"Ouch, it hurts, it hurts! Your Highness, you're hurting me!" the Heir of the Prince of Jia cried out.
Lu Wanning quickly reached out to swat away Sheng Jinyu's hand. "Your Highness, what are you doing? He's still a child and doesn't understand these things. Besides, it's just a flower. It's not that important. You're making a mountain out of a molehill."
Taking the opportunity, the Heir of the Prince of Jia dodged and hid behind Lu Wanning. He tugged at her sleeve pitifully. When he caught sight of Sheng Jinyu's sharp gaze, he quickly withdrew his hand and looked even more aggrieved. "Big sis, it really hurts."
Lu Wanning protected the Heir of the Prince of Jia. Not daring to offend Sheng Jinyu too much, she forced a smile and asked, "Your Highness, what brings you here?"
"Taking care of business." Sheng Jinyu narrowed his eyes, turned his face away, and walked off.
Lu Wanning trotted to catch up. "Well, about today's matter, I really must thank Your Highness. Your Highness, I..."
Sheng Jinyu stopped in his tracks and looked back at Lu Wanning. "I said I'm here on business. I'm not as idle as the princess, who only knows how to fool around all day."
Then he strode away without hesitation.
Lu Wanning pointed at herself and stared blankly at his retreating back. "Is he crazy? What did I do? Fool around? I've never done that."
The Heir of the Prince of Jia consoled her, "Don't mind him. He's just like that, moody and unpredictable."
Lu Wanning thought to herself that, originally, after hearing what Princess Qin had said, she was quite happy, thinking that the Prince of Yu had feelings for her. But he came over and scolded her instead. It seemed that everything was just an illusion.
He was right. He must have saved her because she was too stupid.
For a moment, Lu Wanning felt dejected. Yes, it was all for the Empress Dowager. Princess Qin had said that the Prince of Yu was cold towards the Empress Dowager, but she could feel that he actually respected and loved the Empress Dowager. He was just a cold - hearted person on the surface.
So, was it all for the Empress Dowager that he had saved her several times?
How depressing. She had thought there was some kind of special bond between them.
The Heir of the Prince of Jia saw Lu Wanning sitting on the grass and sat down beside her. "Big sis, why are you suddenly so unhappy?"
Lu Wanning looked up. "It's just... Well, you think a friend really cares about you, but then you suddenly find out that his concern is only because he cares about someone else's feelings..."
The Heir of the Prince of Jia scratched his head. "So what? As long as he cares about me, who cares why?"
Lu Wanning couldn't help but burst out laughing. "When you put it that way, it does seem to make sense."
"Of course it makes sense. A friend of a friend is still a friend. If I want to be friends with someone, I'll just go ahead. Why should I care about the reason?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Lu Wanning suddenly felt enlightened. Anyway, she had found a powerful backer. Who cared if it was for the Empress Dowager or something else, right?
The Heir of the Prince of Jia asked again, "It's quite strange that you know the Prince of Yu. It seems that apart from the Heir of the Prince of Qishan, no one in the whole capital can catch the Prince of Yu's eye, let alone be with him."
Lu Wanning beamed. "That's right. He's my powerful backer!"
The Heir of the Prince of Jia continued to ask, "What exactly is a 'powerful backer'? Big sis, explain it to me."
Lu Wanning grinned. "Now I'm under his protection."
The Heir of the Prince of Jia nodded in sudden understanding. "Is it like I'm under your protection?"
Lu Wanning felt that there was something strange about what the Heir of the Prince of Jia said. She gave him a push. "Okay, A Li. Don't talk like that. People might misunderstand if they hear it."
The Heir of the Prince of Jia didn't understand. Scratching his head, he asked, "Aren't you protecting me? Big sis, you're not going to ignore me, are you? I'm your younger brother. You abandoned me once when you were chasing after Fu Rongxuan. Now that you're back, are you going to abandon me again?"
Lu Wanning was so annoyed by his nagging that she had to wave her hand. "No, no. How could I abandon you? I never did before. I just didn't understand that love is not the whole of life, and friendship is. Now that I don't even have love, I definitely won't abandon you. Be good."
"Really?"
"Really, really." Lu Wanning replied absent - mindedly. Seeing that the dispute at the city gate seemed to have been resolved, it was time for her to go back.
Ji Yue got into the carriage and whispered mysteriously to Lu Wanning, "Thanks to Mrs. Yang's words that all the families should save face and it's inappropriate to quarrel in such a crowded place. Mrs. Fu seemed like she had won a great victory and wanted everyone to know. Mrs. He endured the humiliation and went back first."
Lu Wanning yawned. "I didn't get enough sleep today."
Ji Yue continued, "He Chan later made a fuss, saying that she would never marry a concubine's son. Mrs. He stuffed her into the carriage..."
Lu Wanning raised her hand to stop her. "I don't want to hear this. I want to know what's going on between the Heir of the Prince of Qishan and Sister Zhen."
Ji Yue was taken aback and shook her head. "I really don't know. I only know that Miss Zhen got out of the carriage angrily not long after and the Heir of the Prince of Qishan chased after her. As for the details, I was focused on the He and Fu families and didn't notice."
Lu Wanning said dissatisfiedly, "You don't even know the important things. I don't care about the He and Fu families at all. But we need to keep an eye on the Heir of the Prince of Qishan. He doesn't meet my requirement of monogamy."
"Monogamy? What does that mean?"
Lu Wanning patted her head. "Faithfulness. Not only women but also men should be faithful. Sheng Songyan is too promiscuous. He can't be faithful to Sister Zhen. What's the use of keeping him?"
Ji Yue scratched her head. "But if Miss Zhen marries into the Prince of Qishan's Mansion, she'll be the mistress. And as the principal wife, no one else can surpass her, right?"
Lu Wanning didn't expect to discuss this issue with someone from a society where polygamy was the norm. She just said faintly that she was tired and wanted to rest.
When they got home, the Princess Consort was already waiting at the door. She hugged Lu Wanning and cried. Lu Hongxi slapped Lu Hanniian and wanted to use the family law to punish him, saying that he hadn't protected his sister well.
However, Lu Hanchi had already sent an invitation to the Prince of Yu's Mansion early, saying that he would go to express his gratitude for saving his sister's life today.
Lady Wei comforted her father - in - law. "Father - in - law, it's obvious that the two families colluded to frame sister. It was an unexpected situation. How could Second Brother have anticipated it? Sister is an adult now. Second Brother and his wife can't follow her around all the time, can they?"
Lu Hongxi was still angry, but after hearing his eldest daughter - in - law's words, he thought it made a lot of sense. He said that the He family must be held accountable.
The Princess Consort was also extremely angry. She slapped the table and said, "How many times has He Chan bullied Ning'er since childhood? In the past, they were just kids, so I let it go. I always told Ning'er to give in because He Chan was younger. But in the past year or two, she has become more and more vicious. I said last time that there would be no more contact between the Lu and He families. I didn't expect them to not repent and do such a hurtful thing."
Lady Wei continued to give advice. "Mother is right. The He family doesn't care about family ties at all. Mother, don't be soft - hearted anymore."