Chapter 9: This Child is Nothing More Than an Illegitimate Bastard

Qi Yuning couldn't help but recall the scene Lingling had described; the tips of her ears flushed faintly, taking a good while to subside.

Qi Yuning brought Lingling to the side gate of the Prince's Mansion.

Lu Ze was already standing at the side gate of the Princess's Mansion. Upon seeing Qi Yuning, he said, "Princess Consort, you sought me?"

"Father, it's Lingling who sought you. Every time night falls, Father's eyes only have Mother; there's no Lingling anymore."

Lingling spoke in a soft, childish voice, looking resigned, as if long accustomed to it.

Upon hearing this, both Qi Yuning and Lu Ze shifted their gazes away from each other.

Lu Ze said, "Father's eyes do have Lingling in them."

Lingling opened her arms, wanting Lu Ze to hold her. "Father, hug."

Lu Ze took Lingling into his arms, looking at her little face under the candlelight. "Actually, Lingling's mouth looks more like the Princess Consort's."

Qi Yuning said, "Lingling, now that you've seen Father, can you go home and sleep?"

Lingling said, "Father and Mother sleep together."

The tips of Qi Yuning's ears burned even more fiercely. "No!"

Lingling said, "Father and Mother used to sleep together all the time. Why can't you sleep together today?"

Lu Ze coughed lightly.

Qi Yuning said, "It's just not allowed."

Lingling blinked her eyes. "Then Mother and Father kiss. After you kiss, Lingling will go to sleep, okay?"

Seeing Lingling's little head nodding off, looking like she was about to fall asleep, Lu Ze kissed her on the cheek.

Lingling said, "Not kiss Lingling. Mother and Father kiss each other!"

Qi Yuning looked at Lu Ze, seeing him looking back at her. "Lord Lu, you tell Lingling why not."

Lu Ze had always been eloquent, but at this moment, he didn't know how to explain to a three-year-old child why her originally loving parents could no longer be affectionate.

Lingling was about to fall asleep but still forced herself to stay awake, insisting on her parents kissing.

Qi Yuning couldn't help but resent her and Lu Ze from six years later. How could those two be intimate without avoiding the child? Weren't they afraid of corrupting the kid?

Fortunately, it was Lingling who couldn't hold on first and fell asleep.

Qi Yuning reached out to take Lingling from Lu Ze's arms. As she took the sleeping child, their hands brushed unexpectedly. Qi Yuning only felt Lu Ze's hand was scorching hot.

Lu Ze also felt a chill at his fingertips. He coughed and said, "Princess Consort, I have retracted the verbal marriage agreement with the Guan family."

"You retracting the engagement with the Guan family—what does that have to do with this Princess Consort?"

Qi Yuning carried Lingling inside, just about to close the side gate, when Lu Ze's hand blocked the door.

"Princess Consort, Lingling is also my daughter. In the future, can you take Lingling for the first ten days of the month, I take her for the middle ten days, and for the last ten days, we see where Lingling herself wants to stay? How about that?"

Qi Yuning hadn't expected Lu Ze to make this request. "No."

Lu Ze gazed into Qi Yuning's eyes. "Why?"

Qi Yuning said, "Your Lu family humiliated me so..."

"Today, didn't the Princess Consort say that after kneeling, you would let it go?"

Qi Yuning now understood why Lu Ze had been willing to kneel just now. "This Princess Consort will consider it."

Lu Ze lowered his eyes to look at the child sleeping peacefully in Qi Yuning's arms. "Good."

Qi Yuning returned to the Prince's Mansion. The orchid scent at the tip of her nose only then dissipated. Lu Ze, a man, for some reason, liked to use this incense.

Lu Ze watched Qi Yuning's figure go inside, then turned and returned to the Princess's Mansion.

...

When Qi Yuning woke up, she saw Lingling was already awake. Seeing her wake, Lingling smiled and said, "Mother, where is Nanny? It's been so long since Lingling saw Nanny."

Qi Yuning thought, if Lingling wanted Father she could still find him, but where would she go to find Nanny?

The Nanny from two years later—where was she now?

So Qi Yuning rubbed Lingling's head. "Nanny has matters at home. From now on, Mother will take Lingling out to play."

Lingling smiled sweetly. "Wonderful! Mother and Father accompany Lingling together!"

Qi Yuning asked, "Does Lingling like Mother more, or Father more?"

Lingling froze, scratching her little head. "Like both the same."

Qi Yuning asked, "What if you can only choose one?"

Lingling lowered her head, tears welling in her eyes. "Lingling likes both Mother and Father very much. Lingling can't choose."

Qi Yuning was terrified of Lingling's little tears and hurriedly wiped them away. "Don't cry, don't cry. How about Mother takes you to buy clothes and jewelry today?"

Lingling smiled. "Okay."

After Qi Yuning washed up and ate, she led Lingling by the hand to Xuanwu Street.

The autumn day was perfect. The streets were bustling with people. Qi Yuning leading a little girl onto the street caused the news to spread throughout the capital, Shengjing, in less than a quarter of an hour.

Inside Yunyi Pavilion, the largest silk shop in Shengjing, several noblewomen selecting fabrics refused to believe the rumors.

"It's true! This servant saw it with her own eyes and heard it with her own ears. The little girl next to Princess Consort Qi called her Mother!"

"Princess Consort Qi was just jilted. How can she have a daughter by her side?"

While the ladies were puzzling over this, they saw the controversial Qi Yuning enter Yunyi Pavilion. She was indeed leading a delicate, jade-carved little girl by the hand.

Madam Qin, the Duchess of the State, saw the little girl's appearance and was extremely shocked. This child... how did she look so much like Lu Ze? "Princess Consort Qi."

Qi Yuning glanced indifferently at Madam Qin and nodded. "Duchess."

Madam Qin looked at the child by Qi Yuning's side. "Whose child is this?"

Qi Yuning picked up Lingling. "This is my daughter. She just turned three."

Lingling unhappily stuck out her fingers. "I'm five!"

"Three!"

Qi Yuning folded Lingling's fingers down. Only this clearly three-year-old child loved to count her age by the traditional Chinese method (virtual age).

Madam Qin exclaimed in surprise. "Then... who is this child's father?"

Qi Yuning ignored her. Madam Qin also felt she had been a bit rash, but this child really looked too much like Ze'er!

While Qi Yuning selected fabrics and ready-made clothes with Lingling, the crowd whispered among themselves.

"I bet that child is Lord Lu's. She looks like she was carved from the same mold as Lord Lu!"

"If the Prince of Lu hadn't become a monk, he would be marrying Princess Consort Qi tomorrow. How could Princess Consort Qi's daughter be Lord Lu's child?"

"Looking this similar, how could she not be Lord Lu's daughter?"

"Lord Lu is a famous gentleman in Shengjing, a man like jade. How could he do something like fathering a child out of wedlock?"

"Who knows? Maybe Princess Consort Qi coveted Lord Lu's beauty and forced him? It's possible Lord Lu doesn't even know he has a daughter."

"Right, that must be it. Princess Consort Qi sought Lord Lu in vain, used a scheme to bear Lord Lu's daughter."

Qi Yuning listened to the "whispers" growing louder and frowned tightly.

How did it become her forcing him, seeking him in vain?

Little Lingling looked up at Qi Yuning. "Mother, let's buy Father a set of clothes too, okay?"

Qi Yuning said, "No."

Little Lingling let out an "oh," not looking disappointed at all, and picked out a few outfits for herself.

After Qi Yuning ordered Li Chun to pay, she led Lingling out of Yunyi Pavilion, just happening to run into a plain carriage stopped at the entrance. A wooden plaque with the character "Guan" hung on the carriage.

A girl of short stature, round face, about fifteen years old, stepped out from the carriage.

"Sixth Miss, be careful."

Guan Zhiyi held her maid's hand to alight. The moment she got down, she saw Little Lingling's face and looked in extreme surprise at the purple-clad woman beside Lingling.

The woman in purple wore luxurious attire; the gold crown on her bun flashed coldly in the autumn sun. Her features were extremely enchanting; at a glance, she didn't look like the virtuous type. Her whole being screamed "arrogant."

Guan Zhiyi stared at Lingling a few more times. Is this child Lord Lu's eldest illegitimate daughter?

Guan Zhiyi walked up to Lingling, bent down, and rubbed Lingling's cheeks with her chubby hands. "Little Miss Lu."

Lingling frowned and hid behind Qi Yuning. Jingzhi, standing nearby, stepped forward, seized Guan Zhiyi's hand, and twisted it inward. "Where did these dirty hands come from, daring to touch my Miss?"

Guan Zhiyi cried out in pain.

Gan Zhiyi's maid anxiously said, "My Miss is the legitimate Sixth Miss of a Chengyi Lang (official title) household!"

Jingzhi said, "Just a minor dislocation. Sixth Miss Guan, remember this lesson. Don't use your dirty hands to touch people randomly. How can a golden branch and jade leaf be touched by the likes of you?"

Guan Zhiyi frowned. "Golden branches and jade leaves are Princesses. Is this child a Princess? She is merely an illegitimate bastard born out of wedlock in the Princess's Mansion! What golden branch or jade leaf?"

(End of Chapter)