The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Inside the Xiefang Palace.

Yonghuang followed Changbai dejectedly to his future residence.

Changbai said, "You'll live here from now on. Go to bed early tonight, and tomorrow we'll get up together to go to the study. Don't even think about sleeping in."

Yonghuang was just thinking that moving here might not be entirely a bad thing, at least there would be plenty of delicious tea and snacks in the future, but when he suddenly heard this, he suddenly realized what was going on and immediately became alert: "Big brother, what time do you usually get up?"

Changbai casually announced the time.

Yonghuang's face immediately drained of color: "Was it dawn then?"

Winter is probably not here yet.

Yonghuang: ...

Get some rest.

Changbai seemed completely oblivious to his younger brother's utterly devastated expression. He offered a few words of comfort and then turned to leave.

As he passed by a side courtyard, he suddenly stopped. He saw a little palace maid squatting by the wall, holding a thin twig in her hand. In front of her was a piece of paper that was folded very carefully, and she was copying the words on it into the mud.

Changbai recognized that it was Wei Yanwan, and the letter in front of her was the farewell letter that Aunt Hengti had written for her.

Wei Yanwan had clearly been practicing for some time, but she didn't dare to touch other characters, only repeatedly writing her own name.

However, the character 嬿 has many strokes, and when she tried to trace its shape, the structure inevitably became crooked. The character 婉 was slightly better, but it was still crowded together.

Changbai stood to the side and watched for a moment before finally speaking up: "This is not where this stroke of the pen begins."

Wei Yanwan was startled. When she turned around and saw it was him, she hurriedly tried to get up to pay her respects, but Changbai waved his hand and gestured for her to look at the words on the ground.

He didn't take the branch from her hand, but pointed to a few places from a step away: "Look at the left and right sides separately first, don't rush to photograph the whole painting in one go."

Wei Yanwan was both surprised and delighted. She quickly tried the place he suggested again, and it was indeed neater than before. Her eyes lit up: "Thank you, First Prince."

"Hmm." Changbai simply responded with a sound of agreement, offered no further instruction, and turned to leave.

Wei Yanwan watched his figure disappear around the corner of the corridor before looking down at the two words on the muddy ground again, feeling an indescribable joy in her heart.

After practicing a few more times, when it was almost time to recite the poem, she carefully put away the manuscript and returned to the tea room to work as usual.

Before long, the head maid came over in person, carrying a set of half-new writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone.

The old woman placed the things on the table: "From today onwards, after you finish your work each day, take a quarter of an hour out of your way and I will teach you to recognize a few characters, starting with how to hold a pen."

Wei Yanwan was completely stunned: "Granny?"

"You're quite lucky, girl." The old woman said with a hint of disdain, but her eyes were smiling. "You've only been here a short time, and the master has already noticed your ambition. The eldest prince said that he's willing to give you a chance because of your dedication. But how well you learn depends on yourself. If you only work hard for a few days and then give the eldest prince a break, there won't be a second chance."

Wei Yanwan's nose suddenly stung with tears, and she quickly nodded, "This servant will definitely study hard!"

Qinghe, a palace maid two years older than her, was counting tea canisters when she heard this and couldn't help but laugh: "It's just the way to hold a pen, and you have to trouble Granny to teach you personally. The First Prince is really... of noble character."

Wei Yanwan didn't understand the hidden meaning in those words, and just stared longingly at the writing implements.

The head maid rolled her eyes at Qinghe: "How dare you speak ill of your mistress like that? You have no sense of propriety!"

Qinghe stuck out her tongue and quickly shut her mouth.

As the old woman bent down to straighten the inkstone for Wei Yanwan, she couldn't help but recall what the eldest prince had said when he called her over.

The young man explained in a serious tone that since Wei Yanwan was interested in learning to read, there was no need to deliberately stop her in the Xiefang Palace. However, he was, after all, a prince and she was a palace maid. He could teach her to read, but personally correcting her pen-holding posture was inappropriate for a man and a woman. He would rather trouble the nanny to teach her on her behalf.

Thinking of that serious yet undeniably naive young man, and then looking at Wei Yanwan, who was still so childlike in front of her, a smile couldn't help but flash in the old woman's eyes.

-

Life moves forward little by little in these mundane, ordinary moments.

On the fifteenth of May, pomegranate flowers blaze like fire.

In Changchun Palace, the delivery room was finally cleaned up, and most of the blood and medicine fumes had dissipated before Hongli was allowed in.

He carefully cradled the swaddled baby, and as he sat down beside Ruof's bed, he couldn't help but look down at the baby again and again. Finally, he said with great certainty, "He looks like you."

Ruo Fu, still pale from childbirth, immediately perked up upon hearing this: "Does she really look like me?"

They were cut from the same mold.

Ruo Fu forced himself to lean over and look at it from left to right, and for once he truly believed what Hongli had said.

Her nose looked like hers, her mouth looked like hers, and even the sparse, soft baby hair was incredibly cute. Tears welled up in her eyes as she was overjoyed. Yes, it was her Ru'er!

He immediately ordered everyone in Changchun Palace to receive three months' wages, and the midwife, imperial physician, and servants who delivered the baby would receive additional generous rewards.

After that, she did everything herself and doted on him in every way.

As is widely known, the Empress Dowager dotes on this newborn princess the most.

Even Hua Lan couldn't help but say sourly, "Now that the Empress Dowager has a younger sister, I'm afraid she won't even notice us anymore."

Upon hearing this, Ruofu quickly reached out and pulled her close, scolding her playfully, "Who said that? Children are all flesh of their mother's flesh. Aren't you all my darlings? It's just that this one has only just come into the world, and the tendons are still connected to me, so naturally I have to take a closer look. But if you say I can't take care of you, that's absolutely impossible!"

Hua Lan was just teasing her, and upon hearing this, she immediately laughed and sat down on the edge of the bed to look at her younger sister.

She stretched out a finger and carefully touched the pitifully small hand in the swaddling clothes, sighing, "So tiny. How come all newborns are so small? But my little sister looks alright. When Consort Hui's Yongjin was born, he was even smaller. We didn't dare to hold him too tightly."

Ruofu sighed upon hearing this: "Your Lady Hui was premature. Yongjin only stayed in her mother's womb for seven months, how could she not be premature? It's just that her body couldn't hold on any longer. As the baby grew bigger, she herself became weaker day by day. Lady He said that if she delayed giving birth any longer, when she was due at full term, she might not even have the strength to give birth, and both mother and child would be in danger. That's why she had to induce labor early. Fortunately, Yongjin herself was strong, and although she was two months early, her constitution was still good. And now? How are Xiyue and the baby?"

Hua Lan hurriedly replied, "Everything is fine. Consort Hui is still recuperating, but her spirits are much better than in the first month. Yong Jin is changing every day. When I visited him yesterday, his face had already gained weight; he's plump and healthy, and he's even nursing with great energy."

Only then was Ruofu completely relieved.

Hua Lan looked at her younger sister in her arms and suddenly laughed, "It's funny, Yong Jin was supposed to be the younger brother, but he was impatient and stayed in the womb for two months less, so he came out first and became the older brother."

Ruofu thought about it and agreed, then laughed, "That's good, our Ru'er has another brother to dote on her!"

-

The vegetation outside the palace walls has turned completely green, and the long street is gradually warming up as summer approaches.

Wei Yanwan carried a box she had just received from the Imperial Household Department and walked briskly toward Xiefang Palace. As she turned a corner of the long street, the smile on her face suddenly faltered slightly.

The person facing her clearly hadn't noticed her sudden change at all. He quickly took a few steps to catch up, his tone as familiar as ever: "I called you several times from behind, why didn't you answer? Didn't you hear me?"

Wei Yanwan hugged the box tightly and didn't speak immediately.

The man continued, "Tomorrow is my day off, so I can go home. Is there anything you want to take home? If so, give it to me, and I'll take it back for you."