Qi Yuning slept for a very long time. When she woke up, it was already bright outside and the warmth around her had long since faded.

Qi Yuning opened his eyes and saw Lichun's anxious expression. He asked, "What time is it?"

Li Chunlian said: "It's four o'clock in the morning."

Qi Yuning was startled when she heard the time of 4:40 PM, "It's so late?"

"Princess."

Qi Yuning saw an unfamiliar maid coming in to pay her respects, and looked up at her.

The maidservant said respectfully, "I am a maidservant sent by Her Royal Highness the Princess to serve the Princess. My name is Qiuyue, and this is Chunhua. The Crown Prince's room didn't have any maidservants before, only servants and maids who cleaned the rooms. Her Royal Highness asked us two maidservants to come and serve the Princess first."

Qi Yuning glanced at Qiuyue and Chunhua in front of him. They had ordinary looks and looked honest.

Qiuyue and Chunhua came over with warm water to help Qi Yuning get up and wash. Lichun took the handkerchief and said, "Let me do it."

After Qi Yuning washed and dressed, she hastily and casually tied her hair into a bun.

When I returned to the palace, I learned that Qi Yu'an and A Ping had gone to the palace to express their gratitude early in the morning.

Qi Yuning didn't see Lingling and asked, "Where's Lingling?"

When Chunfen saw Qi Yuning returning, she said, "Little Princess Lingling woke up early this morning and wanted to see you. She cried so hard that the prince happened to hear her and took her into the palace."

Qi Yuning pursed her lips and instructed Chunfen, "Burn this wooden bed and replace it with my previous trousseau bed."

Chunfen replied, "Yes."

The nanmu bed used as a dowry was not auspicious, but because it took a lot of work to carve it and was made of golden nanmu, it was not cut down or burned.

At that time, Qi Yuning was still thinking of keeping this bed. When Lu Yun passed away in the future, he could turn it into a coffin to send Lu Yun off. Now it can come in handy.

Yesterday, many guests who stayed overnight were leaving and came to say goodbye one by one.

After Qi Yuning got busy for a while, it was already three quarters past noon.

Qi Yu'an, Aping and Lingling just returned from the palace.

"Lingling!" Qi Yuning walked up to Lingling and picked her up. "Lingling's pigtail looks so good today."

Lingling snorted softly, "Hmph!"

Qi Yuning asked, "Is Lingling angry?"

Lingling snorted again, "Hmph!"

Qi Yu'an coughed and said, "I turned a blind eye to you because I saw Lingling was so young and couldn't bear to see her separated from her father. I didn't mean to let you do anything reckless. Do you still know the meaning of modesty?"

Qi Yuning didn't dare to refute, so she could only coax Lingling in her arms and said, "Mom, I was wrong to kiss you. Can Lingling forgive me?"

Lingling said with tears in her eyes, feeling wronged: "Lingling woke up without her mother, wuwuwu."

Qi Yuning hugged Lingling and comforted her, "From now on, mother will never ignore Lingling again. Lingling, don't cry."

Lingling cried for a long time in Qi Yuning's arms. Qi Yuning comforted her and agreed to many of Lingling's requests. Only then did Lingling fall asleep in Qi Yuning's arms.

Qi Yuning's shoulders were covered with tears. After carrying Lingling to the bed and changing her clothes, she went to find Qi Yu'an and A Ping and dismissed all the servants.

When Qi Yu'an saw Qi Yuning coming alone, his tone became even more severe, "You seem to have become more capable now, haven't you?"

Qi Yuning whispered, "Brother, the reason I went to the Princess's Mansion yesterday was because His Royal Highness the Crown Prince entered my boudoir while I was asleep in the afternoon. I was so frightened that I dared not sleep on that bed again."

Qi Yu'an heard this and said worriedly, "What about them during the Spring Equinox? Is there no one in charge of your courtyard? Do you allow others to come and go as they please?"

Qi Yuning said, "Originally, I was the only master in the backyard, and my servants were all entertaining guests. I posted a maid at the backyard gate. Since the prince entered the backyard with He Qing, the maid didn't stop him. Otherwise, if it were another male guest, he would have been stopped as soon as he entered the backyard."

Qi Yu'an frowned and looked at Qi Yuning worriedly and asked, "Are you okay?"

Qi Yuning said, "Fortunately, there are secret guards in the courtyard. We went to invite Lu Ze, and nothing serious happened. I just woke up suddenly and was frightened out of my wits by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Ah Ping was slightly shocked and asked, "How could he treat you like this?"

Qi Yuning looked at A Ping and said, "Sister-in-law, now we are a real family. I think you can tell me your identity, right?"

Ah Ping glanced at Qi Yu'an and said, "I've already told the prince everything. The princess's guess is correct. I should indeed be a princess. However, I have no evidence. Nanny Qin, who was by my side, confessed her crime to protect the queen and her young daughter from being implicated. If she were to tell the truth again now, I'm afraid no one would believe her. Moreover..."

Ah Ping whispered, "I just want some peace."

Qi Yuning said: "There has been no peace since you married my brother. The glory of our Qi family today is due to the wisdom of His Majesty. If another emperor ascended the throne, he might not be able to accommodate the more than 200,000 troops of the Qi family in the north.

Qin Yuli opposed me not long ago, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince broke into my boudoir yesterday. Isn’t it because the Qin family and the Crown Prince have never taken the Qi family seriously?

Your Majesty is still here, but if one day Your Majesty passes away and the Crown Prince ascends the throne, our Qi family will have a knife hanging over our heads."

Qi Yuning looked at Ah Ping in surprise and said, "Do you know why I agreed to marry Lu Yun even though I knew he was young, uneducated and not a good man? The Lu family came to ask for marriage, right? It was because he was the son of the princess and the nephew of the prince. With this relationship, the Qi family's descendants could be saved.

But now I know that the prince is not the princess's biological brother. Even if I marry Lu Ze, I am afraid it will be difficult to protect our Qi family. There will be no peace for the Qi family in the future.

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