A life of ups and downs is pure joy

"Girl, your bamboo painting is so beautiful, just like the real bamboo in the yard." Chu Xia was grinding ink nearby, looking at the bamboo in Lin Qinghuan's painting, and couldn't help but praise her.

"Bamboo is the easiest plant to draw. That's nothing. I've always been curious why such a large area in Lingzhu Garden was specially designated as a small bamboo forest." There is a small bamboo forest on the right side of the corridor, next to it is an artificial lake and rockery. In spring and summer, that area is exceptionally cool.

"Huh? Girl, how could you forget even this?" Chu Xia Yanmo stopped his hand and looked at his girl with heartache.

Whenever Chu Xia showed this look, it must be something closely related to Lin Qinghuan, but she really couldn't figure it out. She could only cover her head and pretend to think about it, but her head hurt. In the end, she looked at Chu Xia pitifully.

"Okay, girl, let's not think about it anymore. Let's never reminisce about it again. Chuxia will tell you whatever you want to know. The bamboos in Lingzhu Garden were planted because the second mistress liked them. And the green plum garden last time was also the second mistress's favorite. There is also a painting of green plums by the second mistress in the master's room, and the eldest girl is in the painting." When Chuxia mentioned Lin Qinghuan's biological mother, her eyes were full of admiration and respect.

"Chuxia, is my mother pretty?" She was two or three years older than Lin Qinghuan, and she had probably seen her before.

"Girl, my mother said that the second mistress was the kindest and most beautiful mistress in the world. I only remember that she loved painting and painted in the corridor outside all year round. She loved wearing white clothes the most." It seems that she was really young at that time, and all her memories were given by her mother.

"It's a pity that I have never met her. I really envy the children who grew up with their mothers." Lin Qinghuan knew that feeling. When she was still young, her parents died in a car accident. Every night she would cry to sleep and wake up crying while holding their photos.

"Girl, don't be sad and take care of yourself." Chu Xia looked at her girl with heartache.

"But I am also very happy. I have the love of my older sisters and brothers, the love of my grandmother, and the love of Aunt Xue who is like a biological mother." Lin Qinghuan couldn't help feeling a little comfortable when he thought of these people who were closely related to his life.

"And the master, the master loves me the most, or you could say he is partial to me, but the master is too busy." There is one thing that Lin Qinghuan admires the most about the Lin Mansion, that is, everyone from top to bottom has special admiration and respect for Lin Muchang. It seems that this great general father has infinite charm.

"Chuxia, have you been living in the mansion since you were a child?"

"Yes, house slaves like us have been in the Lin Mansion since we were born, and we even stayed in Kyoto for a while in the early years."

"Go and fetch Ling Zhuyuan from the farm for your mother someday. I heard that Mother Huang was also a cook."

After she finished speaking, Chuxia was silent for a long while. Lin Qinghuan looked up and saw the little girl looking at her with tears in her eyes. Then she knelt on the ground and said, "Girl, I will never forget your kindness to Chuxia. The farm is humid, and my mother's rheumatism has become more and more serious in recent years. You are Chuxia's living Bodhisattva." After that, she kowtowed to Lin Qinghuan. She stood up and helped Chuxia up, "Chuxia, as long as you follow me well, we have grown up together. We are relatives even if we are not blood sisters. You don't have to say such things in the future. I will take care of you, and I will take care of your family." Lin Qinghuan knew that she must have an extremely loyal maid to follow her. From the Buddha leaf grass in Aunt Xue's calming tea to Chang Xinrui viewing her as a thorn in her side, and now that her elder sister is not at home, Lin Qinghuan must also start to learn to protect herself.

"By the way, young lady, I heard that the third young lady got very angry after returning to Jialan Garden that day. She had a quarrel with Aunt Chang and even smashed her favorite guqin." Chuxia wiped her tears and remembered what Shuang'er in Jialan Garden had told her.

"Well, why? Isn't Third Sister the most dignified and virtuous? Why would she quarrel with Aunt Chang?" Lin Qinghuan took a sip of tea. Since coming here, she couldn't even drink plain water. Her taste for all kinds of fine teas made her become picky.

"I have a fellow villager named Shuang'er, who was a fire-making maid in Jialanyuan. She told me that after the third lady came back that day, she saw the snacks on the table and smashed them in anger. She also hit the maid who served the snacks with a stick. Then Aunt Chang said a few words to her, and the two started quarreling. They mentioned something about the prince and the princess in their conversation, but she didn't dare to listen too closely to the details." Chuxia said.

"I never expected my third sister to lose her temper."

"The third young lady often loses her temper in the yard, throwing things and beating and scolding the servants, but no one dares to say anything." Chu Xia said in a low voice.

"That's quite interesting. Oh, by the way, how many days will Sister Qingyi be under house arrest?" Lin Qinghuan hadn't seen Lin Qingyi for several days and missed her very much. With her company, life was not boring.

"Qinghuan..." Luo Fengcheng was very evil, and someone was coming. Lin Qingyi's happy voice rang out in the yard.

"Third sister, you're here just as I mentioned you." Lin Qinghuan put down the pen in her hand and went to the door to welcome the girl in.

"Do you know why I can come out today?" Lin Qingyi said mysteriously.

"Daddy must be worried about you." She said with a smile.

"Qinghuan, you're very smart. Daddy went to see Mom, then remembered the banquet for the Fourth Prince. He felt wronged that I was the only one who didn't go, so he let me go after a few words." Lin Qingyi picked up a candied fruit and put it in her mouth. "Why does this taste so familiar? Was it made by Concubine Xue?"

"You have a very good mouth. You can taste the cooking skills of anyone."

"Aunt Xue loves to put jasmine in her fruits. You can tell once you taste it." Lin Qingyi picked up a candied fruit and brought it to Lin Qinghuan's nose. She sniffed it and it was indeed a rich jasmine fragrance.

"Sister Yi, the weather is nice today, let's go for a walk in the garden!" She was almost going crazy from being stuck in Lingzhu Garden.

"Go and get Qinghuan's robe quickly." Lin Qingyi put down the candied fruit in her hand and urged Chuxia to get the clothes.

"Our Lin Mansion is so big, and Daddy is so rich." The two chatted as they walked. The mansion was a bit too big, but when they thought about it, Lin Mutang's status was equivalent to that of the mayor of Luofeng City, so buying a piece of land to build a house didn't seem like a big deal.

"Hahaha, that's for sure, Qinghuan. When summer comes, I will bring you here to catch fish." Lin Qingyi said, pointing to the big lake in the backyard of the Lin Mansion.

"Fourth sister, where does this lake lead to?" Such a large lake is not a stagnant lake. It seems that there is a branch outside that leads into the Lin Mansion.

"Luocheng River, you haven't been out much. Our Luofeng City is divided into two by the Luocheng River, so there are East Street Market and West Street Market. The prosperity and extravagance are all in the East Street Market, while the West Street Market is more crowded with street corners and alleys and many foreign businessmen. In short, the population is more mixed." Lin Qingyi picked up a small stone and threw it diagonally towards the water, making three splashes in a row.

"Then when can we go to the bustling East Street market so that I can see the world?" Lin Qinghuan also imitated her and threw water, but there was only a muffled sound and the stone disappeared.

"Hahaha, Qinghuan, you should throw it diagonally like this." Lin Qingyi couldn't help laughing when she saw the skipping stones thrown by Lin Qinghuan.

"Then I'll try again. I'm sure I can hit several this time." She thought about Lin Qingyi's posture and picked up another stone. The result was still a muffled sound. She rolled her eyes helplessly and looked back at Lin Qingyi, who was laughing so hard that she couldn't straighten her back. As a result, she saw Ning Junze watching the excitement in the pavilion not far behind her.

"When did he come? Why didn't we notice it?" Lin Qinghuan muttered. Ever since she heard Chang Xinrui say that night that he might be here to marry his first wife, Lin Qinghuan has been a little resistant to him. Although he is handsome, she has not thought about getting married yet.

"Who's here?" Lin Qingyi looked back following Lin Qinghuan's gaze, "Who is he?" she asked curiously.

"The fourth prince Ning Junze." Lin Qinghuan told her quietly.

"I met him when I was a kid, in Kyoto. He often played with big brother." Lin Qingyi came over and took Lin Qinghuan's arm, and continued, "Shouldn't we go up and say hello? It's normal to greet him."

"This is not Kyoto, there's no need to be so polite, my two sisters." The two girls stepped forward and were about to salute when Ning Junze raised his arm and said.

"Why is Fourth Brother here alone?" The sisters of the Lin family can all call Lin Mutang the Fourth Brother, the emperor's biological son. It can be seen that Lin Muchang is very favored by the emperor. Seeing that he only brought one follower, Lin Qingyi asked curiously.

"The weather is nice today. I heard that there is a large naturally formed lake in the mansion, so I came to see the excitement." The snow-white fox fur on Ning Junze's white flag was swaying gently in the wind in the pavilion. Feng Lang's handsome face was born with nobility. Chu Xia said that the fourth prince's mother was the most beautiful among the emperor's concubines, but her personality was very cold. She was a little indifferent to the emperor. She could become a concubine only because of her good looks.

"Fourth brother, is this the legendary Star-Breaking Sword?" Lin Qingyi asked in disbelief, looking at the sword on Ning Junze's waist with shining eyes.

"You have good eyesight. You recognize this sword at such a young age?" Ning Junze took the sword and placed it on the stone table. Lin Qingyi excitedly wanted to touch it, but her outstretched hand stopped in mid-air. She raised her head and looked at the owner of the sword. Ning Junze nodded gently, and a smile flashed in his fox eyes.

"I've seen the portrait in the famous sword catalog in my father's study. The white dragon on the scabbard is so lifelike that I can remember it with just one look." Lin Qingyi's hand gently stroked the scabbard. Her cautious look was unlike her usual careless nature. Lin Qinghuan didn't understand how valuable this sword was. She was not as attracted by the jade pendant hanging around Ning Junze's waist, which was as priceless as the white jade cup.

"I guess you are the fourth sister of the Lin family, and General He Bin is your grandfather?" Ning Junze looked at the girl in front of him who was so obsessed with studying the sword, and he knew in his heart that this was Lin Qingyi who played with swords and danced with guns.

"Fourth brother, you must have heard some bad rumors about me." Lin Qingyi said, lowering her eyes in disappointment.

"Why do you say that, Fourth Sister? I think that our Dasheng Dynasty will have its first female general in the future." Ning Junze's words instantly restored Lin Qingyi's spirits and swept away the haze.

"Fourth brother, Qinghuan also said that I will become a heroine. Mulan and Mu Guiying are both famous female generals." Lin Qingyi said happily.

"Oh? It seems that Sister Huan has a keen eye for talent and could see that Fourth Sister is different from others early on." Ning Junze looked back at Lin Qinghuan, "You, why are you eating again?" Lin Qinghuan took the cloth naan bag from Chuxia's hand and was enjoying the candied fruits made by Aunt Xue with relish. She never expected that the two people who were chatting happily would talk about her again.

"Fourth brother, just treat her as a little greedy cat." Seeing that Lin Qinghuan had her mouth full of fruits and had no time to speak for a while, Lin Qingyi answered for her.

"Haha, interesting." Ning Junze looked at Lin Qinghuan thoughtfully and said.

Next, Lin Qingyi pestered Ning Junze to perform a sword dance, and the two also had a sparring match. He had agreed to accompany her to visit the Lin Mansion, but Ning Junze showed up out of nowhere, and they wasted such a good time. They never expected that this man's swordsmanship was very elegant, and they didn't know who was better between him and Hong Qi.

"Qinghuan, how is it?" Lin Qingyi saw Lin Qinghuan staring at the two of them blankly, and thought that she was mesmerized by their wonderful fight, so she asked happily.

"Yes, they are all masters." Lin Qinghuan replied.

"Qinghuan, I'm asking if you want to learn sword dancing with Fourth Brother?" It turned out that the Fourth Prince had agreed to teach Lin Qingyi during this period of time, but when he found that Lin Qinghuan was looking at them, he thought she also wanted to join in the fun.

"Fourth sister, swords and knives have no eyes, I'm afraid of harming innocent people." In fact, Lin Qinghuan was just thinking of learning some skills to strengthen her body, but her body was too weak. What if something happened again? After all, I was scared away by Medical Saint Xiao two years ago. I heard that he and his master went to travel around the world to find rare and precious medicines. It's time for him to come back and change the prescription for her.

"It's okay. I'll make you a wooden sword tomorrow. It will definitely not hurt anyone." Lin Qingyi ran over, took a sip of tea, and said with a smile.

An attendant came running from a distance and whispered a few words in Ning Junze's ear. He put on a white flag and told the two girls in a gentle voice that he had something to deal with. Then he took his sword and left. His slender back seemed to have a holy light under the setting sun. Lin Qingyi stared at his receding figure as if he was an idol.

"Fourth brother's swordsmanship is superb, no wonder he can wield the Star-Breaking Sword." Lin Qingyi kept talking about Ning Junze on the way back.

"Fourth sister, I heard that the Fourth Prince still doesn't have a princess consort!" Lin Qinghuan said with a mischievous smile, looking at her.

"Really? Why?" Lin Qingyi looked at Lin Qinghuan in confusion, then realized that her sister was teasing her. She came over with a smile and patted Lin Qinghuan. The two of them returned to Lingzhuyuan laughing and joking before sunset.