When Lin Xianzhe heard that Lu Shiyi had woken up, he came to see him immediately, followed by the others. They were all very grateful to him for saving Leng Qingning.

Wen Yanche rewarded him with 10,000 taels of silver.

In the following days, Leng Qingning took care of Lu Shiyi without taking off her clothes, and no one had any objections.

That night, Leng Qingning fed Lu Shiyi his medicine.

“My lady, you haven’t rested much for days. I can get out of bed and walk around on my own now, so you don’t need to stay with me anymore.”

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"My lady, of course not, I'm just worried about your health."

Leng Qingning gently blew on a spoonful of Chinese medicine and fed it to him.

"Shi Yi, I have informed my father and have appointed you as Attendant-in-Ordinary Lu."

Lu Shiyi's usually calm face was suddenly filled with shock. He had thought that Leng Qingning might promote him after this incident, but he did not expect to be promoted two levels directly. He was really flattered.

"Shi Yi thanks my wife for her kindness."

Leng Qingning smiled gently and said, "You saved me, that's a great deed. You deserve it."

…

Upon returning to Langya Manor, the rewards were announced that afternoon. For his meritorious service in saving the emperor, Lu Shiyi was appointed as Attendant-in-Ordinary Lu, bestowed with a thousand taels of gold, various jewels and ornaments, and two personal male attendants. He was then moved to the Attendant-in-Ordinary's Residence.

Xiao An was finally able to hold his head high, and no servant dared to look down on them anymore.

Lumingxuan

The servant boy asked, "Master, Lu Xianshi has suddenly become Lu Shijun. Are you unhappy about that?"

Lin Xianzhi looked out the window thoughtfully: "Of course not. I am very grateful to Brother Shiyi for saving His Highness. This is his good fortune. At least he will live well in the manor from now on, and I am relieved."

"That's good. I was worried you wouldn't be happy."

Lin Xianzhi smiled and took out 100 taels of silver to give to the boy.

"Take it and make two sets of clothes."

The boy happily accepted the gift, saying that his master was handsome and kind-hearted.

Lin Xianzhi shook his head helplessly: He's still a child!

The next morning, the Emperor summoned Leng Qingning to the palace.

The front hall of Guining Palace was filled with handsome men, each one dashing and talented.

Leng Qingning asked suspiciously, "Father, what is this?"

The Emperor smiled with an elegant and composed demeanor. "Ning'er, have you forgotten? These are the handsome young men selected from all over the country. Your mother and I specially chose them for you."

Leng Qingning was startled. How could she possibly handle so many people? And they were so fast? How long had it been? They had already made their choices.

"Father, there's no need for so many. My family already has enough husbands. What I mean is, my second and fourth sisters don't have many people in their courtyards either, so how about..."

The Emperor smiled slightly; he knew what Leng Qingning was thinking.

"You know, these young masters are all from official families. Your mother and I have selected twenty more from among those chosen. They're all here. You can choose a few."

Leng Qingning gently patted her chest. She had thought she would be asked to take all these handsome men with her, which would have caused her to have a complete breakdown. Besides, her own backyard wasn't exactly harmonious right now, and taking so many handsome men back would surely cause an immediate uproar.

Leng Qingning got up and walked around the handsome men. They were all quite good-looking, but compared to her husband, they were still far inferior.

When Leng Qingning walked to the side of the most handsome young man in the middle, she smelled a unique orange scent on him, as if it were made by mixing fresh oranges with grass, which was very fresh and sweet.

Leng Qingning stopped in front of the young master. The young master secretly looked up and smiled at her. When he smiled, he had two small dimples on his cheeks, which made him very cute.

"Let's choose him."

The Emperor was not surprised at all. Meng Xu was the most refined and elegant among these handsome men, and he guessed that Leng Qingning would definitely choose him. Moreover, Meng Xu was the eldest grandson of General Meng, and the Meng family was a second-rank general's mansion.

"Young Master Meng, please come forward."

Meng Xu stepped forward and bowed to the Emperor.

"Young Master Meng is hereby appointed as the Junior Lord's Attendant, and given the title Cheng. He shall enter the palace in ten days."

Meng Xu knelt down and bowed in gratitude. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

When Leng Qingning returned to the manor, she brought two sons with her. One was the legitimate son of a third-rank civil official who was appointed as a vice minister, and the other was the legitimate son of a fifth-rank official who was appointed as a virtuous attendant. The emperor had forced these sons upon her, leaving Leng Qingning feeling quite helpless.

(Those who serve the emperor or above must marry; those who serve the emperor or below will directly enter the emperor's household.)

Langya Prefecture

The two young masters had just entered the front hall to offer tea to Wen Yanche when Chi Yan stormed over, his face contorted with uncontrollable rage.

One after another, never-ending?

"Leng Qingning, what do you mean?"

Lang Yue secretly rolled her eyes at him, "Young Master Chi, our Lord hasn't spoken yet, what's the rush for an outsider like you?"

outsider?

Without saying a word, Chi Yan teleported forward and slapped Lang Yue across the face.

Wen Yanche frowned slightly: "Young Master Chi, what are you doing?"

Chi Yan angrily rebuked, "How dare a servant talk back to me, my lord? Is this how you discipline your servants?"

Leng Qingning rubbed her forehead; she knew someone was about to explode.

"Ayan, calm down. Let's talk outside." He said, reaching out to pull Chi Yan away.

"Tell me, what's going on between those two?"

The two newly arrived young masters were intimidated by Chi Yan's imposing presence and immediately trembled with fear.

In front of the two young masters, Leng Qingning couldn't say anything, after all, they were innocent, and some words would be too hurtful.

"Ayan, you and Ache are both people I love. I don't want you to disregard his reputation like this. If Langyue is wrong, Ache will punish him, and I will punish him as well. But you attacking him in public is a slap in the face to the Lord. Ayan, please calm down."

Chi Yan grew angrier the more he listened. Was this implying that it was his fault?

"Ning'er, are you blaming me? Can't I discipline a mere servant?" Her gaze fell on Lang Yue.

Seeing that Chi Yan was about to lose his temper, Leng Qingning knew that if he didn't vent his anger today, everyone would probably be in trouble.

Then he turned to Wen Yanche and said, "Ache, I apologize to you on behalf of Ayan. Please don't take it to heart."

Then he looked at Lang Yue: "Kneel down! Do you know your mistake?"

Lang Yue didn't expect things to develop to this point. He simply disliked Chi Yan and couldn't help but retort. In his opinion, Chi Yan was just a young master staying in the mansion, not the master of the mansion. Why was he so arrogant?

Lang Yue bit her lower lip and knelt before Leng Qingning, tears dripping onto the floor: "Please punish me, Your Highness."

"You are being fined three months' salary. You are forbidden from talking back to Ayan again. He is my lover and will be my concubine in the future. If there is a next time, you will be severely punished."

Concubine?

Langyue closed her eyes and slammed her head heavily onto the ground.

"Yes, sir."

Leng Qingning looked at Wen Yanche: "A-Che..."

Wen Yanche lowered his eyes: "My wife, you don't need to say anything. It's my fault for not teaching Langyue well. You did the right thing."

Leng Qingning felt a sudden pang of anxiety and finally stopped talking.

Turning to Chi Yan, she said, "Ah Yan, can we talk in your courtyard?"

Chi Yan suppressed his anger, turned around and walked out.

The two young masters felt the chill emanating from Chi Yan and couldn't help but shiver; beads of sweat were still clearly visible on their foreheads.

Leng Qingning apologized to the two young masters and instructed Mo Shuang to arrange courtyards for them, comforting them to go back and rest well.