A life of ups and downs is pure joy

After having lunch at Suheju, the aunt and sister-in-law went to Grandma Lin's yard to greet the old lady, but they didn't expect that Lin Qingyao was there too.

"Big sister, I was just thinking of going to your yard to look for you later." Lin Qinghuan said as soon as she sat down.

"We thought the same thing. I was also planning to wait until my grandmother had a nap before going to Suheju. I saw Chuxia coming back early in the morning." Lin Qingyao stretched out her hand and pulled Lin Qinghuan and said.

"It's great to have a sister. I have envied other people's families for having sisters since I was a child. I only have three brothers, and they don't really want to pay attention to me." Xiao Qiannan said enviously while looking at the two of them.

"From now on, we will all be your sisters." Lin Qingyao looked at Xiao Qiannan with a smile, and then looked at Lin Qinghuan.

"I also have a beautiful and gentle sister-in-law." Xiao Qiannan said mischievously while sitting in the seat next to Lin Qinghuan.

"That's great. It makes grandma happy to see you kids getting along so well with each other." Cheng Ping said lovingly while sitting in the seat of honor.

"Thanks to my grandmother's teaching, we, the Xiao family, have such a good sister-in-law. My mother also likes my sister-in-law very much." Xiao Qiannan's little mouth was as sweet as honey and she spoke very well. The old ancestor smiled happily after hearing what she said.

"Grandma, Nan'er is so good at pleasing you. If she becomes your granddaughter-in-law in the future, she will definitely make you smile day and night." Lin Qingyao looked at Xiao Qiannan and said jokingly.

Lin Qinghuan looked at her elder sister in surprise. She also saw what her sister-in-law was thinking and actually said it in front of her grandmother.

"Granddaughter-in-law, could it be that this child is the same as our An Cai?" Cheng Ping asked with a smile. She had known the answer since she first saw the girl from the Xiao family who was always pestering her grandson in Luofeng City.

"Big sister..." Xiao Qiannan blushed as she looked at Lin Qingyao, then turned to Lin Qinghuan, "Sister-in-law...Big sister loves to tease Nan'er."

Seeing that both her grandmother and elder sister liked Xiao Qiannan very much, Lin Qinghuan spoke up, "Grandmother, Nan'er will be sixteen next year. Isn't it time for our family to go to the Xiao Mansion to arrange this matter? Our Nan'er is a talented little girl who is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. She is also as beautiful as the Empress. If we don't hurry up, it will be difficult for that silly boy An Cai to get her."

"Ah...sister-in-law..." Xiao Qiannan's little face turned red all the way to her ears. She looked at Lin Qinghuan in panic and then raised her eyes to secretly look at Grandmother Lin who was sitting at the uppermost seat.

"What's wrong? Nan'er doesn't like my An Cai?" Lin Qingyao asked deliberately when she saw the shy little girl.

"No, Brother Ancai is naturally the best." Xiao Qiannan said anxiously, then lowered her head shyly.

"When cousin returns triumphantly this time, I will ask your father to ask the emperor to bless the two children." Cheng Ping looked at the little girl Xiao Qiannan and liked her very much, so she spoke.

"Wow, then Huan'er would like to thank grandma on behalf of Nan'er." Lin Qinghuan looked at Xiao Qiannan happily and said to his grandmother.

Xiao Qiannan looked at the people around her and her heart was filled with joy. She was now looking forward to her lover returning triumphantly as soon as possible.

After Grandma Lin rested, Lin Qinghuan and Xiao Qiannan took the pregnant Lin Qingyao to her yard and chatted for the whole afternoon.

"Are you happy?" Sitting in the carriage returning to the Xiao Mansion, Lin Qinghuan looked at Xiao Qiannan who was smiling the whole time and asked.

"I'm happy, sister-in-law. Grandma treats Nan'er so well." Xiao Qiannan thought of the kind old lady and felt very warm in her heart.

"Grandmother values you and Ancai, so naturally she doesn't want to propose marriage just like that. She must give you the greatest love." Lin Qinghuan said.

"Sister-in-law, if Nan'er hadn't been so ignorant when she was a child, would Brother Ancai like her more?" Xiao Qiannan remembered how the first time she met Lin Ancai started like that, and felt a little embarrassed.

"You two are like this: no friendship without fighting." Lin Qinghuan patted Xiao Qiannan's little face which was leaning against him and said.

"Will Brother Ancai dislike Nan'er? And will father and mother agree? Sister-in-law, you must talk to big brother more. With just a word from big brother, father and mother will agree." Xiao Qiannan looked at Lin Qinghuan eagerly and said.

"Don't worry, your elder brother will definitely agree with you and An Cai. If he doesn't agree, I will ignore him." Lin Qinghuan patted his chest and promised.

"Hehe... Big brother loves you so much, he will definitely listen to sister-in-law. Should we go see grandma later?" Xiao Qiannan remembered that her grandmother had some heart pain last night, so she spoke.

"Well, my grandmother took pity on me and exempted me from paying my respects every day. Now that she is not in good health, I must visit her more often." Lin Qinghuan said with some guilt. He now went to Qingyin Pavilion to pay his respects every morning and evening, but he went to Anyutang only a few times, especially since he was punished to kneel last time.

"Oh, the sun rises from the west today, and the young lady is here." As soon as I entered the courtyard of Anyou Hall, I saw Hu Tao Niang who was about to return to Honglian Pavilion.

"Mrs. Hu, please be aware of your identity." Nanny Dong came out of the room and said sternly.

Hu Tao Niang glanced back at her grandmother's personal nanny, then bowed to Lin Qinghuan with a sullen face, and walked out with her little face raised.

Lin Qinghuan was embarrassed. Although Hu Tao Niang spoke without knowing his identity, her cold words and sarcasm made Lin Qinghuan feel very itchy. After all, what she said was indeed the truth. Hu Tao Niang came to serve him every day regardless of wind or sun, but he, the legitimate granddaughter-in-law, was very lazy.

"Young Madam, Miss, the old lady has just woken up. Let me take you in." Nanny Dong handed the towel in her hand to the little maid next to her, then stepped forward and bowed to the two of them.

"Thank you, Madam Dong." Lin Qinghuan said softly.

"Grandma, is the pain in your heart better?" Xiao Qiannan sat beside the couch and hugged her grandmother and said coquettishly.

"Much better. Xier came to take his pulse early in the morning. It's nothing serious. It's all because of this old thing making a fuss." Grandmother Xiao touched Xiao Qiannan's head and said to Nanny Dong beside her.

"The old lady is always afraid that the younger generations will worry." Nanny Dong said from the side.

Lin Qinghuan just sat there stupidly, not knowing what to say.

"Huan'er, how are you feeling lately?" Grandmother Xiao asked her granddaughter-in-law who was quiet and somewhat introverted.

"Thank you for your concern, grandma. Huan'er is doing well." Lin Qinghuan stood up and said.

"Sit down, sit down." Grandmother Xiao raised her hand and gestured.

"My sister-in-law is usually shy and doesn't talk much, but she is actually worried about grandma." Xiao Qiannan spoke well of Lin Qinghuan.

"Well, good boy, is Yu'er back? When are you going to give me a great-grandson?" Grandma Xiao asked.

Lin Qinghuan looked at her in astonishment, and Xiao Qiannan also looked up at her grandmother in surprise.

"Grandfather, the eldest son just went to Yinan today." Nanny Dong hurriedly stepped forward and said.

"Oh, look at my memory. I just forgot what you told me last night." Grandma Xiao said in a daze.

Lin Qinghuan looked up at the old lady, perhaps she had made a slip of the tongue.

"Huan'er, when Yu'er comes back, ask him to come and see me. I left his favorite walnut cakes in the lunch box." Grandma Xiao took a sip of the tea handed to her by Xiao Qiannan and said to Lin Qinghuan.

Lin Qinghuan looked at Nanny Dong in embarrassment.

"The young lady naturally knows about it. When the eldest son comes back, they will definitely come to see you together." Nanny Dong shook her head at Lin Qinghuan, then said to Grandmother Xiao with a smile.

Lin Qinghuan looked at the old lady thoughtfully, then nodded.

Nanny Dong escorted Lin Qinghuan and Xiao Qiannan out of the yard, gave Lin Qinghuan a meaningful look, and then went back to the room to serve.

"Sister-in-law, grandma has always favored my second brother the most. I see that she is becoming more and more confused." Xiao Qiannan looked back at An Youtang and Lin Qinghuan who had closed the door and said.

"So that's how it is. Maybe grandma misses your second brother." Lin Qinghuan also looked at the wooden door and said blankly.

"Actually, I miss him too. Since I was a child, he was the only one among my three brothers who took me to play with the Sixth Prince. My eldest brother and Brother Fan always spent more time in Daddy's study." Xiao Qiannan said with a lost look in her eyes.

"He should be living well. I haven't heard of any war in Dayan recently." Lin Qinghuan felt a little uncomfortable when she thought of her brother Yu. She just wondered why Grandmother Xiao recognized her as her brother Yu's wife.

"I guess grandma also knows that you and second brother were childhood sweethearts, so don't take it to heart when you were so confused just now. Come visit grandma with me more often from now on. She is really old." Xiao Qiannan said while holding Lin Qinghuan's arm. The setting sun lengthened their shadows. Chuxia and Miaoyu followed behind with their heads down.

"Well, what Madam Hu said today really made me feel ashamed. I..." Lin Qinghuan said somewhat embarrassedly.

"It's okay. Grandmother likes quietness. Even mother doesn't need to come to pay her respects. Madam Hu has been serving Grandmother since she was young. As a concubine, it is natural for her to come and serve the medicine." Xiao Qiannan comforted.

"Nan'er, you have changed a lot now." Lin Qinghuan sighed as she looked at her sister-in-law who was becoming more and more sensible.

"Sister-in-law, I think Brother Ancai must like well-behaved and sensible girls, so Nan'er doesn't want to be so willful anymore." Xiao Qiannan smiled happily. Lin Qinghuan looked at her profile and couldn't help laughing. Her silly brother was really lucky.

Dayan's Tokyo City.

Gong Heyu's queen Weilan looked at the portrait in her hand for a long time.

"Is this woman the one your Majesty loves?" Wei Lan asked.

"Empress, the king was still young at that time, and the two of them were childhood sweethearts. You can't say they were lovers, but he probably treated her like a younger sister." The senior palace maid knelt down and replied.

"Roll it up. Since Your Majesty cherishes this painting so much, you should keep it well. Which palace is Your Majesty going to tonight?" Wei Lan asked.

"She has already gone to Concubine Fang's place." The senior palace maid replied.

"Is it the beautiful lady Fang who looks somewhat like the woman in this painting?" Wei Lan asked with a frown.

"Empress..." The head maid looked up at her in embarrassment, then nodded.

Tokyo Princess Palace.

"Well, yes, they all look a bit like her. Let's send them all to the palace." Princess Ronghua Gong Kou Shi looked around at the beauties in the yard. Each of them had eyebrows, eyes and facial features that resembled Lin Qinghuan.

"Your Highness, why do you always choose beauties for His Majesty based on the fairy in this portrait?" the maid next to her asked in confusion, then reached out and carefully rolled up the portrait.

"You also said they were fairies. If they didn't look like fairies, why would my royal brother go to see them?" Gong Kou Shi tapped the portrait lightly with her fingers and murmured.

The little maid nodded, not quite understanding.

"Lin Qinghuan, what charm do you have that makes my royal brother so infatuated with you?" Gong Kou Shi couldn't help but say as she looked at the sky that was slowly darkening in the distance. Originally, her royal brother was a carefree person who walked through a sea of flowers without getting a single leaf on him. But one day, after seeing Concubine Fang who looked somewhat like Lin Qinghuan, he began to visit her. After Gong Kou Shi learned about this, she asked someone to find a beauty like the woman in the portrait and send her to the palace to serve, just to make her brother less lonely, even if it was just a substitute.

Lin Qinghuan returned to Qingboyuan and opened the wooden box he had been hiding. Inside was the broken bracelet.

"Brother Yu, your grandmother misses you. Huan'er will visit her more often in the future." Lin Qinghuan murmured.

"Young Madam, I'm coming in to serve you." Yun Xiang knocked on the door outside with a basin of water for washing.

Lin Qinghuan closed the wooden box and put it back into his small box.

"come in."

In the Red Lotus Pavilion, Walnut Mother had her hair loose and was wearing a pink pajamas. She picked up the small doll from the box, bit her finger and rubbed it on the doll, then began to prick the doll with a fine needle. The talisman on the back of the doll had her birth date written on it.

"If I'm not having a good life, then neither can you. I'll stab you to death." The woman's resentful voice came out of her throat, full of hatred.

A figure quietly retreated outside the wooden window and sneaked out of the courtyard of Honglian Pavilion when no one was around.

Lin Qinghuan tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep, so he got up, lit the candle, and lay on the couch to play with chess pieces.

Yun remembered that he heard some noise inside at night and saw a faint light inside, so he walked over and knocked on the door gently.

"Madam, are you still awake?"

"Well, Yun, do you want to? I can't sleep, come in!" Lin Qinghuan replied.

Yun Xiang pushed open the door and walked in. Seeing Lin Qinghuan sitting on the chess couch in a single piece of clothing, he walked straight behind the screen and took out a thin robe for Lin Qinghuan to put on her.

"Young Madam, why aren't you sleeping?" Yun Xiang asked while standing on the wooden platform next to her.

"I can't sleep because something is on my mind. I don't know how my father and second uncle are doing. I heard that the people of Nanbang are extremely vicious. I am really worried. I don't know where my husband is. It seems that military rations are very important this time, otherwise my husband wouldn't have to go there in person." Lin Qinghuan said worriedly, holding the chess piece in his hand all the time.

"I believe that good fortune will come to those who are lucky. Lord Gonglie and General Lin Er are both lucky generals of our Dasheng and will surely return in triumph. The eldest and second sons are both skilled in martial arts, and with so many officers and soldiers following them, they will surely reach Yinan County smoothly." Yun Xiang said softly.

Since Xiao Yu became Gong Heyu, the second son of the Xiao family has also changed from him to the current Xiao Fan. Although they are the same age, Gong Heyu is one month and seven days older than him.

"May the compassionate and merciful Guanyin Bodhisattva bless my loved ones to return safely." Lin Qinghuan didn't believe in fate at first, but now he has begun to believe in it.

"Young Madam, it's late. Let me help you to rest." Yun Xiang also clasped his hands together and muttered like Lin Qinghuan, then opened his eyes and spoke softly.

"Well, go to sleep."