A life of ups and downs is pure joy

The Lin Mansion was filled with the sound of gongs and drums early in the morning. The old lady also became energetic and got up early. After breakfast, she sat in the front hall waiting. Lin Qinghuan and Lin Qingyi were also anxious. They stood up to look at the door, and then stood up and paced again.

"Good children, good children, stop standing up and wandering around." The old lady smiled and asked the two of them to sit down.

"Grandma, my elder sister must be back today, right?" Lin Qinghuan confirmed with the kind old lady again.

"Lin Qinghuan, you've asked grandma three times." Lin Ancai looked at her with disdain.

"Don't talk." Lin Qingyi raised her fist to threaten Lin Ancai, then ran to the old lady with a smile to pat her back and rub her shoulders. Lin Mo and Lin Qingwan sat quietly on the side from beginning to end.

"The eldest lady and her husband are back!" Shouts were heard outside. Lin Qinghuan looked at the door with joy, and saw Lin Qingyao's familiar figure walking in quickly.

"Grandma, your unfilial granddaughter Yao'er is back." Following Lin Qingyao's shout, Lin Qinghuan's eyes instantly filled with tears. She saw her grandmother stand up to greet Lin Qingyao and hold her hand tightly. Lin Qingyao also knelt on the ground, hugged the old lady's waist and legs and began to cry. The new brother-in-law Zheng Linfeng next to her helped the old and the child up.

After everyone stood up, Lin Qinghuan stood there, looking at Lin Qingyao with a wronged look on his face and tears streaming down his face, and he was reluctant to step forward.

"Huan'er, why are you standing there? Don't you recognize your big sister?" Lin Qingyao wiped her tears and waved at her gently.

"Wow... Big sister, why did you come back just now?" The accumulated grievances and longings burst out in an instant. Lin Qinghuan rushed over and hugged Lin Qingyao and burst into tears. Lin Qingru also ran over and hugged Lin Qingyao and burst into tears.

"Okay, okay, stop crying. Big sister is back." Lin Qingyao said to stop everyone from crying, but her tears kept flowing down.

After a long time, everyone calmed down, and the new brother-in-law Zheng Linfeng dared to step forward and kowtow to the old lady and greet her.

"Grandma, Linfeng kowtows to you." Zheng Linfeng is a handsome man with elegant demeanor, and the elder sister looks at him with loving eyes. It seems that the two of them are a perfect match made in heaven.

"Hey, good boy, get up." Grandma smiled happily and asked Zheng Linfeng to get up.

"Big sister, is he good to you?" Lin Qinghuan tiptoed close to Lin Qingyao's ear and asked.

Lin Qingyao rubbed my head, smiled and lowered her body to whisper to her, "He's fine."

After lunch, Lin Qingyao and Zheng Linfeng sent the old lady back to Anxinzhai. After not seeing each other for such a long time, there were of course many personal things to talk about, so Lin Qinghuan stopped pestering her elder sister. The two of them would stay here for more than a month, and what worried her most now was Xue Feng's health. The three sisters took Lin Qingru back to Chenxiangyuan. Xue Feng was taking a nap. Lin Qinghuan tiptoed in to take a look. Since taking Xiao Yu's prescription, Xue Feng had been sleeping more soundly. Lin Mo also checked Xue Feng's toiletries and makeup box from beginning to end, but still found nothing. The only things left in the yard were old things that had been used for a long time, so there was nothing suspicious.

"Sister Mo, I'm so unwilling to accept this." Lin Qinghuan angrily pulled the grass she picked up casually and said in a depressed mood.

"Every scheme has flaws, and every bad guy will reveal his true colors. Huan'er, there is still a lot of time to come, and we will definitely find the murderer hiding in the dark." Lin Mo said with a firm look in his eyes. Lin Qinghuan looked at her and fell into deep thought. Lin Mo's character was really firm and strong, not at all as quiet as she looked.

"Sister Mo, what you said is very good. Qinghuan, did you hear that? You must not be anxious. We will lose our composure if we are anxious." Lin Qingyi took Lin Mo's arm and looked at her admiringly.

"Will we continue to support each other and love each other like this for the rest of our lives?" Lin Qinghuan walked forward, held their hands, and asked softly.

"Of course, we are sisters and lifelong relatives, so we should love each other." Lin Qingyi hugged Lin Qinghuan and Lin Mo with one in each hand and said. Lin Mo also nodded with a smile. Looking at the two of them, Lin Qinghuan suddenly felt that no matter what the road ahead was, with them by her side, she had nothing to be afraid of.

Xiao Yu was practicing swordplay under a tree called Albizia Julibrissin. Sitting in the pavilion next to him was a man who looked a few years older than him but was as handsome as him. He was wearing a light purple gown with gold embroidery and an exquisite jade belt with a transparent emerald green jade pendant hanging from his waist. His black hair was crowned with a Hetian jade crown. His sword-like eyebrows were unruly and his deep eyes were staring at the young man dancing with a sword in the distance. His face was handsome yet with a bit of feminine beauty. The man took a sip of the tea in the tall teacup with a white background and black flowers in front of him, and then put it down, as if the taste of the tea was not to his liking.

"Brother, you are so busy with government affairs, how do you have time to come to Luofeng City?" Xiao Yu threw the sword to Liu Ye, then walked into the pavilion and said to the man.

"To take you back." The man replied slowly.

"If you are the same as your father, then go back to Kyoto today." Xiao Yu sat down and took a sip of cold tea, and replied coldly.

"Second brother, mother has not been in good health recently and she misses you all the time. As a son, it's time for you to go home." Xiao Yi stood up and said softly while looking at the Albizia Julibrissin tree in the middle of the yard.

"I understand. I'll be back by the end of the year." Xiao Yu replied briefly. He knew in his heart that his mother would be fine with Aunt Liu Rong by her side.

"If you like the little girl from the Lin family, just let your father come and propose marriage. Why do you have to stay in Luofeng City and move the entire Lushen Hall here, making such a big fuss?" Xiao Yi really couldn't think of what was so different about this little girl from the Lin family that made his younger brother so obsessed with her.

"I have my own plans for my own affairs. Brother, please don't let father get involved." Xiao Yu said to Xiao Yi.

"Then come back to Kyoto with me in the next few days. Mother and aunt both said they must bring you back this time, otherwise I won't go back." Xiao Yi sat down and reached for the teacup, but then withdrew his hand and said complainingly, "You have to add these herbs to the good tea. It's not drinkable. Liuye, go get me a glass of water."

Xiao Yu calculated the time in his mind and realized that he had not been back to Kyoto for a year. He looked at Xiao Yi in front of him and realized that even he had been sent here. He decided to go back to Kyoto. Lin Qinghuan only needed to take the medicine according to the prescription for the next two months.

"Then let's set off tomorrow." Liu Ye, who came with a glass of water, put down the glass and went back to pack up after hearing this. There was not a single decent maid in the second young master's yard. Whether it was grinding ink, arranging books, packing luggage, or drying, sorting and pounding medicine, it was all Liu Ye's job, and it was really hard work.

Xiangxi Garden was bustling with activity. Lin Qinghuan stood at the corridor holding a cup of tea and watched everyone busying themselves. Zheng Linfeng, her brother-in-law, was practicing swordsmanship with Lin Ancai. Lin Qingyi stood beside them, giving Lin Ancai instructions and advice. The elder sister quietly walked behind her, covered Lin Qinghuan's eyes with her hands, and said jokingly, "Guess who I am," deliberately lowering her voice.

"Hehe, big sister, your fragrance betrays you." Lin Qinghuan smelled the unique fragrance of Lin Qingyao since the first time she entered the room.

"Come, big sister, put on the small hairpins that all the little girls in Yinan like for my Huan'er." Lin Qingyao asked Chuxia to bring the wooden comb.

"Your hair is so messy. Have you been lazy again, Chuxia? Big sister will braid your hair into beautiful double buns." Lin Qingyao took the wooden comb, Qiuxiang brought over two pearwood stools, and Lin Qingyao curled her fingers and began to braid the hair of her favorite sister.

"Big sister, when Huan'er was little, did you braid my hair like this? I still remember that big brother was reading a book next to me. It was in this place that Aunt Xue was sewing Ancai's ripped jeans." When she closed her eyes, all she could see were the images of Lin Qinghuan's childhood. It was such a comfortable and warm scene.

Lin Qingyao's hands trembled for a moment, and then she said happily, "Huan'er, do you remember?"

"I will remember some of it fragmentarily because of some past scenes or specific people and things." Lin Qinghuan said obediently while playing with the small hairpin in her hand.

"Okay, that means my little Huan'er is getting better and better. I heard from Qingyi that you have already met Xiao's younger brother?" Lin Qingyao straightened Lin Qinghuan's restless head.

"Big sister, have I seen him before? He looks so familiar." Lin Qingyao is a few years older than Xiao Yu. It is possible that Lin Qingyao knows something about the memory she has lost.

"Hmm~ Have you seen him? I only know that when we were in Kyoto, Xiao Ning often came to see Yu Zhi. I don't have much impression of the younger brother of the Xiao family. Besides, you stay in the yard all year round and you probably haven't seen him." Lin Qingyao thought for a while and said.

"Oh, maybe it's because he is good-looking, I like him very much." After saying this, Lin Qinghuan turned around and smiled at Lin Qingyao.

She was stunned for a moment, then said,

"Think about it, Huan'er is almost thirteen years old and will be a big girl soon." Lin Qingyao looked at the little Huan'er in front of her and saw that she was no longer the little girl before. She actually paid attention to whether a boy was good-looking or not. She felt happy.

"Well, big brother said that Chuqiu wants Ancai and I to go to the Kyoto mansion to celebrate his birthday." Lin Qinghuan said happily.

"Kyoto is very lively. Huan'er will definitely not want to go back to Luofeng after this trip." Lin Qingyao said jokingly.

"Grandmother, Aunt Xue, and, um, they are all in Luofeng. Huan'er will definitely come back." When Lin Qinghuan said this, the first person who flashed through his mind was Xiao Yu.

"Who else? Xiao Huan'er." Lin Qingyao had a beautiful smile and a nice voice, and her eyes were full of doting when she looked at her sister.

"And everyone in the Lin Mansion, big sister~." Lin Qinghuan said softly and coquettishly.

"Huan'er has always been the first to tell her elder sister anything that's on her mind since she was little. I don't know if it will be the same in the future." Lin Qingyao pretended to be very disappointed, and then she couldn't help but hugged Lin Qinghuan and giggled.

In the distance, Zheng Linfeng looked at Lin Qingyao laughing and joking with Lin Qinghuan with a doting look on his face. She raised her eyes to look at him. This brother-in-law was very nice.

After combing her hair and inserting a small hairpin, Chuxia took the bronze mirror with phoenix eye pattern and looked left and right. The little face in the mirror was so pretty. Her favorite thing was her dimples.

"Huan'er, you look like your aunt." Lin Qingyao couldn't help but sigh as she looked at Lin Qinghuan's little face in the bronze mirror.

"Big sister, my mother, is she pretty?"

"Of course she is beautiful. My aunt was the most beautiful woman in Kyoto back then. If it weren't for the divorce between my mother and father, my aunt's life would have been completely different." Lin Qingyao's face was full of regret when she mentioned Zhang Yulan.

"Since ancient times, beautiful women have often suffered from short lives. Maybe this is my mother's fate." Thinking about Zhang Yulan, it is also very sad. Everyone says that she is beautiful and talented, but in the end she could not resist the fact that she was born in this era and could not control her own destiny.

There was no one around, and Lin Qinghuan suddenly thought of Ginkgo. "Big sister, was there a maid named Ginkgo in my courtyard?"

"Ginkgo, I don't remember. There are so many people in the Lin Mansion." Lin Qingyao said after thinking for a while.

"Big sister, she's the one whose leg was broken by the beating."

"Oh, that one. There was such a girl, and she seemed to have been sold in the end." Lin Qingyao said.

"Big sister, why did you beat her up back then?" Lin Qinghuan continued to ask.

"It's been too long, I can't remember clearly, Chuxia, do you still remember?" Lin Qingyao winked at Chuxia, who stepped forward and replied, "Girl, you've forgotten again! That damn Ginkgo went out to hang out and left the window open, causing you to catch a cold."

Lin Qingyao stood up and said, "Lin Feng, I suddenly want to eat the drunken duck and green plum wine from Wangyue Tower. Let's go for a walk."

Lin Qinghuan looked at Lin Qingyao's back and felt that Ginkgo's matter was not that simple, but what were they hiding?

"Why did elder sister suddenly think of drunken duck? Doesn't she hate eating duck the most?" Lin Qingyi asked curiously.

"Maybe my taste has changed." Lin Qinghuan replied absentmindedly.

Back at Lingzhu Garden, Lin Qinghuan sat in a daze. It had been a while since she'd seen Xiao Yu come to see her, and she didn't know what he'd been up to lately. Thinking of what he'd said that day, she felt a little uncomfortable. If he'd known the Lin Qinghuan in front of him wasn't his, would he still have come to see her? Who was she, Su Jin or a replacement for Lin Qinghuan? Her heart was in turmoil, unable to sleep. It turned out that liking someone was such a complex mix of emotions: missing them when you couldn't see them, and fearing losing them when you did. It was such a hard feeling.

The next day, the sun shone brightly. Lin Qinghuan was so upset last night that she sat on the bed in a daze with dark circles under her eyes. Chu Xia knocked on the door and said, "Miss, I'm coming in to help you wash up."

"Come in." She yawned and invited Chuxia in.

"Why are you so sleepy today? I've come and knocked on the door several times." Chu Xia thought her daughter was not feeling well again and asked with concern.

"Well, I couldn't sleep for half a day last night." She rubbed her sleepy eyes and replied listlessly.

"Girl, hey, why haven't you gotten up yet?" Li Xue ran in with a clatter.

"What's wrong? Why are you running so fast?" Chu Xia asked.

"Miss, the daughter of Magistrate Chen is here and is waiting in the front hall." Chu Xia replied after taking a breath.

"Chen Jingshu?" She vaguely remembered the name.

"Yes, that's her."

"My elder brother is not at home, what is she doing here?" she asked curiously.

"She said she came to see you."