The Prodigal Son

Luo Qingyi and Nan Que'er tried on the fox fur coat briefly.

Both fox fur coats fit them perfectly.

It must be said that Jiang Ci put a lot of effort into it.

In fact, Qin Yu felt that Nan Que'er's words made perfect sense!

It's just clothes, why distinguish between "yours" and "mine"?

If the two of them take turns wearing them, wouldn't each of them have two fox fur coats?

Seeing that it was lunchtime, Luo Qingyi invited Jiang Ci to have lunch with her.

However, Jiang Ci shook her head and refused, not forgetting to tease Luo Qingyi: "Young Master Qin has just returned, I'd better not disturb your intimacy."

Luo Qingyi smiled sheepishly, "It's just a casual meal, there's no question of it being a bother."

"Let's do it another day!"

Jiang Ci smiled and said, "I have an appointment to discuss some matters at noon. I expect to be busy during this period before the New Year. I will come to bother you again after the New Year when you are free."

"Alright! I'll see you off!"

Seeing that Jiang Ci insisted, Luo Qingyi could no longer persuade her to stay.

"We're already so familiar with each other, let's not keep sending things back and forth."

Jiang Ci patted Luo Qingyi's hand, then greeted Qin Yu and Nan Que'er, "Young Master Qin, Sister Que'er, farewell!"

Jiang Ci bowed and left with her entourage.

Although she didn't want Luo Qingyi to see her off, Luo Qingyi still insisted on seeing her to the door.

When Luo Qingyi returned, Qin Yu immediately teased, "See? You guessed wrong!"

"That's not necessarily true!"

Luo Qingyi smiled and moved closer to Qin Yu. "Perhaps she's playing hard to get?"

"Fine, whatever you say makes sense!" Qin Yu said, both amused and exasperated. He then reminded Luo Qingyi, "Your relationship with her may be good, but it's our family business, so don't gossip about things that shouldn't be said."

"Yes, I understand!"

Luo Qingyi nodded seriously, then hugged Qin Yu's arm, "Let's hurry up and finish making the fireworks for the Empress Dowager! We still have a lot of things to do before the New Year!"

Qin Yu turned his head to the side. "Besides making fireworks for the Empress Dowager, what else is there?"

"..."

Luo Qingyi's pretty face twitched slightly. "Are you really unaware or just pretending? Shouldn't we go pay respects to your family? I also need to pay respects to my parents..."

What the hell!

Qin Yu suddenly slapped his forehead.

Damn it!

Luckily, Luo Qingyi reminded me, otherwise I would have really forgotten about this!

If I forget about this, when the old man comes back, he'll hang me up and whip me to death!

"Let's go pay our respects to them first! We can worry about the fireworks later!"

Qin Yu patted Luo Qingyi's hand, then embraced both women on either side of him, and said softly, "We've both lost our parents, so let's agree beforehand that we'll both be happy during the New Year and not shed tears because of our families!"

"Um."

The two women nodded gently and snuggled closer to Qin Yu.

Yes!

They are all people whose parents have passed away.

Now, they are family!

They relied on each other.

After lunch, Qin Yu led his family to pay respects to his relatives.

Just as they were about to cross West Gate Street and leave the city, Qin Yu heard a voice calling out to him.

"Qin Yu, Qin Yu..."

Qin Yu looked in the direction of the sound and saw Yu Jing waving at him from the door of a clothing store on the side of the street.

Beside Yu Jing were a woman and several guards.

Ha ha!

Gao Yicai was doing his own thing in the court, and then he turned around and greeted me so warmly?

What are they doing?

Playing the good cop/bad cop role?

Filled with curiosity, Qin Yu led Luo Qingyi and Nan Que'er toward the clothing shop.

Upon arriving, just as Qin Yu was about to ask Yu Jing a question, the woman beside him bowed to him, saying, "Gao Yao greets Lord Qin."

As she bowed, Luo Qingyi and Nan Que'er also bowed to Yu Jing.

"No, no!"

Qin Yu raised his hand to stop Gao Yao, and said sarcastically, "It should be us who pay our respects to the Prince and Princess."

Gao Yao is indeed a great beauty.

She was tall and elegant, clearly a lady from a well-to-do family.

"Lord Qin, please don't make fun of this humble woman."

Gao Yao seemed oblivious to Qin Yu's sarcastic tone and smiled, saying, "I am not yet married to the Prince, so please call me Gao Yao, Lord Qin."

"Isn't this all just a matter of time?"

Qin Yu casually replied, then glanced sideways at Yu Jing: "Does the Prince want to see me make a fool of myself, or what?"

"Look at what you're saying."

Yu Jing smiled broadly. "I heard about what happened in court a few days ago! The old man wasn't targeting you; that's just his temperament. If anyone did that, he would have spoken out against it!"

"That's easy for you to say!"

Qin Yu scoffed, "Tell that old bastard Gao Yi that I never wanted a promotion! His actions actually helped me! I should thank him!"

Hearing Qin Yu refer to her grandfather as "old thing," Gao Yao's face suddenly fell.

She was about to speak when Yu Jing stopped her.

Yu Jing maintained her smile, "I know you're angry, but you don't have to be like this, do you?"

Qin Yu was telling the truth.

However, Yu Jing did not believe it, thinking that he was just being stubborn and concerned about saving face.

"Stop pretending!"

Qin Yu gave Yu Jing a cold look, "Birds of a feather flock together! You're probably secretly overjoyed right now, aren't you?"

"you……"

Yu Jing's expression changed slightly. "I was just trying to be nice and say hello, why are you acting like this?"

"Alright, I have things to do, I'm too lazy to waste time talking to you guys!"

Qin Yu glanced at the two impatiently. "I came here to tell you that what I promised you before is null and void! From now on, we are enemies!"

After saying that, Qin Yu led Nan Que'er and the others away.

"Qin Yu, Qin Yu..."

Yu Jing called out twice insincerely, but inwardly he was laughing uncontrollably.

It's clear that Qin Yu harbors a lot of resentment!

The more resentful he is, the better!

When the time is right, I can send someone to spread rumors that Qin Yu is dissatisfied with Zhao Luan and the court because of his punishment!

Gao Yao snorted coldly, "This Qin Yu is far too rude!"

"It's alright!"

Yu Jing patted Gao Yao's hand, "Since he holds a grudge against us, we don't need to be polite to him anymore!"

Gao Yao nodded slightly, said nothing more, and just watched Qin Yu and the others gradually disappear.

"You two were calling each other brothers on the way back, and now you've become enemies?"

Nan Que'er looked at Qin Yu with a smile.

"It was just a charade anyway."

Qin Yu laughed heartily, "That's great, we don't even need to pretend anymore!"

Nan Que'er smiled. "So, you're going to be enemies from now on?"

"We were enemies from the very beginning, okay?"

Qin Yu glared at her. "Do you think Yu Jing doesn't hate me? He doesn't have a chance now, but if he did, he would definitely do everything in his power to kill me!"

There are some things that everyone actually knows.

It's just that we didn't break off relations before, and maintained a superficial harmony.

Now that Gao Yi has taken the lead in tearing up the facade, what else is there to say?

Just do it!