The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Yongzheng looked at him for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Good! What a fine gift from an elder! I dare not refuse! You are indeed more accomplished than your father!"

A burst of good-natured laughter immediately filled the hall.

Hongli also held his wine glass and smiled, but there was a hint of barely perceptible reluctance in his expression.

Yongzheng casually pointed to two plates of pastries on the table and told Su Peisheng to bring them to his seat. He then personally picked up a pine nut and lily pastry and handed it to him, saying, "This is also a reward for you."

Changbai did not rush to accept it. Instead, he took half a step back, bowed properly, and then extended his hands, saying, "Grandson thanks Grandfather for the gift."

That was truly impeccable in terms of etiquette.

Emperor Yongzheng watched this with growing fondness and couldn't help but reach out and pat his head: "Go on."

Changbai then turned and walked back to his seat. The little boy had short legs, but his steps were steady.

After he was seated, he first placed the lily pastry that Yongzheng had personally handed him on a clean small plate. Then he took the two plates that Su Peisheng had brought and gave them to Hongli and Ruofu respectively. He then took out two pieces from them and asked someone to bring them to Hualan and Yonghuang, who were not far away.

Finally, he slowly picked up the piece that Yongzheng had given him and put it in his mouth.

Emperor Yongzheng was increasingly surprised by what he saw, but he didn't say anything more.

However, there is never a shortage of people in the arena who are good at observing people's expressions and moods.

Soon someone laughed and said, "It's truly rare to see Prince Yongheng so polite and filial at such a young age."

As soon as one sentence was uttered, someone else immediately chimed in, "Prince Bao is a skilled educator; no wonder His Majesty loves him so much."

"Prince Yongheng is intelligent and upright; his future is sure to be limitless."

"The Princess Consort is truly blessed."

Flattery followed one after another; if one didn't listen, one felt honored and accepted it with a calm expression.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ruofu caught sight of his second uncle, Ma Qi, and his second aunt sitting a few seats away, and he nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

Ma Qi smiled and raised his wine glass, while his second aunt looked at Yongheng with the same pride as Ruofu.

Only Hongli, listening to the endless compliments around him, felt both incredibly proud of his son's achievements and... extremely jealous.

On the other hand, Hengti was still thinking about her "girlfriend" whom she had just met.

While the adults were exchanging pleasantries, she quietly slipped away from her wet nurse, ran over to Hualan, and squeezed in next to her.

The two children, one lively and the other quiet, looked remarkably alike. They huddled together, whispering and laughing in hushed tones that only they could understand. Sometimes they would point to a spot, and other times they would cover their mouths with their hands, giggling incessantly.

Ruofu looked at her with a loving expression, but unexpectedly looked up and saw Consort Xi.

The latter was outwardly talking to the person next to him, but his eyes were always fixed on Hengti, without missing a single one.

Ruo Fu suddenly remembered that Hengti had been sent out of the palace to be raised because of her destiny when she was only a month old.

Heart to heart.

Thinking of the details of how her Hualan was also taken to Shou'an Hall for education in her previous life, she couldn't help but gently push Hualan: "Take your aunt to play with Granny Ma. Didn't you practice auspicious words today and were you going to say them to Granny Ma? You were so busy playing that you forgot, didn't you? Go quickly."

Hua Lan remembered, obediently got up, and took Heng Ti's hand: "Come on, let's go find Grandma!"

Hengti was a year and a half older than Hualan, but she was frail from childhood and not as tall as Hualan, nor as lively.

After Hua Lan said that, she followed along.

The two children walked hand in hand to Consort Xi. Hua Lan squeezed into the latter's arms and reached out to hold Consort Xi's beautiful and exquisite sleeve.

Hengti stood by and watched for a while, then imitated Hualan and grabbed the other side.

Consort Xi was smiling as she listened to Hua Lan's childish words when suddenly another soft little body appeared on her other side, and her heart melted instantly.

She immediately reached out her other hand and pulled Hengti into her arms as well.

Two little girls with similar features nestled in her arms, one on her left and one on her right. Consort Xi looked down at one and then at the other, her smile a long-lost softness and radiance.

The person in the hall who had been keeping an eye on the person at the head of the table naturally took in this scene as well.

Nowadays, everyone knows that the only one who truly holds power in the six palaces is Consort Xi.

His Majesty values ​​Prince Bao highly, and Consort Xi also dotes on the children of Prince Bao's household.

The wind direction is quite obvious.

In a short time, even more people came to talk to Hongli and Ruofu and try to build rapport.

……

As the dinner drew to a close, the children were the first to break down.

Hengti was the weakest and had already fallen asleep in the arms of her wet nurse. When Consort Xi saw this, she felt very distressed and quickly got up to apologize to Emperor Yongzheng, saying that she would take the child back to Yongshou Palace to settle her in.

Emperor Yongzheng naturally did not stop her.

After a while, he got tired and got up to leave his seat.

Once the emperor left, the banquet was truly over.

Ruo Fu looked at the other children around him who were also yawning. Even Chang Bai, though still sitting upright, had a noticeably duller look in his eyes.

She tugged at Hongli's sleeve.

Hongli followed her gaze and immediately understood. The couple then got up to take their leave.

Once on the carriage, the children were completely exhausted.

Yonghuang collapsed onto Hongli, who, upon seeing this, simply pulled him into his arms.

Hua Lan, needless to say, snuggled into Ruo Fu's arms almost as soon as she got in the car, found the most comfortable position, tilted her head, and fell into a deep sleep.

Ruofu held her daughter tightly and thought of beckoning her son to come closer. But when she looked up, she saw that he had already crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back slightly, and closed his eyes.

...Still so upright, not even tilting his head to the side.

Ruo Fu raised his hand halfway and then silently withdrew it.

His expression was complicated.

Come to think of it, in both her previous and current lives, even as his biological mother, she seems to have barely held this boy in her arms more than a few times.

He was very sensible from a young age. Apart from whimpering a few times when he needed to eat, drink, or relieve himself, he never cried or made a fuss.

When other children reach a similar age, with their parents guiding them a few times, they will call their father "father" and their mother "mother" when they are supposed to.

At the very least, learning to call someone "Grandma" is still acceptable.

That brat is something else.

Whether it was Sheng Hong in his past life or Hong Li in this life, no matter how hard you tried to teach him, he would just stare at you with those clear, bright eyes.

He glared at him until the man lost all his temper and dared not be presumptuous in front of him anymore.

But he refused to utter a single word.

His first words in his past life were when he had pushed Sheng Hong to the brink, and Sheng Hong had to call a doctor to come to his door before he slowly said, "I'm fine."

At least there are still three words.

This is the first time I've ever spoken, but I only have one word left to say—

It was during Yongheng's first birthday celebration.

The auspicious occasion of a child's first birthday celebration, known as "Zhuazhou," was highly valued in her previous life during the Song Dynasty. But would wealthy families truly allow their children to randomly grab things in front of everyone?

If you arrest someone you shouldn't, wouldn't people laugh at you?

Therefore, before the child's first birthday, most parents would have the child's wet nurse take care of him and let him touch and become familiar with a few auspicious objects.

Then, when the time comes, just put it in the first birthday celebration plate, and the child will naturally reach out and grab it when they see something familiar.

In this way, everyone will be happy.

In her previous life, her Changbai lived up to expectations. Although he didn't take the teachings of his wet nurse and maid seriously, he did grasp the essence of the classics, which was worthy of his later achievements.

In this lifetime, he even grasped the jade pendant that Emperor Hongli himself had placed down, a gift from the emperor.

Hongli burst out laughing, revealing his white teeth.

After all, the child was already a year old, but he never spoke, and he never smiled when she tried to play with him. Even though the wife was very strict in managing the household, she couldn't stop some unpleasant gossip from spreading.

They've talked about things like being born mentally challenged, being mute, deaf, and even the word "retribution."

Hailan spent her days leading people around, arresting this person and that person, but she still couldn't completely eradicate the problem.

Emperor Hongli had heard a few of these words and was naturally furious, ordering that the person be severely punished, but he was not entirely unafraid.

If it weren't for his wife's unwavering composure and repeated efforts to calm him down, he would have been in a frenzy, searching the world for a renowned doctor.

Seeing that his son had grasped the most valuable and meaningful imperial jade pendant, Hongli finally felt relieved.

Overjoyed, she even bent down, picked up her child, and showered her son's face with kisses.

Forced to frown, Changbai reached out his small hand and forcefully turned Hongli's face to the side, saying seriously, "Stinky."

The room was completely silent.

Hongli was first taken aback, then delighted.

"He spoke!"

"Brother Bai can talk now!"

After his initial joy subsided, he gradually realized what his son had actually said.

And it's inevitably awkward.

In conclusion, to sum up.

From childhood to adulthood, this brat never once let Ruof experience the joy of raising a son like ordinary people do.

So much so that in her past life, someone in her family even secretly made up a widely circulated saying behind her back—

They said she married a man who didn't look like a proper official, but more like a landlord.

The son doesn't look like a son, he looks like his father.