They looked at each other in silence.

After the two finished eating the wontons, Xiao Zhan returned to his usual calm and composed demeanor.

With his attire today, he is undeniably a handsome young man.

Jiang Wei was curious about where the story of that strong, ugly man came from.

Jiang Wei dared not look too long, afraid that Xiao Zhan would also look at her.

She would feel embarrassed, Jiang Wei got up and walked to the old woman.

"Grandma, could you please divide the uncooked wontons into two equal portions and pack them up for me to take with me?" Jiang Wei's silvery voice rang out in Xiao Zhan's ears.

Xiao Zhan's smile was as if he didn't care about money. "Why should I give it to you? I'm already full."

“My family can’t finish all of this, General Xiao, please take some back for the others,” Jiang Wei said.

Xiao Zhan nodded, "Well, then I'll thank Miss Jiang on their behalf."

It was already getting dark, and Jiang Wei planned to return home.

Xiao Zhan wanted to see her off, but she insisted on disagreeing, fearing it would be too late when Xiao Zhan got home.

Adding to the incident from her last trip back to Beijing from Gyeongnam, where she passed through Fengning, she was somewhat worried about his safety should she not do it again because of her.

That would be a losing proposition.

Xiao Zhan couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he had to agree to what she said.

He let Jiang Wei get in the car first, and then he would leave.

After Jiang Wei left, Xiao Zhan followed her at a distance.

He didn't turn and leave until she entered the Jiang residence.

Is today a step closer to the goal?

After Xiao Zhan returned to the Prince's Mansion, he ordered someone to cook wontons, and everyone ate them together.

He even had a large bowl brought over. He looked at the bowl of wontons with a smile in his eyes and started drinking the soup with a spoon.

Qingfeng looked at Xiao Zhan from afar, grinning with his teeth showing.

Xin Si walked over and bumped him with her shoulder. "Are you possessed?"

Qingfeng raised an eyebrow. "Have you eaten your wontons?"

Xin Si was confused. "I've already eaten dinner, I don't want to eat anymore."

He wouldn't even eat the food his future mistress gave him!

Qingfeng looked at him as if he were looking at something, "Look, the master has already eaten outside and still wants to eat when he comes back, but you don't eat."

Qingfeng grinned, "I'm going to have a bowl too." He wanted to celebrate his master's happiness.

I'll go find some more storybooks tomorrow.

Jiang Wei returned to Breeze Courtyard.

He happily instructed the maid to cook wontons for them.

Then Jiang Wen stormed in, with Ming Zhao silently following behind her.

"What's wrong? Is Aunt not feeding my sister enough?" Jiang Wei teased her.

"Eldest sister brought back wontons for you. Yuzhu took them to cook and served them to the young master and the third young lady, and then sent a bowl to the aunt. You can eat the rest to keep warm." Jiang Wei pulled Jiang Wen over and made her sit next to her.

Jiang Wen leaned on Jiang Wei's shoulder, tears streaming down her face. "Elder sister, I'm so useless. Today, Jiang Rou and Jiang Yang came to scold my brother and our deceased mother while you were away."

“You have no idea how awful their insults were. I argued back with them for ages, but I couldn’t win. I really wanted to hit them, but my brother was afraid I couldn’t beat them, so he held me back and wouldn’t let me,” Jiang Wen said, tears streaming down his face.

Jiang Wei held Jiang Wen in her arms, feeling extremely distressed, and patted her back to comfort her.

After a while, Yuzhu and the others brought in three bowls of wontons. Jiang Wei asked Mingzhao to take one bowl, and Yuzhu to put one bowl on the table. She said she had already eaten the last bowl and asked them to take it away to eat.

"Alright, listen to your elder sister, go and eat the wontons. Don't get upset and harm your health." Jiang Wei pushed her out of her embrace, wiped away her tears, and tidied the messy hair on her forehead.

"Elder sister, she'll handle them, don't worry." Jiang Wei looked into her eyes. 'Hmm?'

To confirm whether Jiang Wen had taken it to heart.

Seeing her elder sister's serious expression, Jiang Wen nodded and said, "Yes."

Jiang Wei smiled faintly. "You're so obedient. Go and eat, it'll get cold soon. After you finish eating, go back and get a good night's sleep."

Mingzhao ate her wontons, seemingly unaffected by the situation. "Did you feel wronged today, little brother?"

After finishing the last mouthful of wonton soup, Mingzhao said, "I don't feel wronged. I've heard those foul words countless times since I was a child. I was just angry when they cursed my mother, but I was afraid it wouldn't be good to argue with them so soon after I arrived, so I held back."

If word gets out that he's arguing with them now, all those who sympathized with him at the Drunken Spring Pavilion that day will probably question whether he's faking it to gain their sympathy.

He wouldn't dare risk damaging his sister's reputation.

"Your elder sister will take care of you. If anyone or anything hurts you in the future, remember to prioritize your own interests."

Jiang Wei glanced at Ming Zhao, then looked at Jiang Wen, "Do you understand? Everything will be alright with your older sister."

The two women exchanged a glance and nodded in unison; they couldn't let their older sister worry.

After Jiang Wei sent the two of them back, she instructed Chen Hui, "Go and take two pieces of clothing from Aunt Liu's body. Give one to Jiang Yang and one to Jiang Rou. If they are asleep, remember to wake them up so that you can tell them that their mothers are safe and sound."

After making the arrangements, Jiang Wei took a bath, put on her nightgown, and lay down on the chaise lounge, while Yuzhu dried her hair.

She then dozed off, and she doesn't remember how she ended up back in bed.

Jiang Wei didn't sleep well tonight, as a dream kept pulling her back and forth.

"Little sister, do you want those red dates? I'll pick them for you!"

Little sister, you want to catch a bird? But you're a girl! Okay! Okay! I'll catch one for you.

Are you going to give me all these clothes? Isn't that a bit too much?

I took this outfit off a boy who was about twelve years old.

I'm so cold.

He's completely dead.

Jiang Wei frowned deeply, as if she were in great pain.

"Little sister, little sister, it's me! It's me!"

A face approached from afar; she tried to see it clearly, but for some reason, she couldn't. Finally, after much difficulty, she realized it was Xiao Zhan's face.

Jiang Wei suddenly woke up from her dream. How could his face appear? She must have spent too much time with him during the day.

Jiang Wei took a few deep breaths and lay back down to sleep.

Sensing Jiang Wei's movement, Yuzhu, who was outside, lowered her voice and asked, "Miss, miss, would you like some water?"

Jiang Wei let out a breath and said, "I'm fine, go to sleep."

After a while, Jiang Wei fell into a deep sleep again.

The next morning, it was almost dawn, but the sky was still overcast, making the world seem dull and colorless.

The ground was covered in white snow, with glimpses of green showing through the trees and grasses that were also covered in snow.

The maids brought water for Jiang Wei to wash up, their footsteps crunching on the snow.

After dressing, Jiang Wei opened the window and glanced at the courtyard. 'The cold has finally arrived. This time, she must save all those people.'

"Girl, quickly close the window, it's so cold outside." The strips of cloth on Dewdrop's hands had been removed, but her newly grown flesh wasn't quite ready for work yet.

"Why are you here? Didn't I tell you that I don't need you to serve me during this great time?" Jiang Wei asked her, standing by the window.