"Yes. Father Emperor has always held high hopes for the Crown Prince. Now that the Crown Prince is about to be deposed by Father Emperor himself, he must be in great pain," the Fourth Prince said.

"So if Your Highness really wants a chance to compete, you shouldn't try to impress Father Emperor right now. Instead, you should relax and take good care of Thirteenth Prince's family," Lanqin said meaningfully. Actually, Fourth Prince's care for Thirteenth Prince's family wasn't for any personal gain, but Lanqin's words made it seem like taking good care of his family could indeed improve his image in Emperor Kangxi's eyes.

"Father has always hoped that we brothers would be harmonious and respectful, but some people have always turned a deaf ear. Now that the Thirteenth Prince has suffered a tragedy, I should take better care of her family," said the Fourth Prince.

"Your Highness was right to discipline someone at the Imperial Household Department today. This matter will surely reach Father Emperor's ears soon. Although Your Highness wasn't doing it for show, it still had a good effect. Come, Your Highness, let's have a drink today." Lanqin specially ordered Cun to warm up some osmanthus wine.

After Lanqin's analysis, the Fourth Prince immediately felt clear-headed and his mood less depressed. In fact, his bad mood was not only due to the matter of the Thirteenth Family, but also because of the frequent actions of the Prince Zhi in the palace.

"I'm thinking that during the New Year, the Princess Consort should feign illness so that she can be exempted from entering the palace. You can lead the children into the palace in everything." The Fourth Prince also had this on his mind.

Lanqin's heart sank. The thought of spending the New Year in the palace filled her with apprehension; it was truly unbearable! In the dead of winter, people often had to kneel to express their gratitude and receive instructions, sometimes for half an hour or even an hour at a time, which could practically ruin a person's knees.

"Are you scared?" Fourth Master looked at Lanqin's hesitant expression.

"I'm afraid of all those formalities. In the dead of winter, I have to kneel to the heavens and the earth all the time. The work of a Fujin is not easy either!" Lanqin couldn't help but stick out her tongue.

The Fourth Prince suppressed his urge to speak and tapped Lanqin's forehead a few times, saying, "Although you are now a secondary consort, you are exercising almost all the power of a primary consort."

Lanqin felt a little pressured after hearing what the Fourth Prince said. Just as Cui Niang had said, although she was not a Fujin (princess consort), she was fulfilling the duties of a Fujin.

"With your support, I have nothing to fear. You can rest assured then," Lanqin said obediently.

The Fourth Prince nodded, seemingly enlightened, and said, "I also want to thank you. If it weren't for your reminder, I would have almost gotten caught up in this. Now that Father Emperor is back, I no longer need to oversee the country. I can spend this New Year with you and the children."

Upon hearing this, Lanqin immediately perked up. "Grandpa, let's go skiing! Let's go to the farm in Changping. It's a big place there, let's have some fun in the snow!"

Fourth Master raised an eyebrow, looking at the little woman's overjoyed expression, and nodded.

The two put aside their worries and enjoyed a proper dinner. However, a series of urgent knocks on the door broke their peaceful mealtime.

"What's going on?" Lanqin couldn't help but ask the maidservant serving outside.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, someone is knocking on the door outside. We have already gone to check," Nianxue said from outside.

The Fourth Prince couldn't help but frown and said, "Who's knocking so urgently? Don't they know this is the gate to the concubine's courtyard?"

Lanqin gave him a playful glare and said, "Now I have to take care of everything. Sigh, Master, you'd better pay me a salary!"

Fourth Master joked, "Salary? What's that?"

Lanqin rolled her eyes at the Fourth Master and said, "I didn't care about anything before, and I still lived like this. Now I have to manage everything, and I still live like this. Shouldn't you give me some extra money to compensate me for this sudden increase in workload?"

Looking at Lanqin, Fourth Master said, "When did you become such a money-grubber? How much silver do you want?"

Lanqin was actually short of money. As the head of the household, she had to reward the servants at every turn, and since taking over the household management, the amount she used for rewarding servants had increased several times over. According to the allowance for a concubine, it simply wasn't enough. Lanqin didn't want to use her dowry to help the Fourth Prince manage the household; that would be like using her dowry to fill a bottomless pit.

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince realized that he had indeed overlooked the matter. After Lanqin took charge of the household, she inevitably had to manage the servants, and the number of people in her courtyard alone had increased considerably. Now, with the addition of the Second Princess, how could the expenses of the concubine be covered?

“From now on, you can take an extra two hundred taels from the accounting office every month for this courtyard. Is that enough?” Fourth Master looked at Lanqin apologetically.

"That's about enough, isn't it? If not, I'll ask you for more, Master." Lanqin didn't stand on ceremony, but in her heart, she was thinking about how much Fourth Master's salary actually was. Fourth Master owned three estates, but those weren't sources of income every month. The only readily available money was Fourth Master's salary.

Just then, Cui Niang walked in and said to Lan Qin, "Master, Master, it's Yu Lu, the maid from Princess Yehe's side. She said that Princess Yehe seems to be acting strangely, talking nonsense, and saying every day that she can see 'ghosts'."

Fourth Master seemed to have forgotten about the Yehe clan. Only when he suddenly heard Cui Niang mention the name did he remember it and ask, "'Ghost?' What ghost?"

Lanqin said, "I have always suspected that Taohua's death is related to her. Why don't you accompany me to see her, sir?" After saying that, Lanqin gave Cui Niang a wink, signaling her to make the arrangements quickly.

Cui Niang understood; this was the perfect opportunity to expose Yehe Shi's true colors. During this time, Cui Da and Cui Er would occasionally appear before Yehe Shi disguised as the spirit of Tao Hua, frightening her greatly.

Yehe and Yuhen already had something to hide, so they were too frightened to move at the slightest sign of trouble. Lanqin didn't want to frighten a woman in this way, but Yehe's actions were truly undeserving of sympathy.

"Let's wait until after we finish our meal. Anyway, it's not anything urgent for her. That Yulu is really inconsiderate, rushing to knock on the door at this time. She has no manners," Fourth Master said, frowning.

Lanqin nodded to Cui Niang and then continued to have dinner with Fourth Master.

Meanwhile, Cui Da and Cui Er, following their pre-arranged plan, "floated" to the window of Yehe's bedroom. The maids inside, fearing the ghostly presence, were too afraid to come out. Yehe remained huddled in her own bedroom, accompanied by Yuhen.

The shock of the past few days had left the mistress and servant couple mentally unstable, even somewhat neurotic. Just now, she had pointed at Yu Lu and shouted, which prompted Yu Hen to ask Yu Lu to inform Lan Qin and see if they should call a doctor for Ye He Shi to take a look.