There was a heavy snowfall at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month.
The Xingyue Lake in the Princess's Mansion was frozen over. Lu Baohua was getting married in a few days, and the Duke's Mansion was bustling with activity.
Lu Baozhu has been practicing calligraphy quietly in the yard these days.
When Qi Yuning took Lingling to play with Lu Baozhu, he saw Lu Baozhu practicing calligraphy. Qi Yuning carefully confirmed whether the sun was rising from the west.
"It's truly more bizarre than the sun rising in the west. You, Lu Baozhu, would actually take the initiative to practice calligraphy?"
Lu Baozhu listened to Qi Yuning's words and snorted softly, "What fun is there in this freezing cold weather? I'd rather practice calligraphy. Now all my former sisters are either married or engaged, and there's no one to play with me anymore. One after another, they've all gotten married in the past few days. They've gotten married in such a short time, and they're not afraid of marrying the wrong person!"
Qi Yuning said, "You are just saying the grapes are sour because you can't eat them."
Lu Baozhu snorted softly, "I, Lu Baozhu, am getting married, and those who want to marry me will line up from here all the way to the city gate."
Lingling saw Lu Baozhu's handwriting and said, "Auntie's handwriting is very beautiful. Lingling will not learn calligraphy from Second Auntie anymore. I will learn from Auntie!"
Qi Yuning smiled faintly. Don’t tell me, Lu Baozhu’s previous hard work in practicing the word “Yong” did have miraculous effects.
This is the foundation of the character "永", so practicing other characters will be much easier.
Seeing Qi Yuning coming over, Lu Baozhu asked, "Aren't you busy today? It's the twelfth lunar month again. Usually at this time of year, wouldn't you be busy with the account books?"
Qi Yuning said, "Baohua is getting married in two days. I came here to ask you to go with me to give Lu Baohua some dowry."
Lu Baozhu asked, "What do you plan to give as a gift?"
"There are many rare ancient books in our Prince Qi's study. It would be a pity to leave them in Prince Qi's mansion. I was planning to give them to Lu Baohua as a gift."
Lu Baozhu said, "Why didn't you tell me earlier that you wanted to give her a rare ancient book? If I gave her gold, silver, and jewelry, wouldn't it make me look vulgar? As a sister, I can't be so careless. So, you accompany me to the bookstore outside to look for any famous ancient paintings."
Qi Yuning said, "Your elder brother has quite a few ancient paintings by famous artists in his study. You can take them as your dowry."
Lu Baozhu said, "His collection of paintings is truly precious. It's more important than his life."
"Yeah?"
After Qi Yuning got married, she only went to Lu Ze's study once.
It would be better if I went there more often with Lu Baozhu when I was a child. Lu Ze never told me not to touch his collection of paintings.
Lu Baozhu said, "You don't know how horrible it would be if you touched his collection of paintings. You should go out and buy a painting."
The dowry gifts given between sisters are nothing more than some jewelry as a token of their appreciation. They are all sisters who have no shortage of money. Lu Baozhu is really afraid that her dowry gift as an elder sister will not be as thoughtful as Qi Yuning's.
Qi Yuning had some free time, so he accompanied Lu Baozhu to the bookstore outside.
For the owner of the bookstore, these two princesses are truly rare guests!
Qi Yuning showed Lingling some enlightenment books. Although there were quite a few at home, Lingling was still young and would lose her composure after flipping through them a few times. Lu Ze had a strange temper and couldn't stand wrinkled pages, so it would be better to buy a few more books.
"Sister Nian, do you think this painting of a horse at the border is beautiful? It was painted by the famous Shi Mo three hundred years ago. It's a pity it's too expensive. I think it must be the most valuable treasure of this bookshop."
Qi Yuning heard a cute female voice, and then heard Lingling calling her aunt and brother. She turned around and saw that it was Shen Nian. There was also a cute girl about fifteen years old next to her.
When Chen Nian saw Qi Yuning, he smiled faintly and said, "What a coincidence, we meet again."
Before Qi Yuning could speak, Lingling said, "Let's choose some paintings for Second Aunt to add to her makeup."
The pretty girl next to Shen Nian asked Shen Nian: "Sister Nian, who is this?"
"This is Princess Qi from Prince Qi's Mansion, and this is her daughter, Princess Lingling."
Chen Nian introduced Qi Yuning, "This is my aunt's niece, Yang Rusi, who is just fifteen years old."
Qi Yuning looked at Yang Rusi and saw that she had no intention of greeting him. He then remembered what Mrs. Shen had said last time about her low birth. He just glanced at Yang Rusi and went to Lu Baozhu.
The bookshop owner took Lu Baozhu for a walk. Lu Baozhu pointed to a painting of a horse at the border and said, "This is the one! My sister Baohua is going to marry a general stationed at the border. This painting is valuable and appropriate for the occasion. Let's buy this one!"
Seeing Lu Baozhu wearing a dazzling cloud brocade dress and a golden hairpin and step-shake ornaments, Yang Rusi couldn't help but look down on her and said, "This painting was created by Shi Mo, a great painter from the founding of the Great Sheng Dynasty. You can't buy it without five thousand taels of silver. You're so arrogant!"
Lu Baozhu had never imagined that a painting would cost five thousand taels of silver, but Princess Lu was very concerned about her reputation: "It's just five thousand taels of silver. What does this little dowry mean to my daughter of the Lu family when she gets married? Just this one painting, pack it up!"
Seeing Lu Baozhu acting so arrogantly, Qi Yuning looked at her in disbelief.
The bookshop owner whispered, "Young Master Shen has already asked for this painting. He paid six thousand taels of silver."
Lu Baozhu asked, "Did he pay the money?"
The bookshop owner shook his head and said, "No! Young Master Shen said he was going back to collect the money."
Lu Baozhu said, "I'll pay you six thousand six hundred taels. I'll pay you the money right now. Give me the painting!"
Qi Yuning thought that Lu Baozhu would not have so much silver. She gave her a lot of rewards on a daily basis, and the princess and the duke also gave her one hundred taels of silver almost every month for spending, but Lu Baozhu had always been extravagant.
It was estimated that it was not easy for her to have three thousand taels of silver in her private stash, and she was afraid that she could not come up with such a huge amount of silver.
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