously and asked, "My Lord, the back courtyard will be heading there, but what about the Fujin?"
Lord Fourth hated when people tried to feel things out cautiously like that when they were actually harboring malicious intentions.
He frowned ever so slightly. "If all of you are going, the Fujin will naturally be going as well."
"Yes, yes, yes. Going together will be better since it will be more lively." Consort Li agreed with Lord Fourth.
Just because she was the first Fujin, Lord Fourth would treat her courteously, even if she was out of favor.
On the contrary, it was her, the other Fujin, who thought too much!
However, Consort Li thought about how she had been humiliated by the Fujin in the morning and began to tear up. The corner of her lips turned down as well, and she looked like she had been wronged greatly.
Lord Fourth looked up to see that she was about to cry. Not knowing the reason, he asked, "You were just fine. Why are you crying?"
At his question, the tears swirling in Consort Li's eyes slipped down her cheeks in two lanes pitifully.
She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and said plaintively, "It's nothing. I'm simply thinking about how my residence is no good. Sometimes, I envy the first Fujin."
Lord Fourth was puzzled by this. Thinking that Consort Li was throwing a tantrum because he was letting the Fujin go to the manor to avoid the heat, his frown deepened.
He said coldly, "She is the first Fujin, and you're a Fujin below her; you have to know your place. There is nothing to be envious of."
Consort Li noticed the coolness of his tone and paused. She continued wiping her tears and said, "My Lord is right and I do know this. It's just that… I saw that the Fujin's servant has the same bracelet my Lord has given me a few days ago. I can take that, but she even gave Consort Song a bracelet of a better quality than mine."
"When did this happen?" Lord Fourth asked mildly.
"It happened this morning. There were quite a few subordinates around. My Lord doesn't know that at that time, I didn't even know where to look. The Fujin thinks that my residence isn't good enough, so she… she did this on purpose~" Consort Li wept passionately.
Lord Fourth stared at Consort Li expressionlessly. This really seemed like something that that woman would do when she did not want to lose out.
He had not visited the main courtyard recently, nor had she expressed any overtures of goodwill voluntarily, or gone to the front courtyard or study to deliver meals to him.
She had the guts to do that even though she had made a mistake!
Lord Fourth did not comment on whether anyone was in the right or wrong but instead said, "She is of good pedigree, so she has more ambition."
"Yes," Consort Li returned awkwardly. She was hoping that Lord Fourth would support her.
In the end, Lord Fourth only made an "apropos" remark. Once again, she was slapped in the face by her lower birth, and one need not be told how disappointed she was.
"It's only a bracelet. Your Lord will give you a better one." Just as Consort Li was feeling down, Lord Fourth spoke up. Turning to Su Peicheng, he instructed, "Su Peicheng, go to the storeroom and select a jadeite bracelet for Consort Li. It must be top-quality."
"Yes." Su Peicheng noticed Consort Li's delight and went to retrieve the bracelet.
His master's actions seemed to indicate he felt sorry for Consort Li and was trying to support her, but why did he feel that he was trying to contend with the Fujin by doing so?
Was his master and the Fujin at loggerheads?
Her goal having been accomplished, Consort Li stopped crying and replied understandingly, "Thank you for my Lord's doting. I might just have been overthinking about an off-hand remark the Fujin made."
She was quite skilled at affecting emotions to have cried, thrown a tantrum, and then complained about her rival.
After her goal was accomplished, she then blamed herself, which made her look mature.
"You're the mother of the Miss, and also the second Fujin. Besides maintaining your position, you also have to take care of your image. You cannot simply start crying because someone said a few unkind words to you," Lord Fourth said mildly.
Consort Li was slightly startled and looked a little awkward. "My Lord is right; I will take note of my behavior next time," Consort Li said.
Actually, she meant for Lord Fourth to dote on her.
Lord Fourth seemed to mean that she was too weak, however.
Yet, she was thinking of getting Lord Fourth to award some privileges in the residence to her, and it would be difficult to persuade him now. She felt so conflicted!
Consort Li ruminated and became muddleheaded from thinking. The crucial point was Lord Fourth's expressionless face—she could not guess his thoughts at all.
The next day, Lord Fourth returned to the residence only when it was near sunset, after attending to business outside for an entire day.
After bathing and changing out of his used clothes, he remembered that he wanted to head to the manor to avoid the heat. And even though the Fujin was confined to her grounds, and even though he did still plan to bring her to the manor as well, he still felt the need to head to the main courtyard to discuss the arrangement with her.
After all, she was still a Fujin and his first wife.
Thus, he headed to the main courtyard after his evening meal.
When he reached the main courtyard and noticed the vine swing, his gaze changed slightly. He then asked the eunuch not to announce his arrival and simply entered the residence.
Lord Fourth paused when he noticed the different decorations and arrangement when he entered the room.
Ruoyin was copying the Lessons for Women as she conversed with Nanny Liu idly.
"Fujin, you must be tired from copying. Shouldn't you rest a little first?" Nanny Liu said in a distressed tone.
Ruoyin looked up in puzzlement. She noticed that the side window had been closed halfway and that there was only a single pot of flower on the window sill when there had been two earlier.
She had actually only just started to copy the text. There must be something wrong with Nanny Liu's head if she urged her to rest so insistently.
This meant that Lord Fourth was here!
As for the flowers on the sill, it was she who'd instructed Nanny Liu to use them as a signal.
If Lord Fourth was here but did not announce his arrival, the servants were to close half the window, or take away a pot of flowers.
It was similar to having the classmates sitting beside the window act sentry to the form teacher's surprise inspection when one was supposed to be studying.
Since the window was half closed and only one flowerpot was left, it was unquestionable that Lord Fourth had arrived.
She lifted her eyes and cast a meaningful look at Nanny Liu to indicate that she understood before saying, "I'll continue to copy the text; it's not tiring at all. Even though Lord Fourth isn't watching over my shoulder while I copy it, I still mustn't be lazy."
The corner of Nanny Liu's lips twitched. My dear Fujin, haven't you goofed off a lot of the time recently?
Half a month has passed, but you've copied the text only once when Lord Fourth asked you to copy it ten times!
Under such circumstances, wouldn't she be copying them for an eternity?
However, Nanny Liu could only keep these thoughts to herself and still continued to echo Ruoyin's words.