An Lingrong is reborn to live for herself.

Aunt Fang gave a general account of the situation in the palace and then went on to say no more.

Seeing this, Zhen Huan was also very clever and signaled Huan Bi to hand over a bag of silver that she had prepared to Aunt Fang Ruo.

Aunt Fangruo immediately recognized the substantial amount of silver in the package and said with particular deference, "You two young ladies are young and beautiful, and will surely be favored by the Emperor. However, no matter how great the Emperor's favor, you must focus on having children to ensure a long and lasting union. I wish you both all the best and that you will soon be able to see His Majesty's face."

Zhen Huan and An Lingrong also quickly stood up, bowed, and thanked them.

Zhen Huan instructed Liu Zhu to escort Aunt Fang Ruo back to her room to rest. Liu Zhu was quite clever and escorted her all the way to the corner of the corridor before bowing from afar and turning back.

At this moment, An Lingrong noticed that Zhen Huan looked quite tired, realizing that the lessons taught by the nanny today had been rather heavy. It wasn't appropriate to disturb her further, but she quickly calculated the time; Zhen Huan still needed to go back to pack her things and change her attire. She feared that she wouldn't have any time to speak privately with Zhen Huan before she entered the palace.

So An Lingrong decided that now was the time to open up to Zhen Huan and win her over as a sister.

An Lingrong stood up, walked towards Zhen Huan, and gave a slight bow.

Zhen Huan was startled and quickly helped An Lingrong up.

"Sister Lingrong, why is this?"

“Sister Huan, we are strangers who met by chance, yet you have treated me so well. If you hadn’t brought me and my aunt into the manor, how would I have received such detailed instruction from the head tutor? I would probably have been ridiculed by the servants because I am of humble origin and could not afford to give her a reward.”

After saying this, Lingrong grasped Zhen Huan's hand and said sincerely, "Sister Huan, although I have several older sisters at home, they are all born to concubines. At home, they only bully my mother and me because of my father's favoritism. Now, you treat me so well, even better than my own sisters. If you don't mind, I would like to become sworn sisters with you. I wonder if you would agree?"

Zhen Huan never expected that An Lingrong, who was usually so timid and submissive, could say such things in one breath, and she was even more surprised that An Lingrong was also a person of strong character.

Zhen Huan smiled charmingly, "Sister's suggestion is excellent. We sisters are quite compatible. I have a mischievous younger sister at home who is always noisy and gives me a headache. I never expected to meet such a gentle and quiet younger sister today. It is truly my blessing. It's just that she only returned this evening and cannot meet us sisters now. When I have the opportunity to enter the palace in the future, I will definitely have her come to pay her respects to you, my gentle new sister."

Upon hearing this, An Lingrong knew that Zhen Huan had agreed. She even allowed her to address her as her own sister, showing that Zhen Huan truly accepted her as a younger sister.

"Sister, I haven't read many books and can't even read a few characters. I've only heard that when sworn sisters, they need to exchange tokens to show their sincerity."

Sister, please don't be offended by my rustic experiences in the countryside. Could you please write two invitations for Lingrong? I'll make them into sachets for us two to wear.

"Well, I didn't expect my sister to be so thoughtful." Hearing this, Zhen Huan also became interested. She quickly instructed Huanbi to fetch a brush and ink.

"Sister, what do you think we should write on this invitation?" When it came time to put pen to paper, Zhen Huan was at a loss. After all, she had grown up in a secluded room and her only acquaintances were Shen Meizhuang, so she really didn't know much about these folk customs.

An Lingrong said, "Actually, I've never seen anyone else actually write anything down. How about we sisters write some messages to each other?" Zhen Huan clapped her hands in agreement. Since both of them were going to enter the palace to seek new prospects, it would be good to exchange messages of blessing.

Zhen Huan then picked up her brush and wrote: "May Sister Lingrong be safe and well, and may all her wishes come true." Although it was only eight simple characters, it contained a lot of profound meaning. At this time, Zhen Huan didn't know much about An Lingrong, and after getting to know her a little, she found that An Lingrong was also a rather thoughtful woman.

Life in the imperial harem was not easy; whether one could live peacefully and smoothly depended on the strength of one's own will. But no matter what, peace and smoothness were more important than anything else.

Remembering that An Lingrong was illiterate, Zhen Huan explained the meaning of the words to her.

Upon hearing this, An Lingrong's eyes reddened slightly. When she entered the palace, she was determined to bring honor to her family and change her and her mother's fate. There were no letters from home, only instructions to make her proud, but no one ever cared whether she was truly safe or living a good life.

An Lingrong nodded, "When we enter the palace in the future, safety will be the most important thing. Moreover, I will listen to my sister's wishes. We sisters will definitely be safe and well."

"What does my sister want?" Zhen Huan asked, picking up her pen.

"My younger sister is not very learned and doesn't understand any profound principles. She only wants to stand with her older sister. So, elder sister, please write the four characters 'Sisters are of one mind' on the scrap paper for Lingrong. Lingrong copied this from her older sister's copy."

Zhen Huan initially thought An Lingrong was just acting on a whim and never expected her to take it so seriously. She was somewhat moved and immediately took a piece of Xuan paper from the side and carefully wrote down those four characters.

An Lingrong observed carefully and worked extremely hard when copying the text. After practicing on paper only two or three times, her writing already looked quite good.

Seeing that it was getting late, An Lingrong began to write formally on the post. Although her writing was a bit crooked, her brushstrokes were still quite smooth.

Seeing that the two had finished writing, Huanbi helped to put away their calligraphy books.

An Lingrong thanked Huanbi and asked her to keep the purse for her. She then asked Zhen Huan what pattern she liked and told her with a smile not to look down on her rough needlework, as she would present the purse she had embroidered herself in a couple of days.