A Lively New Year of Opening the House

Serena had no idea whether Prince Nolan had figured things out or not, because after thinking for ages, he left without saying a word. That left Serena standing there, pondering for half the day, and still unable to guess what he meant.

Fine, if you can’t figure it out, just let it go. No one can guess what Prince Nolan is thinking anyway, and Serena doesn’t want to ruin her good mood. She’ll just assume he’s made up his mind.

Falling in love is easy, living together is hard. No matter how deep the feelings, if you can’t磨合 (grind down the rough edges), there’ll come a day when it wears out. Serena states her position, Prince Nolan brings up his complaints, and then they磨合 again, trying to find a balance—only then can they walk further together.

Of course, when it comes to things that shouldn’t be compromised, Serena will never back down. No matter the time or place, she believes a woman must be economically independent. Only with financial independence will she avoid becoming a clinging ornamental flower, forever anxious about being abandoned by a man. Not even Prince Nolan has the right to take away her independence.

With William Walker’s case now in Prince Nolan’s hands, Serena has nothing to worry about. Prince Titus’s injuries are healing too, but he probably can’t leave before the New Year.

Prince Titus was thrilled when he heard the news. He immediately declared he’d spend New Year at Feng Manor with Serena, and wrote a formally humble letter to the Eastlyn Emperor, explaining that his injuries required him to rest at Feng Manor and that he wouldn’t attend the Eastlyn New Year’s Eve banquet.

“Dearest imperial sister, I hope you’ll like the grand gift your royal brother is sending.” Prince Titus signed elegantly and handed the letter to his attendant, his smile warm and charming—but the attendant was sweating bullets.

Every time Prince Titus flashes that gentle, elegant smile, it means someone’s about to be in deep trouble. And this time, anyone could guess—it’s Princess Yara.

A woman despised by the Eastlyn imperial family, with no brothers to support her—anyone could imagine how miserable Princess Yara would be at the Eastlyn New Year’s Eve banquet.

Prince Nolan disdains humiliating Yara face-to-face in the palace, but Prince Nathan of Southlyn has no such restraint. If not for gender propriety and the fact that Yara keeps hiding in her own residence, he’d have already gone to her door to avenge Serena.

As a prince of Southlyn, Nathan can’t interfere in Eastlyn’s internal affairs, so he can’t save Simon Sun directly—but he can certainly deal with a Lyndarian princess.

Of course, for Princess Yara, this isn’t even the worst of it. Her real disaster will come after New Year’s Eve, when she receives word that her mother, Lady Yvonne, has met with trouble. If Prince Titus’s prediction is right, Lady Yvonne’s noble consort rank won’t hold—and that would be catastrophic for Yara.

A child’s honor depends on the mother’s. Lady Yvonne’s low birth means her status will fall even further after this, and once that happens, neither Eastlyn nor Lyndaria will take Princess Yara seriously.

Prince Nolan really won’t humiliate Yara in person, but what he’s done will leave her in a position to be bullied and shamed for life.

Serena doesn’t know much about the situation in Lyndaria, and even if she did, she wouldn’t get involved right now. With the year’s end approaching, she just wants a quiet, honest holiday. As for those cats and dogs, she’s not interested—anything else can wait until after New Year.

This year, even though Serena is technically still ‘alone,’ the holiday means something special. It’s her first New Year truly spent in Eastlyn, and the first time Feng Manor has opened its doors for New Year since General Feng and Madame Feng passed away.

Opening the house for New Year means Feng Manor will send out New Year gifts to other families, and they’ll send gifts in return—building connections, strengthening ties, and making it easier to help each other in the future.

In past years, as soon as the New Year approached, it was always the hardest time for the old Serena. While everyone else was happily preparing gifts and feasts, Serena and her little maid could only hide inside Feng Manor, afraid to go out or see anyone.

They couldn’t afford to prepare gifts and nobody ever sent them any. Even if they carried offerings to other gates, no one would welcome them or let them in.

People flock together, and nobles stick with their own. The old Serena couldn’t blend into the aristocratic circle at all. Even now, she’s not fully accepted, but she’s too useful and too formidable to ignore. She’s close with the Hsieh Clan, Duke Ning’s household, and several marquisates.

After Victor Yun quietly leaked that Imperial Noble Consort Helena Hsieh’s prenatal formula came from Serena, countless families started scheming to get close to her.

So this year, Feng Manor is a whole new story. Every house in the capital is hoping Serena will come deliver New Year gifts, and some—even if they barely know her—have already prepared lavish presents for her, just hoping she’ll send back a few boxes of prenatal formula as return gifts.

Prenatal formula is something every household can use—even if they don’t have a pregnant woman, it’s a prestigious gift to give. So Serena is busier than ever.

From Little New Year onward, carriages have never stopped lining up outside Feng Manor, delivering huge boxes of gifts day after day. The bustling scene makes it clear that Feng Manor finally holds real standing in the city—it’s no longer the forgotten, nameless estate nobody even mentioned.

Of course, no matter how eager the nobles are to curry favor, they won’t lower themselves by delivering gifts in person. With Feng Manor headed by a young woman, it’s not proper for the masters to call, and the ladies don’t go out easily either. So most families send respected senior maids to deliver gifts—which is a relief for Serena, since she doesn’t have to smile at a swarm of noblewomen every day.

Even so, Serena is run off her feet, checking each gift list, preparing return gifts, and logging everything for future reference. With so much to handle and no old records to follow, she has to figure it out on her own. The steward is an expert, but some things only Serena can decide.

For example, General Warren Yu sent a modest but solid New Year gift from the frontier. When Serena sends a return gift, it has to be practical and useful for him, not just valuable. The steward can suggest, but Serena makes the final call.

Human relationships in this world are often coded in New Year gifts. Lower-ranking officials must send presents earlier to those above them, and only then do equals exchange gifts.

Even though gifts go back and forth in the end, you must never, ever send something from the Lee Clan back to another Lee relative. If word gets out, it’s considered a grave insult—like saying you weren’t satisfied with their gift.

These days, the old steward constantly consults Serena and reminds her about all the rules and taboos. Serena finds it all annoying, but she knows it’s something she has to learn—if she wants to support Feng Manor, she must master the art of social exchange and can’t just isolate herself from the world.

Madam’s diplomacy is no small thing, and the power of pillow talk shouldn’t be underestimated. Even if she never gets the chance to help Prince Nolan with inner-chamber diplomacy, she still needs to learn the ropes. So even if she hates it, she forces herself to listen and clumsily drafts her lists of return gifts.

These days, Serena is camped out in the storeroom all day, just checking gift lists—she hasn’t even figured out how to handle the return gifts yet. Just when she’s most overwhelmed, Vincent Su arrives and rescues her from the headache…