Ning Chen left the palace and rode his beloved Diaochan back to the Ning residence, hooves going clip-clop, clip-clop.

It was New Year's Eve, the time for the whole family to be together.

In the front hall of the Ning residence, several braziers were burning, and it was as warm as spring.

The Ninth Princess, Zisu, Pan Yucheng and the rest were all gathered there.

Before Ning Chen even got inside, he could hear the talk and laughter.

Feng Qizheng was bellowing to the room about Ning Chen's great deeds in taking the Gaoli Kingdom, embellishing as he went.

Ning Chen pushed the door curtain aside and walked in.

Besides the Ninth Princess, Yudie, Zisu and the others, Pan Yucheng was there, and Chen Chong with his whole family.

When Chen Chong left for Qingzhou, he hadn't known when he'd be back, so he had sent his wife and children to the Ning residence.

By now everyone was used to it. Whenever a man set out on a long trip, he sent his wife and children to the Ning residence.

The Ning residence was safe: besides masters like Gu Yichun, it had the Ning'an Army guarding it.

Gao Ziping, a man alone in the world, hadn't gone home either. He had come to the Ning residence for the new year.

With Ning Chen back, the place got livelier still.

In the Great Xuan it was the custom to stay up all night seeing the old year out.

So they kept the party going until the next morning.

Ning Chen had drunk a lot, and when he really couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, he went to his room for a nap.

That morning he took the Ninth Princess, Zisu and Yudie to the palace to pay their respects to the Xuan Emperor and have a family dinner.

Come to think of it, this was the first new year Ning Chen had ever spent with the Xuan Emperor.

In past years he had always been away from the capital at the new year.

Last night the Xuan Emperor had summoned…