"Yes, all the princes are over there today paying homage to their ancestors with the Emperor," said Cui Niang. "Afterwards, we will go to Jingshan to climb the mountain."

"Well, let's rest for a while. We'll go with Mother to see the Empress Dowager later." Although Lanqin was saddened by what happened to Wuya Wanru, she couldn't help but care about that man.

After resting for a while, Lanqin, along with Consort De, Lady Nian, and others, went to pay New Year's respects to the Empress Dowager. There, they inevitably engaged in some lighthearted banter. Lady Nian, attending such a royal gathering for the first time, naturally delivered a string of witty remarks, much to the Empress Dowager's delight. Lanqin, however, became the target of the Empress Dowager's jokes because of those two jokes. Unwilling to respond, she simply smiled sheepishly and managed to get through the situation.

When she returned, Lanqin was too tired to talk. She asked Cui Niang to fetch water so she could go to bed and rest immediately.

"Master, shouldn't you wait for the master?" Cui Niang reminded her.

"No, I want to sleep!" Lanqin felt incredibly sleepy and couldn't care less about that person. He probably already had someone else in his heart, so Lanqin wanted to stop thinking about him.

When Cui Niang saw that Lan Qin had clearly asked the Fourth Master, why was she now speaking in such an indifferent tone?

After Cui Niang and Nian Xue finished helping Lan Qin wash up, she let her hair down and mumbled that she wanted to go to sleep.

When the Fourth Prince returned, Lanqin was already fast asleep. The Fourth Prince originally intended to rest by himself, but then he thought of Lanqin and went to her bedroom instead.

Cui Niang and Nianxue were already resting on the boudoir outside the palace. When they heard the knock on the door, they quickly put on their clothes and went to open it. They were startled to see the Fourth Master standing outside.

"Where is your master? Is he asleep?" The Fourth Prince had been busy with Emperor Kangxi all day, and now he suddenly missed Lanqin, so he came directly.

"Master has already retired for the night. Please come in, Master." Cui Niang quickly stepped back to let Fourth Master in.

"Su Peisheng, go and bring the water here. I'll wash up here." The Fourth Prince walked into the bedroom and said to Su Peisheng behind him.

While they were all busy fetching water for Fourth Master, he had already gone into the place where Lanqin was sleeping.

Looking at the sleeping woman's face, the Fourth Prince thought of Wuya Wanru. In fact, he had been thinking about this all day, wondering from time to time if Lanqin was angry with him. Could she understand his feelings for Wuya? Those feelings were different from the romantic love he had for Lanqin. Every time he saw Wuya Wanru, the Fourth Prince was reminded of the feelings he had once had for her.

After Su Peisheng finished helping Fourth Master wash up, he gently lifted a corner of Lanqin's quilt and slipped inside. A familiar scent immediately enveloped his cold body—the fragrance emanating from Lanqin.

"Master, it's so cold!" Lanqin mumbled. Actually, Lanqin had inexplicably woken up the moment he entered the room. She had been pretending to be asleep until he lifted the corner of the blanket, and a blast of cold air immediately rushed in.

"You're awake? Why aren't you coming over to talk to me?" Fourth Master said, seeing that Lanqin was awake, he put his hands on her waist and put his arms around her.

"I don't want to talk!" Lanqin said, still feeling uncomfortable.

"Why?" Fourth Master asked, his heart clenching.

"The master knows it in his heart!" Lanqin rolled her eyes inwardly. Although she did not know that Wuya Wanru had been secretly betrothed to the Fourth Prince as a concubine by Consort De, she could tell from Su Peisheng's expression that it was pretty much the case.

Fourth Master froze. He actually wanted to slowly tell Lanqin about the Wuya clan, but upon hearing Lanqin's tone, he knew that the little woman probably knew something.

"You know?" Fourth Master withdrew his hand from Lanqin's waist.

"I don't know anything, sir. Can you tell me?" Lanqin tried to keep her tone calm.

The Fourth Prince remained silent for a while, pondering the matter for a long time. He still decided to talk to Lanqin about the Wuya clan. Although he didn't need his wife's approval to take a concubine, and Lanqin wasn't even his primary wife, the Fourth Prince still felt that he should talk to her, at least to prepare her mentally.

"I once had a woman I loved; she was my mother's niece," the Fourth Prince said slowly.

Lanqin felt a pang in her heart, a bitter taste rising within her. She knew that one day, the Fourth Master would fall for other women, and his heart would slowly cease to belong entirely to her.

“Her name is Wuya Wanru, and she is now a widow. Master, you see that she is all alone and helpless, and you also remember your past relationship with her.” The Fourth Master suddenly felt that he could not finish saying it.

So you want to take her in just because she's a widow? There are plenty of helpless women in this world, are you going to take them all into your harem? Lanqin silently gave him the middle finger in her mind.

"Qin'er, do you understand? I can't just stand by and do nothing about her current situation. Besides, Wanru still can't forget me, so I—" Seeing Lanqin remain silent, the Fourth Prince felt increasingly uncertain. He felt a surge of unease, a restlessness stemming from his inability to control the feelings of the woman beside him. He didn't want Lanqin to be sad, but at this moment, he couldn't refuse Wuya.

"So, Master wants to take this cousin in as a concubine?" Lanqin said coldly.

At that moment, Lanqin felt as if her heart had fallen into an icebox, and waves of coldness pierced her heart like icy needles! It hurt so much, it hurt so much~~~

God, Buddha, are you both here? Or perhaps the Virgin Mary could be here too, to take me back to where I am, to put me in Lin Mengyao's body. I hope that when I wake up this morning, I won't be surrounded by moon-shaped hair and long braids anymore.

Fourth Master hadn't expected Lanqin to react this way this time; she hadn't shown this reaction when Nian Shi came in before. Now, Wu Ya Wan Ru was just a weak woman, and he wanted to give her a place to live, so why couldn't she understand?

Fourth Master slowly sat up, glanced at Lanqin's reclining figure, and remained motionless, feeling increasingly displeased.

Lanqin knew that Fourth Master had gotten up and left, but she just couldn't calmly accept his "confession." She knew she couldn't be his only woman, but at this moment she truly found it hard to accept what Fourth Master had just said.

The servants outside didn't know why the Fourth Master had come out again at this time; they only saw his back as he left with a sullen face and his clothes on. Cui Niang hurriedly ran into Lan Qin's room, but heard no sound.

Lanqin forced herself to close her eyes and fall asleep, trying not to think about anything, not even the Fourth Master.

"Master!" Cui Niang cried out. But the only response was endless darkness and silence.

"Cui Niang, you can go out now. I'm fine. I just want to sleep," Lan Qin finally said.