As soon as Yao Huang saw that Prince Hui was holding the snowball without throwing it for a long time, she knew this person couldn’t bear to hit her.

This made Yao Huang think of the snowball fights she had played in previous years—her own older brothers, male and female cousins, playmates from the neighborhood, and Li Tingwang who would specially run over from other lanes to play with them. From four or five years old to fifteen or sixteen, every winter Yao Huang would play wildly with these people several times. When they got really into it, even her brothers were willing to hit her, and Li Tingwang would chase her relentlessly. Taking advantage of being tall with long legs and running fast, he would press down on her shoulders and stuff snowballs into her collar, only stopping when she called him “older brother.”

Yao Huang walked over, placed the large snowball from Prince Hui’s hands onto the wheelchair armrest, then sat in Prince Hui’s lap and asked while hugging his neck: “I told you to throw it—why won’t you throw it at me?”

Zhao Sui looked at the princess consort’s displeased expression with pouting lips, thinking he had spoiled her fun at snowball fighting. He lowered his eyes and said: “I truly haven’t played this before. I might not control the force properly.”

Yao Huang still pouted: “Liar. The prince just doesn’t want to throw it at me. But this way, doesn’t it make me seem cruel and ruthless for what I just did to you?”

As she spoke, she touched Prince Hui’s forehead where it had been hit by the snowball.

The princess consort’s fingertips were warm, gently and softly caressing his temple. Zhao Sui raised his eyes to find the princess consort’s clear, self-reproachful eyes before him, and her crimson, soft, moist lips set against the surrounding snowy surface.

Suddenly, the princess consort looked into his eyes and explained in a low voice: “I thought the prince could dodge. If I’d known you wouldn’t dodge, I wouldn’t have been willing to hit your face. At most I would have thrown it at your shoulder or chest.”

Zhao Sui: “I didn’t feel any pain.”

Yao Huang glared at him: “Yeah, right.”

Having said that, she cupped Prince Hui’s face and leaned over to forcefully kiss his forehead: “There, consider that compensation for the prince. And since you yourself were unwilling to retaliate, you can’t bring up this snowball to settle old scores with me in the future.”

Prince Hui nodded.

Yao Huang smiled, left the wheelchair, and surveyed the ice surface: “Does the prince really want to build a snowman?”

Zhao Sui: “I’ve never built one. If it’s very troublesome to build, then forget it.”

Yao Huang: “Not troublesome at all. The prince just wait a moment.”

Yao Huang carefully came to the shore, turned her back to Prince Hui, and blew a sharp whistle toward the entrance of the back garden.

Qing Ai and Fei Quan, who were stationed nearby, heard it but weren’t certain whether the whistle was from the prince or the princess consort, or why it was blown.

When a second sharp whistle came, the two decided to go check.

Yao Huang waited for a while. Catching sight of the two figures in the distance, she called out loudly: “No need to come over. I want to build a snowman—you two go get two shovels.”

Upon hearing this, Qing Ai and Fei Quan promptly turned around to fetch the items.

Yao Huang continued pushing Prince Hui to slide on the lake ice. After pushing for a while, she really did get hot and removed her cape to hang it on a low branch by the lakeside.

Watching Prince Hui’s back as he slid back and forth on the ice, Yao Huang thought to herself that tomorrow she would also move a wheelchair over and have A’Ji and the others push her.

The prince’s residence was very large. Qing Ai and Fei Quan ran back panting. Qing Ai held a brand new snow shovel in one hand, while Fei Quan carried a basket of small items that might be useful for building a snowman—such as leather hand protectors, carving knives including angle knives and flat knives for sculpting the snowman, as well as black agate and red agate to serve as the snowman’s eyes and lips. Fei Quan had even run to the bamboo grove to break off a bamboo branch in case the prince and princess consort wanted to use bamboo leaves as the snowman’s eyebrows.

Yao Huang first took the snow shovel from Qing Ai’s hands. Seeing the pile of items Fei Quan was carrying, she thought to herself that even snowmen in the prince’s residence had to be more noble than common folks’ snowmen!

“Alright, there’s nothing for you two here. Go find a warm place to stay.”

Having dismissed Qing Ai and Fei Quan, Yao Huang left the basket they wouldn’t need yet on the shore. She took one shovel herself and stuffed the other into Prince Hui’s hands: “First we’ll build the snowman’s body. We’ll need lots of snow.”

Zhao Sui noticed the fine, glistening sweat on the princess consort’s nose tip and also removed his cape.

Yao Huang went to the shore to hang his cape together with hers on a tree. When she turned around, she saw that Prince Hui had already begun shoveling snow, first shoveling the snow in front of the wheelchair forward, then slowly propelling the wheelchair. This was the four-wheeled red sandalwood wheelchair, both stable and easy to push on the ice surface.

Yao Huang stood directly on the shore, pushing her shovel toward Prince Hui’s direction. By the time she got close, the snow on her shovel was already piled quite high.

Yao Huang was thoroughly enjoying shoveling snow. As she shoveled, Prince Hui asked her to break off a tree branch for him.

After receiving the branch, Prince Hui simply sketched the figure of a beauty wearing a cape on an undisturbed patch of snow, asking the princess consort beside him: “Build this kind?”

A cloak could conceal the princess consort’s figure. Since his legs were inconvenient, he could only take shortcuts—only meticulously sculpting the snowman princess consort’s neck, hair bun, and facial features.

Yao Huang: “…”

She took Prince Hui’s branch and drew two circles stacked together, one large and one small, next to the cloaked beauty Prince Hui had sketched: “I only know how to build this kind.”

Zhao Sui: “…”

The princess consort suddenly leaned down and kissed his face: “But I like the snowman the prince drew. As long as the prince has patience, I’ll accompany you to build this one.”

Prince Hui thought that today was a rest day—he had an entire day to spend on building a snowman.

Next, Zhao Sui was responsible for refining the shape of the snowman’s body, while Yao Huang was responsible for handing him various tools from the basket that he needed, as well as other odd jobs that Prince Hui found inconvenient to do.

The cloaked beauty snowman’s body had just been outlined when, around mid-morning, Qing Ai came running to report that Prince Qing and his wife had come to pay a visit.

Yao Huang looked toward Prince Hui.

Zhao Sui thought of Prince Kang, who came once every month. Prince Kang’s chess skills were poor, so his subsequent visits had changed to pushing him around the garden to enjoy the sun. Prince Qing’s chess skills were acceptable, but Zhao Sui didn’t want to waste time playing chess with him.

“Bring them here.” As Zhao Sui continued adjusting the snowman’s form, he said this. In any case, the snowman didn’t have a head yet—there was no harm in Prince Qing seeing it.

Qing Ai went to invite them.

Yao Huang wondered: “What are they coming for?”

If it was to put on a show of brotherly friendship and respect, Prince Qing usually had no such intentions.

Zhao Sui: “Probably for the cowhide chairs.”

Yao Huang thought of the cowhide armchair she had made for herself. It was indeed enough to move Prince Qing and his wife, and although the couple could have Prince Qing’s residence carpenters figure it out themselves, how could that be as quick as coming directly to her for a ready-made one? After all, while these chairs sounded simple, it had taken the woodworking shop over half a month to produce finished products that could satisfy a nobleman like Prince Hui.

On the other side, Prince Qing led Zheng Yuanzhen through the long main residence of Prince Hui’s estate first, then followed Qing Ai across the unswept stone path of the back garden.

The snow scene at Prince Hui’s residence was beautiful, but Zheng Yuanzhen was in no mood to appreciate it. The stone path became slippery once covered with snow. She held Prince Qing’s arm and walked very carefully. The longer the path, the more impatient she became. Her heart was full of displaced anger toward Yao Huang, believing Yao Huang was deliberately making things difficult for them—otherwise, what reason was there to receive guests in the back garden in such icy, snowy weather?

Prince Qing was preoccupied with the cowhide chairs and didn’t mind this little bit of walking, but he guessed Second Brother should be brewing tea with snow in some pavilion right now.

Finally, the view ahead suddenly opened up, revealing the figures of Prince Hui and his wife building a snowman on the ice surface.

Prince Qing and Zheng Yuanzhen simultaneously stopped in their tracks, their faces showing similar disbelief.

Yao Huang also saw them. Regardless of whether she liked them or not in her heart, Yao Huang could smile with utmost sincerity: “Third Brother, Third Sister-in-law, come quickly! Look how skillful your Second Brother’s hands are!”

What Prince Qing saw was Second Sister-in-law in a red dress with a radiant smile. What Zheng Yuanzhen saw was Prince Hui in the wheelchair, wearing a tea-white brocade robe, elegant and refined as jade.

After a brief daze, Prince Qing held Zheng Yuanzhen’s hand and stepped onto the ice surface.

Yao Huang walked a few steps toward them and exchanged pleasantries: “With such heavy snow, the prince and I never imagined there would be guests, so we came over on a whim to build a snowman. Just now when we heard you were coming, the prince wanted to go to the front to receive you, but I talked him out of it. We’re all family—brothers and sisters-in-law—why be so formal? Don’t you agree?”

Zheng Yuanzhen smiled slightly. Prince Qing smiled very warmly: “Second Sister-in-law is right. I also don’t treat Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law as outsiders, otherwise I should have sent a formal visiting card in advance yesterday.”

Seeing Zheng Yuanzhen’s tense expression, Yao Huang guessed she was worried about the slippery path and falling, so she proactively took Zheng Yuanzhen’s arm: “Come, I’ll support Third Sister-in-law.”

Zheng Yuanzhen very much wanted to refuse, but Yao Huang’s arm-linking did indeed feel more secure than Prince Qing’s hand-holding. She softly said thanks.

The three came to Prince Hui’s side by the snowman.

Zhao Sui nodded at the two, but the movements of his hands did not stop.

Prince Qing was about to ask Second Brother what he was building when he suddenly noticed Zheng Yuanzhen looking at another spot on the ground. Prince Qing followed her line of sight and discovered two snowmen drawn in the snow—one was a real snowman, the other was just two balls. At a glance, one could tell which drawing came from whom, and the contrast between refined and crude was thoroughly displayed here.

Zheng Yuanzhen looked at the cloaked beauty on the ground, then glanced at the green satin cape draped over herself. Just as ripples arose in her heart, when she raised her eyes to look at Prince Hui’s profile, she finally noticed the one red and one black cape hanging on a tree branch opposite them.

Prince Qing had already begun teasing his brother: “When we were young, I invited Second Brother out to play in the snow several times, but Second Brother always declined, saying he had no interest. Now that you have Second Sister-in-law, Second Brother has the mood for it.”

Zhao Sui made no response. He had invited Prince Qing and his wife over hoping the two would see that he and the princess consort were busy and tactfully leave early.

His reaction made Prince Qing feel somewhat awkward, and he instinctively looked toward Second Sister-in-law.

Yao Huang had no choice but to smooth things over for Prince Hui: “Your Second Brother is the worst at joking. If you talk to him about serious matters, he’ll say a few more words.”

Prince Qing: “Second Brother is indeed this serious type. I actually do have a real matter here.”

He patted Prince Hui’s wheelchair, smiled at Zheng Yuanzhen, then said to Yao Huang: “Yuanzhen heard me praising Second Brother’s cowhide chair. She also thinks it’s good and wants to ask if Second Sister-in-law could have the craftsmen from your residence make us a set of cowhide armchairs. Second Sister-in-law can just directly quote us a price. We certainly can’t let Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law bear the expense.”

Zheng Yuanzhen: “…”

Yao Huang smiled: “Oh, that? Simple. I had the Elegant Pavilion on South Street figure out the cowhide chairs. You can go directly there to order them. Whatever kind of leather or silk covering you like, you can specify to them. The craftsmen in our residence at most repair beams and pillars—they’re not as skilled as those who specialize in the woodworking business.”

Prince Hui needed to present a cowhide armchair to Emperor Yongchang, one with the same craftsmanship as hers would do. Yesterday at dusk, when Owner Fu received the message, he selected an armchair and delivered it, which showed the shop already had a batch of finished products. For a shrewd businessman like him, perhaps right after hearing her leather chair idea from Master Deng, he had already sent people to buy up all the inventory from fur shops everywhere.

Upon hearing this, Prince Qing glanced at Second Brother meaningfully.

Clearly they had the name “Elegant Pavilion,” yet yesterday morning in front of the main hall, he insisted it wasn’t bought but that Second Sister-in-law had helped him modify it—deliberately showing off how well Second Sister-in-law treated him?