Fourth Master shook his head, walked up to Lanqin, told her to sit down, and had the guards help her put on her ski boots.

After everything was ready, the Fourth Prince, Lanqin, and a group of guards, wearing ski boots, began to slide down a small mound. Because of the terrain, and with the Qing Dynasty ski boots, skiing was actually quite fun.

Ah~~~

"Master, we should let Ushiha, Bechuk, and Hongli experience this wonderful feeling too!" Lanqin felt as if she had fallen into a fairyland, and everything in front of her seemed to float.

Fourth Master was gliding not far behind Lanqin. Seeing that Lanqin could indeed ski, he couldn't help but wonder how she could ski but not wear ski boots.

“They are too young. It wouldn’t be good for them to get cold. Let’s wait until they are older,” said Fourth Master.

Lanqin waved her ski poles, feeling incredibly happy despite the cold. She and Fourth Master skied from Changchun Garden all the way down the hills of the entire Yuanmingyuan. Although Lanqin had lived in the Yuanmingyuan for almost two months, she had never enjoyed exploring the entire garden as much as she did today.

Gradually, the guards lost track of her, because Lanqin would slip here and there, disappearing into a clump of bushes. Only the Fourth Master followed closely behind, and the others didn't know where they had slipped off to.

"Qin'er, don't slip around! The guards have lost track of us!" Fourth Master called out from behind Lanqin.

"Anyway, we're in the garden, so we won't get lost." Lanqin was already having a great time and didn't care about those annoying followers anymore.

Fourth Master watched as Lanqin played like a child, sometimes raising her ski poles to pat the snow off the bushes, as playful as a little squirrel.

Fourth Master followed behind her, his mood also incredibly good, because he hadn't seen the little woman having so much fun in a long time. Her happiness made Fourth Master inexplicably feel exceptionally good.

"Master!" Lanqin suddenly turned around and threw a snowball at Fourth Master, which hit him squarely on the brim of his fur hat.

"You ambushed me!" Fourth Master roared.

"Master, come and beat me!" Lanqin smiled charmingly, turned around and ran forward.

When Fourth Master saw that the little woman had taken the initiative to provoke him, how could he not chase after her? So he bent down, made a snowball, and followed her.

"Smack!"

Fourth Master's snowball hit Lanqin directly on the back, but Lanqin was not to be outdone. She had already prepared a snowball in her hand and threw it back at Fourth Master.

The two chased each other and fought quite a bit. Lanqin's hair and cloak were covered in snow, and Fourth Master wasn't much better off; his hat and cloak were also covered in snowflakes.

The two simply threw away their ski poles, each found a spot, and started throwing snowballs at each other.

"Haha, Master, it seems I hit you more often!" Lanqin hid behind a dwarf holly bush, avoiding Fourth Master's attacks.

"That's because I'm letting you have your way, okay?" Fourth Master said with a grin, standing behind a crabapple tree that had lost all its leaves.

"Hmph, that's not true. I didn't go easy on Qin'er, did I?" Lanqin said unhappily.

"What do you think?" Fourth Master chuckled.

"You're not allowed to let Qin'er have her way, understand? You're not allowed to! Qin'er wants to have a real snowball fight with you!" Lanqin said stubbornly.

"Then Qin'er is going to cry!" Fourth Master found the little woman's stubbornness and resilience amusing.

"Hmph, I won't cry. You underestimate me, Master. Besides, I might not necessarily lose to you," Lanqin said, hands on her hips.

Seeing Lanqin's defiant expression, Fourth Master felt a surge of urgency to have a snowball fight with her; he wanted to see what this maid was capable of.

"How about it? Are you scared, sir?" Lanqin said provocatively with a smile.

"Alright, I'll have a real snowball fight with you. If you lose, you're not allowed to cry." Fourth Master said, stepping out from behind the crabapple tree.

"Master, the straps on your feet are loose!" Lanqin said.

As Fourth Master lowered his head to check if his boot laces were loose, a huge snowball landed on the top of his hat.

It turns out that Lanqin had deliberately lied to Fourth Master!

"You even know tactics?" Fourth Master laughed.

"All's fair in war!" Lanqin threw another snowball over, then darted behind Dongqing.

Fourth Master was clearly at a disadvantage after Lanqin threw two snowballs at him.

Fourth Master darted behind a tree and tried to circle around to the holly bushes where Lanqin was.

Lanqin raised her head slightly to look at where Fourth Master had been, but she could see nothing. Fourth Master had vanished.

"Master, Master!" Lanqin called out twice.

But no one answered her calls.

"Master, you must be hiding somewhere!" Lanqin knew that Fourth Master must be hiding somewhere.

No one answered her question.

Lanqin was a little unaccustomed to the empty and silent feeling and immediately felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Master~" Lanqin stood up involuntarily. What she saw was an empty snowfield, without a single person in sight.

"Master?" Lanqin called out tentatively again.

There was still no response.

"Master, are you hiding somewhere?" Lanqin tentatively stepped out from behind the short holly and walked in the direction where the Fourth Master was standing.

“Grandpa, I know you must be hiding behind that tree, right?” Lanqin moved her feet little by little.

Snap snap~

Suddenly, a flurry of snowballs came out from behind Lanqin, hitting her cloak.

Lanqin quickly slid forward and found a barrier to hide behind, then called out, "So you went behind me, Master."

"You said it yourself, all's fair in war!" Fourth Master laughed.

"Master, Master!" Lanqin suddenly exclaimed, her expression changing.

"What's wrong?" Fourth Master heard the fear in Lanqin's voice.

"I twisted my ankle, it hurts so much, Master, please come and take a look!" Lanqin said, sitting in the snow, clutching her ankle and crying.

Fourth Master didn't care about anything else and immediately rushed forward.

"Slap slap~"

A dense and fierce volley of snowballs came hurtling toward Fourth Master's face.

His face and nose were covered in snow.

"Haha, I lost again!" Lanqin said with a grin, holding a snowball in each hand.

"You deliberately made me worry, and then you launched a sneak attack!" Fourth Master laughed.

"It's because you trusted me too much, sir," Lanqin said with a smile.

"Alright, I'm coming!" Despite the risk of being smashed by Lanqin, Fourth Master slid all the way to Lanqin's side.

"Master, what are you doing!" Lanqin felt that the way Fourth Master was looking at her was a bit strange.

"I want it this way!" Fourth Master pulled Lanqin up, and then they both fell to the ground.

Fourth Master held Lanqin and rolled around on the ground, pushing snow onto her face, then rolling around again, and then splashing snow on her with his hands.