Princess Yi’an treated the palace as her home, yet now she was staying at the Marquis’s mansion all this time—this undoubtedly reflected the Empress Dowager’s attitude.

Lin Hao wasn’t particularly concerned about Princess Yi’an’s situation and said with a smile: “It’s nothing. Wan’er, try this sugared cheese over cherries and see if it suits your taste.”

Hearing Lin Hao call her Wan’er, Kou Wan’s heart warmed. She scooped up a large spoonful of sugared cheese and put it in her mouth.

“Delicious!” The moment the creamy, cool sugared cheese entered her mouth, Kou Wan couldn’t help but praise it.

“I’m glad you like it. In another half month, it won’t be available.”

Kou Wan held the silver spoon, somewhat puzzled: “Such a delicious dessert will be gone soon?”

Lin Hao smiled: “The weather will turn cool, and eating cold things won’t be good then. We’ll switch to osmanthus sticky rice lotus root at that time.”

Kou Wan’s eyes lit up when she heard this: “I love sticky rice, and I love lotus root, and I love osmanthus too!”

Lin Hao: “…” This girl certainly liked quite the full range.

“Then I’ll come again at that time.” After finishing the sugared cheese, Kou Wan asked about Chunni and Ling’er: “So they’re working at the flower dew shop now. Is that other younger sister here too?”

“That little girl was sent back home. Chunni and Ling’er had nowhere to go, so they stayed to work at the flower dew shop.”

“I see.” Kou Wan was genuinely happy for Chunni and the other.

Lin Hao patted her hand: “Don’t worry, I’ll tell them not to mention your situation to anyone.”

Kou Wan’s eyes involuntarily reddened: “Sister Lin—”

She didn’t want to cry—she felt it was embarrassing—but she just couldn’t help it.

“Sister Lin, can I have another bowl of sugared cheese?”

Looking at the red-eyed young woman, Lin Hao suppressed a smile and refused: “Eating too much cold food is hard on the stomach. If you like it, come again tomorrow.”

Kou Wan sobbed aloud, wiping her tears while explaining: “No, it’s not because of the sugared cheese…”

During these days Princess Yi’an had been staying at the Marquis’s mansion, her bad mood had led her to make plenty of trouble for Kou Wan. The young girl had accumulated a bellyful of grievances.

She just didn’t understand why her own sister treated her worse than a complete stranger.

Lin Hao silently handed over a handkerchief.

After crying, Kou Wan felt much better. She reluctantly bid farewell to Lin Hao and returned to the Marquis’s mansion.

“You actually deigned to come back?” Princess Yi’an looked at her coldly, her voice sharp in a way she herself hadn’t noticed.

Kou Wan glanced at her and lifted her foot to walk forward.

Princess Yi’an’s expression darkened further: “Stop right there!”

Kou Wan’s steps paused, her voice cool: “Does Elder Sister have something else?”

Fury surged in Princess Yi’an’s heart: “Kou Wan, do you even regard me as your sister anymore?”

Kou Wan looked at her elder sister’s gloomy face, no longer wanting to endure it: “That would require you to actually act like a sister.”

“What did you say?” Princess Yi’an instinctively raised her hand.

Kou Wan sneered: “What, you want to hit me?”

Princess Yi’an’s raised hand instantly reminded her of that nightmare experience of falling into kidnappers’ hands, and it completely extinguished the already faint sisterly affection.

She looked at her sister born of the same mother, her eyes indifferent.

“What’s all this commotion?” The Marchioness of Weiwu frowned at her two daughters standing in confrontation. “Whatever you have to say, say it inside.”

Princess Yi’an glanced at Kou Wan and walked toward the room, but Kou Wan stood still without moving.

“Mother, I’m going back to my room.”

Princess Yi’an whirled around: “You still want to hide?”

Kou Wan hadn’t wanted to continue bickering, but seeing her like this, she raised an eyebrow and sneered: “This is my home—what am I hiding from? Don’t take out your anger on others just because you’re staying at home.”

Having her sore spot exposed, Princess Yi’an’s expression twisted as if pricked by needles: “Kou Wan, seeing me in misfortune, are you very pleased?”

She had clearly been wronged, and everyone knew she had been wronged, yet the Empress Dowager had told her to stay at the Marquis’s mansion for a visit, and to this day no one from the palace had come to fetch her.

“Wan’er, how can you speak to your sister like that? Where are your manners?” The Marchioness of Weiwu instinctively defended her eldest daughter.

Kou Wan looked at her mother’s displeased expression, her heart even colder than that bowl of sugared cheese she’d eaten at the flower dew shop.

“Mother, she’s clearly been picking fights all along. She won’t even let me avoid her by returning to my room. Yet in the end, why do you only reproach me?”

It’s because Kou Jiao has the title of princess, isn’t it?

Kou Wan actually understood this in her heart, and thus grew even more disappointed in her mother.

At this moment, a maidservant hurried over: “Madam, someone from the palace has arrived!”

Princess Yi’an was overjoyed upon hearing this: “Someone from the palace? Where are they?”

“The sedan chair stopped outside the gate. The person has been invited to sit in the flower hall.”

Before the Marchioness of Weiwu could speak, Princess Yi’an quickly strode toward the flower hall.

A smile also appeared at the corners of the Marchioness of Weiwu’s mouth. She didn’t forget to instruct Kou Wan: “Don’t quarrel with your sister anymore. Your sister can’t come home more than a few days a year—can’t you be more sensible?”

“I’m going back to my room.” Kou Wan threw out these words and ran off.

“This girl.” The Marchioness of Weiwu shook her head and lifted her foot toward the flower hall.

When Princess Yi’an reached the outside of the flower hall, she suppressed her excitement and silently waited for the Marchioness of Weiwu to arrive before entering together.

Waiting in the flower hall was a young eunuch surnamed Yang from the Empress Dowager’s palace who had visited the Marquis’s mansion quite a few times.

The Marchioness of Weiwu smiled and exchanged pleasantries: “We’ve kept Eunuch Yang waiting.”

“The Marchioness is too kind.”

“Eunuch Yang has come to escort Jiaojiao back to the palace, hasn’t he?” The Marchioness of Weiwu looked at Princess Yi’an fondly. “This child talks about the Empress Dowager every day.”

The eunuch quickly glanced at Princess Yi’an, his smile somewhat awkward: “Last night the Empress Dowager dreamed of Second Miss and has been thinking of her since waking. She ordered this servant to come escort Second Miss to the palace.”

The Marchioness of Weiwu unconsciously stopped smiling, thinking she had heard wrong.

Princess Yi’an was even more incredulous: “Eunuch Yang, you’re saying Imperial Grandmother told you to come escort Second Miss to the palace?”

“Exactly.”

“Second Miss is my younger sister Kou Wan. Did you mishear?”

The eunuch frowned.

Usually Princess Yi’an attended upon the Empress Dowager and seemed quite clever—how was she being so obtuse now?

“This servant wouldn’t dare transmit orders incorrectly. The person the Empress Dowager ordered this servant to escort to the palace is indeed Second Miss Kou Wan.”

This answer left Princess Yi’an with no room for false hope.

“Then what about me?” She blurted out, her hands hanging at her sides trembling uncontrollably.

The eunuch lowered his eyes slightly: “The Empress Dowager said to let the Princess enjoy herself properly and not rush back to be confined in the palace.”

“But I—”

“Jiaojiao!” The Marchioness of Weiwu interrupted Princess Yi’an’s words and smiled at the eunuch: “Then please wait a moment, Eunuch Yang. I’ll have someone summon Wan’er right away.”

When Kou Wan arrived, she was still bewildered: “The Empress Dowager summoned me to the palace?”

The eunuch wore a full smile: “Second Miss, don’t keep the Empress Dowager waiting anxiously. The sedan chair is right outside.”

“Oh.” Kou Wan responded in a daze, instinctively glancing at the Marchioness of Weiwu and Princess Yi’an. In the end, she said nothing and followed the eunuch to board the sedan chair to enter the palace.

The Marchioness of Weiwu stood at the entrance seeing her off. Princess Yi’an also followed out in a daze. When the sedan chair completely disappeared from view, she finally broke down.

“Mother, why did the Empress Dowager summon Second Sister to the palace?” She clutched at the Marchioness of Weiwu’s sleeve, her eyes somewhat crazed. “Why was it Second Sister who was summoned?”

Looking at her eldest daughter’s loss of composure, the Marchioness of Weiwu suddenly noticed her willfulness, and her tone unconsciously grew cooler: “The Empress Dowager wanted to see your sister, so naturally she summoned her to the palace.”