Chapter 62 Ning Zheng Returns
When the man was wearing armor, he looked sharper than usual, with a sharp look in his eyes and brows, much like a general who had fought on the battlefield for a long time.
Suppressing bandits is a bloody job. Even without looking, Ning Fu knew that there must be many wounds under his armor.
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Lu." Ning Fu said.
Lu Xingzhi looked at her one more time. She seemed more depressed than usual.
Seems to be unhappy.
"The fourth girl is unhappy," he asked in a low voice.
Nymph looked at him and denied it with a smile.
Lu Xingzhi handed her the script he had brought with him and said, "Fourth Miss, keep it to kill time on the way."
Another little beggar came forward to ask for food. Ning Fu was about to give him some, but Lu Xingzhi looked at the beggar coldly. The latter then slowly retreated into the distance, angry but not daring to say anything.
"The fourth lady's carriage, follow me." Lu Xingzhi turned around and said.
Nymph paused, and although she felt reluctant, she still let down the curtain.
"There are too many bandits in Liangzhou. If beggars can easily get food and clothing, they will become tools for the bandits to make money. In order to make money, the number of beggars in Liangzhou will increase."
Lu Xingzhi explained to her outside the car.
"I guessed it." Not to mention anything else, not all noble people are kind. If they develop the habit of begging for food and offend nobles, they may lose their lives. To some people, these people are nothing but ants.
"Lord Ning is already working hard to change their situation. Once all forces in Liangzhou City are pacified and the bandits are wiped out, the people will be able to live and work in peace." Lu Xingzhi said.
To a certain extent, it is not possible for a place to be without local tyrants. If the local struggles are too fierce, it will bring endless dangers, burning, killing and looting, and countless other things.
When passing a section of road, debris was piled up into a mountain, and only one horse could move forward, making it difficult for the carriage to pass.
Lu Xing got off the horse, opened the curtain, and said, "Fourth Miss, please sit on my horse. I will lead you over."
"I brought a lot of things." Nymph said.
"Someone will deliver it to the fourth young lady's house." Lu Xingzhi glanced at the package in the carriage.
"There are clothes for you. When I made them for my grandmother, I also made two pieces for you." Nymph said.
Lu Xingzhi looked at her for a moment, then smiled, saying, "Thank you, Fourth Miss."
The next moment, he lifted Nymph onto the horse with one hand.
The horse was extremely arrogant and unwilling to be inferior to an outsider, so it became a little restless. When Lu Xingzhi whipped the whip, the horse, although angry, did not move.
"Or I'd better get off and walk." Ning Fu said. This horse had a bad temper. It looked even worse than Zong Si's. In her previous life, she fell off the horse. Although she was good at riding, she didn't dare to ride a wild horse casually.
Lu Xingzhi curled his lips indifferently and said, "I'm here, Miss Four, don't worry."
My two subordinates, look at me and I look at you. When has Lord Lu ever been so considerate to a woman? I also heard that Lord Lu fought for the opportunity to suppress bandits in Liangzhou from the prince in order to speed up his promotion so that he could marry the person he liked.
Now it seems that it doesn't seem fake. After all, Lord Lu's attitude towards Lord Ning is also very special.
The two couldn't help but admire the prince's strategy. It was clear that he used Fourth Miss Ning as bait, but what he got in return was the loyalty of Lord Lu.
Along the way, whenever Ningfu had any questions, Lu Xingzhi patiently answered them for her.
"That bandit leader actually has a female leader?" Ning Fu's first reaction was that the woman was forced to do this job, and she didn't know what kind of injustice she had suffered.
"There are more than just women. Many of them even want Lord Lu to be their prime minister. They say that if Lord Lu agrees with them, they will be granted amnesty by the government." One of the subordinates joked, "Lord Lu's popularity with women is really enviable."
Ning Fu felt a little complicated, but she also knew that a handsome man like Lu Xingzhi was liked by many people. Even many female rulers in the capital admired him.
When he achieves credit in the future and receives rewards when he returns to Beijing, more women will be attracted to him.
Ning Fu was thinking, but saw Lu Xingzhi looking at her, as if observing her reaction, and her face immediately became hot.
"I'm not popular with women. Those bandits just wanted to coax me into submission so they could deal with me." Lu Xingzhi looked at her and said, which seemed like he was explaining something to her.
But why should she explain to her? She was not his wife. Ningfu sighed deeply in her heart, feeling a little lost. But after a moment, she regained her spirit and started to think about business.
My father himself never wanted to be involved with my grandmother in official affairs, but now that my grandmother has escaped, the Ningguo Mansion does not need to cut ties with the Kangyang Princess Mansion for the time being. If handled properly, the Princess Mansion can also get some credit, which would be great.
Although she was angry with her grandmother, she still cared about her grandmother, after all, she was her mother's maternal clan.
When Ning Fu saw Ning Zhenyuan, it was already midnight. The middle-aged man didn't even have time to change into his official uniform and it was obvious that he had come in a hurry.
"Father." As soon as Ning Fu saw Ning Zhenyuan, her heart was at ease.
"Are you tired? It's simple here, I'm sorry to have to trouble you." Ning Zhenyuan was alone in Liangzhou, with only four servants accompanying him. The mansion he lived in was also extremely simple. He was usually busy with official business outside and seldom came back.
It was only when I learned that my daughter was coming that I hastily set up a decent bedroom.
"I can endure living with my father even in a cowshed," said Nymph.
"If that's the case, your mother will divorce me." Ning Zhenyuan said with a smile.
Ning Fu pondered for a moment and talked to him about business: "Nothing has been found out about Li Fang."
Ning Zhenyuan was somewhat surprised by her words. Now that Zong Si has returned to Beijing, everyone is still speculating about what happened to Li Fang.
"As far as I know, Liangzhou is affected by three forces, and the two weaker ones are working together to fight against the other. Grandmother probably won't be implicated by Li Fang's incident this time. Why not use her power to disrupt this balance?"
If another force emerges in an existing balance, the troops have to be rearranged to create a new situation.
Excluding those with moderate power among the three, it will certainly not be a problem for the remaining strong and weak ones to determine the winner.
"The current balance is created deliberately by someone." Ning Zhenyuan said meaningfully.
Ning Fu naturally knew that the person behind the scenes was Prince Xuan's Mansion. Under this balance, the three parties all asked Prince Xuan's Mansion for help, so they were checked and controlled by it everywhere.
Even though his father was exiled here, Zong Si's intention was only to let his father govern this place and change the poverty and hardship of the people, rather than disturb the balance.
"If there is only one person who has the final say in Liangzhou, it will be easier for father to govern Liangzhou, and the foundation he has laid in Liangzhou will be useful in the future." Ning Fu lowered her eyes and said.
If only one of the three parties is left, that party, since it is already stable, will think about maintaining internal stability and start developing Liangzhou. It will definitely not become enemies with my father. Instead, it will be tied to my father's interests because of the joint governance of Liangzhou. This network of contacts will still be useful even when my father returns to the capital.
Ning Zhenyuan naturally knew that this was a huge benefit, but he might not succeed. "The Prince Xuan's Mansion might not let it go."
"Your Majesty cannot deal with my grandmother, and I'm afraid I can't get away from Prince Xuan's Mansion now." Ning Fu said tactfully. Now is a rare opportunity.
"You're right, but things in Liangzhou can't be rushed." Ning Zhenyuan had an idea in his mind, but he still needed to consider it carefully.
"A Zheng will be returning to Beijing soon." Ning Zhenyuan suddenly said again.
Nymph's eyes lit up and she asked, "About when?"
"You don't have to be anxious. It will probably happen after you reach the age of 15." Ning Zhenyuan said.
Ning Fu stayed in Liangzhou for a few days, and Lu Xingzhi came to Ning Zhenyuan's mansion more often.
Ning Zhenyuan was very confident in Lu Xingzhi, and was also happy to see him interact with his daughter. During the past few months of getting along, he admired Lu Xingzhi's character very much. If he could become his son-in-law, that would be great, and he wouldn't have to worry about his daughter being wronged in her husband's family.
Most of the time, Lu Xingzhi sat with her and carved some small things, and the time passed.
Ningfu discovered that Lu Xingzhi had a habit of blowing away the sawdust every five strokes when carving, which was very similar to Zong Si's habit.
Nymph asked: "Why do you blow once every five times?"
Lu Xingzhi's eyes flickered, and he said, "When making arrows in the wild, this is the habit, and the carving also brings this habit into the picture."
Nymph nodded and sat aside, watching quietly.
"But it's boring," the man asked her.
"It's even more boring when you're not around." Nymph yawned.
Lu Xingzhi comes here every day.
Nymph sometimes felt that he was too patient with her. It was clear that he had no patience at all when facing others.
Once, when Ning Fu was basking in the sun with him, she fell into a daze and had a nightmare. She dreamed that Zong Si was cold and wanted to kill her with a knife. She begged him in a low voice: "My dear, please don't kill me."
When I woke up, I was already in tears. I hugged the figure in front of me and burst into tears.
During this period, she thought she had thought it through clearly and didn't care, but it turned out that she was just pretending nothing happened.
Lu Xingzhi hugged her tightly and said in a hoarse voice: "I'm here, don't be afraid."
Ning Fu realized that it was not Dongzhu, and froze, then quickly pushed him away: "I am sorry for the offense, Mr. Lu."
"The prince is in Yongzhou and bullies the fourth young lady," said Lu Xingzhi.
Nymph forced a smile and shook her head.
"Young lady, stay away from him in the future." Lu Xingzhi said, "Don't worry, I will make sure he doesn't cause you any trouble."
Nymph was very touched, but she couldn't be so unscrupulous as to drag him into this.
A few days later, Kang Yang came to pick people up in person.
After realizing that Nymph was angry that he had kept the secret from her and had not confessed his plan to her in advance, he rushed to find her without delay.
Especially when she heard Prince Jin talk about how she protected Jingcheng and wholeheartedly considered the Princess' Mansion, it would be a lie to say she wasn't moved.
Kang Yang kept coaxing Ning Fu.
Ning Fu found it difficult to let go of this matter, but she still went back to Yongzhou with Kang Yang. She couldn't bear to see her mother sad.
In my mother's eyes, a woman losing her virginity is a very serious matter. She didn't want her mother to feel pain, so she kept the matter a secret.
The news that Zong Si was punished by Emperor Jingwen for his poor performance soon reached Yongzhou.
At the same time, the war broke out again in the north, and Zong Si's punishment was not carried out in the end. He was only suspended from his post for three months.
"He's worthy of being the son of that old fox, King Xuan." Kang Yang put down a chess piece and couldn't help but snorted coldly, "He learned King Jin's tricks so quickly." When the war broke out, Emperor Jingwen had to think twice, it was clearly a punishment to stop the war.
Nymph was only thinking about how to defeat her and did not reply.
Kang Yang sighed and did not mention Zong Si again.
It is said that Ningfu should have returned to the capital before her coming-of-age ceremony three months later, but she fell ill a few days before the event and was delayed.
This delay lasted a total of nine months since she came to Yongzhou.
The coming-of-age ceremony was first held in Yongzhou, and then held again at the Ningguo Mansion after returning to Beijing.
Nymph has lost some weight, but her face has become more three-dimensional. Her previous childishness has completely disappeared. Most importantly, her figure has become much slimmer and she has become more feminine.
Jingcheng used to think that Yue Niang was the most charming woman. But now he felt that his own Afu was no less charming than her. Her figure was far beyond the description of exquisiteness. Her every frown and smile was both cool and dignified, and extremely beautiful.
Jingcheng always felt that Zong Si hadn't mentioned marriage for such a long time and hadn't replied to the letter. He must have forgotten Afu or regretted it. When Afu returned to Beijing, he would regret it.
Lu Xingzhi’s letters were regular, he wrote one every half a month, just like a husband who was working away from home and had to take care of everything.
"When you return to Beijing this time, those young masters will fight over you." Jing Cheng said.
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