The Three-Life Stone

Lin Yue was almost five years old when he returned to the palace.

Before that, Lin Mo would occasionally take Lin Xuan with him when he went out of the palace. This was Lin Xuan’s first secret, a secret between him and his father.

As a concubine in the harem, An Nan could not stay even if Lin Yue could use his physical condition as an excuse. After celebrating Lin Yue's birthday when he was four years old, An Nan returned to the palace first. The emperor also sent guards to protect the princess. As it was a royal temple, everyone felt sorry for the princess at most, but they were not worried that she would encounter any danger.

As an insider, An Nan naturally had nothing to fear, and it was true that he was reluctant to leave.

Therefore, the Imperial Concubine did not suspect An Nan's withdrawal symptoms after returning to the palace. Instead, she often comforted An Nan, saying, "Don't be too sad, the princess will be back soon. Look at these cats, they must have missed you during your absence."

Concubine An smiled bitterly in her heart. She actually hoped that the princess could spend more time with the Queen. She was afraid that she would never see her again after entering the palace. But she didn't want to come back. She now felt that there was nothing good about men, the palace, and money. She just wanted to be a reclusive person, raising a cat with her sisters and taking care of children. Ah~ But the Queen has a man. Why does the Queen have a man? Can't she do without a man?

The more An Nan thought about it, the more it made sense to her. She no longer expected a man to love her. She felt that having a sister, a child, and a cute pet, her life would be so beautiful. But the emperor insisted on coming every once in a while to disturb her and her sister's lives. Now, she was not with her sister, and the emperor was going to her sister's place to drive away the cold and ask about her well-being. Wouldn't her sister forget about him?

The Imperial Noble Consort saw that Noble Concubine An looked sad, and she had said enough in the past few days, so she didn't say much: "Sister, think carefully about what I said. The princess will come back, and life must go on." After that, she left.

In the following days, the Imperial Noble Concubine did not go to Zhongcui Palace again. After everyone paid their respects in the morning, she did not ask anyone to keep Concubine An, just waiting for her to figure it out. She thought she had done her best.

An Nan no longer felt as uncomfortable as before, at most she was a little irritable. An Nan thought that she was now raising her sister's daughter, and she couldn't stay so decadent, so she returned to her previous expression. She could still leave the palace, and when she brought the princess back, she would ask her sister if she missed her.

Before Lin Xuan held his birthday party, An Nan found the Imperial Concubine and said that she had not seen the princess for a long time and wanted to greet her in person. Unfortunately, she could only go to the temple and not to Taohuajian. She still decided to go there. If she could not meet her sister, she would take their daughter back personally.

But on this last day, my sister probably wants to send the princess back personally.

In the temple, Hua Xiaoyao watched from afar as An Nan took Lin Yue back. An Nan watched from afar as Hua Xiaoyao looked a little lonely. She couldn't do anything strange in the crowd. When they sat in the sedan chair and the curtain was lowered, An Nan sighed, maybe they would never see each other again in this life.

Just as the carriage was about to start, Lin Yue shouted, "Wait, mother, Yue'er wants to go to the toilet."

"You." An Nan looked at Lin Yue lovingly and took her back to the temple.

Dongxue watched from afar as the two of them got on the carriage and then got off: "Your Majesty, why is Concubine An getting off again?"

Hua Xiaoyao looked at her daughter pretending to have a stomachache and smiled knowingly, then walked towards the tree next to the toilet.

As soon as Hua Xiaoyao arrived, An Nan hugged her excitedly: "Sister, I thought we would never see each other again."

Lin Yue looked up at his two mothers proudly.

Hua Xiaoyao hugged the old girl back and said, "Okay, okay, sister is always here. If you come out in the future, we can see each other again."

Back in the palace, An Nan asked Lin Yue why he pretended to have a stomachache. Lin Yue smiled proudly, "It was because I hadn't seen my mother for a long time and I wanted to hug her, but when she saw me, she could only look at me from afar and then left, so Yue'er thought of this idea."

An Nan hugged her mischievous daughter and felt a warm feeling in her heart.

Lin Yue is also a child who grew up in love. An Nan has no ambition and is definitely protective of his children. Lin Mo values ​​these two children very much. Apart from court affairs, he takes care of the two children.

What surprised Lin Mo and annoyed Duanmu Zhi was that Lin Xuan was talented and did not care about power. Lin Mo did not care. He had already made plans to choose his own successor if he had no son. If it was his own son, that would be even better. If not, he also had candidates.

When Lin Xuan paid his respects to Duanmu Zhi, she often nagged about what he should pay attention to as a prince and what important responsibilities he should take on. She often picked out some small things for Lin Xuan to experience. When Lin Xuan was young, he thought that this was Duanmu Zhi's deep love for him. When he grew up, he felt that this love was too heavy, and it was too difficult to be a good or likable child. He envied Lin Yue, who let herself go with the indulgence of An Nan and Lin Mo. She did nothing, but An Nan just thought she was great.

Laughter and joy could be heard from An Nan's Zhongcui Palace. Lin Xuan was very envious watching from outside. At that time, the two had already reached the age of being tutors. Lin Xuan learned a lot every day, and Duanmu Zhi had very high requirements. He came here invisibly during the rare moment of leisure in the afternoon. Although Lin Xuan knew that a real man should do and should not do, and also knew that a man should be self-reliant and stand tall, he didn't know why there was such a big difference between his growth and that of his sister.

Since his father was both civil and military, his mother had very high expectations for him. Not only did he have to learn the Four Books and Five Classics, he was also proficient in poetry, calligraphy and painting, and he also had to learn horse riding, archery, singing, composing music and chess, and foreign languages. His mother wanted to make him a perfect person. His father only knew a little about these things. Lin Mo believed that it was inevitable for a man to suffer some hardships, so he did not ask too many questions. Sometimes she taught him the art of ruling and management, and sometimes she checked his schoolwork.

On the other hand, the younger sister, who was born on the same day, is not completely ignorant of music, chess, calligraphy and painting. She can only follow her interests. She understands very well what she understands, and ignores and casually understands what she doesn't like. Concubine An even finds ways to make some lessons very interesting when teaching her younger sister. She learns the necessary etiquette to deal with big occasions, and laughs heartily in the palace. She doesn't act like a princess at all amid the chaos.

Whenever Duanmu Zhi told him that An Nan had taught the princess bad things, and how good it would be if she were the one bringing her up, Lin Xuan would listen, respectful on the surface but secretly resentful. After all, even if he was a prince, a crown prince, he was only ten years old, and his understanding was not deep, and the child's nature had to be suppressed.

I don't know how long Lin Xuan stood outside the door, a maid called out: "The prince is here?"

Lin Yue turned around excitedly: "Brother is here, come in and play with us?"

Lin Xuan came back to his senses, smiled awkwardly and ran away. It was not that he didn't want to go in and play together, but Duanmu Zhi had shortened his lunch break by half, and he had to review his homework soon, and he didn't want to bring this depression to others.

In Lin Yue's puzzled look, An Nan explained: "Maybe your brother has to go back for lunch and has no time to play. As the prince, he is always busier than you."

Lin Yue sighed: "Brother is really hard-working."

An Nan's eyes flickered. Who said it wasn't true? She didn't dare to exaggerate, for she was afraid that Lin Yue could not do anything and would feel sad for Lin Xuan.