Chapter 61 I hate it most when people turn their backs on me

He glared at her with a sneer on his face: "What? You want to control me, huh?"

Qin Xiaoning smiled faintly, met his angry gaze, and replied: "You are a noble prince, how dare I interfere?"

Seeing that she was deliberately trying to annoy him, Lu Ji snorted coldly and shook off her hand, "I'm glad you know."

He had a defiant attitude and didn't care about her mood at all.

Knowing that he had a bad temper, Qin Xiaoning didn't force him and turned away. This time he didn't stop her.

Qin Xiaoning returned to her back porch and was just about to undress and go to bed when she heard the door being pushed open with a bang and Lu Ji walked straight in.

His face was gloomy and his aura was terrifying.

Qin Xiaoning glanced at him, said nothing, and bent down to tidy up her own quilt.

Lu Ji stared at her with a cold face for a long time, and then he scolded her in a cold voice: "I hate it most when people give me the cold shoulder."

Qin Xiaoning paused her busy hands, didn't turn around to look at him, and replied calmly: "There are women outside who will greet the prince with a smile. You are not short of money, just go and spend money to buy smiles."

"Shut up!"

His face turned pale with anger at these words. He took three or two steps towards her and suddenly grabbed her slender wrist with such force that Qin Xiaoning gasped in pain.

Seeing her in pain, he showed no sympathy and scolded her coldly, "Qin Xiaoning, am I being too indulgent to you, making you too proud to know what's going on?"

She knew that if she confronted him head-on, she would suffer the consequences. Seeing that he was getting angrier, she stopped talking back and just slapped her wrist hard, which he was holding tightly.

"let me go."

Because she was holding her breath, there was unconscious impatience in her voice. Seeing this, Lu Ji held her tighter. Qin Xiaoning couldn't bear the pain and couldn't help but shed tears.

"It hurts--" She sniffed and choked.

Seeing this, Lu Ji loosened his hand, let her go, and snorted angrily, "You really don't know what's good for you."

After saying that, he left her behind and walked away.

Qin Xiaoning rubbed her wrist which was sore from his grip, turned around and locked the door from the inside, then extinguished the candle and went to bed.

Today was a full moon, the moonlight was bright, shadows were lingering, and the bright moonlight reflected in the room made her feel inexplicably upset.

She got up again and pulled the curtains tightly. She didn't go back to bed until the room was plunged into darkness.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to sleep at all. Tears kept flowing out. She raised her hand to wipe them away, forcing herself to hold back her grievances. She counted sheep silently in her heart, but the more she counted, the clearer her mind became. She couldn't fall asleep.

The next day, Qin Xiaoning looked at herself in the mirror and found that there was a black area under her eyes. After washing her face, she applied thick powder to cover the area under her eyes, and then went out with her school bag.

When she passed by the main house, she subconsciously glanced inside. It was still early, but the house was empty.

Song Zhi came out of the back room yawning, and when he saw Qin Xiaoning, he looked surprised: "Why are you up so early?"

"It's summer now, I'm not used to being lazy in bed." Qin Xiaoning said perfunctorily, glancing at the empty main room and asked, "When did the prince leave?"

"Si'er was on guard last night, and I just heard her say that the prince left before dawn. Look, Si'er went back to her room early to catch up on her sleep." Songzhi asked in confusion, "Didn't you sleep with the prince last night?"

"I sleep in my own room."

Qin Xiaoning said as she walked out. Song Zhi asked from behind, "You're going to the private school so early? The bird's nest porridge is almost ready, don't you want to eat it?"

Qin Xiaoning didn't look back, replied "I don't want to eat anymore", and went to the private school with her school bag.

Today, she was the first to arrive. Qin Xiaoning practiced writing on five sheets of rice paper before the other girls came one after another.

Recently, there are several more daughters of wealthy families joining the private school.

They said they came for the benefit of the teachers at the government girls' school, but what their real purpose was, probably only they themselves knew.

Miss Li, the Minister of Industry, greeted Qin Xiaoning warmly as soon as she entered the room: "Sister Qin, you came so early today."

These noble ladies were good at behaving themselves. Although they all had the idea of ​​marrying Lu Ji in their hearts, they all appeared to be very kind to her on the surface.

Qin Xiaoning smiled faintly at Miss Li: "Good morning to you too."

Miss Li came over to look at her handwriting and said casually, "I heard from the teacher that Sister Qin's handwriting is somewhat similar to that of the Lu family's young master. My brother is the chief priest of the Imperial Academy, and he often praises the Lu family's young master for his good handwriting."

These noble ladies would turn to Lu Ji after talking to her for just a few words.

The girl is thinking about love, and a man like Lu Ji, who is born with a good appearance, can most arouse the girl's heart. Qin Xiaoning is used to it after being pestered by him so many times. If it were normal days, she could be patient and say a few perfunctory words, but today, she has lost her patience.

"People who write well usually have bad tempers." Qin Xiaoning replied without thinking.

Miss Li suddenly froze when she heard this nonsense. She didn't know what the usually gentle Miss Qin meant by this nonsense. She smiled awkwardly and said, "Where did Miss Qin hear this?"

“I figured it out myself.”

Qin Xiaoning put away the rice paper and said, "It's boring. I won't practice anymore."

Qin Xiaoning has always been gentle. Miss Li saw that she suddenly got angry and didn't understand why, so she had to leave in anger.
-
In the Anju Hall of the public mansion.

The weather was still good. The Duke's wife changed into tight clothes and was about to take her sword to the backyard to practice kung fu when Li Lanchun came in with the third lady.

Because of the incident involving Qilang of the East Palace, the relationship between the two palaces was affected to some extent. The Third Madam was very concerned about her reputation, and ever since she was rudely contradicted by Lu Ji in the royal palace last time, she has not had any contact with the West Palace.

The Duke's wife was surprised to see the Third Lady suddenly come to her house today.

"Are you free today, Third Sister-in-law? I haven't seen you for a while. I was thinking of going to the West Mansion to see you in a couple of days."

The two families had the closest relationship in the entire clan. Having lived to this age and having been the mistress of the family for most of her life, she was very clear-headed and naturally knew that a harmonious family would prosper and that everyone would prosper and everyone would suffer together. Since the Third Lady could come to visit without holding grudges, the Duke's wife would naturally welcome her warmly.

The Third Madam smiled and replied, "I miss my sister-in-law too. There have been too many disturbances in the mansion recently. Today I finally have some free time, so I took the time to come and see you."

The Duke's wife was a straightforward person. Seeing that the Third Lady was trying to ease the situation, she did not act pretentiously and said bluntly, "A while ago in the palace, Ji'er contradicted you. It was my fault for not educating my son well."

"It's all in the past, why bring it up again." The Third Madam was not someone who didn't know what was going on. After hearing the Duke's wife mention it, she said helplessly, "There was a lot of trouble in our two mansions a while ago. In the end, it was all because of the Fourth Wife's ignorance. I don't blame Ji'er. Let's just let it go. Don't hold a grudge against us, Sister-in-law."

Upon hearing this, the Duke's wife said cheerfully, "We are all family. Since my sister-in-law can let bygones be bygones, I will naturally not care about it anymore."

The Third Lady knew that the Duke's wife was a generous person, so after a while of greeting, she went straight to the point: "Sister-in-law, I came here today to ask you for a favor."

"You said."

The Third Madam hesitated for a moment and said, "My third cousin, the daughter of Prince Xian, Princess Huayang, wants to study in our private school."

(End of this chapter)