At the beginning of November, the weather was getting colder day by day, and the rumors in Shengjing City that Prince Lu and Miss Guan Liu were in love and unlikely to get married became more and more popular, and they became more and more outrageous.
Qi Yuning finally recovered from his foot injury. He planned to rest in the palace for a few more days, so he stayed at home to check the accounts.
Xiaoman heard a lot of rumors from outside and came into the study angrily.
"Princess, the rumors outside are too outrageous. They all say that the Crown Prince and Miss Guan Liu were very much in love, but you were the one who got in the way and specially designed the fifth master Qin to get engaged to Miss Guan Liu, just so that you could steal it. Let’s go to Prince Lu.”
"Outside, they also say that you gave the prince a drug to get Lingling. In fact, the Lu family doesn't recognize Lingling at all..."
"The reason why the Crown Prince and Miss Guan Liu can't get married is because of you!"
Qi Yuning became more and more annoyed as he listened. He frowned and went to find Lingling, who was playing house with the little maid in the courtyard. "Lingling, mother will take you to the teahouse to drink tea."
Qi Yuning held Lingling in his arms and took her to the Juxian Pavilion, a famous teahouse in Shengjing, where news about the aristocratic families in Shengjing City was most sensitive.
Qi Yuning went inside and ordered a plate of butterfly cake for Lingling. As expected, he heard all the rumors about her.
"At the poetry gathering not long ago, some people saw with their own eyes that Prince Lu and Princess Qi were getting close. At the wedding banquet at Zhenbei Hou Mansion, many people saw with their own eyes that Princess Qi's youngest daughter was getting close to Prince Lu. Exactly the same, she must be Lu Shizi’s daughter!”
"I don't think so, but don't think about it. If Princess Qi's daughter is Prince Lu, how could Princess Qi be engaged to Prince Lu?
Even if she is really the daughter of the Lu family, it was Princess Qi who used some tricks. Otherwise, why wouldn't Prince Lu still recognize this daughter? "
"Princess Qi made a marriage arrangement with Prince Lu before. I'm afraid she won't be able to be Lu Ze's wife, but she still wants to marry into the Lu family so that she can meet Prince Lu."
"Let's just say that Prince Lu doesn't like Princess Qi. He likes Miss Guan Liu. This Miss Guan Liu is really pitiful. She obviously has a loving husband. She goes boating on the lake and plays the piano in the plum garden, but she is all treated well by Princess Qi. Jealousy ruined it!"
"Who makes the princess the most powerful person? No matter how pitiful Miss Guan Liu is, she can only give up her beloved husband!"
"I heard that the old lady of the Lu family still wants Miss Guan Liu to be her granddaughter-in-law..."
"Young Master Lu should still have Miss Guan Liu in his heart. I heard that he ordered an extremely expensive set of headdresses for her not long ago. It's a pity, the county has great power."
Qi Yuning became more and more annoyed as she listened. She had never paid much attention to outside rumors.
But after hearing this today, she couldn't help but feel annoyed. It was Miss Guan Liu that Lu Ze was thinking about. She felt unhappy hearing these two names together.
Qi Yuning picked up Lingling, who was still eating butterfly cake, and went to the Yamen of Dali Temple aggressively.
Even if the officials at Dali Temple's Yamen didn't know Qi Yuning, they didn't dare to step forward to stop her when they saw her hordes of servants wearing gold and silver.
Qi Yuning went straight to Lu Ze's office and study. As soon as he entered, he saw Lu Ze discussing the case with his men. Qi Yuning coughed.
Lu Ze was surprised when he saw Qi Yuning at the door, "Princess, is Lingling making trouble?"
Lu Ze saw Lingling eating cakes next to Qi Yuning. She didn't look like Lingling was making a fuss.
"Dad, Lingling is very good and doesn't make trouble!"
The men were stunned when they heard the little girl's name.
Lu Ze coughed lightly and said, "You guys go down first."
After waiting for the subordinates of Dali Temple to leave, Qi Yuning said to Lu Ze displeasedly: "Have you ever gone boating on the lake with Guan Zhiyi? Have you ever bought her noodles?"
Seeing Qi Yuning's anger, Lu Ze asked, "What's wrong?"
Qi Yuning said angrily: "There have been various rumors about your love for Guan Zhiyi in the past few days, but you just ignore them?"
Lu Ze said: "It's just a rumor, and it can't be taken seriously."
Qi Yuning frowned and said, "Although I don't believe it to be true, I just don't want to hear the rumors that you and Guan Zhiyi are in love!"
Lu Ze stood up and smiled lightly: "It is easy for the princess to break this rumor. Just make me admit that Lingling is my daughter, and the Lu family recognizes Lingling, and those external rumors will be broken."
Qi Yuning frowned and said, "Lu Ze, I don't want to hear any more rumors about your love affair with Guan Zhiyi, who met Guan Zhiyi while boating in the plum garden on the lake. Since you are the minister of Dali Temple, it should be easy to find out where this rumor comes from.
This princess will give you three days to find out the origin of the rumors about your love affair with Guan Zhiyi, and clarify the rumors. If you cannot find out, you will never think of Lingling calling you daddy in this life. "
"Ah?" Lingling looked up at Qi Yuning in surprise, her little peach blossom eyes full of confusion, "Mother, if Lingling doesn't call her daddy, what would she call her?"
"Lingling can call him uncle from now on!" Qi Yuning said angrily, "Lu Yun is just a monk, and my engagement with him has not been cancelled." Lu Ze frowned lightly, "Princess Princess..."
Qi Yuning said: "Lingling, please call me uncle first."
Lingling looked into Lu Ze's eyes and whispered: "Uncle?"
Lu Ze took a deep breath when he heard that Xiao Lingling really screamed like this, "Princess, don't worry, I will definitely find the person who made this statement within three days!"
Qi Yuning said: "It's best this way."
Qi Yuning picked up Lingling and said, "Let's go back to the house."
Lingling waved to Lu Ze and said, "Uncle, goodbye."
Lu Ze: "..."
After Qi Yuning left, Lu Ze didn't dare to neglect, so he found his subordinates and went to investigate.
It would be impossible for such a widespread rumor to be true without anyone behind it. Although three days was a short period of time, it was enough for the Dali Temple Yamen.
In just two days, Lu Ze found out that the Qin family was behind this, and Lu Ze was not surprised.
However, the real rumors about the boating lake came from two gangsters in Shengjing.
Lu Ze sent someone to call Qi Yuning to the Dali Temple Yamen.
Lu Ze saw the two gangsters in front of him and said coldly: "Why do you want to spread rumors about my love with Miss Guan Liu? Do you know what a serious crime it is to spread rumors about imperial officials?"
The two gangsters didn't expect that they would be held accountable by Prince Lu for the rumors they heard almost half a month ago, and they were trembling with fear.
"Lu, Mr. Lu, we took money at that time. A girl wearing a veil gave us silver and asked us to go to Mr. Qin Wu and say that you really like Ms. Guan Liu. We only said it in front of Mr. Qin Wu. Just two times.”
"Perhaps others heard about it, which caused an uproar. We are just using people's money to do things."
Qi Yuning frowned and said, "A girl wearing a veil? What does she look like?"
The fatter gangster said: "The little girl is very short. She is wearing plain clothes and a veil. It's hard to see what she looks like."
Lu Ze drew a rough sketch of Guan Zhiyi's face on the rice paper nearby based on his memory, and covered the under eyes with ink, "Does he look like this?"
"Yes, yes, yes, that's what it looks like. It was she who gave us the silver coins and asked us to do things for her."
Qi Yuning took a look at the painting and said to Lu Ze, "Prince Lu only glanced at Miss Guan Liu, but he knew her face by heart. Can he draw it with these few strokes?"
Lu Ze chuckled lightly: "I have always had a photographic memory. Did the princess smell something sour? I wonder which jealousy jar was overturned?"
Qi Yuning hummed and looked at the two gangsters below and said, "Get out of here!"
The two gangsters were afraid that Lu Ze would pursue them, so they hurriedly retreated from the Dali Temple Yamen.
Lu Ze looked at Qi Yuning and said, "Don't you want to clarify? The source of this rumor is Guan Zhiyi. It's just right for these two gangsters to clarify..."
Qi Yuning said: "Guan Zhiyi spread this rumor just because he wanted Qin Zhen to think that you care about her. You are a pathetic person after all, so you won't bother her."
Lu Ze said: "I didn't expect the princess to be so kind."
Qi Yuning said: "I just think Guan Zhiyi is pathetic, why bother adding insult to injury? What do you mean by this? In your heart, isn't this princess kind?
Ha, I think Prince Lu wants to hear Lingling call you uncle a few more times, right? "
Lu Ze said to Qi Yuning: "The princess is kind in nature, but she is as kind as a living Bodhisattva if she can repay evil with kindness. I will ask my mother to go to the palace tomorrow to cancel your engagement with Lu Yun."
He never wanted to hear that uncle in Lingling's mouth again in his life.
It is true that after Lu Yun became a monk, the engagement had not been officially canceled yet.
(End of this chapter)