Chapter 382: Good Fame
After finishing the day's chores, it was already the afternoon. Qin Xiaoning and Li Lanchun came out of the meeting room and went straight to the front yard.

The eldest daughter of the East Mansion is getting married, and the whole mansion has been busy for a while. The family hasn't been together for a long time. Today, the Duke's wife is arranging a reunion dinner.

When Qin Xiaoning and Li Lanchun arrived at Chunxi Hall, everyone from the second house had already arrived. From the first house, only the sixth girl had not arrived yet.

Seeing Qin Xiaoning and Li Lanchun coming in, the second wife smiled and joked with Li Lanchun: "Since Ah Ning came in, Chun'er has a good helper."

Li Lanchun sat down with a smile, and said in a rambling voice: "Second Aunt is telling the truth. Ever since Ah Ning became a wife of the Lu family, I feel much more relaxed. For example, I used to be troubled by these account books, but now that Ah Ning is helping me, I don't have to worry about this anymore."

Although the first and second wives of the mansion lived together, except for some public accounts, the two wives were responsible for their own trivial affairs.

After hearing what Li Lanchun said, Xia Yun couldn't help but sigh, "I really envy my eldest sister-in-law. Now she has someone to help her." Then, she glanced at the fourth son Lu Ning who was sitting down and eating dried fruits, and said to herself, "I just hope that my fourth brother will get married soon, so that I can have someone to discuss things with when I run the household."

The Second Madam hummed when she heard this, "You are still looking forward to the Fourth Prince getting married. Oh! He failed the imperial examination again this autumn. By the time he gets married, I'm afraid it will be too late."

Lu Ning couldn't help but retort, "All those people who failed the imperial examinations have married. Why are you so harsh on me? If I fail the imperial examinations for the rest of my life, will I be alone for the rest of my life?"

"You are such a loser." The second wife rolled her eyes at her son: "Among our children, you are the only one who has no achievements to show for yourself, yet you are not in a hurry and are still thinking about getting married."

The Second Lady spat softly, "Put aside your thoughts. I tell you, if you fail to pass the imperial examination, I won't let you marry a wife, and I won't even let a female mosquito into your room."

Seeing his wife scolding her son, the second master also twitched his beard and agreed, "Fourth son, your mother is right. The reason you fail the exams so many times is obviously because you are too playful and don't study hard enough. You don't study hard, but you still want to get married. If you have a beautiful wife, won't you be even more distracted?"

Seeing his parents coming to scold him, Lu Ning immediately wilted like an eggplant hit by frost.

"Maybe I'm not cut out for studying." After a long while, he hummed like a mosquito, "Otherwise, I'll just follow my second brother and become a martial artist."

"Don't even think about it." The second master slapped the table and said, "You can't even bear the hardship of studying, and you still want to climb ice and snow to join the military. Is it so easy for you to be a military officer?"

"Although the second son is a military officer, he also passed the imperial examination." The second wife rolled her eyes at her son in anger, "You are still comparing yourself with your second brother? He is a successful scholar and a successful warrior. How dare you compare yourself with your second brother?"

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. The Second Lady was praising Lu Ji here, and Lu Ji strode into the room.

It was early winter, and snow was flying outside. A tall man entered the house in the snow. A maid immediately came forward to take off his cloak. The Duke looked at his son with a smile on his face and said, "The new emperor is getting married, and the court must be very busy. It's rare for Ji'er to come back early today."

The maid took off the cloak, and the man raised his hand to straighten the brocade robe inside. Then he raised his eyes to look at his young wife sitting next to the Duke's wife, but the woman was busy talking to the Duke's wife and didn't even glance at him.

"Isn't today a family dinner? I came back early on purpose."

As he spoke, Lu Ji sat down on the chair, and the second master said to his son Lu Ning: "Ning'er, your second brother would have achieved success and fame at your age, and occupied a place in the court. You, you should be more anxious." Lu Ji saw Lu Ning's dusty face and knew that he must have been scolded by the elders again, so he said to the second master: "Second uncle, don't push fourth brother too hard. As the saying goes, everyone has their own ambitions. Although fourth brother didn't pass the exam this time, he may not be able to achieve great things in the future."

"What great things can he accomplish?" Upon hearing this, the second wife rolled her eyes at her son again: "He is always thinking about getting married. Tell me, what great things can such a person who is so greedy for pleasure accomplish?"

Hearing this, Lu Ning muttered, "People my age already have two or three children. What's wrong with me wanting to get married? Besides, my brothers all have good wives, so why do I have to be alone?"

After hearing what Lu Ning said, Lu Ji smiled faintly and said, "What's so good about marrying a wife? Don't be fooled by the fact that those women appear to be virtuous outside. Behind closed doors, they may turn into fierce and ferocious tigresses."

As he spoke, the man glanced at his young wife calmly, but the young woman still didn't even bother to look at him.

She just pretended not to hear his words and not to see him, and just chatted and laughed with others.

Lu Ji couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"I believe what others say, but I don't believe what you say, second brother." Lu Ning said to Lu Ji, "Of course there are arrogant women in the world, but women like my second sister-in-law are the most gentle to others. How can she be fierce to her husband?"

The second wife listened to the conversation between the two brothers and, for once, shared the same opinion as her son: "A Ning is naturally the most gentle woman."

Then he rolled his eyes at his son and said, "As for you, hmph! Even if I marry you in the future, I will find you a strong one who will take good care of you."

Aning is the most gentle.

When Lu Ji heard others praising the little woman, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"The only one missing is the sixth girl." The Duke's wife looked around and said to herself, "This girl has always been the most active. Why is she so late today?"

"Sixth sister went to the Shangshu Mansion to play." Li Lanchun said.

"Did he go to Minister Zhou's house again?" The Duke's wife wondered, "Why does this child always go to Zhou's house recently?"

Li Lanchun was drinking tea when she heard this and replied without thinking, "There are many girls of her age in the Zhou family, and the sixth sister is playful and likes to be lively. She will go to the Zhou Mansion to play with those girls."

As they were talking, the sixth girl, Lu Wanqing, walked into the room.

The little girl is already fifteen years old, just at the age when her beauty is about to blossom. She is wearing a light pink skirt today, which makes her look even more charming.

"Everyone is here. Sorry, sorry, I just came back from outside." The Sixth Miss let the maid take off her cloak and greeted everyone with a smile on her face.