Chapter 370 I Should Grow Up

The next day, Qin Xiaoning slept until the sun was high in the sky before she opened her eyes. Song Zhi came in to help her get up and said in a low voice, "The prince has returned to court."

Before the new emperor took power, Lu Ji had to attend court before dawn. After court, he had to go to the imperial study to review memorials and meet with court officials. There was always endless political affairs to do.

Qin Xiaoning wondered: "Why did you come back so early? Where is he?"

As he was speaking, Lu Ji had already pushed the door and entered the inner room. His wife had just woken up and was still in a sleepy and lazy state, but when she saw him, a smile immediately appeared on her rosy little face.

Lu Ji came to the bed and sat down. He raised his hand and took a piece of clothing to put on his wife, saying, "You slept soundly."

Qin Xiaoning could hear something strange from the man's simple words.

She raised her hand to rub her blurry eyes and looked at the man: "What's wrong? Is there anything wrong?"

The little woman had smooth black hair and a pink glow on her fair face. She looked lazy and pure, as if she was always ignorant of the world.

Lu Ji looked at her and sighed slightly: "Those dogs and slaves have bullied you, and you can still act like nothing happened?"

This time, Qin Xiaoning finally understood why the man was acting strangely. She glanced at the man's handsome face which was tense due to anger, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"You are so heartless." Lu Ji raised his hand and pinched her ear: "You can still laugh?"

Qin Xiaoning slightly restrained her smile, looked up at the man, and said to herself: "What do you want from me? If someone says a few gossips about me behind my back or says a few indirect insults to my face, will I be so angry that I won't eat or drink?"

When Lu Ji mentioned the servants' disrespect to his wife, he gritted his teeth in hatred and pointed out to Qin Xiaoning, "You are my wife, the legitimate master of this mansion. If any blind servant dares to treat you badly, you should order them to be driven out or beaten to death."

Qin Xiaoning frowned when she heard this: "More than half of the servants in this mansion don't regard me as their real master. Even if they are respectful to me on the surface, I'm afraid they look down on me in their hearts. If I follow your method of beating and killing, I'm afraid half of the servants in this mansion will be killed by me."

"That's not what I meant." Lu Ji instructed his wife, "I'm warning you that you need to establish your authority in front of the servants."

"Otherwise, they might think you are weak and can be bullied." The man snorted.

The man had been the most noble and honorable son of a duke's mansion since he was born. He had always been respected and admired. How could he tolerate the contempt of those humble people? Naturally, he could not tolerate the servant's attitude and behavior towards Qin Xiaoning.

Qin Xiaoning could understand this.

She began to put on her clothes and replied casually, "I know what you said."

The man took the clothes from her hand and helped her put them on himself, but his tone was still filled with anger as he taught his wife one sentence after another: "Don't be embarrassed. If anyone dares to disrespect you, tell me if you can't do it. I'll take care of it."

"No need," she replied.

Seeing the little woman's stubbornness, the man lowered his tone and said, "You are my wife, shouldn't I stand up for you?"

From childhood to adulthood, whenever someone bullied her, the man would always stand up for her, but things are different now. Qin Xiaoning looked at Lu Ji, and said to him in a serious tone: "I am your wife now, the regent princess, Lu Ji, I can no longer rely on you in everything like before, I am the princess, I should be strong."

"So strong that you are bullied by your slaves, huh?"

Lu Ji was amused when he heard this. He looked at her with his deep eyes and said with a doting tone: "You are a child who never grows up in my eyes. I must protect you everywhere."

Qin Xiaoning shook her head: "Lu Ji, I'm already grown up. I'm your wife now. Since I'm a wife, I should grow up."

Seeing that Lu Ji was about to refute, he raised his hand to cover his mouth: "Listen to what I have to say."

She said to him, "I'm marrying you. Not only the servants in the mansion, but also the noble ladies outside are all thinking of making fun of me. Lu Ji, am I going to get so angry about this that I lose myself and beat people up for it? Will this change people's opinion of me? Will they think I'm worthy of being your princess and stop making fun of me?"

The man frowned when he heard this, and said nothing more, but just hugged his little wife with heartache.

The little woman leaned into his arms and continued, "Lu Ji, I have the confidence to be a good wife of a noble family, but I need time. Let's take it slowly."

Lu Ji raised his hand and stroked her back, muttering, "I can't bear you to suffer such injustice."

"I don't think this is wronged. Although they look down on me, as long as I can look up to myself, I don't feel wronged." She raised her head in his arms and looked at the man with bright eyes: "Lu Ji, I believe that I will gradually become stronger, and I will make everyone dare not look down on me anymore."

"Dignity is something you have to earn yourself," she said.

Today marks the one-month anniversary of Qin Xiaoning and Lu Ji's marriage, commonly known as the full moon. According to etiquette, they would invite the female relatives to their house for a drink and a small gathering.

Li Lanchun had sent out invitations to the banquet a few days ago. After breakfast, she was about to call her maid to come in to change her clothes and go out to check on the banquet, but she was stopped by her personal Nanny Fu.

"You didn't get much sleep last night. It's rare that you postponed today's work. Why don't you take a good rest?"

Mentioning what happened last night, Li Lanchun was still furious. She raised her hand and rubbed her throbbing forehead: "Today is the full moon of my second brother's wedding. How can I feel at ease if I don't go over to see him?"

Aunt Fu snorted when she heard this: "I don't think that little princess is a good person."

Before Aunt Fu could finish, Li Lanchun interrupted her and said, "Aunt, please don't be like this. Ah Ning is not that kind of person. How could she do such a thing? This is all because of the shamelessness of that little girl. It has nothing to do with Ah Ning."

"My dear aunt, you are too straightforward." Aunt Fu frowned and said, "If she was really a good person, how could she seduce the prince to marry her? I have lived for a long time, but this is the first time I have seen a woman of such a background climb to the position of the principal wife, and the lofty position of the princess."

Li Lanchun was amused by the old lady's words: "Second brother has been in love with Ning for a long time. They grew up together as childhood sweethearts. How can others compare to their love? You know second brother's character. Who can stop him from doing what he has decided on?"

Li Lanchun defended Qin Xiaoning: "Is it a woman's fault to be loved by a man?"

"The prince likes her, but we have no right to interfere." Nanny Fu snorted coldly, "It's just that she encouraged the little maid to seduce the son-in-law, which is a sinister intention."