Chapter 346 Not happy
In Shulan Garden.

It was already late autumn, but the flower hall was still full of flowers. The lady loved flowers, and at this moment, she was holding a pair of silver scissors, standing gracefully and steadily among the flowers, trimming the delicate flowers.

Although the lady is over seventy years old, her demeanor is still graceful and elegant, without the slightest sign of hunchback.

A well-dressed second-class maid came in and whispered something to a long-faced maid guarding the door. The maid came over and stood beside the flowers, and replied to the graceful old woman in the flowers: "Madam, the prince and princess have gone back."

The show of force just now was done intentionally by the old lady. After the old woman reported the truth, she looked up at the old lady's reaction. The old lady said nothing when she heard it.

She seemed not to have heard anything and continued to prune the branches slowly and leisurely. When the old nanny saw this, she also shut her mouth and stood respectfully by the side with her hands hanging down.

After a long while, the lady slowly came out from the bushes and told the maidservant beside her: "Send the pot of green peonies I trimmed today to the Wang family and give it to Miss Sanbiao."

The third cousin that the lady mentioned was Wang Fengyi.

After the maid took the flower pot and left, the lady put down the silver scissors in her hand, walked out of the flowers with steady steps, and sat down on the soft chair in the flower hall.

The old maid hurriedly handed over the hot tea and whispered, "Just now the princess waited at the gate for half an hour. I heard from the gatekeeper that although she was turned away, the princess was not angry."

The lady drank the hot tea carefully, and then slowly spoke: "Even if she is angry, she hides it in her heart, how can she let you see it."

"You are right." The old nanny agreed quickly, "That little girl grew up in the mansion. I underestimated her in the past. I didn't expect that the prince would be so fascinated by her. You can tell me, he didn't marry his third cousin who is so outstanding in every way, but he just couldn't let her go. Tsk tsk, it can be seen that this little girl is really not an easy person to deal with."

The daughter of Wang of Langya was the most noble woman in the world. The always aloof lady was naturally unhappy that her niece's granddaughter was humiliated by her own grandson.

Although she was unwilling to accept this, the Madam would not show it so obviously. When she heard her trusted nanny say this, she put down the teacup in her hand, took a long look at her, and the old nanny immediately shut up.

After a long while, the lady spoke again. She nonchalantly pointed at the various flowers and plants in front of her. Her slow and leisurely tone did not reveal any emotion. "Everything has its own destiny. Take flowers, for example. The peony is born to be the mother of the world. It has a noble destiny. Look at the peony. Although its color is not inferior to that of the peony, it is still charming. It can be placed on the side as a foil, but it can never be the protagonist. Even if someone moves it to the main position on a whim, it will not be able to dominate the scene. Sooner or later, it will be replaced."

"You are right." The old lady beside him echoed: "It is the same with flowers and people."

The lady said nothing more, but just snorted inaudibly.

The next day, after sending Lu Ji to the morning court, Qin Xiaoning went to the front yard as usual.

No matter how old the lady is, the wife of the Duke and the second wife are her daughters-in-law. According to the rules, the grandchildren's daughters-in-law only need to pay their respects to them on a daily basis. Things like personal service and filial piety should be done by the wife of the Duke and the second wife. The daughters-in-law of each room and courtyard should serve their own mother-in-law. This is the rule of the noble families.

Therefore, the person Qin Xiaoning faces most in daily life is the Duke's wife.

Today, Qin Xiaoning arrived earlier than yesterday. When she walked to the gate of Chunxi Hall with Songzhi, she happened to run into Li Lanchun.

Qin Xiaoning stopped and bowed to Li Lanchun to greet her, "Sister-in-law, why are you here so early today?" Li Lanchun was the one who was in charge of the household, and the Duke's wife was not the kind of person who was fussy and seldom used rules to restrict her daughter-in-law, so Li Lanchun usually came to the Duke's wife only after he had finished the important affairs of the mansion.

Li Lanchun stepped forward quickly, helped Qin Xiaoning up, and said quickly, "You are my second brother. You came to look for me early in the morning and asked me to come here early to accompany you to pay respects to mother."

This Lu Ji, I already told him a lot about this matter yesterday, but this guy just wouldn't let it go.

Seeing Qin Xiaoning frowning, Li Lanchun patted her hands and said, "Don't blame your second brother. He is also eager to protect you."

Qin Xiaoning smiled faintly: "I know how much he loves me, but the more he does this, the more unhappy his mother will be."

When Li Lanchun heard this, she said hurriedly, "Aning is a wise person."

"Mother, she is either mad at you or at my second brother."

Li Lanchun paused, sighed, and said helplessly: "This second brother has always been opinionated since he was young, always making aunt angry. Tell me, he actually hid this important matter of marriage from my parents, how can aunt put her face? Oh, how can aunt not be angry with him?"

Qin Xiaoning lowered her eyes upon hearing this and whispered, "It's true that mother is not to blame for being angry. This matter is definitely our fault."

Hearing Qin Xiaoning taking the blame, Li Lanchun hurriedly advised: "A Ning, don't think too much. This was all done by your second brother. With his temper, who can persuade him once he has made up his mind? Mother won't blame you. In fact, she has always liked you. It's just that she can't get over it right now." Li Lanchun patted Qin Xiaoning's hand: "Don't worry, just take your time."

After being comforted by Li Lanchun, Qin Xiaoning smiled faintly: "I will listen to my sister-in-law."

The gentle tone and docile and pleasant appearance make people like him at first sight.

"Let's go." Li Lanchun said cheerfully, "I'll go in with you."

It was still early, but when the two sisters-in-law entered the main house, the Duke had already gone out and the Duchess was still inside washing and dressing.

When Nanny Yu saw the two sisters-in-law coming together, she hurriedly asked them to sit down and told the maid to serve them fragrant tea. As the maid had just brought the tea, the Duke's wife came out from the inner room.

She was wearing a dark purple outfit today, her hair was tied up in a neat bun, and she was not wearing any jewelry.

Although the wife of the Duke is a woman over fifty years old, she still exudes an imposing heroic spirit even with this outfit.

"Mother, do you want to practice martial arts today?" Li Lanchun asked when she saw this.

"Let's go horse racing." The Duke's wife sat down on the chair, took the fragrant tea handed to her by Nanny Yu, took a sip, and said, "I haven't gone horse racing for a while. While the weather is good, I plan to go out for some fresh air today."