Chapter 42: You Can’t Call Me Sister Qi From Now On

Qi Yuning said: "That depends on how Master Lu performs."

When Lu Baozhu heard about Sister Qi, she frowned and said to Lu Ze, "Brother, why do you call her sister? If you want her to be my sister-in-law, you can't call Qi sister. If you call her sister, won't it make us brother and sister?

You have to call her Yu Ning, Ning Ning, Lu Yun used to call her Ning Ning. "

Lu Ze's face darkened, "Did Yun'er really call you that before?"

Lu Baozhu said, "Of course. That brat Lu Yun had always said that he wanted to marry Ningning, and he refused to call her Sister Qi. He always called her Ningning and Yuning. Otherwise, I would not have asked for the imperial decree to grant him marriage. Who would have thought that he would go back on his word and become a monk!"

Lu Ze's expression became even uglier. "How come I didn't know when Yun'er said she wanted to marry Princess Qi?"

"When Yun'er was five years old, he said that he would not marry anyone but Ningning!"

Lu Ze: “…”

Lu Baozhu said to Lu Ze earnestly, "Brother, from now on, you can no longer call her Princess Qi or Sister Qi in such a distant way. You have to call her Yu Ning or Ning Ning."

Qi Yuning couldn't imagine what Lu Ze looked like when he called her Ningning.

Lu Ze really couldn't call her Ningning.

The carriage reached the foot of the mountain. Lingling got off the carriage and looked at the mountain. She exclaimed, "What a high mountain!"

Lingling was young and seldom left the palace. Once she went up the mountain, if Lu Ze hadn't held her hand, she would have almost run away.

The colors of the forest in autumn are extremely beautiful, with red maples, yellow leaves, green trees and clear streams, like powder and ink spilled on the mountain. Lingling didn't seem tired at all while walking.

When they reached the flat part of the mountainside, there was a turquoise lake on the side. Lu Ze asked the servant to set up the tent there, and the servant who accompanied him took out a small stool, a small table, and a fruit and food box.

Lingling was not hungry at all and wanted to play in the lake as soon as she saw it. Qi Yuning saw that the sun was shining brightly today and asked Lingling to go into the water to play. Lu Baozhu still had a childish nature and went into the water with Lingling.

Qi Yuning sat on a small stool and said, "The scenery here is superb. I didn't even know there was such a place in Shengjing before."

Lu Ze said, "I have also been here when I was judging a murder and corpse dumping case. The murderer killed someone here and dumped the body in the reed marsh on the other side of the lake."

Qi Yuning looked at the reed marsh over there and shuddered.

Seeing Qi Yuning's expression, Lu Ze said, "You don't have to be afraid. The murderer has already been arrested and the deceased has been buried in peace."

Qi Yuning took out the cut fruit plate from the lunch box and was about to eat it when she saw Lu Baozhu and Lingling, aunt and nephew, coming towards her with smiles on their faces.

"Qi Yuning, we have something good for you, Lingling, show it to your mother."

Qi Yuning smiled at Lingling and said, "Lingling, do you have anything for mother?"

Lingling took out a turtle from behind her that was much bigger than her hand, "Mom, there's Guigui here too!"

Qi Yuning's heart trembled, and he stood up quickly, "Lu Baozhu!"

Jingzhe and Lichun stood by and protected Qi Yuning. Xiaoman supported Qi Yuning. Lichun kindly persuaded Lingling to let the turtle go: "Lingling, the princess is afraid of turtles."

Lu Baozhu stared at Lu Ze who didn't move at all, and said helplessly: "Brother, I gave you a chance to be a hero and save the beauty, but you are not as useful as Lichun Jingzhe!"

Qi Yuning finally understood after hearing what Lu Baozhu said. She deliberately let Lingling hold the turtle to scare her so that Lu Ze would come to the rescue?

Lu Ze looked at Lu Baozhu helplessly and said, "Baozhu, stop making trouble."

Lu Baozhu snorted, "Where did I make trouble? You really don't know how to cherish the opportunity. When Qi Yuning was scared, you pulled her into your arms. Isn't this making her my sister-in-law?"

Qi Yuning chuckled and said, "Lu Baozhu, can you come up with bad ideas behind my back?"

"What's wrong with this idea?" Lu Baozhu pouted and said, "Lingling, let's continue playing in the water!"

Qi Yuning wiped the sweat off Lingling's face, and touched the sweat on Lingling's back based on the experience she learned from Princess Duan. "Is it hot?"

Lingling nodded.

Qi Yuning helped Lingling take off a piece of clothing, and Lingling followed Lu Baozhu to the lake like a little butterfly.

Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze standing aside and said, "Master Lu, when you asked me to go with you to Prince Duan's tomb that day, did you have the same idea as Lu Baozhu? Did you want to take advantage of my fear to do something to me?"

Lu Ze poured a cup of tea for Qi Yuning and said, "Wang Tao, the tomb keeper, is very respectful to you. He asked the princess to go to the tomb with me for this reason."

Qi Yuning snorted coldly. That’s right, Lu Ze didn’t like her, so how could he take advantage of her?

Lingling was not around last night and it was hard to sleep because of the cold quilt. Qi Yuning did not feel energetic after drinking tea and instead became even more sleepy.

Qi Yuning stood up and said, "I'm going to walk around to relieve my sleepiness. Lichun, you guys just take care of Lingling."

Lu Ze stood up and followed him and said, "Princess, did you not sleep well last night?"

"I'm used to Lingling's little stove. It's so cold without her at night that I can't sleep well." Qi Yuning said, "I just hope Lingling can play a little harder today and stop making noise at night."

Qi Yuning asked again: "Master Lu, are you back from Shanzhou? What kind of place is Shanzhou?"

Lu Ze said, "Shanzhou is located near the North City and has iron mines. It has always been a place for iron mining. There was a severe drought a few years ago, but it has only recovered this year."

Qi Yuning sighed and said, "What about the drought three years ago?"

"There are starving people everywhere, and people are living in misery."

Qi Yuning grew up in Shengjing City, and it was hard for him to imagine the famine everywhere. It was a blessing from the Buddha that Miss Ping and the nanny beside her could make it to Beicheng.

Qi Yuning asked: "Is it so serious?"

Lu Ze said: "When I went there this time, I saw many graves that were built three years ago. At that time, many people sold their children."

Qi Yuning sighed and said, "If this world is not peaceful, this tragedy will not only happen in Shanzhou, but will be everywhere in Dasheng."

Lu Ze paused, "I just hope we can find out why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince cannot ascend the throne as soon as possible."

Qi Yuning nodded, "I think the King of Shu must be guilty. Although I was young at that time, I knew that Uncle Huo An was my grandfather's most proud disciple. He had been lurking in the King of Shu's mansion for more than ten years. There must be something fishy going on in the King of Shu's mansion."

Lu Ze nodded and said, "Yes."

As they walked, they came to a mountain stream. The stream was so clear that you could see the bottom. Next to it was a persimmon tree full of orange-red fruits.

The red persimmons hanging on the tree trunks are extremely tempting.

Qi Yuning walked to the persimmon tree and stood on tiptoe to pick the fruits. She was considered tall among her daughters, but even so, she still lacked the ability to reach the persimmons.

"Prince Lu, please help me pick some persimmons."

Lu Ze walked to the side of Qi Yuning. He was taller than Qi Yuning. He raised his hand, picked up a persimmon and handed it to Qi Yuning.

Qi Yuning peeled off the persimmon skin, smelled the fragrance of persimmon, took a bite, and chuckled, "Prince, pick one and try it. This persimmon is quite delicious. I'll pick a few more for Lingling later."

Lu Ze reached out and picked two more. He took a bite and they were indeed sweet.

Qi Yuning was greedy, so she asked Lu Ze to pick several fruits for her and ate them all while standing under the tree.

Seeing Qi Yuning's gaze, Lu Ze still wanted to eat, so he looked at the persimmon in front of him and said, "I can't reach it, it's too high."

Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze with her phoenix eyes raised and said with a faint smile: "It shouldn't be difficult for Master Lu to climb up this tree, right?"

(End of this chapter)