1270 Nothing Had Been Set In Stone Yet
Ling Lihua did not beat around the bush. “Jiu, I would love for you to be my daughter-in-law.”
Chu Jiu was astonished to hear that, but she quickly calmed herself down and said with a frown, “Grand d.u.c.h.ess, you think too highly of me. I’m but a mere guard who is not worthy of Heir Presumptive Lu.” She paused before continuing, “Forgive me for asking, but doesn’t my background bother you, Grand d.u.c.h.ess?”
Ling Lihua turned to glance at her when she heard this.
Chu Jiu’s fingers gripped her sleeve and she found herself holding her breath. She suddenly felt a little foolish.
!!What if the Grand d.u.c.h.ess was just joking?
Then, Chu Jiu would become a laughing stock for asking a question like that.
She lowered her head, feeling a little frustrated.
Ling Lihua suddenly gave a soft laugh and asked, “Jiu, do you know who I used to be?”
Chu Jiu hesitated for a moment then replied, “You’re the famous physician known in the martial world, as well as the House Leader of the House of Swallow Snow.”
“Those are just nice-sounding t.i.tles. In reality, I am nothing but an uncultivated woman from the martial world. A background like mine is worlds apart from the Grand Duke’s. According to your logic, I’m not worthy of Lu Hetian as well.”
Chu Jiu was shocked. “Grand d.u.c.h.ess, that’s not what I meant…”
Ling Lihua lifted her hand to stop Chu Jiu from continuing. Her tone was gentle. “I know. I’m just giving you an example to show you that the Grand Duke family isn’t bothered by a person’s background. If they were a family that prioritized a person’s heritage, I would never have been able to step foot into the Grand Duke Mansion. Chen and Weiwei would not exist either.”
“If Chen was someone who places weight on your heritage, he would never have approached you this way. Your worries are non-existent. If you aren’t willing to accept him because of this reason, that would be silly of you. Of course, if you still feel that you need to have a certain status to be good enough for Chen before you’d be willing to marry into the Lu family, I’ll request for His Majesty to bestow you the t.i.tle of Lady when we return to the capital. Would that work for you?”
Chu Jiu felt quite ashamed when she heard this.
“I’m the one who was narrow-minded.”
Ling Lihua lightly punched Chu Jiu’s reddened face and smiled. “Alright. Now that we’ve talked about it, there shouldn’t be any more problems. Come on, accompany your future mother-in-law for a walk.”
Chu Jiu was quite embarra.s.sed to hear those words.
Nothing had been set in stone yet.
She suddenly realized that Lu Tingchen’s personality was quite similar to the Grand d.u.c.h.ess at times.
Both of them liked to take charge of things!
Chu Jiu sighed, but did not correct the Grand d.u.c.h.ess.
Even if she wanted to, the Grand d.u.c.h.ess would not listen to her and would continue to conduct things however she wished.
Chu Jiu was never one to enjoy the hustle and bustle, and she was not fond of shopping. She followed Ling Lihua quite aimlessly.
Ling Lihua had not gone shopping for a long time and everything looked new to her.
In fact, she decided to buy everything that caught her fancy without a second thought.
She gave extra attention to buying several pretty dresses for Chu Jiu, including some accessories.
Ling Lihua also purchased a few pairs of embroidered shoes for her.
When Ling Lihua saw children’s toys for sale, she could not help snagging a bunch of them.
“This is for Yin’er, this is for Yaoyao, this is for Ji’er…”
Bringing up her three grandchildren’s names made Ling Lihua feel rather wistful. “Those children are now three-months-old but their own grandmother hasn’t even met them yet. This won’t do. I want to follow you two back to the imperial capital in a few days. Otherwise, those children won’t recognize me as their grandmother—I’ll die of sorrow.”
“That won’t happen. The prince and the princesses are still young and won’t remember much. Once you return, all you need is to get close to them for a few days and they will definitely grow to love you,” Chu Jiu said comfortingly.
“You’re right. Although, I really do want to see those grandchildren of mine. I’ll return with you two in two days.” Ling Lihua had made up her mind. Things were now stable here and there were not many places left that needed her aid.
When they had their fill of shopping, the two women clutched their packages of various sizes as they sought out a well-renowned restaurant for a meal.
Ling Lihua got them a private room and ordered the best dishes in the restaurant to enjoy with Chu Jiu.
They had stayed so long in the army camp and even though Ling Lihua’s cooking was not too shabby, the meal choices were very limited and she had grown tired of them.
As she had a rare day off today, Ling Lihua wanted to have a good meal.
Chu Jiu did not have a large appet.i.te. She treated food with great care due to her upbringing and was not picky at all as long as she could fill up her stomach.
“You’re too skinny, Jiu. You should eat more.” Ling Lihua continuously filled up Jiu’s bowl as she ate.