Chapter 1: Yongyi Hou Fu in Bianjing

Great Zhou.

First year of Jiayou.

Winter.

Eastern Capital, Bianliang.

Snow fell for an entire night, only stopping just at noon.

The rooftops of the entire city were blanketed in snow, a world of silver and white.

In such beautiful scenery, the young masters and misses of wealthy families were filled with sentiment, inspiring scholars to compose poetry.

With the biting cold wind, for the poor and destitute, it was yet another hurdle they did not know if they could cross.

The snow on the main streets had already been cleared to the sides by the Street Management Bureau.

On other streets, masters or servants were also clearing the snow.

At major establishments like Fan Tower and Pan Tower, the business of warm stoves and "Bo Xia Gong" (thinly sliced meat hotpot) was booming, attracting many customers under the enthusiastic greetings of the tea and wine stewards.

Weishi (1:00 PM to 3:00 PM).

Quyuanjie.

Yongyi Hou Fu.

Inner courtyard.

Main chamber of the mistress.

Heat steamed from a clean yet slightly aged incense burner, the temperature it emitted making the spacious room pleasantly warm. On the sandalwood bed not far away, a delicate, jade-like infant opened his eyes, while the woman beside him was focused on her needlework.

"Wah."

Hearing the infant cry, the woman stopped her needlework, lifted the infant's small quilt to take a look, and with a smile in her eyes, spoke cheerfully to the baby: "Little Master is truly sensible!"

As she spoke, she changed the soaked diaper beneath the infant; once changed, the infant in the woman's hands stopped crying.

After sleeping, the energetic infant opened his large, dark, bright eyes to look at the woman with her ancient hairstyle, and the exquisite yet somewhat aged ceiling beams above.

"Sigh, these past few days, I haven't heard a single sound of modern things like mobile phones or televisions! It seems I really have transmigrated. I just read the *Story of Minglan* novel five times and stayed up late to watch the original drama, how did I end up transmigrated!"

Xu Zaijing did not know how Longhe had been an infant, because after birth, his eyes and ears were still developing, and he was in a state of chaos, doing nothing but eating and sleeping, with no concept of time.

His limited waking hours were also plagued by his underdeveloped vision, making him like someone with extreme myopia, unable to see anything clearly.

In these past few days, as his body developed, he was finally able to see a bit further and hear some things.

He also confirmed that he had truly transmigrated to ancient times.

"In ancient times without computers, mobile phones, or air conditioning, who would be happy to transmigrate here!"

Xu Zaijing thought with some depression, but the hunger in his stomach made him cry again—a crying child gets fed!

"Is Little Master hungry?" A gentle voice came over.

"Sister-in-law Cui, looking at Little Master's dry wailing, he must be hungry."

The one called Sister-in-law Cui was a woman with fair skin, a round, slightly chubby face, moist skin, eyes full of gentleness, and thick, black hair.

Her physical appearance spoke of her being a qualified mother with ample "granaries."

Holding the crying infant, she skillfully unbuttoned her bodice, and looking at the infant sucking vigorously in her arms, her eyes were full of smiles.

"Little Master is truly rarely obedient and sensible."

The young girl beside her also nodded with eyes full of smiles.

Xu Zaijing closed his eyes, focusing on feeding.

A sound of a door opening came, followed by the greetings of the maids and servants in the room, and amidst the clinking of jewelry, a female voice arrived:

"Xiaozhu, how is Jing Ge'er today?"

Hearing this voice, Xu Zaijing's ears twitched.

"Replying to Da Niangzi, he is very sensible. He just changed his diaper. Da Niangzi, look, Little Master's ears twitched when he heard you speak."

Listening to this, Xu Zaijing felt a familiar aura come to his side, a kind of aura he had never felt in his previous life—the aura full of love from his biological mother.

Feeling this reassuring aura, the corners of his mouth curled up, creating a small dimple on his cheek.

"Niangzi Cui, let me hold him."

Looking at her son in the wet nurse's arms, the Da Niangzi of Yongyi Hou Fu, Sun Shi, took him over with a face full of smiles.

This was her fifth child and third son.

Sun Shi had originally thought the fifth child would be another ordeal, but she did not expect that apart from crying when eating, drinking, or excreting, the child was otherwise quiet and never noisy, completely different from his two older brothers and two older sisters.

This made the Da Niangzi of Yongyi Hou Fu even more doting on her youngest son.

The personal maid Xiaozhu stood behind Sun Shi, skillfully removing her hairpins and jewelry while saying casually:

"Da Niangzi, was the birthday banquet at Ningyuan Hou Fu lively? I heard that Da Niangzi Bai is the legitimate daughter of a wealthy family from Yang Zhou."

"Of course it was lively. The relatives of all the prominent military officials in the capital went. Just the banquet tables numbered in the dozens. The pearl hairpin on Da Niangzi Bai's head was truly valuable, but..."

"Da Niangzi, what happened?"

"That Niangzi Bai was teased enough by that aunt of the Gu family at today's banquet."

"Is it the one who married into the Yang family?"

"Who else but her? She made Da Niangzi Bai lose face and gave the official wives plenty of jokes to watch. Poor Da Niangzi Bai, not even a single relative from her side of the family came..."

"Did Gu Hou not reprimand this aunt?"

"Hmph, before Gu Hou could even come, Chang Mama beside Da Niangzi Bai spoke up a few times, making that aunt so angry she didn't even eat a few bites of the banquet and left the table with a dark face."

"It's truly rare to see someone give their own sister-in-law such a hard time."

"It's just because she suffered from the harsh words of her sisters-in-law at her husband's home, and the people from the Qin family of the Dongchang Marquis Mansion also..."

Xu Zaijing in Sun Shi's arms had already eaten his fill, and in his mother's warm and reassuring embrace, he listened groggily to the conversation between the mistress and servant.

Before falling asleep, he couldn't help but think: "Gu Hou, Da Niangzi Bai, the Qin family, and an aunt who married into the Yang family—haven't I transmigrated into the world of *The Story of Minglan*?"

A wave of sleepiness hit him, and he fell asleep.

Xu Zaijing did not know how Longhe slept; when he woke up again, it was because he felt a coolness on his cheek.

Opening his eyes, the light in the room had already dimmed, and his vision was filled with the warm yellow of candles. Before him was a three or four-year-old little girl pressing her face against Xu Zaijing's.

"Mother, Little Brother's face is so smooth. Look, Little Brother is awake."

"Xu Anmei, didn't you wake Little Brother up? How long have you been in the room? Your face must be cold." Sun Shi looked at her fourth daughter with a straight face.

"Hehe..."

"You're still laughing. Let's see if Father doesn't spank you when he returns." A steady girl's voice said.

"What's the matter, making me spank An'er?" A man's voice came.

"What else could it be? Little Sister woke Little Brother up as soon as she entered the room."

As they spoke, the little girl in front of Xu Zaijing was carried away.

"Father, don't kiss my face, your beard is too prickly!" An impatient young girl's voice came.

Responding to her was the man's hearty laughter.

"Mother, hold me, I don't want Father to hold me!"

(A rough character relationship chart is placed in the book review section, already pinned.)

There isn't too much face-slapping conflict. I don't know if this kind of *Minglan* fan fiction can win the favor of dear readers. Everyone is welcome to comment and correct errors! Looking forward to it! (*▽*)

The rough relationship chart is in the book reviews.





(End of chapter)