The birthday of the fourth prince is June 16th.

  At that time, people were a bit confused about how to calculate their age. According to modern calculations, virtual age is usually one year older than actual age, and it's rare for someone to be two years older virtually. However, at that time, being three years older virtually was also normal, which really made her puzzled.

  But looking at the Fourth Prince's calm and composed demeanor, it's not just that he's fifteen, even a twenty-five-year-old youth in modern times may not be so mature.

  It can't be helped but to sigh, ancient people were all precocious.

  Like Xiang Chao Sheng, they entered the palace at a young age. Even if they didn't enter the palace, children from poor families would start doing various chores from a young age: cutting grass, carrying water, herding sheep, feeding pigs, gathering firewood, cooking, and doing simple farm work. Girls learned to spin yarn, weave cloth, and embroider flowers from a young age in order to earn money for their families. Around the age of ten or even younger, they would start looking for marriage, and those who married quickly would become grandparents by the time they were over thirty...

  Of course, at that time there were no particularly long-lived people, and even if there were, they were not common. Many people were only in their 40s or 50s but looked as old as modern-day 70- or 80-year-olds, worn out by the hardships of life.

  Perhaps premature maturity inevitably leads to premature aging.

  The situation of Chao Sheng in Huayeju... is a bit embarrassing to talk about.

  It's very much like the situation at the end of last year, no title, but good treatment.

  Her job was mediocre, but her salary was the lowest, however, other treatments such as food and clothing were taken care of by Chun Mo and Qiu Zhuang without any shortcomings.

  Sometimes I think about it and find it really funny.

  Life is always wandering between advance and retreat, ups and downs.

  When the fourth prince's birthday was just a few days away, the people of Huaye House were busier than usual. Every place had to be thoroughly cleaned, and even the dust on the beams was swept clean in the empty space. The flowers and trees were tended to every day, and Autumn Ink personally supervised the young palace maidens, wiping each leaf clean with a cloth as if they were taking care of the potted plants in the house.

  The layer of floating dust on top was wiped away, and suddenly the greenery looked even more dense and lush, and the flowers seemed to be in better spirits.

  The blue bricks on the ground were swept clean, not a speck of dust remained. The mosquito nets had also been changed in two places. Originally, Chun Mo still wanted to change the window screens, but Qiu Yan persuaded her otherwise.

  "Just stop bothering people, can't you see that Cai Sheng and the others are exhausted? Besides, these window screens were replaced at the beginning of summer and aren't old. The colors are still bright too. If you replace them now, it's not only a bother to people, but also a waste of things - I'm not saying this, even if the emperor is celebrating his 10,000th birthday, he wouldn't want to replace all the window paper and screens in every place. What would others think if they knew?"

  She made sense, Chun Mo also nodded, but still felt a bit unwilling: "How can we compare, the emperor said simplicity is key, if we want to change everything in the palace it's not feasible, we only have a few places... just changing the main house won't cost much..."

  That's what they say, but in the end, no one bothered to change the window screens again.

  Changing window screens is a big project. First, remove the old ones and clean the window frames and sashes. The new screens are cut to size and stretched tight, then carefully pasted on. If you paste too quickly, it won't be even; if you paste too slowly, the adhesive will dry out. One person can't do it alone, two or three people must work together. Moreover, the main house of Huaye Residence has large windows, which are harder to paste evenly. When we changed the screens in early summer, a professional came to do it, with ladders and brushes, all the right tools, and he was skilled at it too; it still took him a whole day! If we rely on the few people here at Huaye Residence to do it themselves, when will it ever get done?!

  It's said that although Chunmo is the eldest and directly in charge of Chao Sheng, Qiuzhuo is more popular with people. Even Chao Sheng thinks she is generous and open-minded. Although Chunmo is more skilled and gentle than her... but as time goes on, everyone has their own balance scale in their heart, naturally distinguishing between good and bad.

  Perhaps it is because autumn ink has no self-interest in its heart that it does not, like spring ink, have a single-minded pursuit of goodness while looking to the front and back.

  A man can't be good at everything.

  Qiu Yan sent off the tide and went to Songtao's house to fetch things, which was the first time.

  Tide nodded and said: "I don't know what thing is being taken."

  "Go find Song Can at Songtao Pavilion and ask her to return the cookie mold she borrowed last time. She said it was only for three to five days, but later on, I got busy with things and didn't get around to asking for it back. Now we need it, so don't wait for her to send it over, just go pick it up."

  "What kind of mold is it?"

  "It's packed in a box, made of silver. There are four pieces in total, each with three patterns on it. Remember to open and check, don't miss one or half piece."

  "Yes, I know."

  Song Can was also a palace maid of Songtao Pavilion. Chao Sheng found her and told her about this matter, she just smiled.

  "Ah, it's all my fault. This thing is usually not used, originally said to be finished in a few days and returned, but I forgot, wait a minute, I'll go get it."

  Others had a good attitude, and Chao Sheng also said a polite phrase: "Autumn Ink sister said that because it was needed, she let me come over to pick it up."

  Song Can indeed took out a wooden box from the house: "I know, the fourth prince's birthday is approaching? Our palace also ordered Fangyuan people to arrange a congratulatory song and dance, on that day we must go to your side to eat a bowl of longevity noodles." Song Can handed the box to her and said: "Take a look."

  The tide brought it over, not saying that it was for inspection whether it was intact or not, but rather: "I'll open my eyes wide too, I've only heard about it, but never seen it before."

  There were indeed four silver molds in the box. On top of each one was engraved a yuanbao, lotus pod, longevity peach, rhombus flower, crescent fan, pomegranate and so on. Each pattern was only about an inch or two inches in size, and it was indeed exquisite and beautiful. It can be imagined that the pastries made from them must also have a unique color.

  Song Can also handed two embroidered samples to Chao Sheng: "This is for Autumn Ink sister, she asked me once, and I drew it out."

  "Okay."

  "Are you new here too?" Song Chan asked, sizing her up with a glance.

  "Yes, it's been just over two months."

  "Yu Jia from our hospital was originally with you?"

  "Uh-huh."

  Song Can just smiled and said: "One by one, they are all so beautiful, the Washing Clothes Alley is indeed a place that produces beautiful women."

  The words sounded not so simple, but Cao Sheng just lowered his head and honestly bid farewell.

  She held the box, on which rested those two flower-shaped things, wondering what Huan Xiang was doing, unfortunately didn't meet her. Also thinking about whether Yu Jia had offended that Song Can...

  "Stop right there."

  Chao Sheng paused for a moment, stopped in his tracks, and turned around.

  "The slave pays respects to the Second Prince."

  Chao Sheng had only seen the Second Prince two or three times since the grape arbor incident, and that was from a distance.

  This time it was close range again, but just the opposite of last time. The second prince sat by the window and she stood outside the window.

  "What brings you here? Let me see what's in your hand."

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  Uh, actually, I still owe four or five updates, can't remember if it's four or five...