Chapter 131 Who made An Ning unhappy?
The court officials' New Year's holiday ended on the fifth day. Lu Ji was on duty on the sixth day and could no longer accompany Qin Xiaoning. In the afternoon, the Sixth Miss came to Qingsong Garden on the orders of her brother to accompany the patient.

Qin Xiaoning is only spoiled with Lu Ji, but she is very clear-headed with other people in the mansion.

Seeing that the Sixth Miss had come to accompany her to relieve her boredom, Qin Xiaoning said sensibly, "I'm well again. The first month of the year is a busy time. You should go out and have fun. You don't have to come to accompany me."

"You and Fifth Sister are both sick, and I don't like to go out either." Then, Sixth Miss sighed and said, "Normally, Fifth Sister seems to be in better shape than Sister Qin, but this time she got the disease, and now she can barely get up, and she is not recovering as fast as Sister Qin."

"I see Sister Qin is looking better."

Songzhi was serving tea on the side, and when he heard this he thought: This young master is being taken care of by the prince himself, more attentively than his own mother would. It's like serving his ancestors, so naturally he will recover quickly.

Seeing Songzhi's secretly happy look, Qin Xiaoning glared at her, and Songzhi stopped.

The Sixth Miss chatted with Qin Xiaoning for a while, and said casually: "Cousin Wang may come to see you later."

Wang Fengyi?
Qin Xiaoning frowned subconsciously when she heard the name: "The cousin of the Wang family is back?"

Years ago, the eldest son of the Wang family took his wife and sister back to his hometown in Jinling to celebrate the New Year.

The Sixth Miss nodded and said, "I came back yesterday. In the morning, my cousin asked someone to invite me to go see my grandmother and my fifth sister. I said I promised my second brother to accompany you, and she said that after she saw my grandmother and my fifth sister, she would come to see you too."

Then the Sixth Miss asked Qin Xiaoning casually, "Do you think Grandmother and Mother have any plans for Wang's cousin?"

Qin Xiaoning had already seen this.

She smiled faintly and asked, "Are you saying that the Madam and the Madam want your second brother to marry her?"

The Sixth Miss was originally curious, so she mentioned this casually. After she reacted, she hurriedly explained to Qin Xiaoning: "Sister Qin, I just said it without thinking, please don't think too much."

Qin Xiaoning smiled and said, "You don't have to mind it. It's only a matter of time before your second brother gets married. Can I, as his concubine, stop him?"

She paused, and then continued, "Besides, the Wang family cousin is indeed a good girl. It is natural that the Madam and the Madam like her."

Sixth Miss Qin Xiaoning said this, and finally she felt relieved: "This matter has no fate. I saw Second Aunt persuade mother all the time, but since Third Sister-in-law fell and had a miscarriage at the banquet of cousin Wang, Second Aunt doesn't seem to like cousin very much." She lowered her voice and continued: "I heard from Fifth Sister that Second Aunt privately said that cousin and our family are not compatible, otherwise, why did Third Sister-in-law have a miscarriage when she went to her banquet?"

"Ah! This is not the fault of cousin Wang. It's just that everyone was looking forward to the child of Third Sister-in-law. It's natural that Second Aunt is upset when she suddenly lost her child. It's normal for her to vent her anger on others."

Qin Xiaoning fell silent after hearing this. After a long while, she couldn't help but ask the Sixth Miss, "Does the Duke's wife agree?"

"I did ask mother, but she didn't tell me." Then, the Sixth Miss took Qin Xiaoning and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Sister Qin. Even if my brother gets married in the future, I will be closest to you and mother will still love you. You have been in our family since you were a child. You are like our daughter. No one can compare to you in this respect."

Knowing that the Sixth Miss was trying to comfort her, Qin Xiaoning showed great satisfaction and joy, and said in a gentle voice: "I know all the good things you have done to me."

Speak of the devil and he will appear. When the two men were carrying Wang Fengyi, the maid outside came in and reported that it was Wang's cousin who came to visit.

Qin Xiaoning and the Sixth Girl shut their mouths tacitly. After a while, Wang Fengyi came in with the maid.

She was still dignified and serious. When she learned that Qin Xiaoning was ill, she asked her a few polite questions and gave her a gift she brought back from Jinling. They talked for a while, and when she calculated the time when Lu Ji would return from his shift, she left with the Sixth Girl.

Lu Ji was worried about the sick girl, so he came back early despite being on duty the day before. When he entered the room, he saw the girl practicing calligraphy at her desk. He took off his cloak and said, "You haven't recovered yet, why are you doing such a tiring thing?"

Qin Xiaoning said nothing for a long while before replying calmly, "I'm fine now."

The tone was calm and sounded no different from usual, but the tacit understanding between the two since childhood still made Lu Ji sense something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" He casually threw the clothes he had taken off aside, walked to her side, raised his hand to touch her forehead, and asked, "Are you feeling unwell again?"

"No."

She subconsciously took a small step back and said calmly, "I am well again now, so you don't have to worry about me, my Lord."

Her attitude was docile, but a little distant from him.

Lu Ji would rather she get angry with him and cry than see her like this, as if she was deliberately trying to alienate him, which made Lu Ji feel depressed and suffocated.

Lu Ji raised his hands and held her in his arms, hugging her tightly, as if only by staying close to her could he ease the slight uneasiness in his heart.

"What happened?" he asked, frowning.

She lowered her eyes and remained silent for a long while. After a long while, she looked up at Lu Ji again and smiled at him: "It's nothing, maybe I've been staying in the house for too long and I feel bored."

Lu Ji also laughed: "I will ask the imperial physician to check your pulse tomorrow. If you are well again, you can go out for a walk in the afternoon when the sun is high."

The little girl nodded meekly, and the two had dinner together. Lu Ji went back to the study, while Qin Xiaoning continued to practice calligraphy.

Lu Ji was busy for a while, and thinking about the strange behavior of the little girl today, he always felt uneasy, so he ordered Zhu Feng to find Song Zhi and asked her: "Did An Ning meet anyone today? Who offended her?"

Qin Xiaoning reported to the Young Master everything that she had said to the Sixth Miss today, as well as Wang Fengyi's visit.

The moon was above the willows, and Qin Xiaoning went to bed. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard the sound of Lu Ji returning. She opened her eyes again, and Lu Ji had come to her bedside.

"Didn't you say you had a lot of official business to attend to? How did you finish it so quickly?" she asked.

Lu Ji said nothing. He took off his cloak, got on the bed, lifted the quilt and hugged the person in his arms.

Qin Xiaoning noticed his abnormality and asked in surprise, "What's wrong? What happened?"

The man lowered his eyes and stared at her, then asked, "You are unhappy today because you met Wang's cousin, right?"

The little girl said nothing.

He asked again: "Is it?"

(End of this chapter)