Seeing her amused expression, Yi Ning thought she was quite amusing and couldn't help but say, "You don't look like you're going to get married, but rather like you're going to rob money. Second Miss Xie has been to our house before, and she's getting married. The wedding is in ten days, and I heard that the Xie and Cheng families have already started setting up a stove for testing."
Zhao Mingzhu sighed a little: "My marriage with cousin Cheng Lang failed, and neither did you. I didn't expect that he would marry Xie Yun. Xie Yun is really lucky to marry a man like cousin Cheng Lang."
The maid came over with the imperial edict and a brocade box.
It's not like Yi Ning had never seen an imperial edict before. Wei Ling's edicts were kept in a box in his study. When she first entered the Duke of Ying's mansion, she had been poking around in his study and had read them all, so she had no interest in them. But that brocade box... She glanced at Zhao Mingzhu.
Mingzhu said to her, "I will be in the palace when she gets married. Please give her a gift on my behalf."
Zhao Mingzhu wanted to please the queen.
Yining didn't ask her what the gift was and asked Daimao to put the box away.
At this time, the maid came in and said that Lu Jiaxue was drinking tea in the flower hall. Wei Ling asked the two girls to go and pay their respects together.
Yi Ning didn't want to see Lu Jiaxue, so she just said, "Go and tell him that I need to take care of my grandmother, and I'll pay my respects to my adoptive father next time."
The maid who came to report said with a smile, "Miss, the Duke said you must go."
Yi Ning gritted her teeth, then thought for a moment, "Just go." He might not be able to do anything in public! With so many eyes watching, she was his adopted daughter. Surely this bastard wouldn't be so shameless? She knew full well that if Lu Jiaxue really wanted to kidnap her again, he could do it at any time with his abilities. The fact that he hadn't caught up with her proved that he didn't want to do it for the time being.
Indeed, after those days of conflict and stalemate with Luo Yining, Lu Jiaxue suddenly felt that a forced melon was not sweet. If he brought her back, she would want to escape at any time, and he couldn't really keep her locked up. He put her back, then step by step forced her back to his side, made her kneel and beg him, and then he would pinch her chin and persuade her to follow him obediently. This was the best.
Several officials were still in the hall. Lu Jiaxue was conversing with Jiang Zuoyun, the Minister of War, in the inner room. Wei Ling was talking with Luo Shenyuan outside. When he saw the girl coming, he waved her over.
After not seeing her for half a month, she looked a little haggard, so Wei Ling jokingly asked her, "But your third brother treats you badly?"
Luo Shenyuan smiled when he heard this.
Standing behind him, Mama Lou's eyelids twitched. She desperately wanted to tell the Duke that her son-in-law was a beast. The young lady was only fourteen, and they'd agreed to consummate their marriage on the fifteenth, yet her son-in-law had already forced it on her. Even afterward, the young lady was covered in bruises and red marks. But before coming, the young lady had repeatedly warned him not to tell the Duke, so Mama Lou could only hold it in.
"Your third brother treats you very well. He is willing to sacrifice his marriage to help you. He will definitely not treat you unfairly." Wei Ling patted the girl's shoulder again.
When Mrs. Lou heard this, she felt even more suffocated.
"Third brother treats me very well." Yining smiled and blinked.
Luo Shenyuan said, "Don't worry, father-in-law. No one in the family dares to treat her badly." Even he had to endure it and had less contact with her.
Yi Ning retreated behind him, feeling unhappy about playing chess and sleeping the night before. She reached out and tried to twist his arm, but the flesh on his arm stiffened again, and she couldn't twist it. She knew he had learned some physical exercises from the Master Miaofa, and her anger was useless against him.
Wei Ling spoke to Zhao Mingzhu again, then turned back to call Yining. His voice lowered, "I heard you had some issues with your adoptive father. What's going on?"
The smile on Luo Yining's face slowly disappeared. She couldn't tell anyone the truth of the matter, because if she did so, other people's suspicion and doubt would always exist.
"I accidentally offended my adoptive father," Yi Ning said, "and he got a little angry."
Wei Ling felt that his daughter was hiding a lot, but since Luo Shenyuan was there, he didn't ask too many questions and just said, "It just so happens that Mingzhu is going to pay her respects to Lu Jiaxue today, so you should go with her to apologize to him. Shenyuan, wait for me for a moment." Wei Ling asked the two girls to follow him into the inner room.
Luo Shenyuan watched the others enter and found a Dongpo chair to sit down. The goldenrods outside the flower hall were in full bloom, and a cool breeze blew in from the lake, bringing a bleak autumn air. In the inner room, Lu Jiaxue and the Minister of War could be vaguely seen sitting opposite each other.
The smile on his face disappeared.
Zhao Mingzhu greeted first, and Luo Yining, who was standing beside her, also bowed and called him godfather.
After dismissing the others, Lu Jiaxue ignored Luo Yining and said to Zhao Mingzhu, "I know you've entered the palace. The Queen and I are good friends, but this time her distant niece is also entering the palace. She's been childless for many years and is afraid, so she wants to find an obedient man to win her favor. Have you decided to join the Queen after entering the palace?"
"My daughter knows that Consort Duan of the Dong family is quite powerful, and she's the biological mother of the eldest prince," Zhao Mingzhu said, "but think about it, the Empress is the mother of the country after all..."
Lu Jiaxue felt that Zhao Mingzhu was not smart enough and would have a hard time entering the palace. Furthermore, she still wanted to be with the empress. So, he said to Wei Ling, "Now that the imperial edict has been issued, you should choose two extremely smart maids to accompany her. Otherwise, she won't be able to handle it alone."
Zhao Mingzhu now has the Lu family and the Wei family behind her, which is better than being the daughter of a minister without any strong backing.
After discussing Zhao Mingzhu, Wei Ling asked Luo Yining to serve tea to Lu Jiaxue. "...If you've ever wronged your adoptive father, offer him a cup of tea and admit your fault, so he won't be angry with you." Confronting Lu Jiaxue head-on was irrational, and Wei Ling hoped that an acknowledgment would be enough to put the matter to rest.
Yi Ning took the teacup from the maid, gritted her teeth, and slowly knelt down in front of him: "Foster father, have some tea. Please forgive me for any offense, and don't take it personally with a little girl like me."
Lu Jiaxue looked at her with a half-smile in his eyes.
This was so similar to the scene he had imagined. She knelt in front of him, her hand holding the tea trembling slightly. He didn't know if it was out of anger or fear, probably both.
He reached out to take it, slightly covering her hand, and then took the teacup: "Godfather has accepted your tea. As long as you are obedient and don't disobey Godfather, I won't make things difficult for you."
Seeing him calmly drinking tea, dressed in a leather belt and brocade clothes, Yi Ning felt suffocated. She also wanted to apologize to Lu Jiaxue...
No matter how much you complain in your heart, you have to pretend nothing happens on the surface.
The autumn wind blew in the distance, and Luo Shenyuan saw Lu Jiaxue's hand covering her. Although it was only for a moment, no one in the room cared.
His eyes darkened, even becoming a little gloomy.
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