The teahouse was originally scheduled to open on the 15th of this month, and she would return home after the opening. However, the opening was postponed, so she had no choice but to delay for a few more days and return at the end of this month.

Although Zhao Wu was extremely reluctant to part with Xu Lanyin, he was in a hurry. Not only did the government set a date for his return, but he also had to rush back to propose marriage, buy betrothal gifts, and decorate the house.

He said, "There are a lot of things going on in Ningzhou Prefecture, so I won't wait for you, sister. I'll go back the day after tomorrow."

Xu Lanyin nodded in agreement. She was reluctant to leave Zhao Wu, but the teahouse opening was more important, and she didn't want to miss it. She primarily wanted Chai Jun to lure out the Fourth Prince, Liu Zhaohou, and establish a good relationship with that great god; the benefits would be enormous.

At noon, Wang Sanni asked someone to go to the restaurant next door to buy some dishes, and they had lunch in the backyard.

After dinner, Xu Lanyin and Zhao Wu went to Baotai Silver Shop to sell jewelry. Baotai Silver Shop is the second largest silver shop in Beijing and is said to have a very good reputation.

Upon hearing that they had business to discuss, Manager Huang invited them into a small room on the second floor.

Of these ten jewels, the most valuable are probably two oval emeralds, each as big as a thumb. They are bright green and translucent, not only of high quality and large, but also perfectly cut, ready to be set in jewelry. Emeralds are difficult to cut and easily damaged. Therefore, two emeralds of this size should fetch at least two to three thousand taels of silver.

The other eight items are three oriental pearls that are smaller than longans, a small amethyst ornament and four red gold hairpins inlaid with gems and filigree. The total price should be comparable to that of the two emeralds.

Zhao Wu was negotiating the price with Shopkeeper Huang, and Xu Lanyin listened to Shopkeeper Huang's inner thoughts and raised the price based on his psychological price.

The final transaction price was 5,900 taels of silver.

The price satisfied both parties, and Zhao Wu bought four pairs of dragon and phoenix bracelets and a seven-treasure necklace as a betrothal gift. He also liked two gold hairpins inlaid with gemstones, but he didn't dare buy them, fearing the shopkeeper would be suspicious. It was unreasonable to sell gold hairpins and buy more.

Zhao Wu sent Xu Lanyin to the gate of Princess Nanyang's mansion before leaving.

He also wanted to visit Xu Lanyin at night, but Xu Lanyin persuaded him not to. The princess's guards were much better than those of the Wen Mansion, and if they were discovered, it would be bad for her reputation.

Xu Lanyin settled down in the Princess Nanyang's mansion again.

Chai Jingjing was busy "adapting" and practicing the music, while Xu Lanyin spent more time with the eldest princess to relieve her boredom, and played with Chai Zixiao and Ma. After dinner, she would talk about the teahouse with Chai Jun.

Chai Jun had already promised to invite Liu Zhaohou to the opening day, and would also hire several Beijing chess masters to referee the chess, go, xiangqi, and military chess games. Xu Lanyin had already chosen Chai Jingjing and Zhou Ziyou as referees for the checkers competition. The checkers competition also had a limit of twelve participants.

Commander Chai was invited to be the award presenter.

Princess Nanyang loved the hustle and bustle, so after hearing about it, she also requested to join in. Xu Lanyin assigned her an official—the chief referee, who was only responsible for saying a few words and nodding his head, while the real deputy chief referee was Zhou Shu, a chess fanatic.

This Zhou Shu was of course the former vice-president of Ningzhou Prefecture Academy, who had been transferred to the Imperial College as Dean two months earlier. Later, Xu Lanyin learned that he was also a relative of the Zhou family.

In a blink of an eye, it is the tenth day of October. Today, the Princess Nanyang’s residence is holding a family recognition banquet.

Early in the morning, Xu Lanzhou came to the Princess's Mansion.

The Nanyang Princess's residence invited the Pingjun Prince's residence, the Yongjun Prince's residence, the Beiyang Princess's residence, and the Fenghe Princess's residence. The Wu Prince's residence was also invited, but yesterday the Wu Prince and his wife had gone to Baoguo Temple in Xishan to pray for the late emperor, where they would copy sutras and observe vegetarianism for five days. Only the Wu Prince's heir, ten-year-old Liu Yuanming, was present. Xu Qingyan, the Wu Prince's bodyguard, also went to Xishan.

Hearing that Prince Ping was coming, Xu Lanyin was still a little curious. In the book, the male protagonist, Prince Ping, was handsome, wise, and courageous, and he was very much loved and trusted by the emperor. He also had a close relationship with the third prince, who became the crown prince. He was especially doting on the female protagonist, helping her to defeat Madam Su and her daughter, and even annihilating the entire Wen family...

They were all relatives, and not only did the female guests come to Princess Nanyang's courtyard, but male guests also came to observe the ceremony. With the exception of Princess Beiyang, all of these guests were younger than Princess Nanyang. Therefore, only when Princess Beiyang arrived would Princess Nanyang rise to greet her. Everyone else was greeted at the door by Chai Jun and his wife, who came to pay their respects to Princess Nanyang.

Xu Lanyin and Xu Lanzhou sat in the side room, waiting, listening to the bustle in the hall. Both siblings were dressed festively today. Xu Lanyin wore a long, bright red jacket adorned with gold, a long, red-gold phoenix hairpin inlaid with gemstones, and two jade lotus hairpins. Her clothes had been made by the embroiderers at the Princess's residence, and her jewelry was a gift from the Princess.

Xu Lanzhou wore a long, scarlet armor embroidered with floral patterns, a cloud satin undershirt, a jade belt around his waist, a golden hair crown on his head, and a red gold necklace. This outfit was also given by the Princess's Mansion.

Xu Lanzhou was so nervous that her body was shaking. She whispered, "Sister, I'm scared."

Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Don't be afraid. Once we kowtow and acknowledge our relationship, we will be the grandson and granddaughter of Princess Nanyang, and those people will become our relatives."

Although they were fake relatives, it was better to have this relationship than not. The real royal relatives would definitely look down on them. Apart from the Princess Beiyang's residence, they would definitely have some contact with other families, so they would have less or no contact at all.

The two were whispering to each other when Chai Jingjing walked in.

She whispered to Xu Lanyin, "Cousin, Princess Beiyang's grandson Wang Jin is here too. Please pay attention to him."

After saying that, he walked out.

Xu Lanyin had already heard Chai Jun's general description of the Princess Beiyang's residence. She had two sons and one daughter. The second son was Wang Yi, and Wang Yi had an only son, Wang Jin. Xu Lanyin had once met Wang Jin at the night market in Ningzhou Prefecture.

It was said that Wang Jin was spoiled and arrogant, and like his father, he had a fondness for stunning women...

"Sister, what does Miss Chai mean?" Xu Lanzhou asked worriedly.

Xu Lanyin said, "No matter what it means, let's stay away from that person."

Nanny Li came in and said with a smile, "Miss, Mr. Cousin, the guests are all here. Princess, please go out and greet them."

Princess Nanyang explained to her guests that it was Xu Lanyin who rescued and adopted Chai Zixiao, allowing him to escape suffering and return home. Furthermore, because Xu Lanyin and her mother, Qin, treated Chai Zixiao like family, Chai Zixiao quickly forgot his pain and became as happy and healthy as a normal child. Therefore, to repay Xu Lanyin and his mother, Princess Nanyang decided to adopt Xu Lanyin's mother, Qin, as her adopted daughter.

None of the guests understood. Xu Lanyin was here, but her mother wasn't. It would have been more logical for Xu Lanyin to acknowledge Chai Rong and his wife as her adoptive parents. However, despite their confusion, they kept quiet.