Chapter 366 Climbing 1
When Qin Xiaoning and Li Lanchun came out of the front yard, the full moon had already risen in the sky. The two sisters-in-law walked back, talking and laughing all the way. Halfway through, they saw Li Lanchun's maid coming towards them.

"Xiaohong, what's the matter?" The person who came was Li Lanchun's personal maid. If something hadn't happened in the yard, she wouldn't have rushed over.

The maid Xiaohong stopped and first glanced at Qin Xiaoning beside her, then she moved closer to Li Lanchun and replied, "It's the eldest master who wants to see you back."

"Isn't your husband busy with government affairs in the study?" Li Lanchun saw the maid's unusual expression and immediately became suspicious. She couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's going on? It's worth hiding."

Knowing that her mistress was impatient, the maid named Xiaohong still did not say anything. She just glanced at Qin Xiaoning again and replied, "Grandma will understand when she returns."

"What's going on? Why can't you tell me?" Li Lanchun complained impatiently, and then said to Qin Xiaoning: "Then I'll go back first. I'll tell you in detail about the account management later."

The two said goodbye and went to their own yards.

Before Qin Xiaoning walked into Qingsong Garden, she saw a familiar figure standing at the gate of the garden waiting from afar.

It was Lu Ji.

Qin Xiaoning quickened her pace and rushed towards Lu Ji, while Lu Ji also strode towards his young wife.

"Why did you come back so late?" The man's handsome face was filled with worry, and his facial lines were tense: "What did your mother say to you?"

There was also worry in his tone.

Qin Xiaoning took the man's arm and said, "Mother asked me to come over to discuss the matter of my eldest sister entering the palace."

"Why did mother come to you for this matter? You don't understand those red tapes." The man's deep gaze was focused on the face of the person beside him, and there was doubt in his words.

The two have known each other since childhood, so how could Qin Xiaoning not know what he was thinking.

"Mother did ask me to come over to hear about my eldest sister's entry into the palace." She looked at the man and secretly glared at him: "She is your biological mother, why do you always doubt her and embarrass me?"

"Mother is not such a stingy person." Qin Xiaoning stopped and said to the man, "Don't always wrongly accuse mother. It's hurtful."

The man still didn't believe it: "I know my mother is not a stingy person, but even if she doesn't have this intention, there may be people around her who like to stir up trouble."

"No." Qin Xiaoning looked at the man and said confidently, "There are gentlemen around my mother, not the villains you mentioned."

The man glanced at the serious look of the little woman and couldn't help laughing: "Oh! How can you be so sure?"

Then he teased, "Did your mother give you any benefit?"

Qin Xiaoning glared at him: "What benefits do you mean?"

Lu Ji smiled faintly, his tone still teasing: "For example, rewarding you with gold, silver, jewelry, etc."

Before he could finish, Qin Xiaoning rolled her eyes and said, "I am a princess now, after all. Am I so blind that I can be bribed by money?"

"That's hard to say." The man teased her deliberately: "I remember that my mother's golden hairpin made someone so happy that he didn't know which way was which."

The first time the Duke's wife met her, she gave her the big golden hairpin on her head. At that time, Qin Xiaoning had just become Lu Ji's concubine and had to save money for future troubles, so she was naturally greedy for money.

"What the hell?" Seeing the man bringing up the past, the little woman would not admit it. She said stubbornly, "Even then, I was grateful for my mother's kindness, not for the gold hairpin." After that, she let go of the man and went into the main hall. Lu Ji followed him. After entering the house, the man personally took off his cloak for his wife and asked again, "Did mother really go to you to discuss the matter of my eldest sister entering the palace?"

Qin Xiaoning took the hot tea handed to her by the maid, drank it by herself, and said casually: "Believe it or not."

The man glanced at the little woman's coquettish look and couldn't help but curl his lips.

After she finished her tea, she looked up at him with a little pride on her face: "Mother also said that she would let my sister-in-law teach me how to manage the household."

Lu Ji frowned when he heard this: "You are still pregnant."

Before he could finish, the little woman interrupted him and said, "It's just learning first. I will naturally do it according to my ability."

Lu Ji frowned and said, "So, mother has completely accepted you."

"Of course." The little woman was even more proud, her almond eyes full of joy: "I have always been likable, you know that."

The little thing is naturally likable, gentle, able to read people's expressions, and has a clever tongue. If she wants to please someone, she always succeeds.

Lu Ji smiled and took her into his arms, and asked her jokingly, "People outside say that you are gentle and polite, so why do you always act like a spoiled child and be so petty with me?"

The little woman blinked: "Most of the time, I am gentle to you."

"That's just to please you." Lu Ji snorted coldly: "If I don't do what you want, you will turn against me faster than turning the pages of a book."

Why does this man always bring up old things?

That secret escape must have left him with a psychological trauma, which he always feels resentful about, and he would always bring it up and talk about it to her in a petty way.

Seeing that the man was about to become a resentful husband again, the little woman's soft lips came up and kissed him gently, her tone also as gentle as water: "To others, it's only 30% true and 70% pretending, but to you, I have given all my heart."

The man's face was tense at first, but after a while, he relaxed. He bent down, picked up the person, and strode into the inner room.

That night, Qin Xiaoning was thinking about learning how to manage the household from Li Lanchun, and the next day she got up early for the first time ever.

Lu Ji went to court before dawn every day. Song Zhi heard the noise and went into the inner room. Seeing Qin Xiaoning had already stood up, she hurried forward to serve him and asked, "Why are you here so early today?"

Qin Xiaoning tied up her hair and said, "I'm going to the front hall to check the accounts with my sister-in-law."

Hearing Qin Xiaoning mention Li Lanchun, Songzhi's face changed. Qin Xiaoning was always perceptive. She stopped what she was doing and turned to ask, "What's wrong?"

Songzhi was changing Qin Xiaoning's clothes while sighing, "There was a commotion at Zhilanju last night."

Zhilanju is the courtyard where the eldest son and Li Lanchun currently live.

When Song Zhi said this, Qin Xiaoning immediately recalled the way Li Lanchun's maid was hiding when she came to look for her yesterday. She asked, "What's the matter? Is it related to me?"

Songzhi was stunned when he heard this: "I haven't told you yet, how did you guess it?"

Qin Xiaoning smiled bitterly: "I have been living under someone else's roof since I was a child, so naturally I am more sensitive than others."