Caixia straightened Shilan's clothes, took her hand, and led her to the warm pavilion.
At this moment, the imperial concubine had finished admiring the painting, and the two were leisurely playing chess.
Shi Lan ran over, glanced down at it twice, and walked away uninterested.
Yu Xia quickly served ginger tea and watched as Shi Lan drank it while it was still hot.
After placing a piece on the board, the Imperial Concubine turned around and asked Yuxia to bring over the jujube paste pastries and honey glutinous rice cakes that she had previously instructed Shilan to eat with them.
Yuxia glanced at the sky and figured it should be ready by now, so she quickly went to the small kitchen to get it.
After playing all morning, Shi Lan sat happily on the warm kang (heated brick bed), drinking hot ginger tea and enjoying sweet snacks, watching the Imperial Concubine play chess with great relish.
In the afternoon, the sunlight melted some of the snow in the courtyard, and as the palace lanterns were lit in the evening, snowflakes began to fall lightly from the sky again.
After dinner, the Imperial Concubine was worried that Shi Lan was still chilled, so she played with the two of them on the kang (heated brick bed) for a while. She was relieved to see that they were both sweating.
Back in the side hall, just as Shi Lan was about to go to sleep, Pan Jinxuan tiptoed over and asked Shi Lan what she had been doing outside that morning.
Shi Lan opened her eyes wide and looked at Pan Jinxuan, who always seemed like a little adult.
Pan Jinxuan was a little embarrassed and muttered under her breath, "If you don't want to say it, then forget it," before turning and leaving.
Shi Lan was only surprised for a moment. When she saw that Shi Lan was about to leave, she quickly grabbed her and told her about the snowball fight and her encounter with Zhang Erniang.
Pan Jinxuan was a little envious when she heard about the snowball fight, but she was immediately drawn to Zhang Erniang and asked Shi Lan, "Is that the Zhang Erniang who is known for her talent?"
Shi Lan blinked and shook her head, saying she didn't know.
Pan Jinxuan then asked Zhang Erniang where she was from, how old she was, and so on.
Shi Lan then briefly recounted what she had heard from Cai Xia.
Pan Jinxuan nodded and said affirmatively, "That's right, it's her."
Shi Lan smacked her lips, clearly unimpressed by Pan Jinxuan's obvious admiration.
Even a talented woman is human; when it comes to a snowball fight, she's no match for her.
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