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"I'm staying for a few days," Li Shan replied. She was going stir-crazy being confined to her quarters at the Wen'an Marquis Mansion every day. Now that she had a chance to get out, she was reluctant to return.

"What kind of talk is this? Who ever heard of a married daughter staying at her parents' home for an extended period during the New Year?" Aunt Wang disapproved.

"Mother doesn't object, so why are you?" Li Shan was displeased with Aunt Wang's attitude.

"The lady of the house simply can't be bothered with you," Aunt Wang could see clearly that Mrs. Lu was weary of Li Shan.

"Aren't you tired of this? You're always criticizing me," Li Shan disliked how Aunt Wang would lecture her every time they met.

"If you were half as obedient as Yao'er, I wouldn't have to nag you or criticize you," Aunt Wang didn't enjoy having to reprimand Li Shan every time they met either.

Aunt Wang's constant comparisons to Li Yao angered Li Shan. She slammed down her teacup forcefully, "You're always going on about Yao'er, I know I'm not as good as him. Why did you even give birth to me? You should have just strangled me at birth!" With that, Li Shan turned and stormed into the inner room.

Aunt Wang stared at the shattered teacup and collapsed into a chair, unable to comprehend how Li Shan had become like this.

Upon returning to the Orchid Courtyard, Li Xia noticed a box on the table. She approached and opened it to find pea paste sweets inside. A few days ago, she had written to Lu XuanNing about eating pea paste sweets during the New Year visits.

To her surprise, Lu XuanNing had already sent someone to deliver the sweets. She picked up a piece and savored it carefully. The delicate texture and sweet flavor made Li Xia feel it was ten times more delicious than when she first tasted it.

After eating two pieces, she stopped. She ground some ink, intending to write a letter to Lu XuanNing. After writing just two characters, she put down the brush.

That night, Li Xia went to the Mansion of Marquis of Pacifying the South and arrived at Lu XuanNing's window. She found that Lu XuanNing had already opened the window, waiting for her arrival.

"You guessed I would come," Li Xia said as she entered the room.

Lu XuanNing closed the window and poured hot tea for Li Xia, offering it to her to warm up.

Lu XuanNing smiled without mentioning that every night before bed, he would open the window and wait for a certain someone to arrive.

"The pea paste sweets were delicious. I really liked them. But please don't send any more in the future. The sweets from the confectionery shop are very expensive," Li Xia said, concerned about Lu XuanNing spending too much money. The pea paste sweets currently sold at Beauty Bliss Shop cost 10 taels of silver per box.

"His Majesty rewarded me with a hot spring estate. We've planted some peas near the hot springs," Lu XuanNing explained. His leg injury caused him pain during cold and rainy weather, so the Emperor had specially granted him a hot spring estate to soak in the thermal waters and alleviate the cold.

Li Xia looked at Lu XuanNing's leg, "The weather has been cold and damp these past few days. Does your leg hurt?"

"Chang You and Zhou Heng have developed a new remedy. It doesn't hurt anymore," Lu XuanNing claimed it didn't hurt, but in reality, it still did. He had always been able to endure pain and didn't want Li Xia to worry about him.

"You know Chang You and Zhou Heng wouldn't dare keep things from me," Li Xia gave him a look that said 'confess and I'll be lenient'.

Lu XuanNing took Li Xia's hand, "When you're by my side, it doesn't hurt."

Li Xia allowed him to hold her hand as Lu XuanNing recounted amusing stories from past New Year celebrations. Li Xia listened with great interest. It wasn't until Lu XuanNing began to feel drowsy that Li Xia let go of his hand, telling him to rest while she needed to return home.

Lu XuanNing saw Li Xia off, watching her retreating figure. He truly wished he could marry Li Xia soon and have her by his side always.

Having slept late and risen early, Li Xia couldn't help but yawn at the breakfast table.

"Xia Xia, what's wrong?" Li Xin looked at Li Xia with concern.

"I had a dream last night and didn't sleep well," Li Xia said, yawning again.

"What did you dream about?" Li Xin placed a meat bun in front of Li Xia.

Li Xia took a bite, "I can't remember. I just feel quite tired."

"After breakfast, go back and get some more sleep," Li Xin suggested, seeing Li Xia yawn repeatedly.

"Mm, thank you, sister," Li Xia replied. Although it was the New Year, there were still many matters to attend to in the household. Li Xin and Li Xia couldn't rest, having to listen to the steward's reports every day.

After breakfast, Li Xin dealt with household affairs while Li Xia returned to the Orchid Courtyard to catch up on sleep. She slept until noon and woke up feeling refreshed. After lunch and a short rest, she went to chat with Li Xin.

Li Xin had finished dealing with matters in the morning and had no more to handle in the afternoon. The two sat by the window, talking.

Li Xin mentioned the incident of Li Shan breaking the tea set, her tone tinged with displeasure, "I've never seen anything like it, coming back to her parents' home and breaking tea sets every day."

"Next time she comes, prepare a set of wooden tea utensils for her to use," Li Xia suggested, also disliking Li Shan's habit of carelessly breaking things.

Hearing Li Xia's suggestion, Li Xin's anger dissipated instantly, and she burst out laughing, "That's not a bad idea."

On the fifth day of the New Year, Li Xia visited the Wang family. Wang Dong was out visiting friends and not at home. Xu Xinyue told Li Xia she had made a set of spring clothes for her.

Upon hearing about clothes, Li Xia recalled the previous pink winter outfit and her face showed a helpless expression. Seeing this, Xu Xinyue laughed, "Don't worry, it's not pink. It's your favorite color."

Qiu Ju brought out the spring outfit Xu Xinyue had made. It was a light green ensemble with lake blue trim.

"I'll go try it on," Li Xia said, willingly taking the clothes to change. She quickly emerged to show Xu Xinyue. The fresh colors of the outfit made Li Xia's skin appear even more fair and delicate.

"How is it?" Li Xia asked, twirling to let Xu Xinyue see the full effect.

"Beautiful. Xia'er looks good in anything," Xu Xinyue was very pleased with how the outfit looked on Li Xia.

"Yes, young miss looks absolutely gorgeous," Qiu Ju chimed in with praise.

"Xia'er, quickly change back. It's cold, don't catch a chill," Xu Xinyue urged Li Xia to change back into her winter clothes after seeing the effect.

Li Xia went behind the screen to change back into her winter outfit, then sat beside Xu Xinyue. She recounted in detail where Mrs. Lu had taken her to pay New Year visits, as well as how Mrs. Lu had allowed her to manage the household. She wanted Xu Xinyue to know that she was doing well and not to worry.

Xu Xinyue listened attentively to Li Xia's account. When she heard that Mrs. Lu had praised Li Xia for managing the household well, a gratified smile appeared on her face. "The lady is the person I'm most grateful to in this life. Xia'er, you must listen well to what she says."

"I always listen to Mother," Li Xia said, but Xu Xinyue, who knew her well, didn't entirely believe it.

Upon returning home, Li Xia went to the Wild Goose Pavilion to pay her respects to Mrs. Lu. Mrs. Lu inquired about Xu Xinyue's situation, and upon learning that all was well, nodded and told Li Xia to go rest.

Back in the Orchid Courtyard, Li Xia had just sat down when Qiu Kui entered.

"Young miss, Cuihong says the third young miss has been in contact with people from Prince Yun's Mansion. She doesn't know the details," Qiu Kui reported. Due to her facial injury, Li Shan didn't like to have Cuihong serve her closely.

"Give her this scar removal cream," Li Xia handed a box of scar removal cream to Qiu Kui.

Qiu Kui took the medicine box, went back and replaced it with a plain medicine box, then gave it to Cuihong. Cuihong accepted it with joy; she had applied this cream to her face yesterday and it already seemed lighter.

"Sister Qiu Kui, I'll definitely take care of what you've asked me to do," Cuihong said, clutching the medicine box gratefully.

"Your safety is important, don't take risks," Qiu Kui said softly.

"Sister Qiu Kui, I truly envy that you have such a good master," Cuihong said, unlike her who had encountered a master with unpredictable moods who loved to hit people.