The three of them stood together in an embrace for a long time. Gan Qiongying was in the middle, surrounded by the strong arms of the two men. Her heart, which had been hanging in mid-air and swaying, finally settled down at this moment.

A family should be complete, with no one missing.

Gan Lin looked past Gan Qiongying and met Li Hua's gaze. The scheming that had first appeared in their eyes was gone, and the awkwardness of their previous meeting in the palace had also disappeared. Their eyes were now filled with tenderness and warmth.

Gan Qiongying served as a bond between the two of them, tightly connecting them into a family.

Li Hua smiled at Gan Lin, and Gan Lin also curled his lips, revealing his white teeth, and said, "Why is the Prince Consort only returning home now? If you had come back any later, the two little ones wouldn't have recognized you as their father!"

At dinner, the three of them sat around the table, while the other servants and maids sat in the outer room. No one came in to disturb the family's reunion.

This was the first time the three of them had sat down together for a reunion dinner in a calm and peaceful manner, without any worries, concerns, suspicions, or wariness of each other.

Gan Qiongying was the most talkative of the two, chatting about this and that, and she was adept at both coaxing her younger brother and her husband.

The two men laughed frequently as she amused them. There was no awkwardness among the three of them, as if they had always been a family and had been living together for many years.

On the table were steaming bottles of strong liquor, several hot dishes cooked by Li Hua herself, and several cleanly gnawed bones, especially a small pile next to Gan Qiongying's.

While Li Hua and Gan Lin were raising their glasses to drink, Gan Qiongying secretly used her chopsticks to move her bone a little to Li Hua's side, so that it wouldn't look so exaggerated.

After Li Hua discovered this, he smiled indulgently and drank several cups with Gan Lin. The three of them then drank two more cups together. Gan Qiongying was not used to such strong liquor, and each time she would frown and put down her cup as soon as the liquor touched her lips.

On the contrary, after a few drinks, the two of them had flushed faces and looked exceptionally cute.

Gan Lin, in particular, has been going out a lot lately, and two red patches have appeared on her cheeks from the cold.

However, he had become much stronger, not only because he was constantly running to the Northwest Army and training with Chen Wa, but also because Physician Xiao had been taking care of Gan Lin's health.

Although Xiao Qiansong specializes in gynecology, Gan Lin did visibly become stronger after being treated by him.

He seemed to be aging in reverse, belatedly radiating a youthful spirit from his body. Especially after being separated for three months, the changes were enormous. Gan Qiongying looked at him, his back straight, sitting there with his eyebrows dancing, and a series of idioms came to mind that could be used to describe him.

In the prime of life, full of vigor and high spirits, these wonderful words can now be used to describe Gan Lin without reservation.

He was a completely different person from the gloomy, thin, and perpetually melancholy emperor he once was in the palace.

Li Hua, however, presented a different picture. Even with his cheeks flushed from drinking, he remained composed and dignified.

Gan Qiongying looked at this one, then at that one, and then at the two little ones sleeping on the kang. Her heart was completely filled with joy. After taking a couple of sips of wine, she felt like she was floating on air.

She has been in this world for more than two years now... In just two short years, she has experienced more than Gan Qiongying has experienced in two lifetimes.

The past two years have been nothing short of dramatic and eventful.

Gan Qiongying was a little dizzy, her hands resting on the table, her stomach full, and a smile on her lips.

Her beautiful phoenix eyes narrowed into two crescent moons, her face was as pink as peach blossoms, and she was incomparably beautiful.

The three of them eventually started to slur their words, and the dishes on the table had already been reheated twice. Li Hua and Gan Lin were still drinking heavily.

Gan Qiongying stopped drinking from the wine pot, looked at the two of them, and poured them wine every now and then.

Gan Lin raised his wine cup to Li Hua and said, "I... I grew up in the palace and relied on my elder sister for survival. After I grew up, I worked as a puppet in the palace. Since I ran away from that place... I finally know what it means to live and what it means to die."

"Your Highness is the richest man in the land, with countless merchant caravans. You must take me to see the world someday, so that my life will not have been in vain... Your Highness, my dear brother-in-law, come, let me toast you!"

Gan Lin has been hanging out with Chen Wa and his gang lately, and while he hasn't learned anything else, he's picked up the air of a seasoned soldier. Gan Qiongying reached up and rubbed her forehead, tapped the table, and asked Gan Lin, "Who did you learn this from?"

Gan Lin let out a sound of surprise, and immediately, under Gan Qiongying's gaze, he put away his act and pretended to be scared, exchanging a glance with Li Hua.

Li Hua was able to handle the look in her eyes. Both of them listened to Gan Qiongying and acted as if they were afraid of her, so they quickly stood on the same side.

But now Li Hua couldn't keep up, because he had overestimated his alcohol tolerance and got completely drunk.

He looked at Gan Lin a beat late, nodded slowly, and said, "Okay."

Li Hua's eyes were clearly glazed over, but he still sat quite dignifiedly, with his hands on either side of the table. When he reached for the wine glass, he noticed his fingers were trembling, so he quickly pressed his hands on the table.

This is Li Hua's subconscious reaction when he tries to hide his vulnerability. He is always good at concealing his weaknesses when he doesn't want others to discover them.

Gan Qiongying took a few small sips, and by this time she had sobered up. Seeing Li Hua's instinctive reaction, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

She reached out and pinched Li Hua's rosy cheek, saying, "We're at home, you don't need to be so tense. Relax, do whatever you want. Why are you maintaining this princely demeanor in front of us... We're family."

Li Hua turned her head, staring intently at Gan Qiongying. Her eyes darted around, and she slowly nodded.

“Okay,” he said.

This sound was exactly the same as the one he had said to Gan Lin earlier; Li Hua had clearly entered an automatic response state.

Gan Qiongying slapped the table and laughed. As she laughed, Li Hua suddenly stood up from the table.

Then he walked over to Gan Qiongying, put one hand on the table and the other on Gan Qiongying's shoulder, and kissed her.

"Mmm!" The sound was particularly loud.

Gan Qiongying was stunned by the kiss. Not only was Gan Qiongying stunned, but even Gan Lin, who was opposite Li Hua and raising his wine glass to call him brother-in-law, was stunned.