The weather in August becomes cool in the evening. Although Qi Yuning is not mobile now, she will take a walk before and after meals to make the delivery easier.
It took a while after Lu Ze and Qi Yuning arrived at the dining hall for Lu Yun to show up.
Duke Lu had been waiting for a long time and his face was not good. When he saw Lu Yun coming in, he scolded him, "How many times do you need to be invited to dinner? You are almost nineteen years old. It won't be long before you reach the age of twenty. When your elder brother reached the age of twenty, he was already the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple. What about you? You are doing nothing!"
Lu Yun frowned and said, "I am only eighteen years old, how can I be considered a young adult? Why don't you say I am thirty years old?"
"How dare you talk back to father?!" Duke Lu said angrily.
Lu Yun said, "That's right. Even if I counted all the numbers, I'm only eighteen. How come I'm nineteen now? Dad, you're not good at math. You still have time to learn it now!"
Lu Baozhu chuckled at the side, causing Princess Pingrou to complain, "How dare you laugh? You are really already twenty!"
Lu Baozhu said, "Dad and Mom, don't teach your son before dinner!"
Princess Pingrou was choked and turned around to lecture Lu Yun. After all, Lu Yun loved to eat and would not give up his meal just because of a few words from his parents.
"Lu Yun, what have you been doing these days? Have you been hanging out with your bad friends again? You've been missing all day, and you need to be treated to meals!"
Lu Yun looked at Qi Yuning complainingly and said, "It's all her fault. Why does she let Shen Nian come to our house every day? Doesn't Shen Nian have a home? She comes to our house every day."
Qi Yuning frowned and said, "I am about to give birth. Shen Nian just gave birth to a child last year and has more experience. If she can come over, I can ask her more about giving birth and raising children. Why can't she come to the princess's mansion every day?"
Princess Pingrou said: “What Yuning said is right, it would be good for Chen Nian to come to the princess’ mansion every day.”
After taking two bites of the food, Lu Yun felt it was tasteless.
Qi Yuning looked at Lu Yun and said, "Why are you so reluctant to see Shen Nian? When you see her, you run away like a mouse seeing a cat? If you hadn't done anything wrong to her, why wouldn't you even say hello when you see her?"
Lu Yun said: "Nothing, I just don't want to see her."
Qi Yuning didn't ask any more questions. After all, it was her brother-in-law's business, so it wasn't appropriate for her to interfere.
After the meal, Lu Ze accompanied Qi Yuning for a stroll in the garden. As the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, the garden was already filled with the fragrance of osmanthus flowers.
Qi Yuning liked the fragrance of osmanthus, so she said to Lu Ze, "Pick a few osmanthus flowers for me and put them in the room to add fragrance."
Lu Ze raised his hand and plucked a few branches. He also picked a small branch with more osmanthus flowers and pinned it on Qi Yuning's bun as a hairpin. "It's so beautiful."
Qi Yuning touched her face and said, "I've gained weight, how can I still be beautiful?"
"You're prettier when you're fatter." Lu Ze pinched Qi Yuning's face. "You look more like a child when you're fatter. You were chubby and cute when you were a child."
Qi Yuning opened Lu Ze's hand and said, "I actually forgot that there was a time when you loved pinching my face when we were young. You pinched my hand even when I hit you. I was young at that time, but now you have to pinch me back!"
Qi Yuning stretched out her hand and pinched Lu Ze's face, "Not as good as Lingling's face."
Lu Ze smiled faintly and said, "Lingling will come out in the thirty-second day. I'm afraid you won't be willing to pinch her by then."
Qi Yuning touched her big belly and said, "Thirty-two days, how can it be so long? Lingling has been gone for a long time."
Lu Ze said: "It actually happened very quickly. Two years have passed in the blink of an eye."
Qi Yuning knew what Lu Ze meant by the two years. Two years ago, Lu Yun ruined her reputation. It had indeed been two years since Lingling came to the Prince Qi's Mansion.
"A lot of things have happened in the past two years. Two years ago today, I was looking forward to marrying into your princess's mansion."
"Looking forward to it?" Lu Ze frowned when he heard these two words.
Qi Yuning said: "I look forward to marrying into the princess's mansion, where I can bicker with Lu Baozhu about jewelry and clothes every day. Anyway, she can never beat me in bickering about jewelry and clothes."
Lu Ze: "I thought you were looking forward to marrying Lu Yun..."
Qi Yuning said: "Lingling is a little jealous, and you are a big jealous person. Lingling learned to be jealous from you!"
Lu Ze put his arm around Qi Yuning's waist and helped her walk. Lu Ze was once again glad that Lu Yun had become a monk. If Qi Yuning and Lu Yun had really gotten married, with his knowledge and upbringing since childhood, he would not have been able to do something like snatching his brother's wife away.
I'm afraid I'll regret it for the rest of my life then.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, there was no palace banquet due to national mourning, but the family could still reunite.
Singing to the moon was also a lot of fun. Lu Baohua also brought Zhong Ming home to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Duke's Mansion was bustling with activity.
Even Old Madam Lu was not noisy today, watching the two little actors singing.
Young people gathered together to play pot-throwing, write poems, guess riddles, and make lanterns.
Qi Yuning has never had such a lively Mid-Autumn Festival since she was four years old. This year's lively Mid-Autumn Festival banquet with the whole family is a rare occasion for her.
It was not until late at night, when the full moon was high in the sky, that Qi Yuning and Lu Ze strolled back to their room.
Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze and said, "Mid-Autumn Festival in your family is so lively."
Lu Ze said: "This year's Mid-Autumn Festival is already delayed due to the national mourning period. In previous years, it was even more lively. The opera troupe alone sang from afternoon to night."
Qi Yuning said: "Next year's Mid-Autumn Festival will probably be even more lively. Lingling should be able to call her mother by next year's Mid-Autumn Festival, and she may even be able to walk with support."
Qi Yuning was looking forward to Lingling babbling and taking her first steps.
Lu Ze said to Qi Yuning: "Well, next year's Mid-Autumn Festival will be very lively with Lingling here."
As everyone was looking forward to it, September arrived. The weather in September was excellent, with the sun shining brightly for several days in a row. The autumn air was clear and cool, and the weather was neither too cold nor too hot, which was perfect for mountain climbing.
But Qi Yuning could only miss such good weather. As September 9th approached, Qi Yuning did not feel at all nervous about giving birth as if she were walking through the gates of hell. She was more looking forward to finally meeting Lingling.
On the eighth day of September, Lu Ze took three consecutive days off.
In the afternoon, Qi Yuning, who was used to taking a nap every afternoon, had no desire to sleep. She held Lu Ze's hand nervously, "You will be able to see Lingling tomorrow. I don't know what Lingling looks like when she is just born! You must be the first to see her!"
Lu Ze looked at Qi Yuning and said, "Yeah!"
Qi Yuning said again: "Forget it, forget it, you should not be the first to see Lingling. It is said that it is difficult for women to give birth. I will definitely look extremely ugly when I give birth. You and Lu Baozhu are not allowed to look at me!"
Lu Ze smiled and said, "What kind of look have I not seen before? I have seen you when you lost your teeth. I will not laugh at you."
Qi Yuning said: "No, you are not allowed to enter."
Lu Ze responded: "Okay, okay, I won't go in."
Qi Yuning fell asleep in anticipation and nervousness. She dreamed of many things at night, including the time when she gave birth...
In the early morning of September 9th, she went into labor. She had difficulty giving birth for a whole day. Basins of blood were brought in and out. On the Beginning of Spring, Vernal Equinox, Grain Rain, and Waking of Insects, the eyes of several of the maids were red.
Qi Yuan, with his scruffy beard, was standing at the door, also looking very nervous.
Qi Yuning didn't see Lu Ze. She searched for a long time and finally found Lu Ze in a Taoist temple. Lu Ze was kneeling in front of the statue of Laojun with an upright posture, as if praying for blessings.
A young Taoist priest handed Lu Ze a jade pendant and said, "Master Lu, this is the Lanling Warm Jade that my master gave you, which is worth a thousand gold coins."
Lu Ze touched the small jade lock in his hand and hurried to Prince Qi's mansion.
After entering Prince Qi's Mansion, he heard a loud cry. He ignored the servants' obstruction and went into Qi Yuning's room. His eyes were not on the child beside him, but on Qi Yuning who was weak and about to faint.
Afterwards, Lu Ze was driven out of the delivery room by the old women and maids who reacted quickly.
Lu Ze handed the jade pendant in his hand to Qi Yu'an, "This is the jade pendant I asked for from Taoist He."
Qi Yu'an took the jade pendant and looked at it, "Yiling? Why is her name Yiling?"
Lu Ze said: "The princess once said that if it was a daughter, she would be named Yiling, Lu Yiling."
…
When Qi Yuning woke up, it was already noon. Although she had slept for a long time, she felt very tired, as if she had really given birth to a child in her dream.
Qi Yuning touched her belly, but there was still no movement.
When Lu Ze saw Qi Yuning wake up, he said beside her, "It's morning."
Qi Yuning said: "It's already noon, why hasn't Lingling come out yet? I dreamed last night that I had a difficult labor, and I won't have a difficult labor later..."
Lu Ze pouted twice and said, "No way!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
