After spending about half an hour in the study, Qi Yuning and Lu Ze washed up together and spent another half an hour returning to their room.

Qi Yuning lay down beside Lingling, and seeing the white light continuously emanating from the jade pendant on Lingling's neck, he even reached out to touch it.

Lu Ze grabbed Qi Yuning's hand and said, "Don't touch me."

He didn't want Qi Yuning to see the Qi Yuning in the jade pendant in that life, which was too cold.

Qi Yuning hugged Lingling tightly and looked at Lu Ze and asked, "Lingling, why is this jade token glowing?"

Lu Ze said: "Go to sleep first, and go to the temple to ask tomorrow."

Qi Yuning nodded and closed her eyes. She was already exhausted after playing around in the fountain in the study for so long.

It was a rare opportunity for them to wake up late the next day, so Qi Yuning and Lu Ze slept until noon.

Qi Yuning moved and subconsciously tried to hug Lingling, only to find that Lingling was not there, but Lu Ze was.

Lu Ze was awakened by Qi Yuning's movement and asked in a hoarse voice, "Awake?"

Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze and said, "Did you carry Lingling back to the crib again? It's cold now, why let her sleep in the crib alone?"

“No.” Lu Ze said lazily, “Could it be that Lingling felt too crowded and ran to the foot of the bed again?”

Qi Yuning got up and looked at the bed, but didn't see Lingling. He turned up the quilt, but still didn't see Lingling. The small peach wood sword that Lingling always followed on the bed was gone too. "Lingling! Lingling!"

Chunfen and Guyu, who were guarding the door, came in and asked, "Princess, what's wrong?"

Qi Yuning saw Chunfen and asked, "You didn't follow Lingling?"

Chunfen said, "Princess, Lingling has never gone out. Guyu and I were guarding the outer room and never saw the door to the inner room open. Shouldn't Princess Lingling be inside?"

“Lingling!”

Qi Yuning hurriedly went to bed, without wearing shoes or socks, and regardless of the cold wooden floor, he searched for Lingling everywhere in the house.

"Lingling?"

Lu Ze and Qi Yuning searched every corner but couldn't find Lingling. They asked the secret guards and maids outside, but no one had seen Lingling.

Qi Yuning couldn't help but get very anxious. Lu Ze held Qi Yuning's hand tightly and consoled her, "Don't worry. Could it be that Lingling has left?"

Qi Yuning woke up completely and looked at Lu Ze and asked, "Lingling left?"

Lu Ze looked at Qi Yuning's belly and said, "It shouldn't be considered as leaving. It's already the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month. After ten months of pregnancy, Lingling might already be in your belly."

Qi Yuning slowly touched her lower abdomen, full of sadness and worry.

What makes her sad is that she hasn't been able to see her cute little Lingling for a long time. After spending one year and three months together, Lingling is very important to her.

I was worried about whether Lingling could return safely, whether the baby in her belly would still be Lingling, and whether she was really pregnant.

Lu Ze held Qi Yuning in his arms and comforted her, "Lingling will definitely come back, definitely."

Qi Yuning murmured in Lu Ze's arms, "If I had known she would leave today, I should have spent more time with her yesterday. I also promised her that I would take her to set off fireworks during the Chinese New Year. Why did she leave?"

Lu Ze hugged Qi Yuning tightly in his arms. He looked at the small couch beside the bed, recalling the scenes of Lingling being cute and well-behaved, but also crying and making a fuss, and he was reluctant to let her go.

Qi Yuning lost her appetite for the whole day. She wished Lingling would suddenly appear from some corner, but nothing happened.

In the evening, Lu Ze shouted and buried her head in the account book, but after an hour, she didn't turn a page.

Lu Ze walked behind her and said, "It's time to have dinner. The maid has called you."

Qi Yuning looked up at Lu Ze and said, "I don't want to eat."

Seeing that Qi Yuning hadn't eaten lunch, Lu Ze consoled her, "Eat a little more. Maybe you are eating for two people now?"

When Qi Yuning heard what Lu Ze said, she touched her flat belly. She didn't know if it was a hint, but she always felt that something was indeed different. Her well-behaved Lingling might be in her belly. If so, she really couldn't let Lingling starve, because Lingling was the greediest.

When the two of them arrived at the dining hall, Princess Pingrou and Duke Lu had already taken their seats, and they didn't seem to mind that they were late.

Princess Pingrou looked behind Lu Ze and Qi Yuning and said, "Hey, where's Lingling? I made her her favorite braised soft-shelled turtle with rock sugar today!"

Lu Baozhu said, "Yes, I haven't seen Lingling the whole day. She usually comes early in the morning to tell me that it's time to get up."

Qi Yuning whispered: "Lingling is gone."

Princess Pingrou already knew about it, and when she heard Qi Yuning say Lingling was gone, she was already prepared but also felt a sense of loneliness.

Lu Baozhu asked in confusion: "Lingling left? Where did Lingling go? Did she go to the palace?"

Lu Ze shook his head and said, "Yes, he left."

Lu Baozhu was extremely surprised and angrily asked, "How did you take care of the child? How could you let Lingling die at such a young age?"

"Lingling didn't die young, don't talk nonsense!" Qi Yuning said sternly, "There is absolutely no way Lingling died young!"

Lu Baozhu was frightened by Qi Yuning's harsh voice, "Where did Lingling go?"

Lu Ze asked all the maids to leave, closed the door of the hall, looked at Lu Baozhu and Lu Yun and said, "Don't tell anyone what I say later."

Lu Ze could hide it from others, but he could no longer hide it from his family.

Lu Yun swore, "I will never tell anyone. If I tell anyone, I will never be able to get married!"

"You can't even get married." Lu Baozhu retorted.

Duke Lu said, "Don't say so much. Tell me, where did Lingling go?"

Lu Ze glanced at Qi Yuning and said, "It's a long story. Lingling came back from the Xinwei year. She should have been born in September of the Dingmao year."

"Dingmao year? There are still six days until Dingmao year!" Lu Baozhu was shocked. "Now it's Bingyin year, how could Lingling be born in Dingmao year?"

Lu Yun suddenly realized, "No wonder Yuning agreed to marry me even though she had Lingling. It turns out that Lingling came from behind, not from you two before."

Lu Baozhu felt confused, "What do you mean by coming from behind?"

Qi Yuning said, "Lingling came back to the present in the Xinwei year. She is not born now. She will be born in almost ten months. Lingling appeared here out of thin air. What you said last time was right. I did not get pregnant with Lingling when I was fourteen or fifteen years old."

Lu Baozhu said, "I know Lingling came from the future, but how could this happen? How could such a weird thing be possible?"

Qi Yuning said, "Although it is impossible, Lingling said it all for sure. She said her second uncle was Zhong Ming, she said Ah Ping was her aunt, and she said Qin Chong did not ascend the throne but was imprisoned. Lingling said it all for sure, so she did come from the Xinwei year, and she should have gone back to the Xinwei year now."

Lu Baozhu still found it difficult to digest this matter.

Lu Yun was much more accepting, "No wonder she recognized me as soon as she saw me and called me uncle!"

Lu Baozhu looked at Qi Yuning and gradually accepted it. Yes, she and Qi Yuning were at odds with each other at that time, but Lingling called her aunt as soon as she saw her and was very familiar with her.

Lu Baozhu asked: "Now that Lingling has gone back, how are you going to explain to the outside world that Lingling is missing?"