It wasn't until very early the next morning that Si Hua whispered in Lan Qin's ear that the diagnosis of Hong Huan's eye injury was in: his left eyeball had been damaged by cannon fire, resulting in blindness. How could this be?

And so, the Fourteenth Prince and his wife left the palace with their entire family. They had no desire to stay in the palace any longer, so Consort De had no choice but to send an imperial physician to accompany them.

Lanqin was worried for Chen Shi; how could Wanyan Shi possibly forgive her when she returned? The two palace maids responsible for taking care of Hong Huan were unsurprisingly beaten to death. Lanqin knew this was the essence of feudal society, treating human life like dirt. Lanqin could only silently tell herself that if she ever became a ruler, she would strive to refrain from arbitrarily disposing of palace servants, lest she truly become a person of this era.

In the following days, Lanqin continued to serve Consort De as usual. Consort De was uneasy for several days because of the matter of the Fourteenth Prince's second son. Lanqin then concluded in her heart that Consort De still favored her youngest son after all. However, she also felt that the Fourth Prince was becoming more and more capable, which Lanqin could tell from observing Consort De's words and actions over the past few days.

After the third day of the Lunar New Year, the Fourth Prince left the palace with his entire family, including Hongli, who had been enjoying the Emperor's company for several days. As soon as he returned to Lanqin's side, he acted coquettishly in front of her for several days, saying that he missed his mother, father, and Hongzhou.

Upon returning to the Yong Prince's residence, Lanqin began receiving the ladies of the court who came to pay their respects to the Fourth Prince for the New Year, a custom she had maintained for many years. The Fourth Prince's wife hadn't received guests for years; Lady Nian's health was poor, and she couldn't rely entirely on Lanqin. Besides, the managers of the hot pot restaurant, who were in charge of Lanqin's affairs, also came to offer their gifts. Lanqin repeatedly told them not to come, but they wouldn't listen. Below the four main managers were various subordinate managers, all deeply grateful for Lanqin's kindness, who sent her New Year's gifts from all over the country—a wide variety of things. Lanqin received so many gifts that she didn't know what to do with them all, and finally, she started giving them away. She sent gifts to everyone in the Fourth Prince's inner quarters, then to the Ling family, and then to the sisters-in-law. Regardless of their relationship with the Fourth Prince, since the New Year was a time for sharing meals and maintaining brotherly bonds, sending these local specialties from various places was a good idea. They were all happy to receive these gifts; after all, one shouldn't refuse a gift-giver!

It was the fifth day of the new year, and the Thirteenth Prince's wife arrived with a cartload of gifts to pay her respects to the Fourth Prince. Her life was now quite comfortable; the first Daqing hot pot restaurant was consistently the most successful, its early opening and prime location bringing her a steady stream of wealth. The Thirteenth Prince's wife was deeply grateful to Lanqin. She had never imagined she wouldn't have to endure the miserable and desolate life she had endured after so many years of imprisonment. Now, the Thirteenth Prince's household was a far cry from its previous decline and desolation. She had entrusted the household affairs to Yang Shi, who managed them admirably, and thus deserved the rewards. The Thirteenth Prince's wife had provided her with many things and given her a considerable sum of money to replenish her own room's decorations, jewelry, and clothing; Qi Shi had worked alongside her in managing the hot pot restaurant, working diligently and helping her immensely, so she too received a large share of the profits. Furthermore, Zhao Jia Shi had filled the vacancies left by those who had left. The monthly allowances and seasonal clothing for the servants throughout the household were all much better than before. Now, the Thirteenth Prince's residence and the inner quarters have completely shed their previous state of decline and decay. Although the Thirteenth Prince is no longer here, everyone is still able to live a good life with his wife.

The family members who had previously ignored Zhao Jia tried to curry favor with her now that she was doing well. Zhao Jia initially wanted to ignore them, but considering that her husband was still imprisoned and she might need these snobbish family members someday, she still received them.

"This servant greets the Thirteenth Prince Consort. Our concubine said that she would like the Thirteenth Prince Consort to rest in the study for a while. She will come as soon as she finishes her work," said the maid Nianxia with a smile as she served tea and fruit to Lady Zhaojia.

“Well, it’s good that I can rest too. It must be very tiring for Consort to manage the inner quarters of the Yong Prince’s mansion all by herself.” Zhao Jia first went to see the First Lady, and after putting down her greetings, she came out and came to Lan Qin’s place.

“Yes, if you need anything, just tell me. The concubine said that if the Thirteenth Princess is tired, she can rest here for a while,” Nianxia said.

"Well, I'll just take a nap. We don't need anything here." Zhao Jia felt a warmth in her heart; Lan Qin knew she'd been out early that morning and must have run around quite a bit. Since the thirteenth generation was the youngest, it was definitely her, as the younger sister-in-law, who would go and wish all the older brothers and sisters-in-law a Happy New Year. This time, Zhao Jia generously brought gifts and visited all of the thirteenth generation's brothers and sisters-in-law to wish them a Happy New Year, indicating that the thirteenth household was doing well.

After Nianxia left, Zhaojia actually began to doze off on the couch in the study. After listening to the reports from the old women and daughters-in-law, Lanqin drank another cup of tea. Because she heard from Nianxia that Zhaojia had indeed fallen asleep, she did not go over immediately.