The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

As for the Northwest...

It's not impossible for Master Yu to do it.

Although he was upright and honest, no less so than his father, he was by no means pedantic. His son was of mediocre talent, but had finally achieved some success in the imperial examinations, so he was bound to plan for his son's future.

Whether you're herding one sheep or two, it's all the same.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to have the second brother also be placed under his name, serving as a link.

The atmosphere in the room grew heavy without us even realizing it.

Zhou Wanru looked at her son, then at her third aunt, and was about to say something when a soft, childlike voice suddenly came from outside.

"Ma'am!"

"Flowers!"

It's Jingning.

Then came a melodious female voice: "Your Majesty, the winter plum blossoms in the rear garden are in full bloom. The little princess liked them and specially picked two branches to present to Your Majesty and the Lady."

The somber mood in the room instantly dissipated, and a smile finally appeared on Langhua's lips: "Come in quickly."

The palace doors opened, and a small figure skipped and hopped in.

Jingning was wearing a light yellow jacket today, with snow-white rabbit fur trimmed at the collar, which made her little face look like a rosy dumpling. Sure enough, she was clutching two sprigs of winter plum blossoms in her hand, and as she ran, the branches trembled.

She ran up to Langhua and tiptoed to hand her a flower.

"Auntie, flower."

Langhua took it and said softly, "Ning'er is such a good girl."

Jingning turned around again, ran up to Zhou Wanru, and handed her another flower.

Zhou Wanru beamed with joy, quickly picked up the little one, and gave him two big kisses.

"Oh my, how thoughtful our Ning-jie is! Grandma just can't love her enough."

Jingning giggled as she was kissed, and patted Zhou Wanru's face with her little hand, as if to coax her.

Wang Shi'an, who was watching from the side, suddenly clutched his chest and made a gesture reminiscent of Xi Shi clutching her heart.

"Why does everyone else have one, but I don't? Little Ning'er doesn't even care about her uncle anymore. Uncle is so heartbroken, oh dear, oh dear, my heart aches."

Upon hearing this, Jingning indeed became anxious.

She quickly broke free from Zhou Wanru's embrace, ran to Wang Shi'an, and placed her small hand on his chest to pat him back and catch her breath.

"Uncle, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt."

Wang Shi'an was so immersed in grief that he couldn't pull himself out: "How can it not hurt? Without the winter plum blossoms that Xiao Ning'er picked herself, Uncle is in great pain."

Jingning's eyes widened as she looked around, then suddenly remembered something, turned around and ran back a couple of steps.

"Sister Han, Uncle wants it, give it to him, give it to him first."

Wang Shi'an paused in his clowning, then belatedly looked back.

Zhang Bihua was standing a few steps behind him.

Today, she accompanied Jingning to the back garden to pick plum blossoms. She also wore two sprigs of winter plum blossom in her hair. She was more beautiful than the flowers, and the flowers made her even more radiant. She was smiling as she looked at them.

Hearing Jingning's words, Zhang Bihua's smile deepened. Without any hesitation, she squatted down and turned her head slightly to the side.

Jingning then reached out her small hand and plucked a plum blossom from her hair.

The child was clumsy and almost messed up the hair at her temples.

Zhang Bihua simply smiled and helped him up, showing no sign of annoyance.

Jingning took the plum blossom branch and solemnly walked up to Wang Shi'an, handing it to him.

"Uncle, don't cry, be good."

Wang Shi'an: ...

Wang Shi'an froze completely.

Accepting it is one thing, not accepting it is another.

This was taken from a young girl's hair; how is it any different from a hairpin?

If we accept it, wouldn't it be like a token of love?

But if we don't accept it...

His fingers twitched, and his ears began to turn red.

Seeing that he didn't answer for a long time, Jingning felt even more sorry for her uncle, who seemed to be in real pain.

She simply stood on tiptoe and tried her best to stick the plum blossom into Wang Shi'an's hair.

Wang Shi'an lowered his head subconsciously.

By the time he realized what was happening, the flower had already landed steadily in his hair.

Jingning clapped her little hands and, mimicking Zhou Wanru's usual tone of voice when coaxing her, said in a childish voice, "So handsome! Uncle is the most handsome!"

She then turned and pointed at Zhang Bihua.

"Just as beautiful as Sister He Han!"

So stop crying.

Wang Shi'an stiffly looked up.

Zhang Bihua has a plum blossom in her hair, and he has a plum blossom on his head.

They really are... a perfect match.

As soon as the thought arose, a surge of heat uncontrollably rushed from my neck to the top of my head.

Wang Shi'an was caught in a dilemma, unsure of where to put his hands, when he heard a series of laughs.

He looked up blankly and saw that his third aunt was smiling, and his mother was also smiling.

His eyes held an undisguised mix of amusement and realization.

boom!

Wang Shi'an felt as if his hidden thoughts, which he himself dared not even think about in detail, had been suddenly exposed to the light of day.

His mind went blank, so he suddenly stood up, turned around, and rushed outside.

Just before he left, he heard his mother's laughter suddenly amplified behind him.

Wang Shi'an stumbled and almost fell.

"uncle……"

Jingning was stunned.

She didn't know why her uncle had suddenly run away. Pointing at Wang Shi'an's fleeing figure, she looked at her mother and grandmother with a blank expression.

Zhou Wanru laughed so hard she could barely breathe, wiping away her tears as she replied with difficulty, "He's acting crazy, Ning-jie, be good, don't pay him any attention."

While saying this, he kept glancing at Zhang Bihua out of the corner of his eye.

The latter simply kept her head down, revealing a section of her snow-white neck and beautiful profile, as if she didn't understand anything and was completely unaware, but the tips of her ears were faintly red.

Zhou Wanru was increasingly delighted with the sight.

Langhua looked at Zhang Bihua thoughtfully, a forgiving smile on her lips.

-

Jilan Lane, Xu Residence.

Xu looked up in surprise, nearly knocking over the teacup in her hand.

"What do you mean you don't want to get married, you just want to borrow..."

As for the last word, she was born into a noble family and had always been dignified and self-possessed, so she simply couldn't bring herself to say it.

Lin Qinshuang sat at the lower end.

She was dressed simply today, with only a jade hairpin in her hair. Her face was flushed, and she was fidgeting with the handkerchief in her hand, clearly extremely anxious.

But she still mustered up her courage and repeated her thoughts—

"Rather than having someone marry into your family, it would be better... better if Mother could choose someone for her daughter who is decent in appearance and character, and we could just be a couple for a while."

"Shuang'er!"

Xu's voice involuntarily rose, completely losing her composure: "Do you know what you're saying?"

Fang's mother, who was standing next to him, also fell into a daze, which was rare for her.

Lin Qinshuang quickly explained, "Mother should also know that the world is ultimately not up to us women to decide. What if we bring in not a son-in-law, but a wolf in sheep's clothing?"

Xu paused.

Suddenly, I understood Lin Qinshuang's concerns.

Indeed, although they have now broken away from the Sheng family and established their own household, this Jilan Lane is not far from the residences of high-ranking officials and nobles. It was only by using the identity of the only daughter of the Marquis of Yongyi that Xu managed to buy this house. The location is safe, and there are servants and guards in the courtyard, as well as many maids and servants.

But the more substantial their wealth, the more attention they attract.

Especially when there are only two women in the family, if they were to bring in another man to marry into the family, who knows whether he would be a human or a ghost?

What if that man had malicious intentions and took advantage of his male status to turn the tables on them? Wouldn't they have just escaped one danger only to fall into another?

As for not giving birth or raising her, she couldn't bring herself to say it. She wanted someone to care for her and take care of her in her old age, which is why she adopted Lin Qinshuang as her daughter. Putting herself in her shoes, Lin Qinshuang should also make plans for her future. Besides, she had already agreed with Lin Qinshuang that after the child was born, it would take her surname, Xu.

If marrying into a family is too risky, what about finding a man who is decent in terms of education and appearance, but too poor to marry?

I don't want the title of husband and wife, I only want the reality of husband and wife.

The children born this way will be completely their own.