Qingying entered the main room, followed closely by Wei Dongchen.

"Wait here," Qingying said, pointing to the chair next to her.

"Okay." Wei Dongchen obediently sat down, placing his hands obediently on his knees, like a little wife ready to be scolded.

Qingying smiled and walked towards the inner room.

She draped a thick cloak over herself, covering her entire body, and then carried a hot water bottle. She went outside and sat cross-legged on a low couch.

She asked Tong Xia to give Wei Dongchen a hot water bottle as well.

"Hold me close to keep warm. You'll be exposed to the wind when you get back. It's snowing outside, so it'll be very cold."

Her words immediately silenced Wei Dongchen's attempt to refuse, and he had no choice but to obediently take the hot water bottle and hold it in his arms.

Qingying smiled and got to the point: "I hit Liu Shushu today, and she'll get her revenge sooner or later."

Wei Dongchen was unaware of this matter and frowned upon hearing it. "How does she intend to retaliate?"

"It's not clear yet."

"No matter what she does, I will always stand by your side."

Qingying tilted her head and smiled gently, "With the young master's words, I can rest assured."

Wei Dongchen pouted in dissatisfaction and said, "You call the Crown Prince Brother A-Xu, but why do you call me Young Master? Such formality is truly disheartening."

"Uh..." His unique and unconventional focus caught Qingying off guard. She blinked, somewhat helplessly, "Then, in your opinion, what would be a suitable way to address him?"

"You decide for yourself." He leaned back, his shimmering eyes fixed on Qingying, his eyebrows raised, looking as if he was waiting for her to please him.

Qingying thought that she would need him to turn over in the future, so she didn't hesitate to satisfy him for now.

"Dongchen? Achen? Brother Chen?"

Qingying's voice was already gentle and pleasant to the ear, and when she said "brother," she deliberately raised the last syllable, making Wei Dongchen feel like his bones were melting.

Who could stand this?

"Let's... let's not..." Wei Dongchen's Adam's apple bobbed as he slowly said, "Dongchen is too ordinary, Achen is the same as him, Brother Chen... I can't accept that. How about calling him... Donglang?"

"Isn't this... a little too ambiguous?"

"I only ask you to address me that way in private, and call me 'Young Master' in public. Once you marry into the Prince Yu's household, you can call me whatever you want, is that alright?"

Qingying nodded.

Wei Dongchen sat for a while longer, then, seeing that it was getting late, he got up to say goodbye. Before leaving, he repeatedly instructed, "Be sure to send me a message if anything happens!"

"Okay, okay, you've said it several times already."

"I'm telling your maid." He was all too aware of the current situation in the General's Mansion, and he was afraid that Qingying would be bullied by those people, but he couldn't be by her side to protect her all the time.

"Don't worry, I won't let myself suffer a loss."

Wei Dongchen then left with peace of mind.

After a long while, Yu Yue came in and saw Qingying sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze. She said softly, "Miss, it's time to turn off the lights."

"Yu Yue, I'm going to use a self-inflicted injury ruse. Wei Dongchen will probably be angry if he finds out."

"How could that be? The young master dotes on you too much... Even if he's angry, it's because you don't take care of yourself."

"But this is the only method I can think of right now."

Yu Yue sighed softly, "Miss, you should rest early. There's still a tough battle to fight later."

Qingying lay down, but after turning off the light, she couldn't fall asleep for a long time. Yu Yue, who was keeping watch in the outer room, was already snoring softly, and there was a whooshing sound of wind outside the window.

I don't know when this snow will stop.

The next day, Qingying got up very early and was sitting in front of the mirror doing her hair when a white deer darted in from outside the courtyard, shaking off the snow.

Tong Xia followed her in, holding a bamboo broom in her hand, and scolded angrily: "This naughty little lazybones, he usually does nothing but eat and sleep, why is he suddenly so active today? And he even chose to stick into the snow pile when I was clearing the snow, ruining the ground I just cleared!"

The kitten was intelligent and knew it had angered her, so it immediately crawled under Qingying's dress.

The snow on its body melted shortly after it went inside the house, leaving its fur damp.

Qingying grabbed the soft flesh by the back of its neck and lifted it up. The chubby cat opened its big, round eyes and looked at her innocently.

"Forget it, there's no point in arguing with this little thing."

Tongxia picked up the white deer and said, "Miss, you should still teach it a lesson. It's the kind of animal that never learns its lesson. If we let it go today, it will do the same thing again."

Because of her lung disease, Qingying rarely had close contact with the white deer. Tongxia had always taken care of it in every detail, so she did not get involved in this matter.

After having breakfast, Qingying painted in the room.

Before long, Tongxia hurried in, "Miss, Aunt Mujin is here."

"What is it?"

"The lady has summoned you to her courtyard."

"Tell her to wait a moment."

Qingying added the last stroke to the paper before putting down her paintbrush and going outside to wash her hands.

Outside, Mu Jin was getting impatient and wanted Tong Xia to go in and urge her again, saying that the madam was still waiting.

"What's the rush? Here we are." Qingying walked out, dressed in white, her skin as white as snow, standing under the corridor like a fairy in a painting.

Mu Jin was momentarily captivated, her slightly furrowed brows relaxing as she softly said, "This servant did not mean to urge you, it's just that Madam has been waiting for quite some time..."

"Then hurry up and go." Qingying walked past her without waiting for her to finish explaining, and headed outside without looking back.

Mu Jin glanced at her back, then lowered her head and followed.

Upon arriving at Madam Pan's courtyard, Qingying immediately saw Liu Shushu sitting to one side, her face covered with a silk scarf, revealing only a pair of teary, almond-shaped eyes. Despite the covering, Qingying could still see the redness on her face.

Retribution has come...

Qingying calmly stepped forward, bowed, and before she could stand up, Madam Pan slammed her hand on the table and shouted angrily, "You wretched child, kneel down!"

She looked up at Madam Pan, puzzled and completely innocent: "Mother, what's wrong? Did I do something to upset you again?"

"What are you pretending to be stupid for? You went to Shushu's courtyard yesterday and beat her. So many servants saw it. Are you trying to deny it?"

Qingying did not kneel, but stood straight. "The reason I slapped her was because my second sister insulted me first. I don't think I did anything wrong."

"What? You've gone against me..." Madam Pan was about to get angry, but Liu Shushu stopped her.

She looked at Qingying, her voice trembling as she spoke: "Sister, what I did yesterday was indeed inappropriate. You could have slapped me to vent your anger, but why did you have to ruin my appearance!"

"Disfigure you?"

"What are you pretending to be innocent for!" Madam Pan glared at her.

Then, Liu Shushu had her silk scarf removed, revealing a face that made everyone present gasp in shock.

There was a noticeable red mark on her left cheek, from which red rashes spread outwards to her forehead and chin, densely covering most of her face, which was quite alarming.