"A'Luo, don't talk nonsense. This isn't our territory, how can you be so unrestrained!" Xueying scolded A'Luo. This girl was her personal maid, and because she was used to being domineering in the mansion, this maid followed her in the same unrestrained manner.

A'Luo quickly shut up, looking at her princess with a helpless expression. Xueying didn't care much, after all, she didn't particularly like that second prince either.

"A-Luo, I want to go out for a walk. Why don't you come with me to take a look at the Yong Prince's Mansion?" After sitting in the room for a while, Xueying felt stuffy.

“Yes, but should we go and tell your aunt?” A-Luo asked.

"My aunt is probably still taking a nap, so there's no need. I'm just going out for a walk," Xueying said.

So the mistress and servant left the main courtyard without any trouble, and no one stopped them. It was clear how dire the situation was in the main courtyard; there were hardly any servants left, and many places showed signs of decay. Xueying, seeing this, took A'luo's hand and led her outside.

They didn't know the way, but they remembered walking south until they saw a large garden. Xueying then took Alu to the park.

"Master, please take this hand warmer. The weather is still not warm." Aroben said, holding Xueying's hand warmer and noticing the chilly air in the garden.

Xueying hugged a hand warmer, wearing a crimson brocade cloak embroidered with hundreds of flowers. Some of the plants in the garden had not yet awakened, remaining bare, but there were also some evergreen plants. A few yellow wintersweet blossoms adorned the branches of the wintersweet tree.

"A'Luo, go take a look at those yellow plum blossoms!" Xueying glanced at the yellow expanse in the distance, a hint of disappointment in her eyes. She had just been guided by her maid to thoroughly observe the Prince Yong's mansion. It must be said, this mansion was indeed very grand, far more luxurious than the Duke of Ying's mansion. After all, this was a prince's residence.

From the moment she was carried in by the sedan chair early that morning, she had secretly peeked through the curtain at the Prince's mansion; it was indeed incredibly wealthy and luxurious. Her father had always told her that her aunt was the pride of the Ulanara family, and that marrying a prince as his principal wife was a great honor. Xueying felt that although she was now the principal wife, she was constantly neglected by the prince. What ability did she have? If she were the prince's wife, she would never live such a life; she would be content to have all the prince's favor bestowed upon her!

With these thoughts in mind, Xueying and A'luo slowly admired the sparse yellow plum blossoms. Completely unaware, they too had become part of the scenery in the eyes of others.

"Hongzhou, what are you doing?" Hongli looked up at Hongzhou and saw that he was staring at the garden but had not picked up his pen. So he asked.

Hongzhou seemed to be under a spell, frozen in place, completely oblivious to Hongli's words. Hongli found this strange and walked over to him, about to pat him on the shoulder, but his gaze fell on the direction Hongzhou was looking—what was it that had attracted his attention so much?

Hongli saw two graceful women strolling in the garden. One of them wore a crimson cloak and was clearly not a servant, while the other, dressed in a light blue jacket and red double-breasted trousers, was obviously a servant. Hongli looked more closely at the woman's face and immediately understood why Hongzhou had been so stunned. The woman was exceptionally beautiful, with a gentle and dignified demeanor, like a fairy from a painting who had stepped out of it.

"Hi!"

Hongli suddenly slapped Hongzhou on the shoulder, startling him half to death. Looking at Hongzhou again, he had grown into a slightly tall and thin young man. He was thinner than Hongli, but not short, even a little taller. His features were a perfect blend of the Fourth Prince and Lanqin; the Creator had seemingly perfectly combined their features into one face, creating a harmonious whole.

“Hongli, you’re going to scare people to death by slapping them like that, okay?” Hongzhou said with a stern face.

"What were you looking at just now? Were you looking at that woman in the garden?" Hongli asked Hongzhou playfully.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm just looking at how that plum grove fits into my painting!" Hongzhou's face suddenly turned red. It turned out that he and Hongli were painting together in a pavilion behind the garden. Large sheets of Xuan paper were laid out on a long table.

"Look at you, your face is all red. Have you taken a fancy to that woman?" Hongli said, suppressing a laugh.

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Hongzhou probably never expected that he would fall for a woman. When he heard Hongli say it, he was so angry that his eyes were about to burst.

"No, why are you so quick to deny it?" Hongli said quickly when he saw his exaggerated reaction.

"Hurry up and finish! It's almost time for dinner." Hongzhou clearly had no mood to continue drawing.

Hongli went to look at the women in the garden again, but they had all gone to the other side and their faces were no longer visible.

Hongzhou insisted on clearing the table, so Hongli had no choice but to have the servants clear it away.

Meanwhile, Xueying, supported by A'luo, left the garden and began to walk back. As they walked, they suddenly realized they couldn't find their way back to the main courtyard.

Xueying remembered that the main courtyard was directly north of the Yongwang Mansion, so she took A'luo's hand and headed north. However, she was not walking on the main axis, so she continued north until she reached the Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Princess, this isn’t the main courtyard,” A’Luo said to Xueying, glancing at the courtyard gate.

"Let's go in and ask for directions," Xueying said, glancing at the ordinary gray-haired courtyard.

Aro did as she was told, and went up the steps to knock on the door.

Neither Mrs. Zhang nor Mrs. Qiu were inside, so they naturally didn't hear A-Luo's knocking.

"Miss, who are you looking for?" Xueying was standing at the bottom of the steps when a woman's voice suddenly came from behind her.

Xueying turned around and saw a woman dressed in a light green qipao with simple headdress, but judging from her attire, she was definitely not a servant.

"We're lost. Do you know which way to the main courtyard?" Xueying asked.

Seeing that her princess was talking to someone, A'luo stopped knocking on the door, came down, and stood behind Xueyinghua to watch the person who came in.

Shui Ling looked at the two women who appeared to be mistress and servant, marveling at the beauty of the woman who had asked her the question.

"My princess is asking you a question, why aren't you answering?" A'Luo asked when she saw that Shui Ling was not speaking and was only looking at Xue Ying.

"May I ask if this princess is the niece of the Fujin?" Upon hearing A'luo's use of the word "princess," Shui Ling realized that the person in front of her was probably the Fujin's niece, who had just entered the manor that day.

"That's me. My maid and I got lost. May I ask how we can get back to the main courtyard?" Xueying asked.