Lu Ze took back his handkerchief, and seeing Qi Yuning staring at his hand, he smiled and said, "Princess, why are you looking at my hand?"

Qi Yuning said: "Your Highness's hands are quite beautiful."

Slender, white fingers with distinct joints.

"What a pity! I don't know how many corpses this hand has touched."

The smile on Lu Ze's face froze. "Actually, the bodies are usually examined by the coroner. I just watch from the sidelines. I rarely examine the bodies myself, and I will clean them thoroughly after examining them."

Lingling came forward to take a look, "Daddy's hands are much bigger than Lingling's. Mommy, you and daddy can compare whose hands are bigger."

Lingling took Qi Yuning's hand and placed it on Lu Ze's hand. Naturally, Lu Ze's hand was much longer than hers.

Lu Ze held the cold hand tightly.

Qi Yuning glanced at his clenched hands and had no intention of pulling his hands away, so he held hands all the way back to Prince Qi's Mansion.

…

Lu Ze first sent Qi Yuning and her daughter to Prince Qi's Mansion for dinner, then went to the Duke's Mansion to explain to his uncle and aunt about the two cousins ​​staying on Tiger Cave Mountain, and went to visit Madam Lu in her yard.

Lu Ze grew up with his grandfather. When he was young, his grandfather was strict and his grandmother was kind, but since some time ago, his grandmother became a little paranoid.

Madam Lu saw Lu Ze coming in and asked, "You are taking a day off today. Where have you been all day?"

Lu Ze said: "I took the princess and Lingling to climb the mountain."

Madam Lu was displeased when she heard the word "Princess". "Zer, ah Ze, Qi Yuning lost her mother and father when she was young. She is like a star doomed to be alone..."

"Grandma!" Lu Ze frowned and said, "Princess Qi is not doomed to fail. She was personally appointed by His Majesty as the Princess of Chang'an. I hope you will be careful with your words. I have decided that I will only marry the princess in this life."

He originally said this for Lingling, but even if Lingling was gone now, Lu Ze thought, he would not change his mind.

Madam Lu was so angry that she was shaking, "You are old enough that you don't even listen to your grandmother."

Lu Ze said: "Grandma, please forgive me for being unfilial."

Lu Ze returned to the princess's residence from Duke Lu's residence.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Princess Pingrou and Prince Consort Lu.

Princess Pingrou was jealous: "Why did you go to Duke Lu's mansion as soon as you came back?"

Lu Ze bowed and said, "Mother, I went to the Duke's Mansion to deliver a message to my third uncle and aunt."

Seeing Princess Pingrou's displeasure, Duke Lu said, "Today, His Majesty summoned me to inquire about the position of Dali Temple Minister. You also know that He Temple Minister will retire and return to his hometown to enjoy his old age after the new year. The position of Dali Temple Minister is vacant. Now, there is indeed no one in your Dali Temple who is more suitable for this position than you."

Lu Ze said: "Whether I can become the Minister of Dali Temple depends on your Majesty."

Duke Lu said, "Your Majesty, you are indeed a little young now. Isn't it still some time before He Siqing retires? If you can get married first, you are still young and have a family and daughter. It would be suitable. It would be best if you can get married before the New Year."

Lu Ze frowned and said, "Dad, how can I marry just for the position of a temple minister?"

Princess Pingrou said at the side: "It's not just for the position of temple minister, but also for my granddaughter! Today, when I went to your aunt Pingjin's house, she was holding her granddaughter and showing off, as if everyone has a granddaughter!"

"Besides, haven't you been getting close to Yuning these past few days? You went out to play together today, so why are you so useless? It's been more than two months, and you still haven't been able to coax Yuning into your arms?"

Lu Ze said, "Dad, Mom, it's getting late. I have to attend the court tomorrow morning."

Duke Lu said to Lu Ze, "You are going to get married anyway. If you get married now, you can get the position of Minister of the Temple as soon as possible. Otherwise, you don't know when you will be promoted next time. Minister He also likes you, but you are too young, so His Majesty is worried. As long as you get married, the worry of being young will disappear. You even have a daughter. Don't you have to get married sooner or later?"

Lu Ze said helplessly: "Dad and Mom, I'm tired."

Princess Pingrou was very disappointed: "Knowing that you were tired, why didn't you take the opportunity to rest in Prince Qi's mansion? If you can't get Yuning to agree to marry you before the first day of the new year, you don't have to live in the princess's mansion anymore!"

Lu Ze: "Then the child will live in the Duke's Mansion?"

Princess Pingrou said unhappily, "You don't even need to think about living in the Duke's Mansion. Go live with your brother in Xianglin Temple and become a monk!"

After Lu Ze sent his parents away, he returned to his room to take a shower.

Deqing, a servant who was serving the bath, said, "Master, I think the princess is willing to marry you. Didn't she throw herself into your arms on Tiger Cave Mountain during the day?"

Lu Ze glanced at Deqing and said, "The princess is just sad, don't say anything nonsense."

Deqing said: "But, my Lord, that is the position of the Dali Temple Minister. If you miss this chance to be promoted, you don't know when you can get promoted again."

Lu Ze's starting point in the court was too high. He entered the Dali Temple at the age of 18 and became the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple at the age of 19.

Now, at most, I still have two or three months to go before I turn twenty-one. Normally, twenty-one is just the age to enter the court.

However, he wanted to be one of the three officials, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, who had the power of life and death. He was indeed too young to win the support of the people.

Lu Ze said: "If I get married just for the sake of promotion, I'm afraid Princess Qi will really ignore me."

Finally, Qi Yuning changed her mind about him. If he proposed to marry her for promotion, given Qi Yuning's temper, I'm afraid...

Lu Ze thought of her angry look and chuckled softly.

…

After Guan Zhiyi was imprisoned, many people in Shengjing City made fun of the Guan family.

Of the five daughters of the Guan family who married out, three returned to their parents' home for a short stay.

After hearing the news, Qi Yuning felt that the woman was pitiful. She stopped adding insult to injury and also stopped allowing her maids to talk about Guan family affairs.

Xiao Man said, "Princess, after Guan Zhiyi clarified her relationship with the prince, rumors are spreading about your relationship with Prince Lu. People are saying all kinds of things, and some are even starting to stand up for the little bald donkey in Xianglin Temple."

Qi Yuning said to Xiaoman, "Go to Xianglin Temple and keep an eye on Lu Yun. Don't let the rumors outside reach his ears."

Lu Yun had offended her, and she couldn't let him off easily just because he had been eating green leafy vegetables for two months!

Xiaoman said: "Yes, Princess."

Lichun came in with important letters from merchants from all over the country, "Princess, He Siqing should retire after the New Year. He has already bought a house in his hometown. I wonder if the position of Dali Siqing will fall to Lu Shizi?"

Qi Yuning said: "Lu Ze is too young. Even if Your Majesty loves this grandson, he cannot ignore what others in the court say."

Lichun said: "Although Prince Lu is young, if he gets married at the beginning of the year, and he is the grandson that your Majesty loves, he may really become the youngest Dali Temple Minister since the founding of the Great Sheng Dynasty."

Chunfen chuckled and said, "If the princess is getting married at the beginning of the year, I wonder if she will have enough time to make the new wedding dress."

The wedding dress I wore two months ago definitely cannot be worn again. It is already early November, and there are only two or three months left before the new year.

Qi Yuning gently moved the beads on the abacus to calculate Lingling's age. She expected to be pregnant with Lingling at the end of next year.

But if I marry Lu Ze at the beginning of next year, how come I can only get pregnant with Lingling at the end of next year?

Or was it that Lu Ze was not in good health? It took a year for her to get pregnant after being married?

So Lingling is three years old and has no brothers or sisters. It is possible that it is not because the relationship between them is bad, but because Lu Ze is not in good health?

(End of this chapter)