The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Inside the Kunning Palace, Langhua sat by the window embroidering a small tiger-head shoe, while Jingse slept soundly in the cradle beside her.

Not far away, a different, bustling scene unfolded.

Jingning sat upright on the tatami mat, holding a book in her hands, reading it aloud to her younger siblings, word by word.

Yuan Nian, Hui Rou, and Fang Ge'er all gathered around her knees, listening intently.

Zhang Bihua used to read to the children like this.

But now that Zhang Bihua has left the palace and Jingning has already begun her studies, she volunteered to take on this task.

The little girl, though young, had the air of an elder sister. When she paused in her reading, she would look up and, mimicking the female teacher's tone, slowly explain a few words.

Bai Ye lay sprawled to one side, half his body almost leaning off the couch, yet he still had his legs crossed, a blade of grass he'd somehow found dangling from his mouth, looking utterly bored.

He muttered for the fifth time, "What's so good about this? Let's go outside..."

Jingning finally lost her temper, put the book on her lap, and looked at Bai Ye with a stern face: "If you don't listen, go take a nap. Others still have to listen! If you dare to disturb others again, I'll spank your hand!"

Bai Ye: ……

Yuan Nian and Fang Ge'er both looked at him at the same time.

Her eyes were filled with admiration and encouragement, and she kept saying: "Say it! Why are you not saying anything? Good brother, say a few more words, what are you afraid of!"

Bai Ye: ...How could he dare! This is my older sister!

The adults said they would spank him, but it was just to scare him. The older sister actually did it!

Bai Ye coughed, turned over, and faced away from everyone.

"I'll listen."

Jingning then picked up the book again.

Where were we in the reading just now?

Huirou immediately pointed to it obediently: "Here."

Jingning nodded and continued reading, word by word.

Langhua sat by the window, and couldn't help but smile as she watched.

She looked down at Jingse in the cradle and said softly, "Your older sister is becoming more and more like an older sister."

Jingse was fast asleep and naturally couldn't understand.

Langhua, however, still smiled and tucked the swaddling clothes around her.

-

Outside the side gate of the Wei family.

Wearing a veil, Wei Shuyi was returning from the female teacher's house with her younger sister, Wei Yule. She told her sister to go home first, then turned around and said to the people outside, "Thank you for seeing me off, Second Brother Di. It's getting late, you should go home too."

"No, you're welcome."

Di Yong responded haltingly, but his feet didn't move, and his usually cold face now showed a rare hint of awkwardness.

"Is there anything else, Brother Di?"

Di Yong quickly looked up and saw that Wei Yule didn't turn around and there was no one else around, so he quickly stepped forward and stuffed a small box into Wei Shuyi's hand.

Wei Shuyi caught it subconsciously. The box wasn't big, but it was warm to the touch in his palm.

Before she could ask, Di Yong had already taken a step back.

"I'm leaving now."

Before he finished speaking, he turned and ran away.

Wei Shuyi stood there, stunned for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses and looked around furtively, as if he had done something wrong.

Seeing that no one was in the alley, he quickly hid the box in his sleeve and hurried after Wei Yule.

Wei Yule turned to look at her: "Sister, what's wrong? Why is your face so red?"

Wei Shuyi forced himself to remain calm: "It was the wind."

Wei Yule looked up at the sky in confusion; there didn't seem to be much wind today.

Upon entering the Second Hospital, Wei Shuyi first sent his younger sister to study, then excused himself by saying he was a little tired and went back to his room.

After locking the door, she even pressed her ear against the door and listened for a long time to make sure her sister didn't suspect anything before walking to the dressing table, carefully taking out the box, and slowly opening it.

Inside, a magnolia hairpin lay quietly.

It was the hairpin she had glanced at several times when she passed by the stall yesterday. She liked it at first sight, but she didn't buy it because of the price of two hundred coins. After all, it was two hundred coins, enough to buy medicine for her father for five days.

But unexpectedly...

She reached out and gently touched the magnolia blossom.

A cool sensation came from my fingertips, but the heat on my face became increasingly uncontrollable.

"This person is really..."

Although it was clearly a playful scolding, the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up slightly.

-

Inside the Xu residence, Madam Xu was sitting at the table arranging flowers.

Lin Qinshuang handed over a sprig of forsythia, watching Xu Shi casually place it in the vase, and suddenly said, "Mother, what do you think we should name this baby if it's a girl?"

Xu paused in her movements.

"girl?"

"Hmm." Lin Qinshuang lowered her head and touched her lower abdomen, a hint of tenderness appearing in her eyes: "I'm hoping it's a girl."

Looking at her, Madam Xu's expression softened: "Good girl, you are the most considerate."

Her gaze inadvertently fell on Lin Qinshuang's face. When she was raising Sheng Hong, she didn't think much of it. She thought that as long as he was a child, as long as he greeted her morning and evening, inquired about her health and brought her medicine when she was sick, and was obedient and compliant on ordinary days, that was considered filial piety.

But ever since they officially adopted Lin Qinshuang as their adopted daughter...

She would remember that her legs would easily ache at night, so she asked someone to prepare knee warmers with herbs sewn inside before autumn.

He would try all sorts of ways to coax her to eat when she didn't have a good appetite.

Sometimes, even if she only sighed softly, Shuangjie could sense it, and with a few words, she could discern the pent-up emotions in her heart and try to cheer her up.

Such warmth and comfort are something my son can't match.

Lin Qinshuang nodded in deep agreement, then said with a smile, "Then, Mother, please give it a name."

Ms. Xu was stunned.

"Shall I take it?"

Lin Qinshuang nodded matter-of-factly: "This child takes your surname, shouldn't you, as the maternal grandmother, name him?"

Xu was completely stunned.

In fact, ever since she confronted Wei Jing'an, she had been slowly preparing herself in her heart.

Such a virtuous gentleman, who is deeply in love with Shuang'er, has a promising future that is clearly visible to the naked eye. If they continue to spend time together, it is only a matter of time before Shuang'er wavers.

Even if Shuang'er were to ask her to acknowledge the child in her womb and return him to the Wei family name someday, she probably wouldn't stop her.

One shouldn't be too greedy; having Changfeng is enough.

But who could have predicted...

Xu felt a sudden pang of sadness in her heart.

She looked at Lin Qinshuang's lower abdomen, and her gaze softened completely.

Is she a young girl surnamed Xu?

A child who will grow up under her wing, and who, like Changfeng, will truly be recorded in the Xu family genealogy.

She simply couldn't resist such temptation.

"If it's a girl..." Madam Xu thought for a moment, a smile slowly appearing on her lips: "Let's name her Mo Lan, meaning 'fragrant ink and orchid.' I also hope that she will inherit your temperament, being elegant and quiet, and will surely become a talented woman in the future."

"Xu Molan..."

Lin Qinshuang read it aloud in a low voice, and her eyes slowly brightened.

"It sounds nice."

"Mother did a really good job."

(A friend reminded me that this story is probably a bit long, and I think so too. Actually, Langhua's position as empress is already stable. The following chapters will probably be about the children growing up and consolidating the Song Dynasty once again. So, I'll try to explain the story of the younger generation in a straightforward manner as much as possible, and then switch to the world of the eldest daughter-in-law.)

To avoid repeating the part where the children in the first world were paired up.