Empress Dowager Zhou's brother Zhou Wenqiang walked out of the princess's mansion and returned to the Shangshu Mansion.

Mrs. Zhou, who was meeting him at the door, asked hurriedly, "What did the Regent say? He has also met our Jiayun. It seems that few men who have met our Jiayun are not moved."

Zhou Wenqiang said: "I met Princess Qi today. Princess Qi's appearance is not bad compared to our Jiayun."

Madam Zhou said, "I don't believe it. My Jiayun is a peerless beauty praised by everyone. How come I have never heard of Princess Qi's reputation? I only heard that she was arrogant and domineering, and she just relied on her good family background."

Zhou Wenqiang sighed softly and said, "Since you know that Qi Yuning is arrogant and domineering, you should give up the idea of ​​letting Jiayun become Lu Ze's concubine!"

Madam Zhou frowned and said, "Do you think I am willing to let my beautiful daughter go to be someone's concubine? Isn't it the will of my father-in-law and mother-in-law? The emperor is young now, and your sister is the empress dowager but she is weak and doesn't care about things. You have just arrived at the court, and although you are the Minister of Rites, you have not yet taken power. We need to be on guard against Lu Ze's ulterior motives.

I can only let Jiayun be his concubine, and I can also use this opportunity to win over Lu Ze and protect your sister and Zhao Jie!"

Zhou Wenqiang sighed softly, "It is still the national mourning period. If we want Jiayun to be Lu Ze's concubine, we can only wait until the national mourning period is over."

Madam Zhou said, "If we wait until the national mourning period is over, Princess Qi will probably have given birth to a child. Amitabha, may the Bodhisattva bless Princess Qi to give birth to a daughter!"

Zhou Wenqiang couldn't help but sigh heavily when he heard what Mrs. Zhou said.

…

Qi Yuning originally thought that before she met Lingling, she probably would not go out again.

However, Princess Xu passed away in June. She had been bedridden for a long time. Last autumn, Prince Xu had been planning to make Lu Baohua his concubine. At that time, he knew that Princess Xu did not have much time left.

His Majesty's will ordered Prince Xu to go to his fiefdom, but Prince Xu has never set out because his wife could not even get off her sickbed.

Qi Yuning is pregnant, so as her nephew's wife, she doesn't have to go to pay her respects.

But she is the only one from the Qi family in Shengjing City, and she is the one who delivers all the gifts to the Qi Palace. It would be disrespectful to let the Qi Palace’s housekeeper deliver the gifts for Princess Xu’s funeral.

Now that she is six months pregnant and is considered stable, she can go to pay her respects in person.

Qi Yuning and Lu Baozhu went to pay their respects together, but they sat in the Qi family's sedan chair.

Qi Yuning looked at Lu Baozhu who insisted on sharing a sedan chair with him and asked, "Does your Lu family not have a sedan chair?"

Lu Baozhu said: "Now it is also your Lu family. You have entered my Lu family, and you went to offer condolences with the Qi family's famous saying. Aren't you afraid of what people say?"

Qi Yuning said, "I am married into your Lu family. My last name is Qi too. My brother and sister-in-law are not in Shengjing City, so I will naturally pay the tribute on behalf of the Qi family."

Lu Baozhu said, "Speaking of which, my aunt Prince Xu is really unlucky. She and Uncle Prince Xu have always loved each other. She has been seriously ill since the beginning of last year. I don't know how many imperial doctors have been invited to cure her, but none of them can cure her. Alas! Good people don't live long. When she was seriously ill, her family kept trying to get someone to come to Uncle Prince Xu's side. Now she is finally free."

Qi Yuning asked, "Princess Xu doesn't seem to like her families very much?"

"Who would like to have their husband's family of their sister or niece be placed next to them even though they are still alive? In fact, it was not Prince Xu who wanted to marry Lu Baohua last time, but Princess Xu."

Qi Yuning looked at Lu Baozhu in surprise and asked, "How do you know?"

Lu Baozhu said, "I heard Princess Xu tell Lu Baohua that she was afraid that after she was gone and Prince Xu ascended the throne, the new empress would not be able to accommodate her son and daughter. She wanted to find someone of noble status who could treat her children well, and Lu Baohua was the best choice."

Qi Yuning sighed and said, "How pitiful are the parents in the world."

When they arrived at the gate of Prince Xu's mansion, they heard bursts of sobbing from inside.

Qi Yuning and Lu Baozhu got out of the sedan chair.

Prince Xu, who was receiving guests at the door, was filled with grief. When he saw Qi Yuning coming, he stepped forward and realized that Qi Yuning was sitting in the Qi family's sedan chair.

Qi Yuning bowed and said, "Please accept my condolences, Prince Xu."

Prince Xu said sadly: "The princess is thoughtful and came to see his deceased wife off for the last time."

When Qi Yuning and Lu Baozhu entered, they heard a twelve-year-old girl crying uncomfortably, shouting loudly: "Mother, mother, please don't leave."

Lu Baozhu walked forward, hugged Princess Fang and said, "Fang'er."

"Sister Baozhu, I don't have a mother anymore. I don't have a mother anymore!"

Qi Yuning stepped forward and lit three incense sticks for Princess Xu. Listening to Fang'er's crying, she felt very sad. She knew what it felt like to be without a mother. Qi Yuning liked Qi Yu'an telling her about his childhood. After all, she was too young at that time, and she could not remember a lot of the love her parents had shown her.

Qi Yuning was extremely sad when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Lu Ze.

Lu Ze glanced at Qi Yuning unhappily and dragged her to the hall next door where guests could rest. "Why are you here to pay your respects?"

Qi Yuning said: "I am here to express condolences on behalf of the Qi family."

Lu Ze whispered to Qi Yuning: "Wait for me, I'll go back with you later."

Qi Yuning nodded lightly.

After Lu Ze left, Qi Yuning stood up and saw two figures entering. One of them was a younger girl wearing a beige skirt and her lightly made-up face was stunning at first glance.

Needless to say, she knew that the beauty in front of her was the niece of Queen Mother Zhou. After all, there were really not many such stunning beauties.

Sure enough, Xiaoman, who was fanning Qi Yuning from behind, lowered her head and whispered in her ear: "Princess, it's her, the great beauty of the Zhou family."

When Qi Yuning was looking at the mother and daughter who came in, the two mother and daughter who came in were also looking at Qi Yuning.

Mrs. Zhou has always been proud of her daughter's appearance, and felt that no woman in the world could match her daughter's beauty. However, when she looked at the woman sitting in a high position in front of her, she actually felt that her daughter was one point behind.

"Princess Qi."

Mrs. Zhou only realized the identity of the woman before her when she heard the servants from Prince Xu's mansion bowing.

Hearing the three words "Princess Qi", Zhou Jiayun fixed his gaze on Qi Yuning.

Madam Zhou stepped forward and said, "It's Princess Qi. We should have come to visit you a long time ago when we came to Shengjing City. We heard that you were pregnant and recuperating, so we didn't want to bother you. I didn't expect to see you today."

Qi Yuning said, "I have heard of Miss Zhou's reputation for a long time. My maidservant saw Miss Zhou from a distance and said she was a great beauty. I have long wanted to see her beauty. Now that I have seen her, I know that what my maidservant said is true. She is truly stunningly beautiful."

Zhou Jiayun felt embarrassed by the compliments and lowered her head in bashfulness.

Madam Zhou said: "My Lady, you are too kind. My daughter is not as good as yours."

As soon as Mrs. Zhou finished speaking, Lu Ze came in from outside, walked straight to Qi Yuning, helped her up and said, "It's time to go back."

Qi Yuning looked at the room where there was only Lu Ze but no Lu Baozhu and asked, "Where is Baozhu?"

"Cousin Fang was crying so hard that Baozhu wanted to stay and comfort her."

"Your Highness." Zhou Jiayun saluted towards Lu Ze.

Lu Ze said indifferently: "No need to be polite."

Then, Lu Ze said to Qi Yuning in a gentle voice, "Let's go back."

Qi Yuning was supported by Lu Ze as she walked. Just as she walked out the door, she met Shen Nian and Shen Jialin. When she was about to greet them, she heard a sentence coming from inside the house.

"Look at her belly, it must be another daughter!"

"Mom! Speak softly..."