After sending Ouyang Yi off, Xie Zhen felt that the whole mansion was quiet.

  She had her servants put everything in the Pavilion Changqing back, cleaning up inside and outside of the courtyard, cleaning up all traces of Ouyang Yi’s residence before letting it go.

  When Yan Yu returned from the palace, she was instructing her servants to throw away all the tables and chairs Ouyang Yi had used and replace them with new ones.

  She stood in the courtyard of the Pavilion Changqing, looking so adorable even when she was bossing around.

  Liu Lan carried the bedding and pillow that Ouyang Yi had used before and walked out. She asked, “Empress, do you still keep these things?”


  She righteously asked, “Do you want to keep it for the new year?”


  When she turned her head and saw Yan Yu looking at her meaningfully, she blushed and ran to him, “I threw away all the things that Ouyang Yi used. Are you angry?”


  He lowered his eyes and did not find it strange at all. “Why am I angry?”


  “Because it costs a lot of money to buy things back,” she said.

  That miser’s small appearance made him feel that it was funny.

  Ignoring the servants, Yan Yu pinched her face, “Do I look poor?”


  She giggled, covered her face and took a step back. “Not poor.”


  Little bastard.

  Yan Yu stared at her. Suddenly, he stepped forward, grabbed her hand, and led her out of the Pavilion Changqing. On the way back to the Haoyue Courtyard, he said, “In the future, everything in the mansion will belong to you. You can buy whatever you want.”


  There were many servants on the road, but when they saw them, they curtsied.

  “So good?”


  He looked back at her helplessly, perhaps thinking she was uninterested. “Do I usually treat you badly?”


  She nodded without thinking. “Of course not, but it’s so bad.”


  This was especially for the times she had just married into. Just thinking about it made her feel very wronged. At that time, she only felt that she had fallen into a wolf’s nest. She didn’t have any chance to escape, and didn’t even have the confidence to speak. She was like a little daughter-in-law. She didn’t know how he got better… Their relationship had changed since she’d returned home.

  Yan Yu wanted to retort, but after thinking for a moment, he realized that it was indeed the case.

  He walked in front and made a sound of apology.

  He said something else, but she didn’t catch it. She chased him and asked what he had said, but he wouldn’t say it a second time.

  He kept his mouth shut, no matter what she said.

  As they walked, it suddenly started snowing. It seemed to be snowing all the time this winter, and snow showed the rich of next year, There would be definitely a good harvest in the fields next year. Yan Yu went back to the room and brought her a cloak to wrap around her. He didn’t let the servants follow them as he led her to the backyard.

  The lake in the backyard was covered in a thick layer of ice. Standing at the heart of the lake, one could see most of the scenery in the mansion.

  “What did you bring me here for?” Xie Zhen said with her red nose because of the cold.

  He and she stood in the pavilion, where a stove and a pot of warm wine had been prepared in advance. He led her to a seat and placed the stove on the table in her arms. “Nothing.”


  He suddenly wanted to be alone with her.

  No matter how he thought about it, this was the most suitable place.

  She looked at him strangely, and though suspicious, she said nothing. Seeing that there was only wine on the table, she poured a cup for each of them, “What kind of wine is this?”


  “Old Shao Xing.”


  As Yan Yu was speaking she was going to have a drink, but the girl had probably forgotten that she was a bad drinker, and he didn’t expect her because she might get drunk with a glass of wine. He wanted to stop her, but seeing her eager face, he thought that it would be just the two of them anyway. She could drink if she wanted to, at most she would get drunk and he would just carry her back.

  So he allowed her to drink half a glass.

  As the warm wine entered her stomach, she felt much warmer. She held the stove and tilted her head, saying, “It’s the new year soon.”


  She used to spend the New Year with her parents in Qingzhou. This year, she came to the capital with the Duke of Dingguo’s family. However, after marrying Yan Yu, she should attend the palace’s banquet.

  Yan Yu rested his chin on his hands, admiring her wobbly figuer. “What gift do you want for New Year’s?”


  She felt dizzy. Everything she saw was a double image. She barely muster up her spirit to think about it. All that was left in her mind was this thought: “Kite …”


  As soon as she finished speaking, she fell into Yan Yu’s arms.

  He caught her in his arms and looked down at her red cheeks. He couldn’t help touch it with fingers, and then he curled his thin lips into a brief smile. “You really don’t have any requests.”


  He wanted to prepare a gift for her, but who knew that she only wanted a kite.

  In the distance, the bright, misty white, snowflakes from the sky one after another came down, outlined the world of wrapped in silver. Nearer, he embraced her, wrapped her in his cloak, and smiled with his handsome face, lightening the coldness of his brow. He lowered his head at last, and pressed it to her lips.

  She had asked him what he had said, but it wasn’t a big deal.

  Didn’t she say that he had been bad to her before? Then he would be good to her in the future.

  On New Year’s Day, Emperor Yuan Huai set up a family banquet in Lin De Palace. No officials were invited to the banquet, only heirs of the royal family were invited.

  Xie Zhen was able to meet the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince and other princes she had never met before, as well as their princesses and other concubines. There were no outsiders at the feast. Emperor Yuan Huai seemed to be in a good mood, and he could not help but drink with the crown prince and the other princes. He sat beside Yan Yu, with the Seventh Prince on his right. Senenth Prince was not married, but was very enthusiastic, calling Xie Zhen “Sixth Sister-in-Law” all the time.

  Someone came to toast her, but Yan Yu prevented from doing so.

  Some of them were unstoppable, so he drank them for her.

  Seeing this, the First Prince could not help but laugh. “I usually look at Sixth’s cold, but I never expected him to be so protective.”


  Yan Yu did not retort.

  After the family feast, Emperor Yuan Huai led the group to the Taiye Lake to look at the fireworks. The horizon suddenly lit up, and the fireworks began to blaze. Most of it was the fireworks Yan Yu had prepared for her, so she saw it without much enthusiasm. But she was still in a good mood.

  After that, the people who did not have mansion outside the palace accompany Emperor Yuan Huai. To the people who had mansion outside the palace, If they wanted to go back, they could do so. Yan Yu, of course, chose to go back. He didn’t show any courtesy to the emperor and brought Xie Zhen back to his own house.

  On the way back, she asked with puzzle, “Why don’t you let me drink?”


  Actually, she wanted to ask in the palace, but she couldn’t find the right opportunity. She thought it would be all right if she had a drink or two, but Yan Yu wouldn’t even let her touch them.

  Yan Yu was drunk by the princes and smelled of alcohol. He closed his eyes and said, “You will get drunk.”


  “I’ve never been drunk!”


  That’s because she never remembers when she’s drunk?

  Yan Yu opened his eyes and looked at her, a smile in his eyes. It was probably because he had just drunk a cup of wine. His eyes were not as cold as usual, only filled with lingering feelings. Seeing this, Xie Zhen’s face turned red. She immediately gave up and sat back, unwilling to give up, she said, “All right.”


  C79part2