A’Bao had stayed with her mother for several days, but now she missed her father again.

Father must have been very busy these past few days, as he hadn’t come to see her and Mother at all.

“Mother, shall we go to the Duke’s mansion? Father is busy during the day, but he’ll have time to spend with us in the evening.”

A’Bao came to the garden and found her mother swinging alone on the swing.

Hearing her daughter’s voice, Wei Rao withdrew from her thoughts. When she looked at her daughter, her eyes regained their usual sparkle, and she smiled gently, “Does A’Bao miss Father? Shall Mother take you there? The New Year is approaching, and Mother plans to go keep Old Madam company. Mother will return on the tenth day of the first month to make lanterns with A’Bao.”

In the previous two years, Wei Rao had spent the New Year this way—her daughter at the Duke’s mansion while she stayed at Leisure Manor.

A’Bao thought of Old Madam living alone at Leisure Manor and felt that Mother should indeed go keep Old Madam company for the New Year.

A’Bao still preferred celebrating New Year at the Duke’s mansion. The household would set off many, many firecrackers, and there were so many male cousins, plus Sixth Uncle and Seventh Uncle—it was tremendously fun.

A’Bao agreed to her mother’s arrangement.

Wei Rao sent people to escort her daughter while she boarded a carriage with several guards and left the city.

A’Bao arrived at the Duke’s mansion first. The young princess got down from the carriage and ran straight toward Song Yue Hall.

Lu Zhuo was in his study, practicing calligraphy.

Hearing his daughter’s sweet “Father” from the courtyard, Lu Zhuo paused his brush, slowly set it down, concealed the strange emotion in his eyes, and walked outside. Opening the study door, Lu Zhuo looked toward the corridor where his daughter was running toward him. Behind his daughter was only a nanny—no one else. Or perhaps, had she come and gone to pay respects to Grandmother first?

“Father, aren’t you busy today?” A’Bao threw herself at him.

Lu Zhuo picked up his daughter and smiled, “Busy. Father has many books to read; otherwise, I would have gone to fetch A’Bao.”

Hearing this, A’Bao pouted her little mouth.

Lu Zhuo consolingly rubbed the top of his daughter’s head, lowering his gaze as if casually mentioning, “Did A’Bao come by herself?”

A’Bao nodded, “Mm, Mother went to keep Old Madam company and will come fetch me on the tenth.”

Lu Zhuo smiled.

Only after A’Bao ran off to find her little companions did Lu Zhuo close the study door and cough up a mouthful of blood.

At Leisure Manor.

Wei Rao got out of the carriage but didn’t go see Old Madam, heading directly to her Swallow Garden instead.

“I want to be alone for a while,” she instructed Liu Ya in a low voice, then entered the inner chamber.

Liu Ya stood guard under the corridor eaves, secretly wiping tears with her handkerchief.

The princess was still young and couldn’t tell, but only she knew that since the Young Master returned, the Princess’s soul had left her body.

Shou’an Jun came upon hearing the news.

The current Shou’an Jun was nearly seventy years old and would celebrate her seventieth birthday this coming March.

At this age, Shou’an Jun hadn’t been thinking about birthday gifts, but with Lu Zhuo’s return, she felt she had already received her seventieth birthday present in advance—there could be no better gift than this.

Yet she waited and waited, but never saw the two young ones come to visit her together. Instead, she learned that her granddaughter and Lu Zhuo had not even met.

Shou’an Jun quickly guessed what the two children were being stubborn about.

She couldn’t very well go see Lu Zhuo, but Shou’an Jun wanted to counsel her granddaughter. Lu Zhuo wasn’t the type to hold grudges—he wouldn’t harbor resentment over her granddaughter’s recent matchmaking attempts.

Dismissing Liu Ya’s formalities, Shou’an Jun walked in alone. Just as she reached the inner chamber door, she heard suppressed sobbing from within.

Shou’an Jun’s heart ached.

Ever since Old Madam Wei passed away, Leisure Manor had become her granddaughter’s true natal home. Whatever grievances her granddaughter suffered outside, she could endure, but when she couldn’t bear it anymore, she would run here and have a good cry.

Was she crying because Lu Zhuo refused to come see her?

Shou’an Jun walked in, all the way to the bedside.

Wei Rao knew it was her grandmother. When Shou’an Jun sat down, Wei Rao buried her face in her grandmother’s lap.

Shou’an Jun gently smoothed her granddaughter’s tear-disheveled long hair, saying with heartache, “What use is crying? Go see him. Whether he resents you or forgives you, speaking clearly will spare you from tormenting yourself with wild thoughts.”

Wei Rao couldn’t speak, only shaking her head. After a long while, she suppressed the tumultuous emotions in her heart and said weakly, “If he won’t come find me, it proves he won’t forgive me. I waited for him for ten days, from morning to night, but he wouldn’t come.”

Every day, every moment was torment. Wei Rao couldn’t bear it anymore, so she’d rather hide at Leisure Manor, far away. Being distant meant she wouldn’t hold hope day and night, always thinking that in the next moment, someone would run over to tell her that the Young Master had come.

Wei Rao wasn’t afraid that Lu Zhuo wouldn’t forgive her—she had already lost him for three years. A few more years, even a lifetime, she could get used to.

It was just that Wei Rao needed some time. Once she completely accepted that Lu Zhuo would never come looking for her again, she could live well again, able to appear in the capital with a heart like still water when he was present.

“Silly child, how do you know he isn’t hoping for you to find him, that he isn’t sleepless because you refuse to go?” Shou’an Jun wiped the tears from Wei Rao’s face with her handkerchief, speaking gently.

Wei Rao closed her eyes. She just didn’t know, which was exactly why she wouldn’t go see him. With each empty day of waiting, Wei Rao became more certain of her guess—Lu Zhuo simply didn’t want to see her anymore.

“Please don’t say anymore. I’m just upset for the moment. I’ll stay with you for a few days and will be fine soon.” Wei Rao dependently leaned into her grandmother’s embrace. Relying on the person who loved her most in this world, somehow, after more than ten days of poor sleep, she felt drowsy.

Wei Rao fell asleep.

Shou’an Jun silently kept watch by the bedside, looking at Wei Rao’s pale, haggard face.

She had noticed as soon as she arrived that her granddaughter had lost weight. The last time they met, she had been like a peony in full bloom, but now she looked like she’d been battered by a sudden storm.

Looking at her, Shou’an Jun smiled.

Still too young—the more they loved, the more they worried about gain and loss. The more they worried about gain and loss, the more it proved their love was unforgettable.

Shou’an Jun didn’t believe these two could keep suppressing their feelings forever.

One side was dry kindling, the other a raging fire. Either they’d keep avoiding each other forever, or once they met, they couldn’t help but blaze sky-high.

During the half month at Leisure Manor, Wei Rao went horseback riding and hunting in Cloud Mist Mountain almost every day.

Winter prey was scarce, but there were always mountain rabbits and sparrows. Each time she returned from hunting, Wei Rao would bring back a horse’s load of game.

Perhaps having something to do helped—Wei Rao’s complexion gradually improved.

On the tenth day, Shou’an Jun helped her granddaughter onto her horse, smiling as if sending away a fierce deity, “You’d better leave quickly. If you stay any longer, all the birds and rabbits in Cloud Mist Mountain will go extinct.”

Wei Rao, dressed in red and mounted on her horse, merely said she’d return in March in response to Old Madam’s teasing, then spurred her horse and galloped away.

Shou’an Jun stood at the entrance of Leisure Manor, watching her granddaughter’s retreating figure grow more distant, then suddenly shook her head.

Nanny Liu smiled, “What is Old Madam thinking about?”

Shou’an Jun sighed, “Young people nowadays are getting better and better at holding their patience.”

Nanny Liu gazed at the Princess in the distance and remarked, “If they had only been apart for a year or so, perhaps they couldn’t bear it. But it’s been over three years now—what’s another month or two? Our Princess has always been one to respond to gentleness, not force. This old servant is curious to see whether the Young Master truly plans to abandon the Princess, or if he’s developed some remarkable skill at patient endurance.”

Wei Rao didn’t hear the two elders’ conversation. She rode against the cool wind back to the capital.

The winter sun was pale, so there was no fear of sunburn. Wei Rao wasn’t wearing a face veil, and as soon as she entered the city, she attracted the attention of passersby.

During this period, the common people had plenty to gossip about—they were all discussing Lu Zhuo’s return to the capital and the Princess’s intended remarriage.

The people still remembered all those incidents from years past when Lu Zhuo had pursued the Princess so persistently. Now that Lu Zhuo had returned, whether he planned to win the Princess back or had been so angered that he intended to marry another virtuous wife, the people were all waiting to see.

“Princess, the Young Master has been back for so long. Aren’t you going to see him?” someone called out teasingly.

Wei Rao glanced toward the voice and saw a forty-something woman tending a rouge stall. Wei Rao only smiled without answering.

As soon as Wei Rao returned to the Princess’s mansion, she immediately sent people to the Duke’s mansion to fetch her daughter.

A’Bao had nearly gone wild with fun during this New Year, though fortunately, she hadn’t reached the point of being too happy to think of her mother.

When people from the Princess’s mansion arrived, A’Bao went to find her father.

“Father, Mother has returned. I need to go back. Would Father like to come with me to see Mother?” A’Bao asked hopefully.

Lu Zhuo waved the book in his hand at his daughter, “Father hasn’t finished reading this book yet.”

A’Bao looked at the book, then at her handsome, smiling father, and suddenly asked, “Doesn’t Father miss Mother?”

Lu Zhuo was stunned.

A’Bao had already gotten her answer—Father simply didn’t miss Mother. Reading books was more important than seeing Mother.

“Doesn’t Father like Mother anymore?” A’Bao asked again.

Lu Zhuo’s throat tightened, unable to speak.

A’Bao looked at her father, thinking of the smiles he had shown guests these past days. Father could chat and laugh with various elders, could sit alone in his study reading for very long periods, but he had never once mentioned Mother. Little A’Bao suddenly understood something.

“If Father doesn’t like Mother, then I don’t like Father either. You can continue reading your book. I’m going to keep Mother company.”

A’Bao wiped her tears as she spoke, then ran off.

Lu Zhuo sat at his desk, motionless for a long time.

A’Bao returned to the Princess’s mansion and threw herself into her mother’s arms, crying hard as she complained that Father only cared about reading books and refused to come to keep Mother company.

Wei Rao understood the situation and smiled as she coaxed her daughter, “Don’t cry, A’Bao. Mother doesn’t need Father’s company. Mother caught many rabbits these past days and even brought back a nest of baby rabbits. Would A’Bao like to see them?”

A’Bao immediately forgot about her bad father and obediently followed her mother to see the rabbits.

A’Bao was a little girl who could easily become happy again. Wei Rao took her daughter into the palace once to pay New Year respects to Consort Gui and Fourth Prince, played in the palace for a day, then returned home, where Wei Rao began teaching her daughter to make lanterns.

A’Bao had learned some painting skills and earnestly drew on the lantern paper.

Wei Rao stood beside her and saw that her daughter had drawn a family of three—a couple holding hands with a small girl.

“Mother, will Father still come and find us?”

After finishing her drawing, A’Bao looked up and asked pitifully.

Wei Rao picked up her daughter, kissed her, and said, “Don’t worry, A’Bao. Father will come to find A’Bao. Father loves A’Bao the most.”

A’Bao knew Father loved her, but she felt sad for her mother, “Why doesn’t Father like Mother?”

Wei Rao thought for a moment, touched her daughter’s forehead, and smiled, “The reason is very complicated. When A’Bao grows up, she’ll understand.”

A’Bao pouted, then finally hugged her mother’s neck and huffed, “I don’t care. Mother is the best. If Father doesn’t like Mother, then I don’t like Father either.”

Wei Rao laughed, “That won’t do. Father is a great hero. A’Bao must be good to Father.”

A’Bao tilted her head, blinking her eyes, then thought of something else, “Does Mother still like Father?”

Wei Rao didn’t answer and continued helping her daughter make the lantern.

The lantern was finished just in time for the fifteenth day of the first month.

A’Bao loved going to the streets most of all. In the evening, mother and daughter ate dinner early, donned identical white fox-collared red cloaks, and set off in a carriage.

Reaching East Main Street, the carriage could hardly proceed, so mother and daughter got out.

Wei Rao held A’Bao’s hand while A’Bao carried a lantern they had made together. Because Father wouldn’t come, A’Bao hadn’t used the paper with the family of three drawing, instead redrawing one with just her and Mother. Since Father didn’t like Mother anymore, A’Bao didn’t want to make Mother sad.

The lantern festival was lively, with people walking the streets in groups of three to five.

Wei Rao was mainly accompanying her daughter out to play. Wherever her daughter pulled her, she went, keeping all her attention on protecting her daughter.

“Mother, Third Uncle Li!” A’Bao suddenly pointed in a direction.

Wei Rao looked up and indeed saw Li Wei in his brocade robes. Their eyes met, and Wei Rao smiled slightly in greeting.

The beauty under the lantern light was even more soul-stirring.

Li Wei seemed encouraged by this smile and stepped toward Wei Rao, but when he was still about ten paces away from the mother and daughter, a tall, upright figure emerged from the crowd. That bearing, that face—like moonlight transformed into a male immortal. With his appearance, everyone around ceased to exist, and even the countless lanterns dimmed in comparison.

Li Wei smiled bitterly and turned to leave.

Just as in years past, he had no chance of winning against that man.