"Your subject greets Your Majesty!"

"Your daughter-in-law greets Your Majesty!"

The Fourth Prince and Lanqin paid their respects to Emperor Kangxi together.

"I heard you're ill?" Kangxi asked the Fourth Prince. He looked at the Fourth Prince scrutinizingly, as if trying to see a hint of resentment or desire on his face.

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I caught a bit of a chill because I didn't cover myself properly while sleeping last night, but I'm fine now." The Fourth Prince immediately clasped his hands in greeting to Emperor Kangxi.

Kangxi nodded slightly and said, "You all came here together. Is there something you want to say to me?"

Lanqin couldn't help but admire Kangxi's keen insight. She first put on a sweet smile and said, "Father Emperor is truly wise and powerful. Nothing can escape your eyes. Whatever thoughts my daughter-in-law and my husband have in mind, they cannot escape your discerning eyes."

Fourth Prince never expected Lanqin to act this way in front of Emperor Kangxi. She was so obsequious that even he couldn't bear to listen to her.

Upon hearing Lanqin's words, Kangxi's tense face immediately relaxed slightly. He just couldn't get angry with this little girl, just like the Third Princess back then. No matter how much she misbehaved, as long as she acted coquettishly, he just couldn't keep a straight face.

"Girl, tell me, what is it?" Kangxi asked. When he said this, the cold and stern expression from before was gone.

"Your Majesty," Lanqin said, "my daughter-in-law and the Prince discussed this all night and wish to request permission to visit Wudang Mountain. I've heard there are many highly accomplished monks there. Therefore, I'd like to go with you to seek out these monks and invite them to teach Your Majesty the secrets of strengthening the body and attaining enlightenment. What do you think, Your Majesty?" She had already begun to have Kangxi exercise, assigning him morning runs, afternoon gymnastics, and evening walks—all aimed at helping him improve his health.

Therefore, Lanqin's words at this moment would naturally not offend Kangxi. If the Fourth Prince were to say it, given that he had just opposed it yesterday and was now suddenly offering to help Kangxi seek immortality, it would seem like he was flattering him.

When Kangxi saw the Fourth Prince's ashamed expression, he became even more convinced that it was Lanqin who had persuaded the Fourth Prince that the couple were going to search for the secret to immortality.

"Very good. I am very pleased with your filial piety. It is almost the end of the year and there is not much to do in the court. It is not impossible for you to request permission to go out for a month or two. Fourth Prince, is there any important matter you still need to deal with?" Kangxi asked.

"Your Majesty, there's nothing major going on with me. A new batch of people were selected for the autumn imperial examinations, and they've already been assigned to various locations for duty. The first quarter's assessment is very important," the Fourth Prince said.

"Well, leave the matters concerning those young people to the heads of the various government offices. As a prince, you don't need to do everything yourself," Kangxi said.

Upon hearing this, Lanqin knew there was hope. Her previous request had certainly earned her a lot of goodwill from Kangxi.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will obey your command." The Fourth Prince immediately clasped his hands in a fist salute.

Kangxi immediately reversed his suspicions about the Fourth Prince and said with some joy, "Then Hongli will stay with me. I will keep an eye on him for you."

"Thank you, Father Emperor. It is truly a blessing for Hongli to receive your personal instruction," Lanqin said.

"Hehe, Hongli is very clever. This child will surely achieve great things in the future!" Kangxi's expression changed when he mentioned Hongli.

After leaving Kangxi's place, Lanqin looked outside and saw that it was snowing again. She knew that it snowed heavily in the north, but not necessarily in the south. Wudang Mountain was in the northwest of Shiyan, Hubei, and it might not have snowed there yet.

"Slow down, be careful not to slip!" Fourth Master watched as Lanqin hopped lightly across the path ahead.

"Master, let's go have a snowball fight. I'm afraid that once we leave Beijing, we won't see snow again!" Lanqin said, turning around.

"It's winter now, there's snow everywhere. Are you worried about not seeing snow?" Fourth Master was surprised that the little woman was worried about not seeing snow in winter.

Fourth Master was naturally unaware that the temperature had warmed in later generations, and that it was indeed true that most of the south did not see snow in winter.

“Grandpa, there’s heavy snow in the south too!” Lanqin said. She realized she was overthinking it; at this time, global warming wasn’t a thing, and the climate wasn’t so strange.

"Of course. And it's not small. Sometimes the heavy snow in winter causes the winter wheat in some parts of the south to freeze, resulting in a poor harvest the following year," Fourth Master said.

Lanqin nodded, looking at the vast expanse of white snow covering all the vegetation in Changchun Garden.

"Master, let's go check on Fuhai Lake. See if it's frozen over," Lanqin said.

Fourth Master nodded, and then went with Lanqin towards Fuhai.

The coldest days of winter in Beijing are extremely frigid. Lanqin and Fourth Master each wore fox fur cloaks, but even outside, their noses and faces were still a little red. Lanqin, however, was holding a thermos, so she wasn't too cold.

"Grandpa, look! The water on Fuhai Lake is really frozen!" Lanqin shouted excitedly when she saw the vast expanse of white ice.

Fourth Master looked at the frozen water in Fuhai Lake from afar and said, "It's very cold today!"

"Master, is this ice thick? I wonder if it's safe to walk on it?" Lanqin and Fourth Master walked to the shore and looked at the still water in Fuhai Lake.

"No, the ice isn't thick. If you walk on it, you'll fall into an ice hole," Fourth Master quickly stopped Lanqin when he saw her wanting to try the ice.

Lanqin was about to test the ice with her foot when she heard what Fourth Master said, so she quickly withdrew it. She looked at the motionless ice in disbelief and sighed, "It's a real pity that we can't play with it."

Fourth Master looked at the small earthen mound and the thick snow in the distance, and suddenly thought of a better way to play. He said to Lanqin, "Let me take you to play something even more fun."

Upon hearing that there was something even more fun, Lanqin immediately perked up and asked, "What is it?"

"Skiing! Look, the snow over there is very thick, and the terrain is hilly and undulating, you can ski!" Fourth Master said.

"Skiing! Great, I can ski!" Lanqin clapped her hands and said.

"You can ski?" Fourth Master asked.

"Yes, a little bit," Lanqin chuckled. She had skied on the top of the Swiss Alps before.

"Then today I'll see just how far you've come in with your little bit of knowledge," said the Fourth Prince.

Fourth Master had Su Peisheng bring the two of them ski shovels and ski poles, and also sent several servants to accompany them.

"Do you even know how to ski?" Fourth Master asked as he watched Lanqin tie her ski boots. She didn't look like she knew how at all; she didn't even know how to put on boots.

Lanqin, of course, didn't know how to wear those Qing Dynasty ski boots, and it wasn't easy for her at all.

"My lord, I don't know how to dress!" Lanqin pouted and said angrily.