The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

However, their joy was short-lived, as a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside, and then the curtain was lifted.

The person arrived before the voice:

"The Emperor's Mother!"

Ning Shou, with his short legs kicking and cheeks puffed out, threw himself into her arms, his voice full of grievance: "Father Emperor, you've bullied me! Please stand up for me!"

Before Yan Zhi could react, his arms instinctively opened and pulled the puffed-up girl into his embrace. He then chuckled and looked down at her, asking, "What's wrong? Who angered Ning Shou this time?"

"It's all because of Father Emperor, he went too far—"

Just as Ning Shou was about to file a complaint, Yin Wu followed closely behind, looking completely innocent.

Feeling Yan Zhi's gaze, he touched his nose and coughed lightly: "Didn't you say yesterday that you liked to eat Dingsheng cake in Hangzhou? I was thinking that since she always dawdles whenever she goes out, I might as well go down the boat and buy you a few pieces. After buying them, I can take her out to play. It won't delay anything."

"Father Emperor is lying!" Ning Shou immediately stamped his foot, exposing the lie without hesitation: "You said the same thing in Suzhou last time, and the time before that in Jinan. Every time you said it wouldn't be a problem, but every time you got off the boat first and then had Li Dening come back to secretly pick up Mother Emperor. The two of them would play outside all day long, only returning late at night. It was the same yesterday! I don't believe you anymore! I want Mother Emperor to give me a straight answer!"

Yinwu was both amused and exasperated by her accusation, and quickly protested his innocence: "Heaven and earth bear witness, how could there be such a naive and unreasonable daughter of yours? It was clearly you who sneaked out onto the deck in the middle of the night to look at the stars, caught a chill, and the next day your nose was running like a baby, looking utterly pathetic. That's why I took your mother out with me. Oh, did you expect your imperial mother to take turns standing next to you and wiping your nose?"

Upon hearing this, the palace servants standing in the room couldn't help but lower their heads and chuckle.

Yan Zhi couldn't help but smile faintly.

Ning Shou is now grown up and at an age where he cares a lot about his reputation. He couldn't stand such words and immediately blushed with embarrassment. He let out a loud cry and lunged forward to hit the person, shouting, "Father Emperor, you're bad!"

But they forgot to look for the loopholes in Yinwu's words.

Of all those times, only yesterday was she in the wrong. As she said, the previous times were all due to her father playing tricks on her.

Yan Zhi grabbed her and gave her a couple of light pats on the bottom, then slapped Yin Wu's sleeve as well: "You two, shut up."

After saying that, she lowered her head and asked Ning Shou, "Are you truly feeling fully recovered today?"

Ning Shou immediately straightened up, patting his back loudly, "I'm all better now! I'm perfectly fine!"

"Let's change our clothes while it's still early. Let's go for a walk together."

Ning Shou's eyes lit up immediately, he cheered, and turned to run.

Before long, the little girl changed into a light pink dress that was commonly worn by young girls from the Han Chinese community in Jiangnan. Her hair was also combed again, and two pearl flowers adorned her temples. When she ran, she looked like a light and nimble little cloud.

Yanzhi and Yinwu also changed their clothes.

Yanzhi changed into the attire of a Han Chinese woman, wearing a loose-sleeved light shirt and a hairpin in her hair. When Yinwu saw her, he couldn't help but look at her again and again. After a long while, he smiled and said, "No matter how many times I look at you, I still think you look the best in this."

Yan Zhi raised his hand to straighten his sleeves, and upon hearing this, he simply smiled faintly: "The Manchus have only been in the Central Plains for a few years, and in matters of refinement, they are far inferior to the Han people."

Yinwu raised an eyebrow: "Only you would dare to say something like that."

"What's there to be afraid of?" Yan Zhi turned to look at him, a smile in his eyes, but also a hint of provocation. "It's just gossip among family members behind closed doors. Does anyone think they can punish me?"

Yinwu was amused by her and laughed out loud: "No, no, I wouldn't dare."

He reached out and took her hand, then asked Ning Shou to stand between the two of them, and the family of three left the house lightly dressed.

In May, Hangzhou is a city with warm waters and a thriving population.

Everything was new and exciting to Ning Shou along the way. He would stop to look at the sugar figurine makers, the hydrangea sellers, and even take a second look at the clay figurines being sold by the bridge.

Yinwu complained that she was dawdling, saying that these were things he had seen many times before, and the room was already mostly full of them, so why did she still want to buy more?

But he grabbed it faster than anyone else.

As Yan Zhi walked down the street, he felt an unprecedented sense of comfort.

She had traveled south and visited many cities, but no matter how many times she had been there, she still found it novel to stand in the most bustling and vibrant place, strolling leisurely, watching the crowds of people on the street, and listening to the hawkers' cries.

I feel happy.

Peaceful years, all is well.

After shopping, the family of three went to see the famous West Lake.

It's May now, and although we missed the peak bloom of willows and peach trees, we can still see the beautiful scenery of misty mountains and enchanting rain.

We've already taken a boat trip on the lake. As the boat glides through the water, the wind brushes against our sleeves, and distant mountains and nearby waters come into view.

Ning Shou playfully let Fu Ling hug her waist so she could catch the big fish that surfaced in the lake.

This provoked another round of sarcastic remarks from Yinwu.

Everyone, please be quiet! The princess is going to have a contest with the big fish to see who can catch whose head first.

This made Yanzhi laugh out loud, and Fuling laughed so hard she almost couldn't hug him.

The father and daughter started fighting again.

In the afternoon, the eunuch who ran errands bought some snacks and pastries unique to Jiangnan. Everyone tried them and found that they were indeed more delicious than the overly elaborate imperial dishes in the palace.

By the time they returned to the ship in the evening, Ning Shou had been playing wildly outside all day and had long lost his initial energy. He was fast asleep, nestled on Yin Wu's shoulder, with a trace of glistening on his lips...

Yinwu wanted to wake her up to see what embarrassing thing he had done, but Yanzhi stopped him.

"Why are you making a fuss about her? Quickly take her back to her room to sleep, and you should go change your clothes too."

Yinwu then gave up.

Yanzhi went back to his room to change his clothes before going to his mother's room to pay his respects.

The mother stayed on the boat because Ning Shou had caught a cold the day before, and she didn't want Yan Zhi to miss this rare opportunity to go out, so she took the initiative to stay and take care of the child.

Ning Shou recovered today, but she was a little tired, so she just rested on the boat.

When Yanzhi arrived, Mother Nian smiled and beckoned her to come closer and sit down, and then asked what she had seen outside that day.

Yanzhi then told her everything, describing how the Dingsheng cake sold in the city tasted, how beautiful the weeping willows reflected in the water by West Lake were, and how there was an old craftsman on the street who sold round fans with exquisite craftsmanship, which even made Yinwu take a second look.

The mother listened with a smile, her eyes full of tenderness.

"When I was young, your father brought me here once. Back then, everything seemed new and exciting. But now, I'm older, and it doesn't really matter whether I see it again or not."

Upon hearing this, Yanzhi sat down next to her and began massaging her shoulders.

Nian's mother touched her hand and said with a smile, "You don't have to always worry about me. You've come all this way, so you should enjoy yourself."

As she spoke, she seemed to suddenly remember something, and then teased her with her eyes: "Instead of wasting all your time on me, you should spend more time on the Emperor. Men, if they are cold to you, you should be cold to them in return; but if they are clingy to you, you should be clingy to them in return."

Yan Zhi's face flushed, and he said in a low voice, "The child is already so grown up, why say these things?"

"So what?" Mother Nian smiled meaningfully. "Your second brother was already a teenager, and he passed the imperial examination at the county level. Doesn't he still cling to your father? Men may not say it, but what they like most is a woman clinging to them. Especially a woman they like. Otherwise, where would you be?"

This sentence made Yan Zhi's ears burn.

But she was happy inside.

She had never had such an experience before.

Alone in the house with my mother, behind closed doors, we talked about men, about the little, intimate thoughts between husband and wife.

This feels like my recent southern tour.

It was new, it was strange, yet it inexplicably made me happy.

It was night, and she had only been back in her room for a short while when Fuling smiled and brought her a thick cloak, half-pushing and half-coaxing her to the rooftop terrace.