A life of ups and downs is pure joy

"Today is the birthday of the two little birthday boys and girls. Big brother would like to wish you both good health and happiness every day in the future." Lin Yuzhi stood up and said with a wine glass in his hand.

"Thank you, big brother." Lin Qinghuan and Lin Ancai stood up together to thank him for the wine.

"I remember that auspicious clouds appeared in the east at noon that year. Lord Zhao of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory observed the sky at night and said that a lucky star had descended, and if he got it, he would be able to conquer the world. My father sent people to investigate, and it turned out that twins Qinghuan and Ancai were born. I vaguely remember my father saying that if I got General Lin, I would have conquered the world, and the birth of these twins would announce to the world that the Dasheng Dynasty would last forever." Ning Junze suddenly said.

"We are all His Majesty's subjects. Regardless of whether we are lucky stars or not, we must be loyal to the Da Sheng Dynasty and His Majesty." Lin Yuzhi said.

"You two are thirteen years old now. You should act like adults. Huan'er should not be naughty in the future, and Ancai should study hard with the teacher." Lin Yuzhi already knew that Lin Qinghuan was pretending to be sick, so he said.

Lin Qinghuan was thinking to himself, he was really curious about what the auspicious clouds and auspicious air falling from the sky looked like as the ancients said. Was it like the fiery clouds at dusk, but appeared at a strange time?

Ning Junze is a very strange person. Lin Qinghuan always felt that he was very smart, and his mother was particularly favored, so the emperor had a special preference for him. However, he seemed to just want to be an idle prince. His days in Kyoto were just like living in the Lin Mansion. He would go to the front hall to eat every day, and he would be sitting there. After dinner, he would return to the courtyard, but he still didn't leave. Although they were in the next courtyard, it was too blatant for him to eat for free.

"Hmph, I don't know who this scholar is. I was playing in the water barefoot by the lake when he came from nowhere and scared me so much that I kept hiding behind the rockery. I thought he was just passing by, but I never expected he was the one reciting poems by the lake, and he recited for a whole incense stick of time." Lin Qinghuan was sitting in the yard watching Chen Jingshu embroider when Lin Qingyi limped in.

"What scholar? Why is your leg broken?" She looked at Lin Qingyi curiously and asked.

"That guy at the dinner table last time, Li, really pissed me off." Lin Qingyi glanced at Chen Jingshu's expression, then continued with a grin, "She's been holding the same position for so long that my legs are numb."

"Hahahaha, then why don't you move?" Lin Qinghuan couldn't help laughing.

"I wasn't wearing shoes and couldn't reach it, so I could only stand there and wait for him to leave." Lin Qingyi patted her legs and said helplessly.

"Hahaha, I never thought that Fourth Sister would have such an embarrassing day." Lin Qinghuan laughed happily.

"What are you chatting about so happily?" Lin Mo walked out of the temporary pharmacy with Lin Qinghuan's soup pot. Because her current residence was too far away, she simply squeezed into the same room with Lin Qinghuan so that she could take good care of her sick sister.

"Sister Xiao Si became lame after being forced behind a rockery by a weak scholar." Lin Qinghuan said hurriedly.

"Huan'er, why do you say this concisely, as if I had a private appointment with this person?" Lin Qingyi looked at Lin Qinghuan speechlessly.

"Sister Chen, do you think so or not?" Lin Qinghuan deliberately teased Lin Qingyi and turned to pull Chen Jingshu into the camp.

Chen Jingshu quickly nodded and covered her face with a smile.

"You are like bad company, and they corrupt you." Lin Qingyi pointed at Chen Jingshu and said.

"Come, drink the medicine." Lin Mo skimmed off the medicine residue and poured a bowl of thick medicine for Lin Qinghuan. She took it and drank it in one gulp. Chuxia came forward with candied water chestnuts.

"You are becoming less and less resistant to this medicine now." Lin Qingyi said.

"Just this bowl of bitter medicine has made me feel uncomfortable these days. Fifth Miss has suffered so much." Chen Jingshu looked at me with a distressed expression.

"I'm used to drinking it now. If I don't drink it for a day, I'll miss it."

"Pooh, pooh, pooh, don't talk nonsense. It's a good thing that Fifth Sister can be healthy without taking medicine tomorrow and the day after tomorrow." Chen Jingshu quickly patted Lin Qinghuan's mouth and said.

"Then I'll ask Sister Chen to say a good word so that I can say goodbye to these medicine bottles as soon as possible."

"Where is Lin Ancai? I haven't seen him in the past few days." Lin Qingyi asked curiously.

"He must be pestering Ning Junze to practice sword skills." Lin Qinghuan said casually.

"Huan'er, you have to call me Fourth Brother or Fourth Prince. You can't break the rules." Lin Mo said.

"Oh, I see." Lin Qinghuan nodded and everyone just thought it was just childish talk.

Lin Qingyi was still rubbing her sore legs, and the girls found her expression really funny.

"By the way, I haven't seen my third sister these days. Is she still practicing the piano in her yard?" Everyone was there, but Lin Qingwan was missing, so Lin Qinghuan asked curiously.

"I saw my third sister carrying her zither and going out in a carriage early in the morning. It seemed that she was going to join in the Kyoto Zither Competition." Lin Mo said as he carefully placed the medicine bowl in his hand on the wooden tray in Chu Xia's hand.

"It's better this way. Finding something to distract yourself is better than staying at home all day and being depressed." Lin Qinghuan said.

"Qinghuan, you..." Lin Qingyi wanted to say a few words, but when she thought that there was another person named Chen Jingshu in the room, she knew that family disgrace should not be made public, so she shut up.

"Auntie Gui, why are you here?" Chuxia was washing medicine bowls in the yard and called out, only to see the old woman walking in breathlessly, twisting her heavy body.

Hong Qi was sitting in the pavilion brandishing her two swords. Nanny Gui glanced at her and was frightened by the sharp knives. She quickly quickened her pace and went into the house.

"It's just right that everyone is here. Brother Yu asked me to pass on a message. Tomorrow is Kyoto's biennial chrysanthemum exhibition. Several sisters should go to join in the fun and meet the ladies and young men of the noble families in Kyoto." Chu Xia handed Nanny Gui a cup of tea. Nanny drank it and continued, "I told Nanny Zhou before that Sister Huan's courtyard is too far from Brother Yu's courtyard. She asked me to move to Langhuan Garden over there, but it's not quiet enough. She comes to visit Brother every day and is so tired of me."

"Thank you, Ma'am Gui. Big brother told you to just give instructions if you have anything to do and rest when you need to." Lin Qinghuan said.

"I can't rest anymore. The doctor said I need to run more. Being too fat is not good for my body in any way." Aunt Gui patted the folds of fat on her belly, and the girls laughed when they saw this.

"Luo Feng is really a nourishing person. Huan'er is becoming more and more energetic now. He looks exactly like the second young lady when she was a child. Alas, I feel uncomfortable when I mention the second young lady." After saying this, Nanny Gui's eyes became moist. Lin Qinghuan also heard from Chuxia later that Nanny Gui was Zhang Yuhuan's wet nurse and came to the Lin Mansion from the Zhang Mansion. After all, her eldest brother was raised by her. If she hadn't been reluctant to leave her eldest brother, she would have gone to the nunnery outside Jinhan City to accompany Aunt Zhang Yuhuan.

"Mammy, you should always take care of yourself and don't get hurt all the time. You should take good care of yourself so that you can take care of your big brother's children and grandchildren in the future!" Lin Qingyi stepped forward to comfort her.

"Yeah." The remaining girls also agreed.

When Chen Jingshu heard these words from her eldest brother's future descendants, she felt a strange feeling in her heart. These days, her elder brother from the Lin family had been quite kind to her, but he was too kind.

"Ladies, go to bed early tonight and dress nicely tomorrow to let the ladies and gentlemen open their eyes and see who is the most beautiful girl in Jinhan City." When saying this, Nanny Gui patted Lin Qinghuan's hand.

Lin Qinghuan thought that even if she had some resemblance to Zhang Yulan, she was only a thirteen-year-old girl after all. How pretty could she be? Lin Qingyi was also a tomboy who was only one year older than her. On the other hand, Lin Mo and Lin Qingwan were already graceful ladies in their prime. Maybe some young man or some mistress would take a fancy to them at this chrysanthemum exhibition.

After sitting for a while, Aunt Gui went back to work. She had been busy all her life, taking care of the older ones and then the younger ones. She could never rest.

At night, Lin Qinghuan and Lin Mo lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

"Sister Mo, have you ever thought about who you will marry in the future?" She turned around and lay on her side, looking at Lin Mo's face and asked.

"I hope to find a good man who can let me live freely and without being restricted by me, but the right to choose is not my own. I will marry whoever my father tells me to marry." Lin Mo turned his head and looked at Lin Qinghuan and said.

"So if you meet someone you like at the Tomorrow Flower Exhibition, will you go and fight with Daddy?"

"Huan'er, I have never thought about these things. I just thought that daddy would choose the best husband for me." Lin Mo looked at her and said.

"Sister Mo, if you have a lover, you must tell me and I will help you. Life is so short, you must be with the one you love, otherwise your life will be in vain." Lin Qinghuan's eyelids became heavier and heavier as she spoke.

Lin Mo looked at Lin Qinghuan who was already sleeping soundly and whispered, Huan'er, his heart and eyes are full of you now, what else can I think about?