For several days in a row, Fourth Master didn't dine in the South Courtyard. Cui Niang began to worry. Lan Qin, on the other hand, was happy to have some peace and quiet; dining alone saved her the trouble of considering his tastes. Looking at the inscrutable expressions of the maids in the room, Lan Qin couldn't stand it anymore.

"What's wrong with you all? It's like your master can't go on living if he doesn't come for a few days. If he becomes..." Lanqin almost blurted out, "If he becomes emperor, with his three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines, he can't possibly come here every day."

“Master, why don’t you send a bowl of soup to the front yard? That would save you the trouble of making amends,” suggested Cui Niang.

“Why should I give him a way out? What did I do wrong? What he said wasn’t wrong. Uya was just crying and complaining about being fat, and we were just making fun of her. Since he believed it, shouldn’t he go for a walk with his cousin and lose some weight?” Lanqin said.

“Master! You’re giving her a chance! Uya is always putting on an act. The more you argue with the master, the more you please her!” Cui Niang said.

"Cui Niang, don't try to persuade me anymore. Your master knows what's going on!" Lanqin said. She understood that the reason she was so averse to Wuya was because Wuya was the Fourth Master's first love, an indelible mark on his heart, and the only one who could truly steal his affections. This was what Lanqin had always been bothered by. In other words, the Fourth Master, due to his status, would inevitably have many women, which Lanqin could understand. But Wuya was the only woman he could refuse, could not accept, yet chose to accept. This was something Lanqin could neither accept nor ignore.

After several days of trying, Cui Niang realized that Lan Qin still wouldn't budge, so she had no choice but to stop talking.

Meanwhile, the Fourth Prince had been struggling with whether or not to take the initiative to talk to Lanqin about what happened that day. On the one hand, he didn't want to strain his relationship with Lanqin, but on the other hand, he couldn't accept that Lanqin was dissatisfied with his affection for Wuya.

The two remained locked in this stalemate for over ten days. They hadn't seen each other since the Dragon Boat Festival. Even the Fourth Prince hadn't come to visit Hongli and the others.

Perhaps even Lanqin herself didn't expect that this time, their cold war would last so long.

On this day, Madam Song and Madam Wu came to the South Courtyard together. They also learned that this time Lanqin and the Fourth Master were truly going to have a showdown.

"You two princesses, you should try to persuade the concubine. I've tried several times, but alas, I don't know what's wrong with her this time. She's so stubborn and won't listen to reason." Cui Niang personally welcomed Song Shi and Wu Shi in.

The two followed Cui Niang along the covered walkway to Lanqin's main room, where Baoqin, who was standing at the door, had already lifted the bamboo curtain. After they had all gone inside, he immediately lowered the curtain.

Lanqin was sitting on the bamboo couch reading a book. For the past two weeks, she had acted as if nothing had happened. After listening to reports from various places and assigning tasks, she would paint traditional Chinese paintings with the two princesses or play with Hongli, seemingly forgetting about the Fourth Prince. Sometimes, Lanqin would just read and ponder like this, and the days passed leisurely. Before she knew it, half a month had gone by.

"Sister is here!" Lanqin rested her chin on her hand and put down her book when she saw Song and Wu arrive.

"Qin'er, did I disturb you?" Madam Song said with a smile.

"Sister, what are you saying? I wish you would come every day." Lanqin quickly gestured to the maids to serve tea and fruit to Madam Song and Madam Wu.

"These are Hami melons that just came from Xinjiang. They're chilled, so they taste refreshing," Lanqin said, inviting the two of them to eat some melons.

Seeing that Lanqin's face didn't seem to indicate that she was having a disagreement with the Fourth Master, Madam Song and Madam Wu became even more worried.

"Qin'er, if you feel unwell, you can tell us. Don't keep it to yourself, otherwise it will easily lead to long-term resentment and make you unwell," said Madam Song.

"Sister Song, I'm really fine. Do you think I'm alright?" Lanqin said.

"Then why have you and Master ignored each other for half a month!" Madam Wu couldn't stand it anymore and shattered Lanqin's forced composure with a single sentence.

"I didn't ignore him. He just wouldn't come on his own. Did you expect me to go and drag him over? And there are people there sighing and saying I'm monopolizing Fourth Prince and won't let go. I wonder what Mother in the palace will think if she hears that." Lanqin forced a smile.

Madam Song frowned slightly, walked to Lanqin's side, took her hand and said, "Qin'er, stop making things difficult for yourself! Who is our master! He is not an ordinary man, he is the fourth son of the current emperor, Prince Yong. It is impossible for him to only have you and me by his side. You should have understood this when you married into this household."

Madam Wu nodded and said, "Qin'er, if you can't stand him being close to other women, then you're just making things difficult for yourself."

Lanqin knew they were right, and she had already realized this herself. But now it seemed that she was the one who couldn't stand Wuya. Even Song and Wu, who were on the same side as her, thought so. So wouldn't everyone else think that she was petty and couldn't stand the Fourth Prince favoring other women?

"Sisters, do you think it's me who can't stand Wuya?" Lanqin asked.

“Qin’er, it looked like that the day! You argued with me in front of so many people!” said Madam Song.

"However, I can't stand the way Wuya acts either. She always tries to play the victim in front of the master. It's disgusting!" Wu snorted.

Lanqin gave a bitter smile and said, "My two elder sisters, actually, Qin'er knew about that cousin even before she entered the palace. Back then, she went to great lengths to get into our inner quarters, but afterward, seeing that the master didn't favor her much, she actually went to the palace to sow discord between me and my mother, causing me to be punished by my mother to copy Buddhist scriptures."

"Is that so?" Madam Song asked Lanqin in surprise, unaware of the situation.

"Qin'er, does the master know about these things?" Madam Wu asked in surprise.

“I know, but I didn’t say any of that at the time. If it were said that it was Uya who instigated it, I wonder what my mother in the palace would think of me back then. But thinking about it, Uya has never been a worry. You all saw what happened at the family banquet that day. Fourth Prince only saw her showing weakness, but he didn’t know what she had said before,” Lanqin said.

“Yes, this Wuya clanswoman, I originally thought she was an unassuming, gentle and polite person, but it turns out she likes to do things behind people’s backs,” Song said, frowning.

"I've looked down on her for a long time. How can a woman who's been married before become the master's princess? It's just because she's the niece of Consort De," said Madam Wu.