October arrived with its clear skies and crisp air. The princes and ministers who had been ordered to accompany Emperor Kangxi on his inspection tour had finally completed their mission and sent messengers to inform the emperor when they were only three days away from Beijing.

The reports stated that the princes had traveled extensively, falling seriously ill several times from exhaustion. Fortunately, they had fulfilled their mission, inspecting all the river mouths in the west. When they encountered dangerous or urgent sections, they instructed the local river workers to control floods, plant trees, and prevent wind erosion. When they arrived in the northern desert, the tribes on the grasslands also expressed their condolences and respect to Emperor Kangxi.

In this report, the Eighth Prince and others recounted the local customs and traditions of various regions and expressed their admiration and praise for the current emperor. Emperor Kangxi was delighted upon reading it and decided to hold a palace banquet for the returning princes and ministers, as a small reward for their one or two months of absence.

Lanqin was notified to attend a palace banquet, which was due to Emperor Kangxi's special permission, as she was not qualified to attend under normal circumstances.

"Master, the Thirteenth Prince and the others are finally coming back. It seems like it's been a long time since we've seen them." Lanqin was wearing an apricot-colored Suzhou satin cheongsam embroidered with peonies today. Her hair was styled in a bun with some pearl flowers inserted in the square hairpin. The tassels on both sides were peach-colored and hung down on her pretty face, making her look especially beautiful.

"The Thirteenth Prince and his men have taken a huge detour this time, traveling from west to north, covering almost half of the Qing Dynasty." This is the first time the Fourth Prince has returned from the Ministry of Revenue so early today, naturally to attend the palace banquet tonight.

"My lord, if I ever have the chance in the future, I must go on a trip with you. You mustn't refuse!" Lanqin said.

"Yes, it will definitely happen. Maybe it will happen soon," Fourth Master suddenly said.

"Oh, is Master going out again?" Lanqin asked immediately upon hearing this.

"This time, Father Emperor has assigned me the task of investigating debts in various places. I might have to go out and run around again. But this kind of thing is not suitable for you to go out. When I have time, I will take you to Jiangnan." Fourth Prince has said this to Lanqin more than once.

"Master has made quite a few empty promises, and I'm going to cash them all when the time comes," Lanqin said playfully as she twirled in front of Fourth Master.

"Alright, you'd better remember all of this. I'll definitely settle the score for you later." The Fourth Prince raised his hand and stroked Lanqin's face. "Let's go to the Hall of Mental Cultivation."

When Lanqin followed the Fourth Prince to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, she saw that large red lanterns were hanging all around, and there were many servants moving in and out.

When Fourth Prince and Lanqin entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation, they saw many princes and ministers gathered in twos and threes, discussing something. Lanqin immediately spotted Eighth Prince, Thirteenth Prince, and Fourteenth Prince.

"Let's go and pay our respects to the Crown Prince and Crown Princess!" The Fourth Prince's eyes were first drawn to the Crown Prince and Crown Princess.

Lanqin followed the Fourth Prince to the figure in the pale gold brocade robe and greeted him, saying, "Greetings to the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess!"

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess were talking to an official from the Guarjia clan when they saw the Fourth Prince approaching. They immediately grabbed his arm and said, "Fourth Prince, you've been in the palace for many days now, but you haven't come to visit me. Come, let's have a good drink together today."

Peach Blossom Ninth and Tenth Master pouted and said, "Fourth Prince doesn't even care about us, all he does is pick up the Crown Prince's shoe heels."

While exchanging pleasantries with several ministers, the Eighth Prince also observed the actions of the Fourth Prince, who had just entered.

The Thirteenth Prince and the Fourteenth Prince were talking about what they had encountered along the way when they saw Lanqin leave the Fourth Prince and walk towards them after she had paid her respects to the Crown Prince and Crown Princess.

"This concubine greets the two princes~" Lanqin looked at the large group of ministers, the royal palace, and the princes, but she still felt more affinity for these two, mainly because they were younger.

"Little sister-in-law, I have something to give you later. It was asked by Fourth Brother to bring it to you," said Thirteenth Prince.

"What?" Lanqin said excitedly. She didn't expect that Fourth Master would ask Thirteenth Master to bring him something. She was immediately moved and glanced at Fourth Master's back again.

"Oh, what did the Thirteenth Prince bring for Princess Niu? Why didn't he bring me anything?" Wanyan's voice rang out. She had been ignored by the Fourteenth Prince for so long, and she was already feeling uncomfortable. Seeing that the Fourteenth Prince had finally returned and that Kangxi had held such a palace banquet, but the Fourteenth Prince acted as if he didn't even see her, and then saw Lanqin coming over, she couldn't help but speak sarcastically.

"Then go ask Fourteenth Brother for it. Anyway, he didn't ask me to bring anything for Fourteenth Brother's wife." Thirteenth Brother retorted when he saw that Wanyan's tone was unfriendly.

Upon hearing this, Wanyan's expression immediately turned sour, and she couldn't help but retort sarcastically, "The Thirteenth Prince must have brought the Thirteenth Princess's gift, right? Otherwise, it would be a joke if you assigned the gift to Consort Niu but not to the Thirteenth Princess."

The Fourteenth Prince finally couldn't hold back any longer and said angrily, "I've already brought you a gift. Come with me, don't embarrass yourself here."

After saying that, he pulled Wanyan away.

"Why isn't the Thirteenth Princess Consort here? I don't think I've seen her." Lanqin sighed helplessly as she looked at Wanyan's back.

“She’s not in good health. She was still sick when I got back, so I didn’t let her come,” the Thirteenth Prince said, then lowered his voice and asked, “I heard that Fourth Brother is investigating the outstanding debts?”

Lanqin moved her lips and said in a low voice, "It seems so, Thirteenth Prince. If you also owe money, you'd better pay it off immediately. This is the Emperor's order."

Lanqin saw that Thirteen and Fourth Master were always in cahoots, so she thought that telling him shouldn't be a big problem.

"Well, that really is a bit difficult," the Thirteenth Prince murmured. In truth, among all the princes, he was the least financially secure. His birth mother, Consort Min, was posthumously granted the title; in life, she was merely a concubine, and being from a Han Banner family with little influence, her maternal clan was weak, naturally offering little financial support. Unlike the Third Prince, whose maternal clan was the Magiya clan, and the Fifth and Ninth Princes, whose maternal clans were the Guoluo clan, he had the support of their maternal families in addition to the stipends from the Emperor. After leaving the palace and establishing his own residence, the Thirteenth Prince married a Lady Zhaojia as his primary consort. Although her family was decent, they couldn't possibly provide financial assistance to him. Furthermore, he also had two younger sisters, the Twelfth and Thirteenth Princesses, whom he needed to care for daily, making his financial situation quite strained.

"Thirteenth Brother!" Fourth Master looked at Lanqin and saw that she was standing next to Thirteenth Master, so he strode over to them.

"Fourth Brother~" the Thirteenth Prince replied, immediately rushing forward. No matter what happened, they would always be the closest brothers. Later, during the Yongzheng reign, the Thirteenth Prince, Yongxiang, became one of Yongzheng's most trusted and capable ministers.