After finishing a full yoga routine, Mo Lixia realized Xiqiu and Hongshang still hadn't returned. With A-Mu in her arms, she went to the front hall. The servants were nearly done cleaning, so she wandered over to her parents' courtyard as well.
She had just reached the gate when Nanny Guirong came out of the room.
"Miss."
"Nanny Guirong, where are you off to?"
"This old servant is going to prepare some ginseng soup for Madam. Madam is utterly worn out today… Madam and the general are both inside."
"Alright. I'll go in myself."
Before she even stepped through the doorway, she heard her parents' soft, intimate voices from within.
"Are you feeling better now, Qingwan?"
"Mmm… much better. I'm getting older—my stamina really can't keep up. Entertaining guests for half a day left my waist and back aching."
"In my eyes, you're still exactly as you were when I first met you. Still beautiful."
Mo Lixia peeked through the crack for a moment, then couldn't hold it in any longer. A laugh escaped her.
General Mo stopped what he was doing, opened the door with a dark face—and the moment he saw it was her, he flicked her forehead hard.
Mo Lixia bowed her head, biting back her grin. "Father, Mother… I didn't mean to."
Madam Mo shot her a fond, reproachful look, but there was no real anger in it. She wasn't embarrassed at all—when Lixia was little, she'd done this sort of thing plenty of times. It seemed growing up hadn't changed her one bit.
"It's so late—why are you here?" General Mo sat down, took a sip of tea, and glanced at her sideways.
"I'm fine," Mo Lixia said quickly. "I just came to see if you two were tired."
As she spoke, she set A-Mu onto her shoulder, moved behind her father and pounded his shoulders a couple of times, then trotted to her mother and did the same. "Mother, does your back still hurt?"
"It's a bit sore," Madam Mo admitted, "but your father massaged it just now, so it's much better."
"Then how about I do cupping for you?" Mo Lixia offered.
"Cupping?" General Mo lifted a brow. "That's not a bad idea. Can you do it?"
"Yes. I learned."
"Then do it for your mother," General Mo said at once. "Her aches can be severe."
"Alright. Mother, lie down on the bed and loosen your clothes."
Madam Mo hesitated. "This…"
"She's your own daughter—what's there to be shy about?" General Mo said, already guiding his wife into the inner room.
Mo Lixia grabbed a few cups from the table and a bottle of strong liquor, then followed them in.
Before starting, she inserted a few acupuncture needles—just enough to help circulation and ease the tightness. Then she quickly set the cups one by one along Madam Mo's back. The first pull stung a little, but the sensation soon became a deep, relieving pressure.
Seeing General Mo watching intently, Mo Lixia smiled. "Father, do you want me to do you as well?"
General Mo hesitated. "That…"
Madam Mo chuckled into the pillow. "Hmph. You said I was the one being shy—look at you now."
"I'm not—" General Mo muttered, then began pulling off his robe with the air of a man marching to his own execution. "Fine. Do a few for me too."
"Gladly!" Mo Lixia said, laughing.
General Mo sat on a stool while she set a few cups on his back as well. She stayed nearby, lifting a cup to check the skin and timing carefully, making sure neither of them bruised from leaving them on too long.
With nothing else to do, Mo Lixia finally voiced the question that had been sitting in her chest.
"Father… I heard Prince Su came today?"
General Mo froze briefly, then nodded.
Mo Lixia rested her cheek lightly against his knee and looked up at him with wide eyes. "I'm not asking because I understand court politics. I don't. But I should at least know which side you stand on, shouldn't I?"
General Mo looked genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected his daughter to be so sharp—sharp enough to notice the undercurrent at all.
He let out a long sigh and stared toward the window. "I made my choice twenty years ago. You know your father—loyalty matters to me. I've had decades of friendship with His Majesty as well. The Emperor ascended the throne young, and the other princes have never been easy to manage."
He paused, then spoke more quietly.
"So, Lixia… just because Prince Kang cannot move freely now doesn't mean he lacks ability. Your Uncle Yi's intention, in the end, will still be Prince Kang…"
He didn't spell everything out, only the shape of it. Then he patted her head as if to say: you understand.
"If it truly comes to it—if our side—"
"Father," Mo Lixia cut in gently before he could finish. "I understand. Our whole family trusts you. We believe you'll protect us."
General Mo looked at her—at the light of reliance and faith in her eyes—and felt both warmth and weight settle in his chest.
He had to keep them safe. No matter what.
…
When Zhanchen returned to his courtyard, he was already slightly drunk.
"Young Master."
"Mm. All of you, go." He rubbed between his brows and walked into the inner hall.
"Yes."
After the servants withdrew, the room felt strangely empty. The bride was nowhere in sight. Zhanchen glanced around, about to call someone—
Then he saw her.
Cold Xue stepped out, her hair loose and still damp as if she'd just bathed. She wore a light, loose red garment, the fabric shifting with every step. Her brows were drawn tight with embarrassment as she whispered, "Xichun… this is too revealing. I can't. I should change."
"Don't," Zhanchen said, his gaze catching and holding. "You look beautiful."
Cold Xue lifted a hand protectively to her chest. "Zhanchen, you… you're back, I—"
Her words were cut off.
[Scene omitted: explicit sexual content.]
…
In the capital, the New Year was nothing like the mountains. The rules and rituals were endless.
From the twenty-third day of the twelfth month, offerings were made—sweet cakes to see the Kitchen God off to Heaven. Then on the twenty-fourth came sweeping the house; on the twenty-fifth, making tofu… one custom after another.
The day after tomorrow would be New Year's Eve.
These past few days, the fragrance shop's business had been explosive. Fortunately, they had prepared enough stock. By the twenty-eighth, according to custom, shops would close and rest for the holiday. That day, Mo Lixia went to the shop in person and checked the accounts.
They'd been open only a short while, yet their stored profit had already reached twenty thousand taels. The principal had been recovered.
She divided the money into three portions and set aside the remainder to distribute benefits to the staff.
Huiyao and Doctor Hu were both outsiders in the capital. Huiyao had no parents, so during the New Year, the two of them would stay in the shop's rear courtyard. As the owner, Mo Lixia took her responsibility seriously—and since Doctor Hu was an upright gentleman, she wasn't worried about him harboring improper intentions toward a young girl like Huiyao.
For the holiday, benefits mattered. People had always loved silver, and Mo Lixia wasn't the type to pinch pennies. She gave each of them an extra month's pay. With staff satisfied, they would work harder in the coming year.
The pharmacy, because of its nature, couldn't close for the holidays. During that period, Mo Yan, Doctor Hu, and the young apprentice would all take shifts. Aside from Mo Yan, who still had his elderly mother, the others were alone. Mo Lixia promised that during the holiday stretch, everyone's salary would be doubled.
Huiyao usually had little to do in the back courtyard, and in her spare time she cooked for them as well. Mo Lixia considered that a good thing, so she gave Huiyao an additional twenty taels to buy ingredients.
After receiving their first share of earnings, Mu Tong and Yu Fu were so delighted they couldn't sleep. Both of them declared they would save the money they'd earned—so that one day it could become part of their dowries.