The Dragon Boat Race on the Dragon Boat Festival started on Qujiang River. There were five dragon boat teams in total. From the very beginning, the drums sounded like thunder and the momentum was like a rainbow.
Qi Yuning was holding Lingling and watching the game on a platform not far away. Lingling was jumping up and down listening to the drumbeats.
Without the Qi family soldiers to join the battle, Qi Yuning had no interest in watching the dragon boat race. He said to Lu Ze beside him, "Lu Baozhu invited me to go hunting in Chang'an in a few days. I haven't been to Chang'an for a long time. We plan to return in July. During this period of time, I'll trouble you to take care of Lingling."
Lu Ze said: "You are going to leave the capital for more than a month? No way!"
Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze and said, "I haven't hunted for a long time. I can't even remember how many years ago I last went hunting."
The royal court hasn't held a hunting event for almost seven or eight years.
She still remembered that the last court hunting was when she was thirteen years old. After that, there was no court hunting and Qi Yu'an was not at home. At that time, she and Lu Ze broke up again. Song Heqing was not a hunting lover, so she never hunted again.
Qi Yuning thought about it and realized that she had not gone hunting for nearly seven years. She still remembered that she was looking forward to hunting the most when she was young.
Lu Ze said: "That won't work either. Are you comfortable leaving Lingling alone for so long?"
Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze and said, "Don't we still have you? I believe you are a good father and can take good care of Lingling."
Lu Ze looked back into Qi Yuning's eyes and said, "Then can you bear to leave me for so long?"
Qi Yuning: “…”
To be honest, I am a little reluctant to part with Lu Ze.
But the hunting grounds in Shengjing City were not very fun. When they were young, they had already disdained the hunting grounds in Shengjing. After all, the royal hunting grounds in Chang'an had more prey and were more exciting.
Lu Ze held Qi Yuning's hand and said, "It is true that the court has not had a hunt for a long time. Now the treasury is rarely full. It would be fine if we could hold a royal hunt. It would also allow Your Majesty to go out of the palace to get some fresh air. By the way, we can recruit some military talents for the court."
Qi Yuning said: "It would be best if the court held a royal hunting trip."
Lu Ze said: "I have discussed this with the ministers in the court these days."
“We win, we win!”
Qi Yuning heard Lu Baozhu's excited shout, and looked up to see that it was Lu Yun who had won the championship of the dragon boat race.
This made Qi Yuning look at him with new eyes, "This little bald donkey is quite capable."
When Lu Ze heard that Lu Yun had finally done something to bring him honor, he chuckled and said, "Now that you have a family and a wife, things are different after all."
Qi Yuning looked around and didn't see Shen Nian, but Lu Yun had been surrounded by people, many of whom were congratulating him and flattering him.
Lu Yun's former cronies, several famous playboys in Shengjing City, came forward and asked Lu Yun to drink and celebrate.
Lu Yun acted like a good husband and said, "I'm married now, so I won't hang out with you guys!"
"Your princess has long gone. As a man, what's there to be afraid of when you drink?"
"Yes, yes, yes. Let's go drink and celebrate your victory today."
Lu Yun has always been a soft-hearted person, and he hasn't had a lively and carefree time for a long time. Although he didn't see Chen Nian, he was coaxed to go drink and have fun.
Princess Pingrou was delighted to learn that Lu Yun had won the first prize, but when she heard that he had gone drinking with a group of playboys, she immediately became displeased.
Lu Ze advised Princess Pingrou, "Brother finally saved the Lu family's face, just let him go this time."
Princess Pingrou frowned and sighed, "Alas."
The Dragon Boat Festival was a holiday, and after the dragon boat race, Lu Ze took Qi Yuning and Lingling to the temple fair under Xianglin Temple to play.
Qi Yuning still remembered how Lingling looked the last time she came to the temple fair. Lingling, who was still a baby now, was too small to jump around excitedly like the three-year-old Lingling.
However, when she saw the delicious food stalls at the temple fair, her expression was exactly the same as that of the three-year-old Lingling.
Qi Yuning and Lu Ze sat down in front of a stall and asked the maid to buy a bowl of millet porridge. The millet porridge melted in the mouth, so Qi Yuning scooped a small spoonful with a spoon, and when he was sure it was cold, he fed it to Lingling.
Xiao Lingling's mouth moved slightly, and her eyes suddenly lit up. But after she finished a bite, she didn't see Qi Yuning giving her any more food, so she babbled, "Eat, eat!"
Qi Yuning scooped a spoonful, waited for the millet porridge to cool down, and said with a chuckle: "Call me mother, and I'll give it to you if you call me mother."
Lingling poked her little head forward to reach for the spoon in Qi Yuning's hand. Qi Yuning raised her head and said, "Follow mother and call mother..."
Lingling looked at Xiaomiao and said, "Dear, dear..."
Qi Yuning chuckled and handed the millet porridge to Lingling. Lingling leaned over to the spoon and started eating. Lingling, who had just grown two small baby teeth, wanted to eat everything she saw.
Lu Ze looked at Lingling and said, "Is Lingling hungry on weekdays? She seems to never be full."
Qi Yuning smiled faintly and said, "She's not hungry, she's just greedy. Lingling was also very greedy when she was three years old."
Lu Ze looked at Qi Yuning and said, "It's up to you. You loved eating when you were young, too."
Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze and said, "I don't like to eat it. Lingling, it's up to you."
Lu Ze smiled faintly and picked up Lingling. He did not dare to let her drink too much from the roadside stall. To Lu Ze, this kind of roadside stall was somewhat unclean, and he was also afraid that the millet was stale for several years.
When you come to Xianglin Temple, you have to go in and worship Buddha. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, which is also a legendary poisonous day. There has always been a custom in the temple to use realgar wine to draw the word "王" on children to ward off evil spirits.
After Qi Yuning and Lu Ze entered the Xianglin Temple to worship Buddha, the abbot personally drew a Chinese character "王" on Lingling's forehead with realgar wine.
Qi Yuning hugged Lingling and said with a smile: "Lingling has become a little tiger."
Lingling giggled.
Lu Ze looked at the word "king" on Lingling's head and watched Lingling grow up safely. All he wanted now was for Lingling to grow up safely and healthily.
"Ahhhhhh." Lingling shouted excitedly.
Qi Yuning looked back in the direction Lingling was looking, and saw Shen Nian and Han Ge'er.
When Qi Yuning was about to carry Lingling to meet Han Ge'er, Lu Ze grabbed her wrist.
Lu Ze asked the abbot, "Did Chen Nian come from the resting hall at the back?"
The abbot clasped his hands together and said, "Donor Shen has enshrined the spirit tablet of her late husband in the temple. I heard from her that today is the second anniversary of her late husband's death, so she specially held a ritual for her late husband..."
Qi Yuning sighed: "Time flies by very quickly. It's already been two years."
She had once given Huang Rui a ride back then, and in the blink of an eye, more than two years had passed. Even then, Han Ge'er had grown from a little baby to someone who could run and talk.
Qi Yuning said: "Let's go and pay tribute to Huang Rui as well."
Lu Ze said, “It’s better not to take Lingling to the Resting Hall. Let Ali take care of Lingling here.”
Qi Yuning gave Lingling to Ali and asked Ali Chunfen to take good care of Lingling. Then she went to the resting hall with Lu Ze. There were many pilgrims in the resting hall offering tablets to their deceased relatives.
In a magnificent temple facing south, there are fewer tablets for worship. All of them are worshipped by the rich and noble families. The cost of offering sacrifices here alone is not small in a year.
Qi Yuning saw Huang Rui's spirit tablet at a glance and bowed with his fists clenched.
Lu Ze followed Qi Yuning and bowed, then he took the three incense sticks handed to him by the abbot and inserted them into the incense altar.
When Qi Yuning lit the incense, she got burned by a bunch of incense ash and she hissed softly.
Lu Ze walked forward and looked at Qi Yuning's hand. He blew on the back of Qi Yuning's scalded hand with great concern. When he raised his eyes, he saw a small tablet behind Huang Rui's spirit tablet. There was no name written on it, but it was a blank tablet.
Qi Yuning also saw the blank tablet and asked the abbot, "Why is there a blank tablet here?"
The abbot said, “Amitabha, this is also offered by Donor Shen. She said it is an unborn child…”
Lu Ze said: “Chen Nian is thoughtful.”
Qi Yuning frowned slightly and reached out to touch the place that was burned red by the incense ash.
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