Bao Ning squatted in front of the brazier and threw paper money into it with Pei Yuan.

She never dreamed that she would do such a thing with Pei Yuan. They also held sacrifices at home. The Duke's Mansion is a century-old family. The Ji family has its own family temple. Around the Qingming Festival, everyone in the mansion would wear plain clothes and eat vegetarian food. Duke Rong brought his women and children to worship in front of the tablet and burn a few incense sticks. Because she got married, she didn't go to the sacrifice this year.

Bao Ning tilted her head to look at Pei Yuan, picturing his eyebrows and eyes in her mind, imagining what the virtuous concubine should look like.

"What are you thinking about?" Pei Yuan looked back at her and raised his hand to touch her face, which was a little cold in the wind. Pei Yuan frowned: "Are you cold?"

"Not cold." Baoning shook her head. She held her chin and said softly to Pei Yuan, "I was wondering what the Concubine Xian looked like."

"She gave birth to such a handsome me, how could she be ugly?" Pei Yuan raised his eyebrows and asked back. Before Baoning could say that he was bragging and shameless, he added, "If you want to change your words, you have to call me mother." Baoning

obediently called her mother.

She closed her eyes, clasped her hands together and placed them before her lips, whispering: "Mother, don't worry, I will take good care of Pei Yuan, we will be together and not quarrel. When I have the chance in the future, I will go to pay my respects to you in person..."

Bao Ning remembered again that it seemed that the older generation liked to hold their grandchildren. She glanced at Pei Yuan and saw that he didn't pay attention to this. She quickly muttered: "Wait two years, let's have a few more children. When we are old, they will have company, and we will have company too. Don't worry!"

This was a bit too shameless, but it was only this time. In order to make Pei Yuan and mother happier, she said it.

Bao Ning focused on the flames and didn't see Pei Yuan's complicated eyes.

Pei Yuan couldn't tell what he felt in his heart. He wanted to laugh, but his heart was heavy.

He used to think that fate was unfair, as if he had to bear a share of all the bad things. Later, when he met Bao Ning, he wondered if he had been accumulating good luck. He had spent half his life on luck and got such a precious baby. She was soft and said she was smart, but she was always stupid. She was said to be stupid, but she was smart at critical moments. Bao Ning was as heavy as two bags of corn, and he wanted to hang her around his waist to feel at ease. He was afraid of being cheated or robbed. If he lost her, he would really have no hope in his life.

Maybe today was too special, Pei Yuan felt his throat dry. He put his fist on his upper lip, coughed twice, and asked her hoarsely, "How many children do you want to have?"

Bao Ning was stunned for a moment, and then she realized what he was talking about and blushed.

She blinked, full of longing for the future, and whispered: "Are three enough?"

Pei Yuan said: "Of course not, if you want to have more children, you can have more. When the children grow up, they can form a Cuju team. When life gets boring, just whip them with a small whip and let them play for us."

Bao Ning smiled and said: "You are not serious, you are talking nonsense."

Pei Yuan lowered his head and said nothing. He kept paying attention to the movements outside. In addition to the crackling of sparks, he also heard a few tiny footsteps.

Pei Yuan knew that the man was coming.

"I'll be out for a while." Pei Yuan stood up and whispered to Bao Ning, "Someone will come later, someone you hate, be prepared to scare him."

Seeing the interest in Pei Yuan's eyes, perhaps by tacit understanding, Bao Ning almost instantly realized who he was talking about: "Sister-in-law, or the day before yesterday?"

"It should be the day before yesterday." Pei Yuan nodded, "Chen Jia said that she came out at this time the past two nights and walked around the yard. I bet she would come today, and she really came."

"Oh my God, should I pretend to be a ghost to scare her?" Bao Ning was at a loss, but also felt excited, "I have never done this before, I don't have enough experience, what can I say?"

"Whatever." Pei Yuan raised his hand to pin her hair, and then messed up her hair. "I suspect she has some relationship with Pei Xiao and is a spy. But whether she has a relationship or not, she is not a good person. You should not feel burdened. If you dislike her, just say it. I haven't had time to take you out to play on the street these days, so tonight let it go as a child's trick. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"

Bao Ning said, "I know!"

Pei Yuan took out the rouge box that had been hidden in his sleeve, hooked her chin, and smiled, "It all depends on your performance tonight."

...

Zhao Qian had just heard a few whispers behind the courtyard wall, but when he mustered up the courage to go around and take a look, there was nothing there.

The empty courtyard was surrounded by tall and gloomy trees. It was a dark and windy day with only a solitary brazier standing there, emitting green smoke. Zhao Qian was so excited that his palms were sweating. Seeing such a weird scene, his heart skipped a beat and he turned around and wanted to leave. But he thought again, he had been preparing for such a long time and was just one shot away from the battle. How could he bear to leave

? What was going on?

People with a guilty conscience see everything as a ghost. Zhao Qian frowned slightly and walked forward slowly. He looked at the brazier carefully. The more he looked at it, the more it looked like the brazier he used to use with his mother when he burned paper money for his father. But this is the residence of the Fourth Prince. Who would dare to burn such things outside in the middle of the night? Did he run into something evil?

Zhao Qian felt goosebumps on his back. He didn't care about any plans and turned around to leave. Suddenly, he heard a very soft voice from behind:

"Are you looking for me?"

"Ah!" Zhao Qian jumped up. The hem of his long skirt entangled his toes. He staggered and fell to the ground. He turned back in horror, "Who are you?"

Baoning squatted on the ground, hugged her knees, her long hair covering half of her face. She chuckled and asked him, "Aren't you looking for me?"

"I'm not, I'm not." Zhao Qian's legs trembled and he backed away desperately. His face was pale. "I'm just out for a walk... Are you a ghost, or a fox fairy? Just do your thing, I'm just out for a walk, don't worry about me..."

"Why do you have to come out for a walk every day, and why do you have to walk around my yard?" Bao Ning said, "You disturb my peace, and I will punish you."

Zhao Qian's mind was in a mess, filled with thoughts about the fact that he had done too many unpleasant things, and those dead women were coming to find him. Zhao Qian swallowed hard, got up, knelt down with a thud, and said in a trembling voice: "I was wrong, I was wrong. You are going to die anyway, so just die peacefully and don't come to me again! I'm leaving now and I will never come again. Please let me go! I'll give you money for burning paper money. Just tell me in a dream how much you want and I will give you ten times the amount!"

Bao Ning pondered for a moment. She just thought that this Qian was strange and never thought that she had done anything bad. But seeing what she said just now...

Bao Ning asked: "Who am I?"

"How should I know who you are!" Zhao Qian was about to faint. He grabbed the hem of his skirt and gasped for breath. He wanted to run quickly, but his legs were already weak. He shed tears, washed off the powder on his face, wiped his eyes, and was about to beg for mercy when he suddenly realized something was strange.

This ghost was too gentle, not like the fierce ghosts and evil people described in the books, and the pointed curve of his chin was very familiar.

Zhao Qian looked at Bao Ning suspiciously, sizing her up until he saw the tip of her pink shoes, and suddenly realized: "The Fourth Prince's Consort!"

Bao Ning hummed: "It's me."

Zhao Qian was about to faint, and he pounded the ground angrily. What was going on? What was going on? The Fourth Prince's Consort was not sleeping in the room in the middle of the night, and ran out to scare him. Was she crazy?

Baoning asked, "If you don't do bad things, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door. Why are you so nervous? And, did you come to my courtyard to do anything bad?"

"I didn't!" Zhao Qian denied it immediately. He was sweating all over, and he struggled to get up and insisted, "I came out for a walk. It's too tiring to take care of Madam Su during the day, and I have some free time at night, so I came out for a walk to see the night scenery. The osmanthus tree in front of the Fourth Prince's wife's door is in full bloom, so I came to enjoy the view."

Baoning said, "You are in a good mood."

"..." Zhao Qian asked, "What is the Fourth Prince's wife doing?"

Bao Ning said, "What I do, is it your business to ask?"

Zhao Qian gritted his teeth, knelt down and saluted, saying, "It was my fault, the Prince's wife should teach me a lesson."

It was already late at night, Bao Ning had had enough fun, and couldn't find any other faults in Zhao Qian, so he waved and let him go.

Zhao Qian clenched his fists and saluted to leave.

When he disappeared, Pei Yuan walked out from behind and looked at the direction he left thoughtfully.

Bao Ning smiled and put her hair up, and asked him, "Did I do well just now?"

"Not bad." Pei Yuan praised and rubbed her face, "She was scared the other day, and I'm afraid she will get seriously ill when she goes back."

Bao Ning said happily, "It's good if she gets sick, I'll drive her out immediately."

Pei Yuan poured sand on the brazier and pulled Bao Ning back to the house.

...

For dinner, they had a duck, which was not enough. After all the trouble, Bao Ning was tired. She put the cakes that Wei Meng gave her into the fire and roasted them. When they were hot, she put them in the donkey meat and made donkey braised meat. Wei Meng bought a good cake, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The hot cake with cold meat in it was very tempting and delicious.

Bao Ning sat on the edge of the couch. She was full after two bites. When she was free, she thought about what happened just now and felt a little regretful.

"Was I too disrespectful just now? How could I do such a childish thing, especially to a servant?"

"Who are you showing off to?" Pei Yuan supported himself with one hand behind his back, and took a bite of the fire with the other hand, brushing off the meat crumbs that fell on his knees. "I am not a legitimate prince, and you don't have to be a legitimate prince's consort. Only in this way can we be a good match. If you put on airs all day long, read books and chant Buddhist scriptures like a wooden block, and walk in small steps, I will look so unrefined."

Baoning smiled: "You are unrefined to begin with."

"Oh, you're the best." Pei Yuan glanced at her and tapped Bao Ning's forehead with his finger. "I've wanted to scold you for a long time, you idiot. Su Mingyue lives in your house, and you're the master, but you still have to endure her bullying. Are you scared? If it were me, if she dared to be weird with me, I wouldn't care who she is and spit at her. What's the point of having a big mouth? You only know how to recite etiquette?"

Bao Ning hung his head and muttered, not knowing how to refute him. He couldn't communicate these etiquettes to him, so he asked back: "What's the point of having a big mouth?"

"Two things, one is eating, the other is scolding." Pei Yuan raised his eyelids, "I will scold anyone who provokes me. Go to the military camp and ask them one by one. Whoever dares to provoke me, Wei Meng doesn't dare. Why? I can scold people. Not only do I scold people, I also beat people. Combining kindness and severity is for good people. For barbarians, it is better to kick them than to talk to them ten times. If the kick doesn't work, just kill them. Why do so many people want to be emperors? Isn't it just to kill whoever they want to kill, and they won't be killed by others?"

"You are so barbaric. What are you saying? It's too unruly." Baoning smiled and stepped on his foot with his bare feet, "Don't teach me bad things."

"I'm teaching you a good lesson." Pei Yuan snorted, and held her in his arms and sat her, with his legs clamped around her. "When you are at home, on the bed, it's good to be frightened. Outside, you have to show your little claws like Jixiang. Don't think about any etiquette and rules. The elder sister-in-law is like a mother. You stand in front of the Minister of Rites with a knife. I don't think he dares to talk to you about the rules. He has to kneel down and call you mother."

Baoning laughed. She turned around and pinched Pei Yuan's nose: "Stop talking!"

"Listen carefully when I teach you a lesson. I'll teach you that people who are kind will be bullied." Pei Yuan pinched Baoning's cheek, pinched her mouth to open a slit, and blew air into it. "Let's not talk about this. Smell it and see if there is any meat smell."

"I just ate donkey stew, how come there is no meat taste." Baoning hid back, "What are you doing, stop making trouble..."

Pei Yuan picked her up, strode to the bed, and pulled down the curtain in a few seconds: "Just reminding you, we are full of meat."

...

He really had a fever the day before yesterday. But after one night, his cheeks were sunken and his face was pale yellow.

Su Mingyu was very anxious, so she asked a doctor for him. After a few doses of soup and medicine, another night passed, and the fever finally subsided.

Baoning sat in the room for a day, sent Liu Ma to watch a play, and came back to tell her that there was chaos over there. Baoning finally felt relieved. She had planned to visit Su Mingyu the next day and see how sick she was. But as soon as she woke up in the morning, she received a letter from her elder sister at the Chongyuan Marquis' Mansion.

The letter was stained with tears, asking her and Pei Yuan to go there quickly, saying that there was something urgent.

At this time, there were only four days left before the emperor left for the palace to escape the summer heat.

After parting at Ruyi Tower, Bao Ning had been looking forward to this letter, hoping that Ji Xiangzhen would figure it out. Finally, she wrote! With Ji Xiangzhen's help, it would be much easier to break Pei Xiao's plan. They didn't have much time.

Bao Ning was delighted and quickly asked Chen Jia to prepare the horse and asked Pei Yuan to come back so that they could hurry to the Chongyuan Marquis' Mansion.

Zhao Qian heard the horses neighing in the front yard. He propped up his sick body and looked out the window. He frowned and asked Su Mingyu, "What are they doing?"