[Editor: Ajax_Flameborn, Rain]

“Pei Zhi—!”

“Mei Hua!”

Pei Zhi gave a hearty laugh as Mei Hua gave her an enthusiastic hug.

They had been friends for a long time now. Though Mei Hua didn’t look a day over twenty-five, Pei Zhi had aged, though gracefully. She was in her nineties but didn’t look much over sixty. Her peers, except a few, had all passed away in the last ten years. Those that were left couldn’t move much or had little of their senses left.

“What was all that earthquake nonsense a few days ago?” Pei Zhi asked as she sat back down.

They were in a tightly closed room with a unique ground heating system that was similar to kang stove-beds. Instead of censers and hand warmers, the flooring itself was heated through a series of underground tunnels. There were outdoor fire pits that were enclosed, the heat and smoke running through the floor tunnels until it came out the other end via a chimney.

Though Pei Zhi was a healthy woman for her age, the wet cold of the mountains still bothered her and smoke from censers caused her to cough. Thus, several rooms had been made with ground heating for her and her husband. Of course, all the other elderly in the family could use the rooms too.

During the winter, Pei Zhi spent most of her time in her ground heated rooms.

“That, ah, let me tell you all about it…” Mei Hua sighed heavily before explaining. Pei Zhi listened carefully to her friend, first in astonishment and then sympathy.

“So he could be sleeping for months then…”

“At the very least.”

Pei Zhi took her friend’s hand and patted it gently, “This has been so hard on you.”

Mei Hua nodded, looking sad and allowing herself to feel pitiful. Only with Pei Zhi would she show this part of herself. It wasn’t that she pretended to be strong. She just didn’t indulge in whining and self-pity very often because she knew it would only make her situation worse. But a little bit of whining and pitying, with the right person, that was alright. Pei Zhi was her go-to person for pouting. Pei Zhi, in return, would only complain about certain problems to Mei Hua.

Or at least that’s how it used to be… the older Pei Zhi got, the less she seemed to have to complain about.

“On the upside,” Pei Zhi suddenly smiled, “Now you can visit me all the time without having to worry about that clingy husband of yours.”

Mei Hua cleared her throat and glanced at her friend.

“Pei Pei I was wondering…”

“Yes?”

“How about you and Wu Tengfei come to the Palace?”

“Mei Hua… haven’t we been over this before?”

The woman in question grabbed both Pei Zhi’s hands and swung them, pouting.

“I know you’ve said before you don’t want to but everyone is asleep! I’m so lonely!”

“Don’t you have Lin Ye and Shuya? And now that in-law Shu Fu Jing? If not them, is there anyone in the Palace who won’t spend time with you, ah?”

Mei Hua leaned into her friend and pouted, “You know it’s not the same. Only you can fill this void all my boys left in me.”

Pei Zhi rolled her eyes at her friend who was acting like a spoiled child.

“And think about it, it’s just me leading now. I’ve got all those annoying foreigners I have to deal with… the Wu Family is the second most powerful family in Lanhua. If you and Wu Tengfei were there at my side, who would dare bully me?”

This time Pei Zhi didn’t roll her eyes but looked thoughtful. It’s true that the Emperor and Princes all being out of commission at once would cause a power instability in the Palace. It wasn’t that people would scurry to fight for power, but lacking key individuals within the authority structure would definitely cause problems.

“Well……….”

“Come on Pei Pei. Just until things are back to normal?” Mei Hua widened her eyes and looked as pitiful as possible.

Just as Mei Hua loved her family to bits, Pei Zhi was the same. Neither woman wanted to be away from their children and grandchildren, but they both found it annoying that they lived so far apart from each other. Only living right next to each other would do, but obviously Mei Hua couldn’t move and Pei Zhi didn’t want to. And Mei Hua, in turn, wouldn’t abuse her authority and force her friend to move.

That was their original motive for wanting to move near each other, but over the last few years Mei Hua developed ulterior motives. She was anxious.

Pei Zhi was old now, even if she did look young for her age. She had asked Jin about it and he said he could only extend their lives so far. They had no cultivation and had been raised away from the mountains, the connection between the first generation Wu’s and the mountains were thin. Thus his influence over their life spans was also thin.

They would live many years longer than the average person but compared to Mei Hua’s life, which kept extending thanks to her cultivation and Jin’s influence, it would be very short. Barely a blink of an eye in length. Mei Hua mourned about how little time was left and wanted her friend close by so she could be there… even...

...to the very end.

All this, Mei Hua didn’t say out loud. How could she? Even talking about her friend dying made her feel weepy. Pei Zhi likely had an inkling of Mei Hua’s thought process and so didn’t often bring up dying in front of her.

Pei Zhi pursed her lips and glanced at her friend, then sighed in defeat.

“Alright, I will see if Wu Tengfei is willing.”

“Hurrah!”

“Aya, but if he’s not willing, don’t expect me to come.”

“Has he ever said no to me?”

“...tsk, he’s more accommodating to you than he is to me!” Pei Zhi pushed Mei Hua away and pretended to be angry.

“Pei Pei, Pei Pei,” Mei Hua snuggled up next to her friend again and looked at her adoringly, “Even if it’s true, don’t I always go through you first? We all know who has the power in the Wu Family and it’s not Wu Tengfei.”

Hearing this, Pei Zhi laughed heartily.

———

Lying on a large bed, curled up and shivering under several blankets, was a small boy of about six or seven years old.

“C-cold.” He mumbled in a complaint.

“Young Master?”

He pried his eyes open and saw a sleep-blurred but familiar face.

“Xiao Hee?”

“Yes, yes, Young Master it’s Xiao Hee!” A pretty girl with soft pink hair piled in two buns on her head rushed over. Her two soft hands gripped the little boy’s hands. Though she was smiling brilliantly, her eyes were filled with tears.

“Young Master, what can I do for you? Are you thirsty? Hungry?”

“Cold.”

“Oh, you’re cold? Xiao Hee will definitely help get you warm.” She squeezed his little hands that were the same temperature as always before letting go and standing up. “Just endure for a little longer Young Master!”

She rushed out of the room and closed the door, her face anxious. If she piled any more blankets on him, he might suffocate. And that was on top of all the warmers she’d put in the room. It felt like summer in there right now.

If he was still cold after all that…

Without waiting any longer she rushed over to Lady Mei Hua’s courtyard. The morning sun had only just risen over the horizon. Her ladyship had likely just gotten out of bed and was starting her routine for the day.

Without bothering to be polite, Xiao Hee opened her Lady’s door and announced, “My Lady! Young Master De Qiang is awake!”

“Awake?! That’s wonderful!”

Mei Hua felt so relieved she wanted to cry. It had been a week since all the men in her family, minus Ye, had fallen asleep.

She’d just finished putting on her training clothes. Without further prompting she headed towards her youngest son’s palace.

“My Lady,” Xiao Hee followed, “the Young Master complained it’s cold right after waking up. I’ve already put so many blankets on him, and the room is hot enough to boil an egg. How could he still be cold?”

Mei Hua frowned at this news, speeding up her steps and leaving Xiao Hee behind. When she got to her youngest son’s room, it was exactly as his Nanny had said: incredibly hot.

She walked over to see him shivering.

“Little Qiang…” She spoke in a low worried voice.

“Mommy?” He looked up and smiled slightly, then frowned. “It’s so cold Mommy.”

“My son…” Mei Hua reached out to touch his forehead, checking for a fever.

“Ah!” De Qiant flinched at her touch, burrowing further into the covers. “Mommy you’re too cold! Don’t touch me!”

Mei Hua’s mouth fell open at his reaction. Just then Xiao Hee had caught up.

“Am I cold?” Without bothering to ask for permission, Mei Hua grabbed Xiao Hee’s hand with her own.

Xiao Hee shook her head. “You are the same as always my Lady.”

She bit her lip, a vague idea forming in the back of her mind.

“Did he say you were cold?”

Xiao Hee thought, “He only said he was cold, but not that I was cold specifically.”

“Touch his forehead like I was trying to do.”

“Yes, my Lady.” Xiao Hee did as instructed. “Am I cold too, Young Master?”

De Qiang shook his head.

Mei Hua rubbed her forehead, “Shuya, to me please.”

Shuya appeared in a flurry of flowers. Seeing her littlest nephew was awake, she brightened noticeably.

“Little Qiang! This Aunty missed you!” Without waiting, she rushed forward and squished both the boys cheeks in her hands, meaning to cover his face with kisses.

De Qiang did not act as he usually did, which was to struggle and glare in annoyance. Instead, he screamed right into Shuya’s face and started sobbing.

Shuya immediately let go, eyes wide as plates, hands in the air and shocked.

“W-what’s happening?!”

Mei Hua instinctively wanted to hug her son and soothe him, but when her hands reached out he sobbingly burrowed further into his covers, saying, “You’re all mean! I’m already so cold!”

Shuya gapped at her nephew, “Eh? Cold? In this room, with this heat?”

Mei Hua could only let her hands drop to her side, her whole face puckering. Seeing her son react this way was making her heart ache terribly.

“That’s why I’m calling you,” She spoke to Shuya, “He woke up complaining it was cold. When I touched him, he said I was cold though at least he didn’t scream. But when Xiao Hee touched him, it was fine.”

Shuya rubbed her chin and muttered, “Huh…. he is the smallest and weakest…”

“Hn, I was thinking so too.”

“Maybe if we set him next to one of the older sons?”

“Which one?”

“Hm…. De Ming Yu is nearby.”

Mei Hua turned to Xiao Hee, “Pick him up, blankets and all. We’ll take him to De Ming Yu.”

Xiao Hee immediately obeyed, wrapping De Qiang up like a cacoon.

“I will go as fast as I can, Lady Mei Hua.” Xiao Hee said, regretting that her speed had dropped with the Emperor sleeping.

All three women hastily brought him over to De Ming Yu’s courtyard. The winter weather had gone from cold to bitterly cold the longer Jin had been asleep. Regular people didn’t go outside often unless they had no choice and only after being heavily dressed. Even though De Qiang was wrapped in so many blankets, he still complained he could feel the cold outside.

It wasn’t until they were directly in De Ming Yu’s room, where he was sleeping peacefully, that De Qiang finally stopped complaining.

When Xiao Hee sat De Qiang, blanket bundled and all, right next to his older brother, the little boy let out a big sigh of relief.

“Little Qiang, is this better?” Mei Hua asked anxiously, wanting to touch him but not daring to do so.

“Yes, Mommy!” He pulled himself out of the blankets and crawled under De Ming Yu’s covers so that his body was right up against the older man. He rubbed his face on his older brother’s arm and mumbled happily, “Warm, warm, so warm…!”

He then promptly fell back asleep.

Mei Hua let out a huge sigh of relief and then turned to Xiao Hee and De Ming Yu’s maid, “I’m sure De Zhou is cold too. Have him brought here and put on the other side of De Ming Yu. Put De Taihua and De Weishan together in the same bed just in case. If De Tongran is showing even the slightest bit of discomfort, put him between the two twins. I think the oldest sons ought to be fine, but check just to make sure. Oh, also check Wei Sheng and Shirong too. If anyone looks cold, pair them up.”

“Yes Lady!” Came the maid’s responses. De Ming Yu’s maid scurried away to pass along the message but Xiao Hee stayed.

“My Lady,” Xiao Hee spoke up, “Why is Young Master cold?”

Shuya answered first, “They were born on an inferno and all that heat,” she snapped her fingers, “suddenly went out when Jin fell asleep. Well, more precisely, the heat is now a normal temperature. They just aren’t used to normal, ah.”

“The youngest boys are affected the most severely because they let off very little heat on their own. Not only are they the weakest, they’ve never left the mountain and haven’t experienced being away from Jin.” Mei Hua added and smiled slightly. “It’s like someone ripped off a very warm blanket that they’d been wearing all the time.”

Xiao Hee nodded slowly. The Emperor’s power was like the sun, raging hot and wild. Fairies could faintly sense it, but not enough to be affected by it. The princes had a more direct connection.

“Then why did Lady Mei Hua and Miss Shuya cause such a strong reaction?” Xiao Hee asked. She’d always been a curious sort who wasn’t afraid to ask questions.

“Jin and the boys are like flames,” Mei Hua spoke, “while Shuya and I are like snow. Shuya, in particular, is like a block of ice. It’s not a problem when Jin’s around, behaving like an overactive bonfire, but when his flame is low... well…”

“Ah, I see.” Xiao Hee nodded in understanding. “So it’s not that Lady Mei Hua is cold, it is simply that Young Master is used to more heat.”

“Hn. Just like how a cold drink feels great in the summer but is unwanted in the winter.” Mei Hua shoulders slumped. “I feel bad, I wish I’d thought of this possibility…”

Shuya patted Mei Hua shoulder, “You can’t think of everything, and this all happened so suddenly too.”

Mei Hua flattened her lips and stared at her sleeping son forlornly.

“Anyway,” Shuya tried to encourage, “he did wake up for a little bit. Perhaps the youngest ones, not suffering from severe spiritual heatstroke like the rest, won’t sleep as long as the others?”

“I hope you’re right…”