Qi Yuning comforted Lu Ze softly, "His Majesty values you very much, so he bestowed this title on you."
Lu Ze relaxed in Qi Yuning's arms for a long time, and persuaded Qi Yuning to go back to the princess's mansion: "You can go back after paying respects. The palace is too chaotic now. You will inevitably have to kneel down and mourn for His Majesty with the ladies of high rank. I'm afraid you are pregnant now, and it will be difficult for you to hold on."
Qi Yuning nodded and said, "Well, if there is anything you need my help with, just come and find me."
Lu Ze touched Qi Yuning's head and said, "It will take two or three months for the late emperor's funeral to be completed, and the new emperor's enthronement will also be a matter of time. If I can come back, I will try my best to come back. If I can't come back, don't think too much."
Qi Yuning said: "I am not the kind of person who would let his imagination run wild."
Lu Ze lowered his head and kissed Qi Yuning's lips, "Let's go."
Qi Yuning went to the Taiji Palace. The late emperor's body was dressed in a neat dragon robe and was lying in a golden nanmu coffin with nine dragons carved on it. Inside the palace, monks were chanting the mantra for the afterlife.
After Qi Yuning burned incense and performed her rituals, she left the palace without staying long.
When she returned to the princess's mansion, she took down the wedding characters that had been used when she married Lu Ze, replaced the lanterns at the door with plain white ones, and even tore down the Spring Festival couplets.
Qi Yuning returned to the house in plain clothes, touched her belly and sighed lightly.
Lu Baozhu hurried to Qi Yuning's room. She had also changed into a white dress. She walked to Qi Yuning and said, "Grandfather..."
Qi Yuning said to Lu Baozhu: "Emperor Shiyuan has passed away."
Lu Baozhu said with tears streaming down her face, "I didn't even see my grandfather for the last time. I don't know where that little bald donkey Lu Yun has gone. It's almost dark. If I don't go to the palace now, I won't be able to enter the palace anymore!"
Lu Baozhu said to Qi Yuning: "I won't wait for him. I'll go to the palace first."
Qi Yuning nodded and said, "Okay."
Lu Baozhu went to the palace, and Qi Yuning ordered the men in the Princess's Mansion to look for Lu Yun. Thinking that he was at the temple fair with Shen Nian's child in his arms, he asked someone to go to Shen's Mansion to look for Lu Yun.
Logically, Lu Yun could have missed the nine drum beats that sounded every two quarters of an hour.
Qi Yuning waited for a long time before she got news about Lu Yun. She actually found him in Chunfeng Street!
This Chunfeng Street is a famous gathering place for brothels in Shengjing City. With the death of His Majesty, Chunfeng Street will have to be closed for a year. His grandfather passed away, and this little bald donkey actually dared to go to Chunfeng Street. Qi Yuning touched his belly and tried to hold back his anger.
After waiting for Lu Yun to return at the door, Qi Yuning said unhappily, "His Majesty has passed away, and you went to Chunfeng Street. Do you really want to kill the Lu family? Lu Yun, you are almost eighteen years old! Even if you don't have to bear some of the responsibilities that a young man of the Lu family should have, you can't act so recklessly. Your brother has been named the regent, and there are countless eyes in the court staring at him. You really are..."
Lu Yun was afraid that Qi Yuning would have a miscarriage because of him, so he kept saying, "I was wrong, I was wrong, don't be angry with me, I'll rush to the palace right away!"
…
The whole country was in grief when Emperor Shiyuan passed away, and the new emperor ascended the throne with the reign title Kangping.
The two words "Kangping" were left by the previous emperor.
The reign title contained the word "Ping", and the titles of several of Xiao Zhaojie's aunts all had the word "Ping", which should have been avoided, but there was no way that Empress Dowager Duan would offend the Grand Princesses at this time, so she did not ask them to avoid it.
Little Zhao Jie didn't understand why he couldn't use these two words when calling Emperor Kangping "Aunt", so he didn't let his aunt avoid the taboo.
This year's Lantern Festival was very deserted due to the death of Emperor Shi Yuan. The whole city was in mourning and there were no banquets.
In February, when the spring exams began, things became a little more lively.
There are many more people who pass the imperial examination this year than in previous years. It was a time when the imperial court was short of people and the new emperor ascended the throne, so the number of students coming to take the examination was much greater than in previous years.
Even though the Princess's Mansion was closed to visitors, there were still many students who came to visit Lu Ze and give gifts to Qi Yuning.
The third day of February.
Qi Yuning finally saw Lu Ze who had been busy for more than half a month. During these days, even if Lu Ze came back, he would go out early and come back late. Qi Yuning was either asleep or had not yet woken up.
It was a rare occasion that Lu Ze returned at dusk today. As soon as he entered, he pulled Qi Yuning into his arms and asked, "Have you asked the imperial physician to take your pulse?"
Qi Yuning said: "I consulted the imperial physician, and he said that the baby is still young and cannot be confirmed."
She hasn't had her period for two months, which means she is 90% pregnant. However, the imperial doctors are timid and they cannot be sure without a confirmed pulse.
Lu Ze reached out and touched Qi Yuning's belly. "Let's wait and see. The date for the late emperor to be buried in the imperial mausoleum has been set. It will be in April. If your pregnancy is more stable by then, you can go with us."
Qi Yuning nodded. In fact, even if her pregnancy was unstable, there was no way she would not go to see His Majesty off for the last time.
Qi Yuning asked Lu Ze, "The late emperor granted you the title of prince when he was dying. Does that mean you must have a palace?"
Lu Ze looked at Qi Yuning and said, "Don't you want to live in the princess's mansion?"
Qi Yuning shook her head calmly and said, "The Princess's Mansion is the most luxurious residence in Shengjing City besides the Imperial Palace. How could I not want to live there? I'm just asking you."
Lu Ze asked, "It's okay to move out. You can choose a piece of land to build a palace. You must not be used to having such a large family in our house."
Qi Yuning said: "I really don't mean that. What I've longed for since I was a child is a lively family. Besides, you are the eldest son, how can you live separately from your parents? When the palace is built, there will be only two of us living there. Maybe there will be a little Lingling in the future, and it will be too lonely. It's better to live in the princess's mansion.
But, after you become a prince, what about your title of Duke? Give it to Lu Yun? Is he worthy of it?"
Lu Ze was so busy before that he really didn't think about this matter for a while. "The title of Duke's Mansion can only be given to Lu Yun, right? The Lu family no longer has military power, it's just an empty title."
"It's just an empty reputation for you, but it will bring shame to your Duke Lu's Mansion. You don't even know that he was still in Chunfeng Street on the day His Majesty passed away!"
Hearing the words "Chunfeng Street", Lu Ze frowned and said angrily, "Is he still mentally ill?"
Qi Yuning said: "He wants to be the future Duke Lu, so he still needs to gain some experience."
Lu Ze didn't want to talk about the ignorant Lu Yun and said, "The Spring Examination will end in three days. I think Zhong Ming will definitely be among the top."
Qi Yuning said: "I have never worried about Zhong Ming's talent."
Seeing Lu Ze's tired face, Qi Yuning reached out and touched his eyebrows, "Are you very tired? Eat something and go to bed."
Lu Ze held Qi Yuning's hand and said, "I'm not tired anymore after seeing you."
Qi Yuning smiled faintly, "Am I some kind of panacea?"
Lu Ze also laughed, "Seeing you is more useful than any panacea."
The days passed by in busyness. After the palace examination on February 15th, Zhong Ming was awarded the third place in the imperial examination. Although both the Zhong and Lu families were delighted, they did not dare to celebrate too much.
At the end of February, Lu Ze's birthday is approaching.
The 22-year-old Lu Ze is now the most powerful person in the court, second only to the emperor. A few days before his birthday, the side room at the entrance of the princess's mansion was almost filled with gifts.
Qi Yuning accepted some gifts from people close to him, and returned most of them.
There were no plans to celebrate Lu Ze's birthday on the 22nd. After all, Princess Pingrou and Duke Lu were in mourning in the palace, and Lu Baozhu and Lu Yun had been preoccupied with their own affairs recently, so they had no intention of celebrating his birthday.
Qi Yuning felt that she had to be somewhat gracious, so on Lu Ze's birthday, she went to the kitchen and personally made longevity noodles for Lu Ze.
It was Qi Yuning's first time cooking, and also her first time taming flour, which was more difficult than taming the Ferghana horse of Wan State.
Sometimes there is too much water and your hands are sticky, and sometimes there is too much flour and they are dry and hard.
She had been busy all day and wanted to ask someone else to do it, but when she thought about it, this was the first time she made longevity noodles for Lu Ze. She had been working on it for a whole day, so she didn't believe that she was stupid enough not to be unable to make noodles.
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