"What's past is past, why bring it up again, Sister Yin? Since this cat has been with you, it must be tame by now. It wouldn't be right for you to give it away. Cats are the most intelligent animals; they don't easily change owners. Sister Yin, you should take good care of it." Lanqin naturally wouldn't accept anything from Madam Yin. Although she wasn't the type to hold grudges, she was no longer without reservations about Madam Yin's return to power. Since Madam Yin had allied herself with the Fujin (the wife of the deceased), she naturally wouldn't be truly friendly towards her.

“Sister is absolutely right. I was being foolish. Sister is pregnant now and it’s not appropriate for you to be around cats and dogs. Come on, Mimi, come back with me.” Madam Yin smiled slightly, bent down, and picked up the black cat from the ground.

The black cat was lying comfortably on the ground, but when it was suddenly picked up, it was clearly not happy. It squirmed a little in Yin's arms, and only settled down when it smelled the familiar scent.

"Sister, please sit a little longer. I'll head back now." Madam Yin gave Lanqin a polite bow.

Lanqin didn't take it too seriously and naturally returned the greeting.

Madam Yin walked slowly, carrying the cat, her smile gradually fading. Ye Ying followed behind, saying, "This little thing, so it came here to be fed before going back. No wonder it wouldn't eat when I offered it to it."

Wow~~

Before Ye Ying could finish speaking, the black cat let out a miserable cry, suddenly jumped out of Yin's arms, ran to the ground, and hid in the bushes.

"You ungrateful, hairy beast!" Madam Yin cursed, a noticeable scratch now on her hand, clearly from the cat.

"Oh dear, the back of your hand!!" Ye Ying exclaimed in surprise when she saw several thin red lines on Yin Shi's snow-white arm.

"It's nothing, just a little disturbance. Night Poppy, go find it and bring it back." Madam Yin's anger seemed to have lasted only a moment, and she had returned to a calm demeanor.

"Princess, wait a moment, I'll go look for it in the bushes." Seeing that Madam Yin didn't seem to care, Ye Ying had no choice but to go into the bushes to look for the cat.

After looking around, Madam Yin turned onto a side path and walked to a rockery, hoping to find a place to rest.

The Fourth Prince's residence is actually quite similar to the Grand View Garden. The spaces between the courtyards are all garden-like landscapes, with various trees and flowers everywhere, stone bridges and flowing water, pavilions and waterside terraces, rockeries and green bamboos. Being there is like being in a poem or painting.

Madam Yin found a protruding, flat rock and slowly sat down. The place was an inner pond with an artificial hill in the center, and narrow walkways around the edges.

Suddenly, a low sobbing sound came from the other side of the artificial hill.

Ms. Yin was sitting on the rockery, stepping on the busy ants on the ground with the bottom of a flowerpot, when she suddenly heard this faint sobbing sound. After listening carefully for a while, she was sure that someone was inside the rockery.

Madam Yin slowly stood up from the rock and followed the sound inside. The artificial hill was hollowed out, so the light was naturally much dimmer than outside. Because Madam Yin was confined to her quarters and her candles were rationed, she often didn't light any lamps in her room, so her eyes adapted to the dark much faster than most people.

A small figure sat on a rock inside the artificial hill.

"Are you the Third Prince?" Lady Yin asked, looking at the figure.

The Third Prince's thin shoulders were heaving; he was clearly still crying. Suddenly, someone spoke up behind him. Before he could wipe away his tears, he turned around and saw a woman he didn't recognize.

Seeing the Third Prince's face still streaked with tears, Lady Yin said softly, "Third Prince, is something wrong? Tell me, and perhaps I can help you."

The Third Prince stood up, intending to run out immediately, but was stopped by Madam Yin. He was only a child under seven years old, and Madam Yin had anticipated that he would want to leave, so she ran over as soon as she saw him get up.

“Third Prince, if you run out like this, the servants might see you and report it to your father,” said Madam Yin.

Sure enough, these words had an effect, and a hint of fear flashed across the Third Prince's face.

"Who are you?" The Third Prince raised his sleeve to wipe his nose and asked, staring at the unfamiliar woman in front of him.

“I am your father’s daughter, and I live in the west courtyard. You can call me Aunt Yin.” Madam Yin touched the handkerchief on her chest and wiped away the tears of the Third Prince.

Perhaps it had been a long time since anyone had treated him like this, and the Third Prince was slightly stunned, but at least he stopped crying.

"Who bullied you? Third Prince, why are you hiding here crying? Tell me, don't be afraid, your aunt will teach him a lesson!" Seeing that the Third Prince was not opposed, Madam Yin quickly wiped the tears off his face.

"No, Aunt Yin, don't tell Father. No one bullied me!" the Third Prince said anxiously.

Madam Yin smiled slightly and quickly said, "Alright, alright, I won't tell. But can you tell me why you're hiding here crying?"

The Third Prince stared at Lady Yin for a while, then lowered his head and whispered, "I just miss my mother."

A hint of pity flashed in Madam Yin's eyes as she pulled the Third Prince to sit on the rock where he had just been sitting.

"Third Prince, you still have your stepmother, your father, and many other people who care about you. If you miss your stepmother in the future, you can go visit Aunt Yin. I have a cute little cat there that can keep you company." Aunt Yin and Aunt Li had no personal grudges, but she knew about Aunt Li's fate.

"I... I'm afraid Father won't allow it," the Third Prince said, still keeping his head down. He was currently living in the front courtyard.

“Then you can just sneak over here occasionally. Your father has so many things to do, he’s often in the south courtyard, I don’t know where you’ve been,” Madam Yin said.

The Third Prince looked into Lady Yin's beautiful eyes and, recalling how gently and meticulously she had wiped away his tears just now, nodded involuntarily.

The two chatted about the kittens for a while longer in the rockery until Madam Yin heard Ye Ying calling her. Only then did she get up and say to the Third Prince, "Your aunt is leaving now. Can you go back to the front yard by yourself?"

The Third Prince was clearly no longer opposed to her, and nodded, saying, "I can go back. Aunt, you can go back now. Can Aunt bring that kitten here to play in the future?"

“Of course, let’s make a deal: every day at Shenshi (3-5 PM), after you finish class, come here and play with the kitten for a while,” Madam Yin said with a smile.

“Okay, I’ll come here after class.” The Third Prince nodded.

Lady Yin led the Third Prince out of the artificial cave. Ye Ying saw them coming out of the artificial mountain and quickly went to greet them.

Madam Yin said to Ye Ying, "You escort the Third Prince to the front gate of the courtyard, then go back. I can go back by myself."