Hearing this, Lu Baozhu said, "Who called you? I called Lingling!"
Lingling raised her little head and said, "Uncle Linlin, you are calling me aunt."
Lu Baozhu didn't want to pay attention to those people who laughed at her. She picked up Lingling and said, "Lingling, Auntie will take you to play somewhere else. This place is full of literati who like to show off. It's not fun at all."
Lingling glanced at Lu Ze. She wanted to play with her daddy, but she was reluctant to let Lu Baozhu go somewhere else alone, so she nodded obediently.
After Lu Baozhu left with Lingling in her arms, Shen Jialin was still standing there in a daze. Realizing that it was all a misunderstanding, he chased after her to explain. However, Lu Baozhu got into the carriage and asked the coachman to drive the horses, ignoring Shen Jialin at all.
Qi Yuning smiled at Lu Ze and said, "Do you think your sister's handwriting is unmatched in the world?"
Lu Ze asked: "What's going on?"
Qi Yuning said: "When I was young, the teachers asked us to practice calligraphy. Lu Baozhu always felt that calligraphy was too tiring and didn't want to practice. If she didn't practice, she would be punished. Later, she found that as long as she could write the word "永", the teacher would not let her practice calligraphy anymore.
So she found calligraphy works by great calligraphers and practiced writing only the character Yong. She wrote it in the style of a great calligrapher. Whenever her teacher asked her to copy and practice calligraphy, she would write the character Yong and shock the teacher so much that he would not write any other characters.
Lu Ze: "...So the only thing she could write so well was the word Yong?"
Qi Yuning smiled and said, "Do you really think Lu Baozhu would hide her talent? If she could write well, everyone in Shengjing would know about it."
Lu Ze could only chuckle helplessly.
While strolling along the way, Qi Yuning saw many scholars coming to greet Lu Ze. Some were brought by officials from the court, and some came boldly to talk and recommend themselves.
Qi Yuning finally understood why Lu Ze had time to come to the book club today. It turned out that he was not here to play with Lingling, but to recruit talented scholars.
After all, the number of court officials is decreasing day by day, and there are as many as fifty officials in prison. Lu Ze is still worried that if they all arrest people, there will not be enough manpower in the court. As for many important officials who are suspected of corruption by the Qin family, he still turns a blind eye.
Zhong Ming and Lu Baohua had already arrived at the book club. The two of them were sitting next to Prince Xu, and it seemed that Prince Xu didn't care about Lu Baohua being his concubine. Surprisingly, the three of them were chatting happily and joyfully.
Zhong Ming saw Qi Yuning coming and bowed, saying, "Princess, Master Lu, Lord Lin, and Minister Qin."
Qi Yuning and Lu Ze also saluted King Xu.
Prince Xu said to Lu Ze, "Ze'er, I don't know where Shen Jialin has gone. He has been clamoring to compete with you. You can't miss this opportunity now that you are here."
Lu Ze smiled and said, "There will be opportunities in the future."
Lu Ze looked at the article in front of Lu Baohua and asked, "Did you write this?"
Lu Baohua shook his head and said, "It's Zhong Ming's article. I wrote it down."
Lu Ze glanced at Zhong Ming's right hand and thought it was a pity. If Zhong Ming was already an official in the court and got injured, he could continue to stay in the court. But now that his hand was injured, he could not serve as an official in the court.
King Xu said: "If Xianchu had taken the imperial examination, he would have been among the top three. I wonder if there is any hope for his hand to recover."
Zhong Ming clenched his hands, but it was difficult for him to even make a fist with his right hand.
Qi Yuning looked at the regret in Lu Ze's eyes and said, "The rules of the court are all set by people. Even if the right hand is injured, the left hand can still be used. It is a pity for the country and the people to miss a talented person because of a physical illness."
"Yu Ning's words are quite correct," said King Xu. "Xian Chu is a man of great talent. It would be a pity if he could not serve the court."
Lu Ze said to Zhong Ming, "Now that you have enrolled in the Imperial College, there are five places for the Spring Examination in the twelfth lunar month. You may as well try for the Spring Examination in February next year."
Zhong Minglian thanked him and said, "Thank you, Master Lu."
Lu Baohua also smiled and said, "Thank you, brother."
Qi Yuning was also looking forward to Zhong Ming entering the court. After experiencing what happened to the Qin family, Qi Yuning also realized that the shortcoming of their Qi family was that there was no one in the court.
The Qi family lives in a corner of the northern city. They have a strong military force but no one in the court. It's not a good thing. Although little Zhao Jie would not attack the Qi family army when he was young, can he tolerate the Qi family army in the northern city when he grows up?
The Qi family army also needs more people in the court to ensure that the Qi family army is worry-free.
Lu Ze visited the book club all day. There was a buffet at the evening book club, with a long banquet with more than a hundred tables.
The literati recited poems and composed essays. When they were in high spirits after drinking, some of them sang and danced, making the place very lively.
Qi Yuning sat at the top, looking at the prosperous scene here, he vaguely remembered the fighting and blood on the battlefield not long ago, and thought, it is great to have such peace.
It was worth it that my parents fought so hard to protect this kingdom.
Lu Ze was also toasted with several glasses of wine. On the carriage back to the palace, Lu Ze felt a little drunk.
Qi Yuning saw Lu Ze's expression and said, "You shouldn't have drunk so much just now?"
Lu Ze said, "The court is so short of people. If I keep a straight face and don't drink, those talented and capable people won't dare to recommend themselves."
Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze's drunken appearance and asked, "Are you very tired?"
Lu Ze held Qi Yuning in his arms and said, "Yes."
Qi Yuning said: "Go to sleep, I'll call you when you get there."
Lu Ze leaned on Qi Yuning's shoulder and closed his eyes to take a nap. When he returned to Prince Qi's Mansion, he saw that Lingling had not returned yet.
Qi Yuning asked Xiaoman: "Why hasn't Lingling come back yet?"
Xiaoman in the room said, "Princess, Princess Baozhu said Lingling will sleep with her today, so she won't be coming back to the palace."
Qi Yuning couldn't help but feel a little worried, "She slept with Lingling?"
Qi Yuning looked outside and realized it was too late. Perhaps Lingling had already fallen asleep, so it was inconvenient to wake her up. Thinking that Chunfen was by her side, she felt a little relieved.
After Qi Yuning fell asleep, she saw Lu Ze who had not yet closed his eyes and asked, "What do you think of Shen Jialin as your brother-in-law?"
"Um?"
Qi Yuning said to Lu Ze: "I think Shen Jialin likes Lu Baozhu. The way he looked at Lu Baozhu just now might indicate something is going on.
The Shen family is also a well-known big family in the north, holding the military power of the north. If the northwest is ruled by our Qi family, then the north of Shengjing City is ruled by the Shen family.
Shen Jialin is the future head of the Shen family, so considering his background, he has not treated your sister unfairly."
Lu Ze chuckled and said, "Shen Jialin likes the Lu Baozhu who has outstanding literary talent, not the Lu Baozhu who writes like a dog.
And I think Shen Jialin's temper has been spoiled by his family. Add to that the spoiled Lu Baozhu, and these two people together, it's not just living together, it's like going to the battlefield every day."
Qi Yuning smiled lightly: "How can you talk about your sister like this?"
Lu Ze said, "It is precisely because she is my biological sister that I hope she can live a better life. I think it would be better for her to marry someone from a lower social class. A thousand-year-old aristocratic family like the Shen family always thinks highly of their social class. If Lu Baozhu marries into one, she will definitely suffer."
Aristocratic families are also divided into thousand-year-old, founding and newly emerged families.
The Qi family today is a newly emerged aristocratic family, and it has only been around for three generations.
The Lu family and the Wang family were both founding families. Although they have been wealthy for three hundred years from their ancestors to the present, they are far from being able to compare with the Shen family which has stood for a thousand years. The Shen family does not care who becomes the emperor, because no matter who becomes the emperor, it cannot change their wealth.
It’s just that during prosperous times when imperial power was strong, people acted more low-key.
In times of chaos, they can make the heroes vying for supremacy in the Central Plains so fearful that they dare not touch them at all.
For aristocratic families like the Shen family and the Ning family, it would be fine if Lu Baozhu just married a son of a side branch, but it would be even worse if she married the future head of the family.
Qi Yuning thought about it and agreed, "I heard that when my fourth uncle married my fourth aunt, the Ning family looked down on the Qi family as just a nouveau riche, and it was my grandfather who personally went to the family to ask for marriage.
Aristocratic families like them have always looked down upon the most. There is no need for Lu Baozhu to suffer such contempt. It is better to find another husband for Lu Baozhu."
…
After mid-September.
Qi Yuning finally received a letter from Qi Yu'an, and learned that they should arrive at the palace at the end of September.
Qi Yuning was very happy thinking about meeting her nephew. She thought that there was one more person in the Qi family, and in the future, when people talked about the Qi family, it would not just be her and her brother.
Qi Yuning only wanted to give all the treasures in the world to his nephew.
When Lingling learned that her cousin was coming, she was busy tidying up her toys, wanting to give them all to her little cousin. But when she saw Baiyu was doing a perfunctory job, she remembered little Zhaojie.
"Mom, Lingling wants to play with uncle!"
Qi Yuning said: "By the way, your uncle and Grandmother Duan have already returned to Duan's mansion."
His Majesty learned the truth about Princess Shan's death. Because he knew the identity of the Crown Prince, he brought Princess Duan and her son back to Shengjing City and gave them a lot of compensation.
Lingling said, "Does that mean I can see my uncle without having to sit in the carriage for too long? Mommy, please take Lingling to see my uncle. Lingling has a lot of fun things for him."
Qi Yuning chuckled and took Lingling to Prince Duan's Mansion.
After not seeing him for a few months, little Zhao Jie has grown a lot taller.
Princess Duan saw Qi Yuning coming and said, "Princess Qi, Lingling."
Lingling smiled sweetly, "Aunt, my uncle and I are going out to play."
Qi Yuning saw Xiao Zhaojie and Lingling going to the side to play, and smiled at Princess Duan, "The young prince is much happier than when he was in the imperial mausoleum."
Princess Duan nodded and said, "Now that he's back in Shengjing City, he'll have more things to do. Bring Lingling over to play with him more often in the future. I think he's happiest when he's with Lingling."
Qi Yuning said: "If you don't mind disturbing me, I will bring her over to play more often."
"Lingling is so interesting, how could I think she is disturbing me?" Princess Duan looked at Qi Yuning and said, "When are you and Ze'er going to get married? I'm looking forward to drinking your wedding wine."
"October 28th." Qi Yuning said, "There is still more than a month left. I just hope that nothing will go wrong with my third marriage."
Princess Duan smiled and said, "It will be smooth and happy."
Qi Yuning was actually looking forward to it. As the saying goes, three times the limit, if she couldn't get married this time, then she wouldn't want to get married anymore.
Qi Yuning heard a familiar sound of guqin, "Who is playing the guqin?"
Princess Duan looked at the next door blankly and said, "It's Qin Chong and his wife Song Heqing."
Princess Shan was murdered after learning of Qin Chong's identity, but Princess Duan could not hate him. After all, Qin Chong was also a victim and he was innocent.
Qi Yuning said: "I didn't expect that the place where they were detained was right next to you."
Princess Duan said, "Watching him being imprisoned in darkness for his entire life can comfort the spirits of Shan'er and my prince in heaven."
Qi Yuning thought of Song Heqing and sighed softly. Listening to Song Heqing playing the song they had learned together, she finally wanted to persuade her.
Qi Yuning said to Princess Duan, "Please help me look after Lingling for a while."
Princess Duan said: "You go." (End of this chapter)
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