Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

The incense of the golden lion has cooled overnight.

Yinyin got up and sat in front of the dressing table. She watched as Chunrui used makeup to cover up the red marks that her clothes couldn't hide. She glared at the person who was sitting to the side, propping their head up and staring at her intently.

Prince Ning'an swallowed hard, remembering that he still had to go to the palace, so he could only suppress the romantic thoughts in his heart and walk to Yin Yin's side: "Yin Yin, let me draw your eyebrows."

"How's your skill, sir?" Yin Yin asked doubtfully. "What if you don't paint well later?"

"Don't worry, I'll definitely be able to draw it well," Prince Ning'an said, dipping his brush in water and then in a little bit of ink. He examined the brush from all sides for a moment before finally putting brush to her eyebrows.

The eyebrow pencil had a soft touch, which made Yin Yin unconsciously close her eyes.

After drawing her eyebrows, Prince Ning'an looked at his wife so close to him and couldn't resist giving her a light kiss on the lips before putting down his brush with satisfaction.

Yin Yin opened her eyes, her ear tips slightly red: "I put on lip rouge."

“It smells good,” Prince Ning’an said, letting Yin Yin examine herself in the mirror. Seeing that she was satisfied with her drawn eyebrows, he then spoke again, “Yin Yin, call me An Zhi.”

“My lord is good, but I would rather hear you call me by my name directly. In the future…” Prince Ning’an, also known as Gu Anzhi, continued, “I will wait for the day when you are willing to call me my beloved.”

Yinyin looked up and met his gaze for a moment: "Anzhi's painting is very good, I like it very much."

Gu Anzhi smiled, finding the two words the late emperor had casually circled to sound beautiful for the first time.

Yinyin reapplied her lip rouge and tidied her clothes before complaining to Gu Anzhi, who had already finished dressing, "I can't do this anymore. I smell so strongly of makeup. When I get back, I'll have to take a bath and wash myself off. It's such a hassle."

Looking at the smooth neck covered by makeup, Gu Anzhi could only nod. He had personally witnessed how many layers of makeup Chunrui had applied to Yinyin to cover it up, and washing it off must have been no easier than applying it.

Besides, since everything can be completely covered up, what's the point of him leaving any traces in these places?

Relieved, Yin Yin boarded the carriage with him and went to the palace.

The carriage stopped at the palace gate as usual, but Gu Anzhi, as the emperor's closest brother, had long been entitled to ride in a sedan chair in the palace, though he had never used it. However, this time, considering that Yin Yin was not feeling well, he specially ordered someone to bring a sedan chair so that Yin Yin wouldn't have to walk in the palace.

Yinyin felt it wasn't appropriate for her to be so flamboyant in the palace, so she pulled him to ride with her.

The sedan chair was spacious, and neither of them were particularly large or overweight, so they didn't feel crowded sitting together. However, Gu Anzhi still instinctively put his arm around Yin Yin.

When Yinyin looked at him, he said righteously, "This is more reliable."

Yin Yin held back for a moment, but ultimately didn't say anything to scare them. With their combined weight, they were no match for the eunuchs carrying the palanquins; there was no way they would fall.

The imperial palace of this dynasty occupies a considerable area; it takes a full quarter of an hour to walk from the palace gate to the Zichen Hall where the emperor resides.

The two had just disembarked from their palanquins outside the Zichen Palace when the Emperor's chief eunuch personally came out to greet them: "Greetings, Your Highness and Your Highness. His Majesty invites you both to enter directly."

The two entered together and bowed to the emperor.

The emperor looked down at his younger brother, who was beaming with excitement, and felt a pang of jealousy, thinking that he couldn't have this brother. But when his gaze shifted to Yin Yin's face, he saw that although she was dignified and composed, her attention often fell on Gu Anzhi, watching over him, and he felt satisfied.

The emperor gestured to his chief steward to give them a gift, said a few words telling the two men to get along well, and then sent them to meet the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager hadn't shown much concern for Gu Anzhi before, but now she treated the couple very kindly.

However, compared to the Empress Dowager, the Noble Consort sitting to the side smiled more sincerely. Although her gift to the two of them did not surpass that of the Empress Dowager, it was not much different.

Compared to these two, the Empress was slightly inferior, but in her attitude towards Yin Yin, she was consistent with the Noble Consort.

After meeting the important people in the harem, and also meeting the other princes and princesses, changing their forms of address, and paying respects to their ancestors at the Fengxian Hall, Yin Yin and Gu Anzhi's activities for the day were finally over, and they could return to their own residences.

When Yinyin got home, she thought she could finally rest, but to her surprise, the chief clerk, registrar, and other officials from the Prince's mansion were already waiting for her.

Gu Anzhi, holding Yin Yin's hand, sat down at the head of the table and said to the officials in the mansion, "The Princess Consort's orders are the same as mine. If the Princess Consort's orders differ from mine, the Princess Consort's orders shall prevail. If I find out that you have been disrespectful to the Princess Consort, no matter what your background is, you will all be expelled and severely punished. Do you understand?"

The officials all readily agreed.

Afterwards, in front of everyone, Gu Anzhi handed over the Prince's Mansion's account books, storeroom keys, and tokens to Yin Yin.

Yinyin held the item but didn't look at it immediately. Instead, she decided to call the relevant person to report back after the three-day homecoming.

Once these people left, Yin Yin was finally able to relax.

"Anzhi, you're just leaving all the affairs of the manor to me like this? Aren't you afraid I'll leave you without any extra money to spend?"

“Don’t worry,” Gu Anzhi said. “I’m usually at home and don’t associate with ministers. Apart from buying things for you, I don’t have any other expenses. Besides, if these things are in your hands, the people in the mansion will listen to you more, and I can rest assured.”

The biggest taboo for a matriarch is to lack the authority to manage the household and to be unable to control the contracts and monthly allowances of her servants. Otherwise, she will easily be taken advantage of and looked down upon.

Upon hearing this, Yinyin told Chunrui to put everything away before turning back to Anzhi and saying, "Then it's settled. You'll only get twenty taels of silver for pocket money each month. If there are any large withdrawals, the accountant has to report them to me."

Gu Anzhi readily agreed, and even added, "Twenty taels is too much; it's more than the annual salary of many officials."

This was the first time Yin Yin had ever met someone who would voluntarily lower their own pay: "If you don't use it all, you can keep it, and I'll add up to twenty taels every month based on your remaining balance, how about that?"

Gu Anzhi nodded: "That's a good idea."

Yinyin curled her lips into a smile: "It's not a bad thing for you to have more money, but how you spend it is up to you. If you're planning to use the money for bad things, just don't let me know, or I'll call your big brother..."

"No, I won't," Gu Anzhi quickly covered her mouth, physically pausing what he was about to say. "The money in my hands has no secret destination, so I won't hide a single penny from you, and I certainly won't use it for anything bad. Just forget about it and don't even think about asking your brother-in-law to come and take you back to your parents' home."

Finally, he added, "It's not that we can't go back, but you can only go back with me."

Yinyin felt his hand move to her face, and his gaze suddenly became intense. Sensing something was wrong, she gently pushed him away: "I know, I'm starving after walking all this way to the palace. It's almost lunchtime, let's eat something quickly!"

Gu Anzhi felt a little regretful, but he really couldn't let Yinyin go hungry, so he turned around and called someone in to serve her some of the prepared food to tide her over before slowly calling for the main meal.

As the meal was being served, Gu Anzhi gradually moved closer and closer to Yin Yin, until their legs were touching and their shoulders were shoulder to shoulder.

Yinyin didn't distance herself from him, but instead said, "If I can't get up for the third-day homecoming, are you planning to go see my older brother by yourself?"