Hibiscus as a Painting

Chapter 222

Qi Yongyue said, "Your Majesty, don't be so discouraged. Just now, I heard the Empress's words. She was clearly worried about Your Majesty. Perhaps she will return to the palace to see you in a while."

Gradually, a glint flashed in Jun Lin's phoenix eyes, and he glanced at the crowd in the hall: "Then the magistrate and Consort Xuan..."

Qi Yongyue smiled and said, "I understand."

Outside Huaiyin City at sunset.

Zi Jin playfully tugged at Si Kou Xunxiang's straw hat, grabbed his arm, and whispered, "Can't we stay out here a couple more days? Don't come back to Shenxian Mountain so soon, okay?"

"No way." Nian Yue interrupted Zi Jin's words sternly, her face stern. "We've been out for more than three months now, and it's almost early summer. The weather is getting hotter every day. You can't stand it."

Zi Jin lowered her head, glared at Nian Yue, and gritted her teeth, saying, "I'm not afraid of the heat."

Nianyue frowned and said, "That won't do either. Father said you're already pregnant and you absolutely can't overexert yourself. Grandpa said you damaged your vital energy last time, and if you get pregnant again, you must take good care of yourself."

Zi Jin was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Si Kou Xunxiang and said angrily, "You!...Why did you even have to tell him this!"

"Why can't you tell me? You're always trying to lie to your father, so of course I have to take good care of him." Nianyue glanced at Zijin with her narrow peach blossom eyes and continued, "Today, Zi'er said that Young Master Jinyang is very handsome. The day before yesterday, Zi'er saw a man standing there in the street and lied to your father that she was frightened by his figure, which was even more alluring than a woman's. The day before that, Zi'er saw a white-clad swordsman and, when your father wasn't looking, secretly wiped a lot of saliva on his face. And the day before that, Zi'er..."

"Yueyue... Mother is so thirsty and dizzy. Where did Yue'er put the carriage?" Before Nianyue could finish speaking, Zi Jin squatted down, softly hugged Nianyue's body, and said weakly.

Nianyue's beautiful brows furrowed, and she raised her hand to touch Zijin's forehead, asking in a low voice, "Are you feeling unwell? Are you tired? Or are you too hot? The carriage is still a long way off. Why don't you wait here while I go find some water nearby?"

Zi Jin said weakly, "Yueyue, Mother is a little tired and wants to drink some spring water."

“Okay.” Nianyue responded, helped Zijin up, and looked at Sikou Xunxiang and continued, “You all stay here first, I’ll go find some water. If Zi’er isn’t well, we’ll go back to the city later.”

Sikou Xunxiang nodded.

Seeing Nianyue leave, Sikou Xunxiang turned back and smiled faintly: "Little Zi, you tricked Nianyue again..."

Zi Jin, who had been sitting weakly to the side, instantly regained her strength, wiped the sweat from her face, stood up, and hugged Si Kou Xunxiang's waist: "This time we're going to have a daughter. A daughter will definitely be more obedient and considerate than him."

Si Kou Xunxiang stroked Zi Jin's lower abdomen, a hint of worry flashing in his dark eyes: "Could it be like back then..."

Zi Jin hugged Si Kou Xunxiang's neck, leaned on his shoulder, and whispered, "Of course not. Since Master told us to have it again, there will be no more danger. You can rest assured."

Si Kou Xunxiang nuzzled Zi Jin's cheek, frowning as he said, "Little Zi, if you like it, that's good..."

“No! This time I must have a well-behaved and obedient daughter who looks like you… But Yue’er doesn’t look like me at all, nor does she look much like you. She looks especially like Xi Le. Look at her peach blossom eyes, they’re becoming more and more like Xi Le’s… Uh… Speaking of which, their temperaments are similar too. They’re not cute at all, they’re domineering, short-tempered, moody, and unpredictable. They’re practically identical… Xi Le has been traveling for eight years now. When will he come back?” Zi Jin glanced at Si Kou Xun Xiang and asked with a hint of disappointment.

A fleeting sadness crossed Si Kou Huanxiang's eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his lips as he looked up: "Le'er is free-spirited..."

“Not cute at all, stubborn, short-tempered, moody and unpredictable, is there anything else? Zi’er…” Before anyone knew it, Nian Yue, who should have been far away, was standing in front of Zi Jin and asked, her voice sweet and clear.

Zi Jin stared wide-eyed in shock at the person before her. After a long while, she roared, "Si Kou Nian Yue! You treacherous villain!"

Nianyue forced a dead smile and said coldly, "Zi'er, you forgot one thing: I can also hit people!"

"Husband! Help!..."

Zi Jin quickly hid behind Si Kou Xun Xiang, and Nian Yue reached out to grab him.

Si Kou Xunxiang pulled Zi Jin into his arms, glanced down at the person beneath him, and whispered, "Nian Yue."

The once arrogant Nian Yue immediately stood properly to the side. He secretly glared at Zi Jin, who revealed a triumphant smile and made a big face at Nian Yue.

Sikou Nianyue muttered to herself, then lowered her head resentfully, reached out and grabbed Sikou Xunxiang's robe, obediently following behind the two.

"Oh no! I can't have a daughter. People say that fathers and daughters are lovers in their past lives... No, I can't have a daughter..."

"Really?... What about me and Zi'er?"

"Us? I don't know what other mothers and children were like in their past lives, but we two were definitely—enemies in our past lives!"

"Zi'er!"

"Husband, Nianyue is trying to bully me again... Ouch, it hurts so much..."

"Where does it hurt?! Where does it hurt?!"

"Haha...I fooled you again! You little fool!"

"Zi'er!! You!..."

On the narrow path, the setting sun used its last rays to illuminate the horizon, gilding the overlapping figures of the three people.

Love and hate leave no trace, deep affection is hard to wait for; the descendants of the gods, three generations of karmic entanglements, the final chapter, the past, the past—consider it an epilogue to the preface.

The final chapter, from the very past, serves as an epilogue to the preface, more than five hundred years ago.

Plague ravaged the Central Plains, severe floods struck the north, the imperial court was corrupt, and power was divided among the three powerful families of the time, leaving the people to suffer daily in misery.

That summer, a woman in tattered clothes emerged from the mountains of Lingnan, seemingly descending from the heavens. She not only helped the government divert the floodwaters but also cured the local plague and adopted a one-armed orphan with black hair and blue eyes whom she had rescued from the flood. However, after the flood, the woman and the black-haired, blue-eyed orphan disappeared without a trace.

Two years later, when the woman reappeared with the blue-eyed youth under the name Nalan Liushuang, she had become the fiancée of the head of the powerful Sikou family. It turned out that Nalan Liushuang had been poisoned by a villain years before, but was rescued by the Sikou family head, thus beginning a much-talked-about love story.

After three years of internal strife, the imperial court, under the mutual restraint of the three major families, has returned to a state of peace.

The situation changed overnight...

The head of the Zi family, the largest of the three great families, staged a coup in one night, not only killing the emperor at the time but also exterminating his entire clan, and was about to declare himself emperor.

The Sikou and Dugu families were enraged and, under the pretext of punishing the traitors and quelling the rebellion, they raised troops one after another.

In an instant, weapons clashed and blood flowed like rivers. It seemed that the Zi family was about to wipe out the Sikou and Dugu families...