As the end of the twelfth lunar month approached, the mornings in the capital grew increasingly cold. The curtain was lifted, and she quickly entered the Shousong Hall. The journey was short, but the cold wind whistled through the downy hair on her neck, and the biting chill made her shiver uncontrollably.

The warmth greeted her, and Li Shiyue took off her cloak to go to meet her. Upon seeing the old lady Xu on the warm couch, she smiled sweetly and called out, "Grandmother."

As she approached, Old Madam Xu reached out and pulled her to sit beside her. Only then did she notice that Li Shiyue's earlobes were red from the cold. Touching her small hands, she found they were cold.

"Oh dear, you've gotten so cold. Granny Chang, quickly go and warm a hand warmer."

Li Shiyue let Old Madam Xu hold her hands in her palms and rub them together repeatedly, which warmed her hands slightly. However, compared to the warmth in Old Madam Xu's hands, it was insignificant.

"I brought a hand warmer, but it's too cold today, and the hand warmer has gone cold."

Li Shiyue smiled and snuggled close to Madam Xu: "Grandmother, don't worry. Because I'm afraid of the cold, my aunt had a lot of charcoal delivered yesterday, afraid that I would get cold."

"This morning when I went out, even though I was wearing enough clothes, the wind made it feel like I wasn't wearing anything at all."

Madam Xu's palms were very warm, and she always had the demeanor of a kind and dignified elder.

She wore only a crimson jacket with light silver crane patterns and a cross-front design, and held a handkerchief in her hand. Her graying hair was all tied up, and a gold hairpin inlaid with turquoise was pinned to her bun.

Perhaps because he was in good spirits today, his casual attire looked unusually comfortable.

“Indeed, it’s unusually cold in the capital this year. With the end of the year approaching, the weather has been nice these past few days, and the streets are quite lively. When you have time, you can go out of the manor with Sixth Sister and the others to take a look.”

"Buy whatever you like, and your grandmother will pay for it."

Madam Xu clearly treated her like a child, but Li Shiyue didn't point it out. She smiled and hugged Madam Xu's arm, saying sweetly, "Then Grandmother has made a promise, no going back on your word."

Madam Xu was in a very good mood: "I won't go back on my word. It depends on what you've decided you want."

"No, I'm just curious because my sixth cousin said the capital is a prosperous city."

Li Shiyue looked up and saw that Old Madam Xu's complexion was rosy, and said, "Grandmother."

Madam Xu's smile faded: "You've been holding back for so long, and now you can't take it anymore?"

When Madam Xu revealed Li Shiyue's thoughts, her cheeks flushed red, and she felt a burning heat.

"You already know what I'm going to say."

Madam Xu chuckled. How could she not see it? She was well over fifty; she'd seen all sorts of people.

A sixteen-year-old girl like her has all her thoughts hidden in her eyes. Unless one is a deep-thinking person, an older person can easily discover these subtle details if they pay close attention.

Without waiting for Madam Xu's instructions, with just a glance, Granny Chang led a group of maids away.

In the east room, only the grandfather and grandson sat on a heated couch. The charcoal fire inside was burning brightly, and sitting there for a long time made them feel warm.

"That day, when I entered the palace with my cousin, the Emperor seemed very surprised to see me, as if he were looking at someone through me."

"Even if it's just for my older cousin's sake, as a newcomer, any reward I receive would be a blessing from heaven."

Madam Xu's gaze was calm: "Thunder and rain are indeed blessings from heaven. But as the adopted daughter of an official, a princess, are you really not tempted?"

Li Shiyue shook her head, her eyelashes trembling slightly: "The adopted daughter of an official, a princess, with wealth and honor right before her eyes. How could she not be moved by the seven emotions and six desires?"

Madam Xu was quite surprised by her answer. Normally, most young women would be reserved and say they were not interested, so such a straightforward answer was unexpected.

Even a sixteen-year-old girl, who understands that human emotions and desires are inevitable in life, rarely truly grasps the reality.

But then Li Shiyue said, "But what skills do I have that would make me worthy of this?"

"So when I returned to the Emperor that day, I had neither contributed to the country nor had any outstanding qualities. I felt I could not bear such a great imperial favor. My cousin also used former officials and censors to block it for me."

"But I don't understand. Looking around the capital, there are more than just the Rongguo Duke's family among the officials, and the Xu family isn't the only one with ability. As a cousin of the Duke's family, I'm new here. Why should I be treated like this?"

“My uncles and cousins ​​worked hard for the emperor in the court, and the empress managed the inner palace with all her heart. This is their achievement. What does it have to do with me? Grandmother, I have thought about this over and over again, and I really can’t understand it.”

Throughout history, even when daughters of noble families were exceptionally granted titles of nobility, the highest rank they ever achieved was a county princess, or a county noblewoman, or a township noblewoman, and so on. But those examples were tied to family honor. She was just a cousin living with her maternal grandparents; could it be that the emperor was only considering her because of the increasingly declining Yunyang Earl's Mansion?

If word gets out, some people might think she's gone mad.

Madam Xu was surprised, but pleased that Li Shiyue remained calm and composed, and was not blinded by the wealth before her.

"If what the Emperor says is true, it's because he finds you attractive and wants to keep Princess Chunhui company."

Li Shiyue paused for a moment and then shook her head: "If we're talking about praising the Xu family, my sixth cousin and the Empress are sisters with the same mother. I am just a cousin, but this is the first time I've met the Empress."

"To elevate the Xu family to the point of elevating a mere cousin who has just entered the household is to place the Xu family on a pedestal too high."

"Even if I were to accompany Princess Chunhui, Her Highness would be accompanied by noble ladies. This is my first time meeting the princess, so there's no need for that."

Madam Xu smiled faintly, feeling quite comfortable as she listened to Li Shiyue's words.

She wasn't mistaken. Jiaojiao, though seemingly childlike, could analyze problems with such composure and rationality when serious. Ordinary people, faced with immense wealth, would only think about how to seize it, without considering whether they actually had the ability.

"The Emperor and your mother knew each other before."

Li Shiyue was shocked; she had never known about this in her previous life.

But then Old Madam Xu said slowly, "When your maternal grandfather was young, he followed the late emperor and rose to the position of prime minister. The Rongguo Duke's Mansion became famous, and this was the beginning of his wealth and honor."

“Your mother was the only daughter born to your maternal grandfather and me. Since the late emperor had no princesses, he selected four girls from the Xu family and other noble families at the time and sent them to the Kunning Palace.”

"Your mother lived in Kunning Palace for about half a year, and that's when she met the Emperor. At that time, the Emperor's mother, Empress Mingyu, was the Crown Princess whom the Emperor favored, who is now the late Empress Minghui."

"At that time, the Emperor was the Crown Prince. He couldn't go against Empress Mingyu's wishes. He was young and spirited, and very stubborn. Your mother also didn't want to go to the capital. Your maternal grandfather and I were worried that if we left your mother in the capital under the Emperor's nose, there might be some trouble. So, among the suitors at that time, we chose your father."

Speaking of this son-in-law, Madam Xu sighed deeply, closed her eyes, and regretted in her heart: "But I didn't know your father was that kind of person back then. If I had known, if I had known, I would never have agreed."

When Madam Xu opened her eyes, the regret and heartache in her eyes fell on Li Shiyue: "You made the wrong decision. Your mother married the wrong person. You two have suffered so much."