A life of ups and downs is pure joy

"I know I did not make a mistake in matching people up. Tell me, are these two children a good match? My Yi'er passed the imperial examination when he was young, and he is both talented in civil and military affairs. Many famous families in Jinhan hope to marry their daughters to him. Changping is now the most beautiful woman in our Dasheng Dynasty. She is stunningly beautiful at such a young age, and is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Isn't this a perfect match made in heaven?" Empress Xiao liked Lin Qinghuan so much that she was showing off to the concubines who had been sitting with her. Lin Qinghuan's mind was full of the words "shame for being proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting".

Imperial Noble Consort Xian glanced at Empress Xiao and knew what she meant.

After the concubines had greeted each other and returned to the palace, Xiao Yi, the prince, and Ning Sijue entered the Queen's palace.

Several people paid their respects to the Empress, and then accompanied her into the front yard to appreciate the flowers. An hour later, they accompanied Empress Xiao to have lunch.

"Huan'er is delicate and this flower suits you very well." Empress Xiao said, pointing to the pot of light-colored camellia.

Lin Qinghuan thanked him silently. Xiao Yi glanced at her and then at the pot of flowers.

"The sixth son is twenty years old now, and it's time for him to choose a wife. Do you have a woman you like in your heart? Please talk to your mother." Empress Xiao has always felt indebted to her youngest son, and has been trying every way to make it up to him since he returned to Jinhan.

"Mother, I already have a lover." After Ning Sijue finished speaking, the others looked at him in surprise. Lin Qinghuan just pricked up her ears to listen to the excitement. Ning Sijue glanced at Lin Qinghuan and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, but Xiao Yi noticed something unusual.

"Oh...which girl is she?" Empress Xiao asked curiously.

"This girl is still young. I will come to ask my mother for a marriage in a few years." Ning Sijue said.

"Sixth brother is very sensible." Ning Jinyang patted Ning Sijue on the shoulder and said.

"Oh, by the way, Yi'er, I heard that you sent Nan'er to the palace to learn the rules. Call her to have lunch together later." Empress Xiao said.

Lin Qinghuan couldn't help but frown when she heard Xiao Qiannan's name. Ning Sijue watched her reaction with interest.

Lin Qinghuan saw that Xiao Qiannan had no appetite and was just drinking the fruit rice wine in front of her. Xiao Qiannan became even more angry when she saw Lin Qinghuan and kept staring at her.

"I think my wife has drunk the fine brew from my aunt's palace, but I'm afraid she'll get drunk if she drinks any more." Xiao Yi glanced at Lin Qinghuan and Empress Xiao and said.

"Since Huan'er likes it, ask someone to send some back, and also send the pot of camellia to your house." Empress Xiao said kindly.

"Thank you, Her Majesty, for the reward." Lin Qinghuan said.

"From now on, just call me aunt in private like Yi'er does." Empress Xiao nodded and said with a smile.

"Yeah." Lin Qinghuan responded.

"Aunt, I'll take her back home first." Xiao Yi stood up and said.

"Big brother, when can Nan'er come home?" Xiao Qiannan stood up, walked around to Xiao Yi, pulled his sleeve and said coquettishly.

"Come back after you've learned the rules." Xiao Yi looked down at her and said.

"Ever since she came into the mansion, big brother, you have been biased towards her. I don't want to care about you anymore." After saying this, Xiao Qiannan pushed Xiao Yi angrily and ran out crying.

"What happened?" Ning Jinyang looked at the little girl's back in surprise and turned to look at Xiao Yi and Lin Qinghuan.

"It's okay. She has been so willful since she was a child. She will blame others if she doesn't get her way. I hope my aunt will take care of her." Xiao Yi bowed.

"Well... go ahead." Empress Xiao knew her niece's temperament, so she had a clear idea of what was going on.

"I'll go back to the East Palace and wait for you." Ning Jinyang instructed Xiao Yi.

"Second brother, I am going back home too. Why don't we go together? Or I can send your sister-in-law back home for you so as not to delay your and your brother's important matter." Ning Sijue suddenly said.

"That's fine, Yi'er, you come with me to the East Palace. The matter in Dayan is a bit urgent." Ning Jinyang said when he saw this.

Xiao Yi glanced at Ning Sijue and then at the expressionless Lin Qinghuan, then instructed Yun Xiang to take good care of her along the way, and nodded to Ning Sijue.

"Second sister-in-law, please." Ning Sijue walked forward and said to Lin Qinghuan.

Lin Qinghuan nodded and left the Queen's Palace. To her, it didn't matter who the two of them were traveling with. Especially after seeing Xiao Qiannan, she felt inexplicably angry when she saw Xiao Yi.

"I didn't have the chance to thank Princess Changping for picking up my jade pendant last time." Ning Sijue suddenly spoke seriously and no longer looked at Lin Qinghuan with such a weird smile.

"No need, it's just a piece of cake." Lin Qinghuan said in a low voice.

"This jade pendant was put on me by my mother herself when I left Beijing at the age of eight," Ning Sijue said.

"Is it the time when we went to Dayan?" Lin Qinghuan looked up at him and found that he was very serious at the moment, so he asked.

"Well, my uncle personally sent me to Dayan that year. I had a lot of fun along the way and didn't know that I would be gone for ten years." Ning Sijue said it calmly, but Lin Qinghuan felt that he felt a little lost and melancholy. She suddenly remembered that Xiao Yu also left in the same way.

"Dayan...what kind of person is the Sixth Prince of Dayan?" Lin Qinghuan asked tentatively.

"Gong Zheshan is a ruthless man who can turn his back on his relatives for his own goals, but without him, Dayan would be in chaos. So to Dayan, he is a god-like man. He is the emperor of Dayan." Ning Sijue felt very complicated when he mentioned this man who made him hate and respect him at the same time.

"Well, I only know that he is a very powerful opponent in Daddy's words. How have you been living in Dayan for so many years?" Lin Qinghuan was very curious about how you survived in a foreign country at such a young age.

"Are you curious?" Ning Sijue looked down at Lin Qinghuan and asked.

"I'm just asking casually." Lin Qinghuan glanced at Ning Sijue who was looking at him and said.

"Madame He and my uncle Xiao Tuzhi, who have taken care of me since I was a child, live with me in the other courtyard. You should call him uncle now."

"Uncle, is he still in Dayan?" Lin Qinghuan had been married into the Xiao family for more than a year and had never heard of this person, so she asked curiously.

"When I was thirteen, he died of illness. When I was fourteen, Nanny He also passed away. From then on, I lived alone in the villa." Ning Sijue said it as if it was nothing.

"Ah... then you've been alone ever since, and you must have suffered a lot."

"Gong Zheshan asked someone to take care of me. After all, I am the prince of Da Sheng. I can't die inexplicably in Dayan." Ning Sijue said.

"Why does the prince of Dayan Kingdom want to teach you martial arts?" Lin Qinghuan was very curious about the actions of the Sixth Prince of Dayan Kingdom. After all, Ning Sijue was the legitimate prince of Dasheng.

"The Sixth Prince is a man who will not give up until he achieves his goal. Seeing that I have great attainments in martial arts, he forced me to practice, because after I have mastered it, he can personally destroy me."

"What? There are such vicious people in the world, but you were not one of them at the last banquet in the East Palace..." Lin Qinghuan asked in confusion.

"If he hadn't suddenly appeared, I would have been a useless person by now." Ning Sijue murmured.

"Who is he?" Lin Qinghuan asked tentatively.

"The legitimate son of the Xiao family, oh no, now he is Gong Heyu, the son of the Sixth Prince of Yan State." Ning Sijue said.

"Will Brother Xiao die? Will the Sixth Prince of Dayan treat him well?" Lin Qinghuan raised his eyes and asked anxiously.

"Brother Xiao?" Ning Sijue sneered, then looked at her with interest and asked.

"I have been weak and sickly since I was a child, and have been surviving on my last breath. He cured my illness, so we are acquainted." Lin Qinghuan said with a wry smile.

"It's you." Ning Sijue looked at her and murmured.

Lin Qinghuan did not reply. She remembered Xiao Yi saying that Xiao Yu and Ning Sijue grew up together and were very close, so Ning Sijue should know the story of the Albizia Julibrissin.

The two of them stopped at the palace gate. Yun Xiang and several maids trotted over quickly and helped Lin Qinghuan onto the carriage. Ning Sijue also got on the horse behind them, and his eyes and thoughts were on the carriage.

"Ajue, I met a very lovely sister, but she is dying." The two boys lay on the roof of the Xiao Mansion, looking at the stars and secretly drinking sake brought from the wine cellar.

"Why is she dying?" young Ning Sijue asked curiously.

"She has been ill since birth. It's a miracle that she can live to the age of five or six, but I want to cure her." Xiao Yu said as he sat up.

"You can definitely do it. Your master is so powerful, and you are gifted. You can definitely cure her." Ning Sijue also sat up and patted Xiao Yu's shoulder and said affirmatively.

"Yeah, I thought so too. Isn't it strange that someone has never left the yard at such a age? The first time she came out was when she sneaked out from the puppy hole. She thought I was her brother." Xiao Yu said to Ning Sijue very happily.

"Hahahaha, it turns out we're not the only ones crawling through dog holes, the little girl does the same." Ning Sijue laughed heartily.

"In a few months, I will go on a tour with my master. I hope she will be alive before I come back." Xiao Yu thought of Lin Qinghuan's pale and cute little face and secretly vowed in his heart that he must cure her.

"Then how long will it take you to come back this time?" Ning Sijue asked unhappily.

"About half a year."

"Then I must be bored to death for the past six months. My brother and Brother Yi only know how to study, and my fourth brother is always making friends with the two Lin brothers. I must be very bored again." Ning Sijue said dejectedly as he lay back on the roof.

"Okay, Ajue, when I come back I will bring you a lot of strange and delicious food and fun things." Xiao Yu comforted.

"Well, that's more like it. When can I travel around the world like you? I'm really looking forward to seeing what the scenery is like outside Jinhan City." The two young men lay back on the roof, looking at the stars and drinking wine.

"Ayu, we will be good brothers for life."

"Ah."

The carriage sped away from Jinhan City.

Empress Xiao burst into tears.

"Brother, why did you send Jue'er as a hostage? Isn't there so many princes to choose from?"

"You are the queen. If you don't send your legitimate prince away, do you think Gong Zheshan of Dayan will stop the war?" Xiao Bowen said.

"But Jue'er was so young. He didn't know anything when he was taken away by his second brother. He was so happy when he left, thinking that his second uncle was taking him to travel around the world." Empress Xiao collapsed on the couch crying.

"This is his destiny. Don't cry. Your second brother is here to take care of him. He won't let Jue'er suffer." Xiao Bowen said.

"Jue'er, your mother is sorry for you."

In the carriage, little Ning Sijue was extremely happy and excited all the way, constantly lifting the curtains to look at the scenery outside.

"Second uncle, when I see A Yu again, I will definitely tell him that I have also started traveling around the world." Ning Sijue said happily while looking at Xiao Tuzhi.

"Okay, come, Jue'er, sit tight. You seldom ride in a carriage for such a long time. I'm afraid you will get carsick." Xiao Tuzhi pulled open the curtain and glanced in the direction of Jinhan City. He didn't know if he would have the chance to come back after this trip.

When they arrived at Ning Sijue's mansion, he gave a few instructions to the coachman and the servant, and then stopped following, because the Xiao Mansion was just two intersections away, and all along the way were the residences of nobles and royal relatives, and two intersections away was a patrol team of the patrol camp.

Lin Qinghuan, sitting in the carriage, said to Yun Xiang, "Let's go to the south of the city."

"Where are we going south of the city?" Yun Xiang asked in confusion, but he still lifted the curtain and gave instructions to the coachman.

"Laughing in the spring breeze."

When the carriage arrived at the gate of the peach blossom forest in the south of the city, Lin Qinghuan lifted the curtain and took a look, a smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.

"Young Madam, how do you know this place?" Yun Xiang helped Lin Qinghuan get off the carriage and asked curiously.

"I happened to be here before. Please wait for me at the door. I want to go in and stay for a while." Lin Qinghuan said.

"Young Madam..." Yun Xiang looked at Lin Qinghuan worriedly.

"It's okay, don't worry." Lin Qinghuan said, then pushed open the wooden door and walked in.

Spring is gone and will never come back, the peach blossoms have fallen, but many peach fruits are still hanging.

Lin Qinghuan walked in the peach blossom forest, recalling the good times she had with Xiao Yu there. He pulled her to his secret base. Lin Qinghuan groped around while listening carefully for the sound of running water.

"Brother Yu, do you still remember the taste of green plum and peach blossom wine?" Lin Qinghuan lay on the grass where she and Xiao Yu had once lain, closing her eyes and listening to the sound of the waterfall, whispering softly.

"We said that after we got married, we would build a yard here and name it Taohuawu."

"You said you would take me to the Six Seas and Five Divine Continents. Do you remember?"

"Brother Yu, are you okay?"

"Do you still remember Huan'er?"

Lin Qinghuan turned over and lay on her side, gently opened her eyes, stretched out her hand and touched the seat next to her, pretending that her beloved Xiao Yu was still lying there.

The sun sets and dusk arrives.

Xiao Yi returned to the mansion.

"Master, why hasn't my daughter come back yet?" Chu Xia and Li Xue were standing anxiously at the door of the mansion waiting. When they saw Xiao Yi, they hurried forward and asked.

"Not back?" Xiao Yi asked curiously. Could it be Ning Sijue?

"Young Master." A maid's voice came from the distance.

"Didn't you come into the palace with the girl today? Where is my girl?" Chu Xia saw the face of the person who got off the carriage clearly, so she stepped forward and asked.

"It's me, reporting to the eldest master, the young lady...she...she is missing." The little girl said stutteringly.

"What?" Chu Xia and Li Xue were shocked as if they were struck by thunder.

"Where did the young lady disappear?" Xiao Yi asked, grabbing the maid's arm.

The little girl was so frightened that she immediately knelt down and cried, "In... in the peach blossom forest in the south of the city."