“Look, sister, these plum blossoms are small, but they smell very sweet. Just like you, sister, even though you’re not wearing bright and colorful clothes, you’re as lovely as an orchid, and your fragrance is refreshing and pleasant.” Yan Yu picked a plum blossom and held it to her nose to smell it.

Upon hearing this, Madam Geng smiled slightly and said, "Thank you for your kind words, sister. However, I know myself very well. I am not as beautiful as you, sister, and I also have the help of the Fujin. Now that I am pregnant, once I give birth to a child, I'm afraid you will become the second concubine in this household."

Yan Yu snorted coldly as she thought of the Fujin (principal wife), "If becoming a secondary Fujin means sacrificing one's own flesh and blood, would you still think that I would be willing to do it?"

Madam Geng glanced at Yan Yu in surprise, seemingly understanding the meaning of her words, and tentatively asked, "Sister is the Fujin's own sister. The Fujin has always been kind and tolerant, she shouldn't do such a thing."

Yan Yu chuckled a few times, as if listening to an incredibly ridiculous joke, and said, "Does Sister really think that the word 'sister' still exists in this inner quarters? Sister Geng, who arrived earlier than me, should know very well what kind of person the Fujin is."

Madam Geng sighed softly and said, "No matter what, my sister is a blessed person, much better than me, who is not so fortunate."

Yan Yu held a flat-bottomed, gold-plated hand warmer in her hand. She pulled Geng Shi's hand over and found it unusually cold, so she put the hand warmer into Geng Shi's hand.

"My sister gave it to me, what am I supposed to do?" Geng wanted to return the hand warmer, but Yan Yu stopped her.

“I have hand warmers here, so I won’t get cold. On the contrary, where did you come from, sister? Why didn’t you bring a hand warmer? It’s already December.” Yan Yu put her hands into the snow-white rabbit fur hand warmers.

"I came from the South Courtyard. I heard some news, I wonder if my sister knows about it?" Geng asked, holding the flat-bottomed gold hand warmer.

Everyone looks out for themselves, or they'll be damned!

Geng recalled her interactions with Lanqin. Although she knew Lanqin was simple-minded and had no intention of mocking her, the imbalance she felt after leaving Lanqin's place always made her feel depressed.

“Nan Xiaoyuan? Didn’t she get Fourth Master’s permission to go to Seventh Master’s residence yesterday?” Yan Yu looked at Madam Geng with suspicion, wondering why she brought up Lanqin.

"I heard that Fourth Master has confined her to the South Courtyard for a month without permission." When Madam Geng said this, some of the resentment in her heart was released.

"Such a thing actually happened? What exactly did Lady Niu do wrong?" A hint of joy flashed across Yan Yu's face. Hearing that Lanqin had been punished by the Fourth Prince, she felt a sense of satisfaction. In this inner quarters, she hadn't felt much pressure even as the Fujin (principal wife), but the sense of defeat Lanqin brought her always made her feel like she was being suppressed.

“She didn’t say, but the Fujin should know. Sister, here’s your hand warmer back. I want to go back now.” Madam Geng handed the hand warmer to Yan Yu.

"Sister, would you like to come sit with me? Since Fourth Master and his wife aren't here, we can get together. We can have the kitchen roast some of the newly arrived venison, and we can have a drink." Seeing that Geng Shi had already switched sides, Yan Yu immediately realized that this was the best time to win her over.

Geng's expression remained somewhat indifferent. She returned the income to Yan Yu and then turned around, saying, "I won't bother you any longer, sister."

After Geng and her servants had walked away, Yun Yuan stepped forward, took the flat-bottomed hand warmer from Yan Yu's hand, and said, "This Geng Gege is quite strange. She is clearly dissatisfied with Niu Shi, but when you kindly asked her to befriend her, she declined."

"Geng is a smart woman. It seems we'll have to invest even more to win her over," Yan Yu said coldly, watching the two figures grow smaller and smaller.

“Princess, I don’t think you need to win her over. She’s powerless in this mansion, and winning her over won’t help you much,” Yun Yuan said.

“But isn’t she the closest person to Lady Niu right now? Only she can hear news from Lady Niu, just like that news we just heard. Perhaps even the Fujin (wife of the princess) doesn’t know,” Yan Yu said.

"Princess, how can we completely win over the Geng family?" Yun Yuan asked.

"Let me think about it. Let's go back. The weather is getting colder and colder." As Yan Yu said this, she suddenly asked, "What did you see Geng Shi wearing just now?"

Yun Yuan paused for a moment, then said, "This servant thinks that Geng Shi is still wearing autumn Suzhou brocade, which looks a bit thin. The color is also a bit dull. Given her position in the master's heart, I'm afraid she won't get the better colors and fabrics."

Yan Yu smiled and said, "Come on, when we get back, go to my storeroom and pick out some good fabrics suitable for winter clothes to send to her. Remember, don't be stingy, choose the best colors and fabrics. I think lake blue would suit her."

When Geng entered the house, the sky had already darkened. There was no charcoal brazier inside, making it truly cold and damp.

Seeing that Madam Geng had gone out, the maids and old women were too lazy to come out and stayed in their own rooms drinking tea and eating melon seeds.

"These people are simply too much! The clothes are still lying there unwashed, and the lights aren't even on in the house. Princess, you have such a good temper." Green Lan saw that there wasn't a single living creature in the main room, and the two maids and the old woman who were responsible for serving Madam Geng were nowhere to be seen.

"Go and have Granny Xie and Caifeng check with the head nanny to see if they've almost finished preparing the charcoal for winter. Why is it that even Consort Niu's side is using it, but we in the west courtyard haven't done anything yet?" Madam Geng was never overly harsh on those outside of the Green Balustrade, simply because she had always been unassuming in the Fourth Master's household, and her servants often complained. Seeing that they indeed frequently suffered setbacks outside, Madam Geng didn't reprimand them. Thus, Caifeng and Granny Xie, seeing that Madam Geng was easy to manipulate, became increasingly unreasonable.

Lülan agreed and went to the west room alone, kicking open the half-closed door. Sure enough, Granny Xie, Caifeng, and Lingxiu were sitting on their respective beds, drinking hot tea and chatting enthusiastically.

"The princess has already returned, what are you all lying here for? Hurry up and go out to help the princess wash her face. It's freezing outside, don't you even know to bring the princess a cotton cloak?" Seeing their lazy appearance, Lülan was furious.

"Oh, I say, Miss Lülan, isn't that the princess's favorite? How could we possibly be considered her?" Caifeng was a little older, and as soon as she came in, she could tell that Gengshi was an introverted person. Seeing that she was not favored by the Fourth Prince, she regarded Gengshi as the one who disregarded her the most among the three.