On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, Qingyan and Hutulifengsheng Zhalafen were even busier. The mother and daughter had finished all the preparations for the porridge and began to prepare things for the New Year.
Inside the study, the mother and daughter began to work together. Yiken was handling business matters in the south. Qingyan looked up and saw the twins' serious expressions, a smile appearing on her face.
"Mother, I'm going to the study tomorrow. If anything else comes up, I'll have to ask you to handle it!" Yiken'e knew that with the end of the year approaching, business matters were piling up, and some projects that were planned to start after the Spring Festival needed to be decided now.
"Your task is to study hard!" Yin lifted the curtain and walked in. He heard Yiken'e's words and, although he was very happy, he did not show it.
A faint smile appeared in Qingyan's almond-shaped eyes. There was little she could do to help, but she didn't say it outright, hoping the two children would try their best.
"Yes, Father!" Yiken stuck out his tongue and said this, only to be caught red-handed by Yin.
"Has everything been taken care of?" Yin asked Qingyan. "You'll be staying at Hongluo Temple. Yiken'e, Hutulifengshengzhalafen, you'll be staying at Changchun Garden. Father and Mother won't be able to return until after the Laba Festival!"
As the words fell, the twins' eyes revealed their reluctance to part, and Hutu Lifengsheng Zhalafen hoped to go with her father and mother.
"There are a lot of worshippers at Hongluo Temple this year, it's not safe for you to go out!" Yin resolutely rejected his daughter's wish.
Hutuli Fengsheng Zhalafen pouted and said, "Father, I understand!"
After the family of four had dinner, they began to pack their things separately. Erlu personally delivered the twins to Kangxi's courtyard before returning to report.
Qingyan sat with Yin in the hall, discussing the arrangements for Laba Festival. It was her first time participating in the Laba Festival pilgrimage at Hongluo Temple, so she was very excited.
"Sisi, are we going to stay in the vegetarian room?" Qingyan didn't want to eat vegetarian food.
"No, we have a villa at the foot of Hongluo Temple Mountain. We can stay there!" Yin shook his head directly. The villa was rarely used. Every time they went to offer incense, they would stay overnight.
Upon hearing this, Qingyan began to plan what to do in the next few days. They would be going to offer incense on the Laba Festival, and they would be staying there for three days.
"Fourth Sister, is it lively over there these days?" Since returning from her southern tour, Qingyan has been staying at the Yuanmingyuan. She has already explored Changchun Garden and the shopping streets of the Yuanmingyuan. She would be very happy to go out for some fresh air.
“It’s very lively. After entering the twelfth lunar month, everyone has already taken a break, so the neighboring people want to take this opportunity to earn some extra money!” Yin nodded.
Qingyan clasped her hands together and asked, "When shall we set off?"
An hour later, several carriages drove out of the Yuanmingyuan. Qingyan leaned on Yin's shoulder and looked at the dark night sky outside. Since they were in the carriage, they could only use hot water bottles to keep warm.
Yin was worried that Qingyan would be cold, so he specially asked Sulan to prepare a warm quilt and put several hot water bottles at the four corners of the quilt to make it warm.
"Fourth Brother, let's sit together under the covers!" Qingyan felt a little dazed. She tilted her head and saw that Yin was still sitting cross-legged by the kang table, looking at the memorials.
There wasn't a single hot water bottle inside his sable cloak.
As she spoke, she lifted her blanket. Yin was about to refuse when he noticed her determined look in her eyes.
"Hurry up and cover yourself with the blanket. It's so cold; you'll get cold if you stay like this." Yin's disapproving look didn't deter Qingyan.
Yin moved inside the blankets and let her nestle obediently in his arms.
After a while, Qingyan's breathing gradually calmed down, and Yin also felt his eyelids getting heavy, so he simply put down the memorial and the two of them slept together in the carriage.
It takes several hours to travel from Prince Yong's residence to Hongluo Temple. Yin deliberately chose to go out at night, and the caravan arrived at dawn.
Qingyan shrank her small body. It was not as comfortable in the carriage as at home. In the mansion, the floor heating was on in every hall, for fear that Qingyan and the three young masters would get cold.
As dawn approached, Yinxian woke up and heard the carriage still moving slowly, realizing that they must have stopped traveling when they rested.
“Su Peisheng!” Yin’s hoarse voice came through.
"Master, we camped out last night and have only traveled halfway!" Su Peisheng became nervous. This time, the camping out was not Qing Shiyin's doing at all.
"Hmm!" Yin hummed in response, then looked at Qingyan and drifted off to sleep again.
When the sun was high in the sky, Qingyan woke up from Yin's embrace and found Yin tilting his head, looking at her sleeping face.
"Sisi, why are you up so early?" Qingyan asked curiously.
"It's getting late, it's almost eleven o'clock!" When Yin turned his head, he saw the clock on the bedside table.
Upon hearing this, Qingyan quickly sat up and called out to Sulan and Suzhu repeatedly.
After the two got into the carriage, they helped Qingyan wash and dress before she sat down at the kang table.
On the kang table, breakfast purchased from outside was laid out. Every time they went out, Yin and Qingyan had an agreement that if they could have breakfast outside, they wouldn't have to ask the people in the mansion to make it.
"Master, these soup dumplings are really authentic, much better than the ones in our manor!" Qingyan ate the soup dumplings, feeling the warm soup filling make her feel very cozy.
A smile bloomed on Yin's lips; as long as she was happy.
"Will you use it again next time?" Yin liked watching Qingyan eat. She was nothing like other women who could control their food intake in front of their husbands.
"Of course, it looks delicious to me. If possible, it would be even better if I could learn how to make it!" Qingyan said shyly.
Each shop has its own unique characteristics, so sending someone over to learn them wouldn't work, and Master Qingyan didn't think it mattered.
After the two had breakfast, the carriage was already close to the villa of Hongluo Temple. Yin held Qingyan's small hand, and the two looked out the window together.
"Let's rest for a bit first, and we'll start our tour tomorrow!" Yin was worried about the Laba porridge that Qingyan was managing. She rarely interacted with the people from the Imperial Household Department, so it was understandable that she didn't know which servants were causing trouble.
"Really?!" Qingyan exclaimed in surprise.
She thought she would have to waste a lot of time and effort to get Yin to agree.
Every time Qingyan left the mansion, she had to bring a lot of people with her; otherwise, Yin would definitely not have allowed her to come out.
"Of course, I keep my word!" Yin promised.
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