The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Her hand was held by Zhao Zhen.

Langhua snapped out of her daze and saw him smiling like a boy who had sneaked out of the house. She was both amused and exasperated: "Didn't we agree with the children that we would set off together after they were settled? Now we've just run off like this. It'll be so embarrassing if we see each other again in the future."

Zhao Zhen didn't take it to heart: "They're all so grown up, married and with their own families, why do they still cling to us all the time?"

Langhua wanted to say something more, but Zhao Zhen gently squeezed her hand: "You've worked hard for most of your life, and finally you've raised them all to adulthood. Now you can take a good breather."

Langhua paused.

She suddenly realized that Zhao Zhen wasn't impatient to see the mountains and rivers, but rather that he felt sorry for her.

Over the years, they've repeatedly said they wanted to travel, but it always got delayed because of this child or that child's affairs. Jingning's marriage, Zhao Xuan's marriage, Huirou and Jingse's marriage, the war in the northern border, and the birth of their grandchild.

If we continue to worry about this, sooner or later, the two of us will be too old to walk.

Langhua felt a warmth in her heart and finally nodded.

"Alright."

They disguised themselves as an ordinary merchant couple, traveling light and with only a few secret guards along the way.

After leaving Bianjing, Langhua's smile became increasingly bright and carefree.

She started haggling with street vendors and, like an ordinary woman buying groceries, picked and chose the fruits and vegetables...

Although she couldn't tell the difference at all.

Once, when he and Zhao Zhen entered a small restaurant serving Sichuan cuisine, he saw the proprietress holding a bowl of something that looked like a treasure. Without batting an eye, he bought it for a high price and personally served it to Zhao Zhen, saying without changing his expression or skipping a beat, "What a coincidence! This restaurant actually has houttuynia cordata, which I loved to eat when I was a child. This is a real treasure. No one in Sichuan doesn't love it. Liu Lang, please try it."

"really?"

Zhao Zhen, without suspecting anything, put a piece of food into his mouth with his chopsticks.

Zhao Zhen: ...

Langhua smiled and asked, "How does it taste?"

Zhao Zhen turned his head and vomited, his face contorted in pain. He then turned back and desperately searched for water.

A snicker came from behind him. Zhao Zhen looked over and saw that it was the wife of the landlord. Seeing Zhao Zhen looking over, the wife was not afraid. Instead, she said to Lang Hua in a dignified manner, "Sister, your husband is not from Sichuan, is he? This will not do. How can a husband of a woman from Sichuan not be able to eat fish mint? When you have time, you should teach him a lesson."

After saying that, she chuckled and went to the kitchen to get busy, leaving Zhao Zhen, who had drunk four or five cups of water, staring blankly at Langhua.

"Third Sister, you weren't like this before."

"Sixth Brother, have you forgotten what you said? Things are different now."

Zhao Zhen was both amused and annoyed. He called him naughty, but in his heart he began to plot how to get revenge.

The next day, when buying sugar figurines, he deliberately replaced the monkey that Langhua had chosen with the mouse that she was most afraid of.

As a result, Langhua, who was furious and terrified, pushed him far away.

Zhao Zhen, who had tripped and fallen, sat on the ground and stared blankly at Langhua.

Good heavens, his third aunt is actually incredibly strong?

The two of them seemed to have returned to their innocent teenage years, finding everything about each other and everything they encountered on the road to be novel and fascinating.

Their itinerary was unpredictable. If the waiter told them about a scenic spot while they were eating, they would change their route the next day. If someone told them about a lively place along the way, they would stay there for a few more days.

They traveled along, stopping and starting, leaving behind only laughter and joy.

On this day, they came to a riverbank. The river was wide, and the water shimmered like scattered silver in the sunlight. Merchant ships were slowly passing by in the distance.

Langhua was chatting and laughing with Zhao Zhen when she suddenly stopped.

Looking at the water before her, she felt a strange, inexplicable sense of familiarity.

I can't remember it right now.

Just then, Zhao Zhen struck up a conversation with an old man selling tea by the roadside:

"Sir, the scenery here is wonderful. What area is this?"

The tea seller smiled and replied, "Sir, are you from out of town? This is Dezhou."

Langhua's heart skipped a beat, and the warm, bright river in front of her seemed to suddenly darken in an instant.

On that cold night in my past life, on my way back from my southern tour, I was also in Dezhou.

She was already exhausted from the pain of losing her children one after another, and when she suddenly heard Consort Mei say "an eye for an eye," she was thrown into a panic. As she stepped onto the deck that had been tampered with, she slipped and fell into the icy river.

Lianxin's indifferent observation, and everyone's deliberate delay...

Although someone eventually rescued her, it was too late. She had nearly died from being submerged in water and developed a high fever that night. She passed away not long after.

Although she knew her days were numbered, if it weren't for that accident, she could have lived a little longer... at least she could have personally seen her Jingse off to her wedding.

Langhua seemed to hear Jingse calling her "Mother" again and again as her consciousness faded.

She had always known that in her previous life, her so-called fairness and magnanimity only earned her resentment and hatred throughout the palace. Everyone smiled and flattered her in front of her, but deep down they probably wished she would die sooner.

Only her Jingse truly couldn't bear to part with her.

Those cries of "Mother!" were piercing and desperate, the last vestiges of her bloodline's devotion to her.

"Mother!"

A crisp sound suddenly came from behind.

Fresh and bright.

The two voices seemed to overlap in an instant.

"Mother!"

The vibrant sounds grew louder and louder, as if they were right next to my ears.

She snapped back to her senses and, as if struck by a sudden inspiration, turned around—

Jingse stood not far away.

It wasn't the Jingse I remembered, adorned with jewels, her hair styled in two small buns, wearing platform shoes, her head always held high, yet her eyes always concealing panic and unease.

The girl in front of me was dressed in simple, comfortable clothes, her long hair was tied in a low bun, and she only had a few elegant jade hairpins in her hair.

Her head was still held high, her face showing the same dissatisfaction, and she still looked angry from the chase.

But her eyes changed.

There was no more panic, and no more fear.

Jingse strode over and said reproachfully, "Mother is so heartless! She abandoned me and ran away!"

Memories overlapped with reality, and Langhua was speechless for a moment.

Zhao Zhen was the first to rub his forehead in exasperation: "Heavens above, Jingse, why did you chase after us?"

Jingse immediately turned and glared at him: "Father, how dare you say that! I knew it! Mother couldn't bear to abandon me; it must have been you who instigated it!"

Zhao Zhen retorted, "You're all grown up now. Your mother and I have worked hard for most of our lives, can't we have some peace and quiet?"

"Who said you can't?" Jingse said matter-of-factly, "I can take you guys out to play. I know where to find good food and fun activities. You've been cooped up at home for so many years, do you even know how to eat well? Do you even know how to have fun?"

Zhao Zhen refused quite decisively: "There's absolutely no need for that."

Jingse ignored him completely and grabbed Langhua's sleeve: "I don't care, I'm going to follow Mother. Father wants peace and quiet, so he can just go on his way. I'm going to follow Mother wherever she goes."

Zhao Zhen looked not far away, where Han Erlang was standing. He was looking up at the sky, down at the ground, and then at the tree next to him, but he refused to make eye contact with him.

Zhao Zhen cursed inwardly at the useless brat.

Langhua smiled.

Tears glistened in her eyes, but the smile on her lips grew ever wider.

"Alright, alright, let's go together then."

"Third Sister!"

Zhao Zhen was unconvinced.

Jingse raised her chin, a victorious look on her face.

Langhua put one arm around Jingse and took Zhao Zhen's hand with the other, saying, "We're all family, why be so formal?"

Zhao Zhen was unhappy, but he had no choice but to compromise.

Suddenly, Jingse turned around and shouted towards the distance, "Yes, we're all family, why are you being so formal? Come out quickly!"

Langhua was taken aback, and so was Zhao Zhen.

The two turned around together and saw that the once quiet roadside had suddenly become crowded with people.

The first to emerge was Jingning, with Yang Chenghe, who had just returned from the Northern Border, standing beside her, holding their young daughter in his arms.

The little girl saw her maternal grandparents and immediately reached out her hands, calling out in her childish voice that she wanted a hug.

Congge also emerged from behind.

He has now grown into a handsome young man. When he saw his parents looking over, he touched his nose and gave them a slightly ingratiating smile.

Next are Wang Qi and Zhou Wanru, Wang Shinian and Bai Qing, and Wang Shi'an and Zhang Bihua.

The crowd stood by the roadside, all smiling as they watched them.

Wang Shi'an, fanning himself, maintained his usual nonchalant demeanor: "I heard that my sister is taking her husband back to their old home in Sichuan. Coincidentally, we also want to return to our hometown to pay respects to our ancestors. Would it be alright if we could travel together?"

Langhua looked at Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen looked at the large family that had suddenly appeared, his face filled with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

He originally only wanted to travel the world quietly with his third sister.

Now it seems that the tranquility is completely gone.

Langhua smiled and nodded.

"Nature and the same path."

A moment later, the simple carriage that had originally been a single one joined the long procession behind it.

The place was bustling with noise, and the carriages rumbled along.

The children's laughter, the brothers' voices, and the sisters-in-law's teasing voices mingled together, filling the entire journey with joyful sounds.

As Langhua sat in the car, looking around at her loved ones, she suddenly felt how kind fate had been to her.

Everything she had lost has returned to her.

She now holds everything she had once longed for but could not have.

She gazed at the bright sunlight outside the car and whispered to herself:

Oh, Jofu, may your wish also be fulfilled.

-

"No, I'm too hungry."

Wang Ruofu struggled in bed for a long time before finally sitting up and walking to the table. There was still only cold water, but she had no choice but to drink a large bowl of it.

She glanced at the gloomy night outside, then at the night watchwoman who was fast asleep by the bedside, and couldn't help but shake her head.

"It's better to rely on yourself than on others."

Since he was already in the situation, he decided to put on his shoes and a coat, tiptoe to the door, and carefully push it open a crack.

The night was dark outside, with faint lights in the distance.

Wang Ruofu clutched his rumbling stomach, peeked around, and then quietly slipped out.