Chapter 37 You are not our family?
In the afternoon, the mansion's chief steward, Madam Deng, came to Qingsong Garden.

Everyone in the mansion knew Nanny Deng. She was the most capable woman around the Madam Dowager and was very respected in the mansion.

Qin Xiaoning politely welcomed the person in. Before Madam Deng could speak, she said, "Madam, you are here to give me contraceptive medicine, right?"

On the second day of being with Lu Ji, Qin Xiaoning asked someone to report to Nanny Deng, who was in charge of the contraceptives of the concubines in the mansion. Before the mistress came into the house, the concubines had to take contraceptive pills.

This is the unshakable rule in the upper class.

The family tradition of the Duke's Mansion is upright. Among the Duke's generation, only the second wife took a concubine for her husband. Among the young masters, there are four brothers in the first and second wives. The eldest and third sons got married early, so naturally they did not need concubines. The fourth son is not yet twenty years old and has no concubines in his room. Only Lu Ji is already in his prime, and his marriage was delayed in the past few years because he was away on the battlefield. Only then did the Duke's wife allow him to take a concubine.

Because there were few concubines in the mansion, Nanny Deng was also idle and had not done such things for a long time. Most of the concubines she met in the past were unwilling to drink the medicine. They had no choice but to do it unwillingly and aggrievedly. She had heard that the prince doted on this concubine, who was favored but not arrogant, and had a clear mind, which made Nanny Deng look up to her.

Nanny Deng reached out and took out a bowl of medicine from the food box carried by the attendant. It was a fine white-glazed porcelain bowl filled with pitch-black medicinal juice.

The young woman in front of him was gentle and well-behaved. Although she was already a married woman, her big eyes were still pure and ignorant of the world. It was hard not to feel pity for her when people saw her.

No wonder she caught the eye of that cold and aloof prince.

When Nanny Deng handed the bowl of medicine to Qin Xiaoning, she hesitated for a moment, but after the delicate young woman took it, she drank it all without a second thought.

So good.

So well-behaved that it makes people feel distressed.

Aunt Deng quickly handed her some hot tea: "Drink it quickly to relieve the bitterness."

Qin Xiaoning has always been afraid of hardship. Whenever she was sick and had to take medicine, she had to be watched and forced by Lu Ji before she could drink it.

The bitter medicine went down her throat and into her stomach. The bitter taste made her frown tightly. She took the tea handed to her by Nanny Deng and drank several sips in succession before she felt better.

Aunt Deng looked at the young girl's delicate appearance and felt sorry for her. She was worried about her young age. She looked calm on the surface, but she was worried inside. She advised her gently, "It will be good to drink the medicine. If you really get pregnant, you will have to have an abortion, which is very painful."

Qin Xiaoning replied crisply: "Mammy, I know all this. From now on, I will have to trouble you to bring it to me every day."

She didn't want to get pregnant.

The prince was at an age of vigor and vitality, and he only had this concubine by his side, so he was naturally pampered. Nanny Deng told her, "You don't have to drink it every day. This medicine is a secret recipe from the palace. Just drink it once a month."

Qin Xiaoning smiled innocently when she heard this: "That's great! If I have to drink this bitter medicine every day, it would be really hard."

Others were looking forward to having a child, so they were unwilling to drink it. However, this silly girl knew that she disliked the bitterness of the medicine. Nanny Deng smiled helplessly, patted her hands and said, "There is another benefit of this medicine, which is that it does not harm a woman's foundation at all." Then, she said to Qin Xiaoning meaningfully, "The prince likes you so much. When the mistress comes home and gives birth to a legitimate child in the future, you can still get pregnant and will not be affected by this medicine at all."

After seeing off Madam Deng, Qin Xiaoning returned to the corridor and saw several maids chattering around the little rabbit that Lu Ji had caught last time. Qin Xiaoning walked over and asked, "What's wrong?"

The maid Si'er said, "Sister Qin, come and have a look. Snowball's belly has become so big." Then, she pulled Qin Xiaoning over and whispered, "Its belly has become so big, it must be pregnant with a bunny."

The little rabbit is snow-white all over, and Qin Xiaoning calls it Snowball.

The maids were young and didn't know much. How could the rabbit be pregnant when it was locked in a cage all day? It was hard to explain to these little brats. Qin Xiaoning looked at the rabbit and said, "You fed it too much again. I've told you many times not to feed it too much. It's very greedy. If you feed it too much, it will die easily."

As he spoke, he leaned over and opened the rabbit cage: "Let it stroll around the yard to help it digest its food."

Ever since receiving Lu Ji's advice last time, Qin Xiaoning didn't dare to feed the rabbit too much. She only gave it half a carrot for each meal. Sure enough, the little rabbit was not killed this time.

Don't be too greedy. This is true for rabbits and humans alike.

Qin Xiaoning was walking her rabbit in the yard with her maids when Amber came over and told her that the wife of the Duke wanted to take all the young men and girls in the mansion to the villa to enjoy the flowers and drink wine as the peach blossom forest in the spring was beautiful, and asked Qin Xiaoning to go with them.

In the evening, when Lu Ji returned, Qin Xiaoning told him about this and asked, "Hubo said that the Duke's wife asked me to go with her. Do you think it's appropriate for me to go?"

Lu Ji asked back: "What's inappropriate?"

Qin Xiaoning smiled and replied, "I heard that apart from the people in our family, there is only one fifth lady who is considered an outsider."

Judging from the situation, this should be a family gathering of the eldest wife's family. Although the fifth daughter of the second wife's family is there, she was probably asked to go along because she is the same age as the sixth daughter. She is just a concubine, and it seems a bit out of place for her to attend such an occasion.

Lu Ji glanced at her and asked, "Aren't you a member of our family?"

Yes and no.

In this world, concubines cannot be included in the main family tree. They have to be listed in the secondary tree and can only be considered half family members.

Glancing at Lu Ji's gloomy face, she said nothing more. He was a very domineering man, and if she pestered him too much, he would blame her for being pretentious.

"If you let me go, then I'll go with you." She looked at him obediently and replied.

He liked her to follow him the most, gentle and docile like a little bird. Seeing this, Lu Ji immediately had a good look on his face. He put one big hand around her slender waist and stroked her delicate cheek with the other hand. His tone was gentle and doting: "You are mine. You don't have to be so cautious outside."

She looked up at her with a smile in her eyes and asked in a joking tone, "If I am not careful, what should I do if someone accuses me of being spoiled?"

Lu Ji raised his eyebrows slightly: "You are afraid of this and that all day long, but you don't know the key. If you want to live comfortably in this mansion, in fact, you just need to serve me well. With this prince backing you up, who dares to make things difficult for you?"

Glancing at his burning gaze, she naturally knew what he meant. She pretended to be confused and replied in a low voice, "Could it be that I didn't serve him well enough?"

He was happy, leaned close to her ear, and said hoarsely: "Don't cry all the time."

She frowned and glared at him, "Who told you to be so careless?"

The more delicate she was, the more he couldn't control himself, and he would make her cry every time. Seeing her wronged, he felt distressed. He was obviously trying to restrain himself, but the more she cried, the more he couldn't control himself.

"Be gentle tonight." He gently bit her pink ear lip and coaxed her hoarsely.

Who would believe it if you say this every time?

(End of this chapter)