LRAB Chapter 240
Chapter 240
Lu Liucheng excitedly recounted to Li Xia about his afternoon adventures, describing all the fun, delicious, and interesting things he encountered. Li Xia listened attentively until Lu Liucheng began to yawn with sleepiness. She asked Qiu Kui to take him downstairs to wash up and rest.0
Returning to the room, Li Xia saw Lu XuanNing applying something to his face. "What are you putting on?"0
"Nothing," Lu XuanNing said, trying to hide the object in his hand. However, Li Xia was quicker, and the box in Lu XuanNing's hand ended up in hers. Li Xia opened the box and sniffed it - it was the scar-removing beauty cream developed by Zhou Heng. Previously, when the scars on Lu XuanNing's face had faded considerably, he had been unwilling to apply it anymore. Why was he using it again now?0
She thought back to what she had said earlier that day at the Snow Cyan shop about admiring beautiful people.0
"You're not applying it evenly. Let me do it." His fingertips were wrapped up. Li Xia used her palm to scoop up some of the ointment and gently spread it on Lu XuanNing's face.0
Lu XuanNing's eyes were fixed on Li Xia. In her eyes, there was only him, and in his eyes, there was only Li Xia.0
In the morning, Qiu Kui unwrapped the cloth from her hands and washed them clean. The deep green nail color accentuated her slender jade-like fingers, making them appear even more flawless.0
"I never thought green nail dye could be so beautiful," Qiu Kui marveled.0
"You should go dye yours too. Snow Cyan has four shades of green," Li Xia recommended to Qiu Kui.0
"Alright," Qiu Kui was very tempted and decided to go later.0
Li Xia got seasick, so she declined Lu Liucheng's suggestion for a family boat trip. Instead, she sat upstairs watching Lu XuanNing and Lu Liucheng as they sailed on the river.0
At noon, they had lunch in Ten Mile Town before the family returned to the Capital City. They had come without Qing Niang and were returning without Qiu Kui, so the number of people was just right.0
As soon as they arrived at the Marquis Mansion, a eunuch from the palace was waiting at the door. Lu XuanNing followed the eunuch to the imperial palace.0
"Mother, will Father come back?" Lu Liucheng asked Li Xia, watching the departing carriage.0
"This is his home. He will definitely return," Li Xia said, leading Lu Liucheng into the Marquis Mansion. Qiu Chan took Qing Niang to stay in the guest quarters.0
After putting Lu Liucheng to bed, Li Xia returned to her room to wait for Lu XuanNing. It wasn't until late at night that he finally returned.0
It was unprecedented in the Capital City for a master to personally arrange a servant's wedding. What shocked people even more was Qiu Ling's dowry. No one expected Li Xia to arrange 64 carriers of dowry. When the dowry was displayed at the Xiao family's home, each carrier was opened to reveal it was full to the brim. Everything inside was of high quality, with some pieces even being rewards from noble ladies in the palace.0
Giving such precious jewelry as dowry to a maid - people who saw the dowry thought Li Xia had gone mad to provide such a lavish dowry for a servant.0
What these people didn't know was that this dowry was already greatly reduced from what Li Xia had initially prepared. Li Xia had acquired many valuable items from her bandit-suppression missions. Although she had handed over most of it, she had still kept a considerable amount.0
Even Xiao Changning hadn't expected Qiu Ling to have such an extensive dowry. He felt that the betrothal gifts he had given were inadequate. Several sisters-in-law who had previously looked down on Qiu Ling due to her background no longer dared to show off in front of her after seeing such a rich dowry.0
Qiu Ling's dowry and the backing of the Mansion of Marquis of Pacifying the South were her sources of confidence.0
On the third day after the wedding, when the bride traditionally returns to her maiden home, Qiu Ling brought Xiao Changning to the Mansion of Marquis of Pacifying the South. Seeing Qiu Ling with her hair styled in a married woman's fashion, radiating a newlywed's joy, Li Xia thought back to when she first met the skinny, dark-skinned girl.0
"My lady, what's wrong?" Noticing Li Xia staring at her, Qiu Ling couldn't help but check herself. Her clothes were fine, and her hair was styled in a married woman's bun.0
"I was thinking about when you first came to the Li family," Li Xia's words made Qiu Ling recall her appearance back then, and she smiled. In fact, at that time, it wasn't just others who despised them; they despised themselves too. Qiu Ling remembered that back then, what she disliked most was looking in the mirror.0
It was Li Xia who chose them, giving them a new life and their own happiness.0
"My lady, I really don't want to leave you," The only downside to marrying Xiao Changning was leaving the Mansion of Marquis of Pacifying the South and not being able to stay by Li Xia's side.0
"All good things must come to an end. Seeing you happy makes me happy too," Li Xia was also reluctant to part, but seeing those around her find happiness brought her joy.0
"My lady, Lord Jiang wants to compete with Qiu Chan in the training ground. Would you like to go watch?" Qiu Shui came in to inform them.0
"Alright, Qiu Ling, let's go take a look," Li Xia led Qiu Ling to the training ground, where they saw Old Marquis Lu, Lu XuanNing, Lu Liucheng, and Xiao Changning already present.0
Walking over to sit beside Lu XuanNing, Li Xia asked, "Has Jiang Chong figured out how to beat Qiu Chan?" Everyone in the mansion knew about Qiu Chan's declaration that anyone who wanted to marry her must defeat her in combat.0
Although Qiu Chan's appearance wasn't as beautiful as the other three Qiu sisters, her personality was genuinely fair to everyone. She was highly capable, and because of this, many soldiers in the mansion who were attracted to Qiu Chan had heard this rumor and came to challenge her.0
Jiang Chong was deeply afraid that his sweetheart might be married off to someone else one day. In order to be able to marry his wife, he had tried many methods to defeat Qiu Chan without hurting her, but to no avail.0