Near noon, a red figure ran briskly into Shouning Palace.
The woman was wearing a red silk dress, and her waist-length hair was gently tied up with a red silk ribbon, which was simple, elegant and generous.
She wore no jewelry on her head, wrists, or earlobes, but she did have a small, crudely carved wooden gourd hanging around her waist.
"Greetings, Mother."
She laughed as she spoke.
A dimple appears at the left corner of her mouth, making her look more lively and lovely, and the whole person is like the scorching sun.
The Queen Mother's eyes were full of joy, and she waved at her: "Come and see if there is anything you like."
Lu Qingyuan walked over and just glanced at him lightly, and the smile in her eyes faded away.
Instead, he felt unhappy and helpless: "I thought the Queen Mother asked me to come here to help me prepare a birthday gift for my brother. I was so happy."
The Queen Mother advised, "Marriage leave is a lifelong matter, and your brother is worried about you. Qing Yuan, you are not a child anymore, don't be willful."
"Qing Yuan doesn't want to marry. She only wants to be with her mother."
Lu Qingyuan pulled the empress dowager's arm and shook it back and forth, acting coquettishly.
The Queen Mother handed the stack of portraits to Lu Qingyuan. "These are all talented young men in the capital. Even if you get married, you will be close to my family. You can bring your children back to the palace often. I have always been looking forward to becoming a grandmother!"
Lu Qingyuan understood that the Queen Mother was determined to arrange a marriage for her. She simply took the stack of portraits from the Queen Mother's hand and looked through them critically.
The Queen Mother smiled and introduced: "This is the eldest grandson of Master Qi. He is very talented and handsome. He is two years older than you and is a perfect match for you."
Lu Qingyuan shook his head in dissatisfaction: "I remember that his illegitimate son is already five years old. He still hasn't married a wife. This shows that his family is not a good place to go!"
The Queen Mother then took the portrait away and introduced the next one: "This is Xu Shaoqing's cousin, an upright and honest man. The Xu family is a family of scholars and a good place to live."
Lu Qingyuan was very disgusted: "You are so skinny and sickly, you will fall over if the wind blows. You are so unreliable!"
Having said that, she threw the portrait aside.
"I will hold the portrait farther away so that the princess can take her time choosing."
Wan Shuang took the portrait from Lu Qingyuan and placed it on the table. She picked up one of the portraits, took two steps back, and showed it to Lu Qingyuan.
The Queen Mother continued, "This is the youngest son of the Duke of Ning. I remember he always liked to follow you. You can tell he's fond of you."
Lu Qingyuan frowned. "He's too strong. He could crush me to death if we were sleeping together! If I quarrel with him, he can just pick me up and throw me out of the capital!"
The Queen Mother said, "A man who practices martial arts cannot be too thin."
"Everyone loves beauty, and I also like good-looking people. If I don't like this man now, how can I spend my life with him in the future?"
Lu Qingyuan said this and winked at Wanshuang.
Seeing this, Wanshuang quickly changed the portrait.
"You'll definitely like this!" The Queen Mother pointed at the portrait in Wan Shuang's hand and said with renewed energy, "The third place winner, Chen Ziyang, is a man of refined manners and excellent appearance. He comes from a humble family but is resilient and hardworking. If you marry him, you will definitely not be wronged."
It can be seen that the Queen Mother is very satisfied with Chen Ziyang.
Lu Qingyuan still shook his head: "Looking at his face, he doesn't look like a good person. This son has no connection with him."
Lu Qingyuan could always find faults in the remaining portraits. In short, she didn't like any of them.
The Queen Mother was furious: "This is not allowed, and that is not allowed. Do you want to go to heaven and marry the Jade Emperor?!"
Lu Qingyuan grumbled in dissatisfaction: "The Jade Emperor is too old, and I am not worthy of his service."
"You!" The Queen Mother raised her hand, pretending to hit Lu Qingyuan.
Lu Qingyuan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he smiled, "Mother, I do know a man who is both talented in literature and martial arts, and has an extraordinary appearance and character. I know him very well, and he is also very broad-minded. He will definitely tolerate all my bad habits!"
The Queen Mother snorted coldly: "Except for Shen Jiayan, I will obey you in everything else."
“…”
Lu Qingyuan sat there listlessly, like an eggplant hit by frost: "I only like him."
In fact, she knew that the Shen family was too aggressive, and she also knew that the Queen Mother did not like the Shen family, so she had been restrained in the past two years and rarely mentioned Shen Jiayan in front of the Queen Mother.
But now that the Queen Mother was talking about her marriage again, she couldn't help herself.
The people in those portraits were carefully selected by the Queen Mother. To others, they might look good.
But she only likes Shen Jiayan.
Lu Qingyuan was feeling a little depressed.
The Queen Mother was furious: "Shen Jiayan is a man who has fought on the battlefield. If you marry him, you will have to stay alone in your empty room!"
Lu Qingyuan slowed down her voice and said, "When he goes to the battlefield, I will come to the palace to accompany you. I will chant Buddhist scriptures with you and wait for his safe return."
She was not afraid and seemed to be looking forward to such a life.
The Queen Mother asked, "What if he doesn't come back? Swords are merciless and the battlefield is ruthless. What will you do if something happens to him?"
When talking about this topic, Lu Qingyuan was neither worried nor afraid.
She smiled and said, "If I am lucky enough to leave a descendant for the Shen family, it will be considered a great contribution. I will definitely raise that child to be as brave and outstanding as Jiayan. Just as fearless of hardships, and just as dedicated to the country and the people."
The Queen Mother was so angry that her voice trembled: "An orphan and a widow, is this the life you expected?"
"There is no permanent peace in this world. People always have to bear the burden of moving forward in exchange for temporary happiness. Countless soldiers fight on the battlefield, and their families worry about them, but their families will still support them and wait for them to return home."
When Lu Qingyuan said this, it seemed as if she saw through everything.
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