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Duke An Mansion has indeed fallen.
A fallen Phoenix is inferior to a chicken; the declining Duke Mansion keenly feels the fickleness of the world and the coldness of human relationships.
The courtyard is deserted, and personal interactions are sparse.
Those attending banquets often come with the intent to ingratiate themselves for benefits.
Other Duke Mansions and nobles rarely interact.
The interactions are merely out of courtesy, maintaining ancestral traditions, just a façade.
Since the engagement with Prince Qing Mansion, the situation has changed abruptly.
Duke An seems to have become a very busy man.
He can only have breakfast at home in the morning; for lunch and dinner, there are always colleagues or friends who invite him for a drink.
He accepts it calmly.
