"It's snowing, mommy, it's snowing outside!"

Lingling trotted into the study, her little face flushed with cold as she spoke happily.

Qi Yuning walked to the door and saw that it was only the beginning of November and it was snowing in Shengjing City. Although it had snowed in the mountains a long time ago, it was the first snow in the city.

In just one afternoon, Qi Yuning received many invitations from young men from wealthy families to poetry gatherings in the snow, where they had a lot of leisure time.

Qi Yuning has always been afraid of the cold, so he declined the offer of writing poetry in the snow. On such a cold day, it was more suitable for him to use a charcoal basin to keep warm in the study.

"Princess, the eunuch from the princess's mansion next door came to say that he had found a young deer. Her Highness the Princess and her husband would like to invite you and Lingling to go to the princess's mansion to eat roasted venison."

Qi Yuning didn't want to go out at all in the cold winter, but since Princess Pingrou invited her, she really couldn't refuse.

She ordered her maid to bring a silver fox cloak, wrapped herself tightly in it, and wrapped Lingling tightly as well, before going to the princess's mansion next door.

It was snowing heavily outside, and there was a thin layer of snow on the ground and between the trees.

Before entering the gate of the princess's mansion, Qi Yuning saw Lu Ze dismounting from his horse. He seemed to have just returned from the Dali Temple and was still wearing a purple official robe.

"Daddy!" Lingling threw herself into Lu Ze's arms.

Lu Ze took Lingling and said with a smile, "I heard that Yun'er killed a deer."

Qi Yuning said: "So it was the deer that the little bald donkey shot. He is a monk, isn't he afraid of being blamed by the Buddha?"

Lu Ze said, "He has loved meat since he was a child. He has been eating green leafy vegetables for nearly three months. It is really unexpected that he has such perseverance. In order not to marry the princess, he would rather not eat meat and become a monk."

Qi Yuning frowned, "What do you mean?"

Lu Ze smiled and said, "Xiao Yun'er is blind."

Qi Yuning finally relaxed his eyebrows. "He is stubborn and never changes. I sent so many people to watch him, but he still managed to poach a deer. I never thought he would even dare to hunt the deer in Xianglin Temple."

Lu Ze carried Lingling into the courtyard. Princess Pingrou was so happy to see Lingling coming that she didn't even have Lu Ze in her eyes, not even Qi Yuning. She just held Lingling and smiled softly, "Lingling, do you miss your grandma?"

"Lingling wants to see Lulu if she misses her grandma."

Princess Pingrou took Lingling to see the deer imprisoned in the cage. The deer had an arrow in its leg and its eyes were so pitiful that it whimpered.

Lingling said, "Grandma, the little deer is injured. We shouldn't eat the little deer. Can we raise the little deer and let it play with Lingling?"

Princess Pingrou touched Lingling's head and said, "Little Lingling is so kind, so of course it's good. Come, ask the imperial physician to come and treat the little deer's arrow wound."

Lu Baozhu on the side was not happy. "Mother, now that the fawn has been cured, what are we going to eat today? Won't we have roasted venison?"

Princess Pingrou said, "It's the same with lamb. Yuning loves lamb the most. I also ordered people to prepare lambs that are only three months old. They can be roasted whole. We also have some goats from the south. Goat soup with the skin is also a must."

Princess Pingrou invited Qi Yuning to come in and sit down. The lamb was already being roasted and the aroma was wafting in the air.

Lu Ze went back to the courtyard and changed into casual clothes, fearing that the oil from the barbecue would get on his official uniform.

After Lu Ze left, Princess Pingrou gave Qi Yuning a roasted lamb chop and said with a faint smile, "Yuning, have you heard that He Siqing is going to retire?"

Qi Yuning nodded and said, "I heard about it."

Princess Pingrou said, "Are you willing to marry my Ze'er now? After you marry into our princess's mansion, I will definitely not treat you unfairly."

Lu Baozhu kept nodding her head and said, "You are marrying into the Dali Temple as a wife, what an honor! When can you enter the princess's mansion and serve me, your sister-in-law?"

Princess Pingrou frowned and looked at Lu Baozhu and said, "Baozhu, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Lu Baozhu said: "It is only natural to serve your mother-in-law and sister-in-law after you get married."

Princess Pingrou frowned and said, "This natural rule does not exist in the Princess's Mansion. If you want this rule, then mother will find you a husband's family that has the rule of taking care of your sister-in-law!"

Lu Baozhu pouted and snorted, "Mother! How can you be so ungrateful?"

Princess Pingrou smiled and looked at Qi Yuning, "Yuning is not an outsider. Yuning, you also know that Ze'er is a junior minister when he enters the court. It is difficult to get promoted. If you miss this opportunity, it will take ten or fifteen years to get promoted.

Your Majesty also intends to let Ze'er succeed the position of Dali Temple Minister, but the only prerequisite is that Ze'er gets married. Yuning, can you marry Ze'er as soon as possible?"

Qi Yuning looked at Lingling who was eating grilled lamb chops in Princess Pingrou's arms. As long as Lingling was around, they would get married sooner or later.

There is no way she doesn't want Lingling.

Although Lu Ze is the grandson of His Majesty and will be the Duke of Lu in the future, these are just empty titles, and the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple holds the real power.

The wife of the Dali Temple's Shaoqing and the wife of the Dali Temple's Qing are only one word different, but the honor is completely different.

Just as Qi Yuning was about to nod, she heard Lu Ze's voice coming from the door.

"Mother, I will not marry just for the position of Dali Temple Minister, so please don't make things difficult for the princess."

Qi Yuning wanted to say that she was not embarrassed, but Lu Ze had already refused, what else could she say?

Princess Pingrou glared at Lu Ze angrily, "You!"

Lu Ze walked to Qi Yuning and said slowly, "Princess, don't be embarrassed. I know you don't want to marry me yet, and I won't force you."

Qi Yuning smiled faintly, but in her heart she was thinking that Lu Ze should not be the Chief Justice of Dali Temple, as he did not have the ability to read people's expressions or understand their minds.

Princess Pingrou was really helpless. What kind of gentleman did Lu Ze want at this time?

Princess Pingrou sighed and asked the nanny beside her, "Xiang'er, when I gave birth to Lu Ze, was my child switched with someone else's? Just like what the storyteller said, a servant coveted wealth and switched his own child with that of a rich family."

Lu Ze: “…”

Qi Yuning smiled and said, "When the princess gave birth, there should have been many servants, so it's unlikely that someone would switch the baby. Aren't all the female doctors and maids watching over the birth of the royal family? How could someone switch the baby?"

"If the baby had not been switched, how could this princess have given birth to such a stubborn son!"

Princess Pingrou knew that although Qi Yuning did not agree out loud, her expression did not look like she was rejecting. Lu Ze actually refused without waiting for Qi Yuning to speak!

Princess Pingrou couldn't help but suspect that someone had swapped her son. How could her son be so stupid!

Lu Baozhu said: "I also think someone has replaced my elder brother. Maybe my elder brother is still suffering in some unknown corner of the people. If there is a famine, he may be sold to others as a slave.

Fortunately, my eldest brother is a man, so he can only be a slave. If my sister had been switched and fallen into poverty, and encountered a famine, she would have been sold to an old man as his nineteenth concubine, and would have been very lonely and miserable. "

Princess Pingrou said, "It's not impossible. Maybe I originally gave birth to a daughter, but someone switched her for a son. I wonder where my poor daughter is?"

"My poor sister! Please don't become a concubine to this old man."

Princess Pingrou and Lu Baozhu were addicted to acting and looked very sad, as if it were really true.

Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze and saw that he was already used to such nonsensical jokes towards his mother and sister.

Qi Yuning chuckled and said, "Your Highness the Princess and the County Master are really good at joking. They all say that Prince Lu looks very much like Your Majesty. When rich families give birth to children, they all have a lot of servants. How could they switch the babies? Switching babies is simply nonsense."

Princess Pingrou said seriously, "Alas, speaking of it, there really was a case of child substitution. It happened in the palace. My brother was almost switched with someone. The Nanny Qin who tried to switch the child had always been loyal to my mother. Who would have thought that she would actually try to switch her own daughter with the Crown Prince? Later, she jumped into the river and committed suicide, and her body was never found..."

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(End of this chapter)