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Zhu Yu burst out laughing and dabbed the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief. "He won\'t."

Lu Liangwei was relieved to see the visible joy on Zhu Yu\'s face when Chu Yi was mentioned.

She thought Zhu Yu would harbor a grudge against Jiu, but it seemed that she had been worrying for nothing.

Although Zhu Yu used to have feelings for her brother, Chu Yi was a fine man himself, and he treated her well too. Zhu Yu was smart enough to understand that she should cherish the people she had.

"Zhu Yu, hurry and take the pendant." Chu Jiu stuffed the jade pendant into Zhu Yu\'s hands again.

Zhu Yu still refused to accept something so valuable. "No way. It\'s fine if it\'s something else, but I can\'t take what your mother gave you…"

Chu Jiu frowned. She had never been much of a talker, and she was not used to situations like this which involved a lot of back-and-forths, so her words came out a little clipped. "I said it\'s for you, so just take it. You don\'t have to be so polite with me."

"I…" Zhu Yu was conflicted.

Having watched them until this point, Lu Liangwei chimed in, "Since Jiu thinks of you as a sister and genuinely wishes you happiness, you should just accept her gift. When she marries my brother later on, you can always give her one of your treasures."

Only then did Zhu Yu put the jade pendant away with great care and say to Chu Jiu sincerely, "Thank you, Jiu." In her heart, she was determined to give Jiu a more valuable gift on her wedding day.

Chu Jiu beamed. "We\'re family. There\'s no need to be so formal."

"Jiu\'s right—we\'re family." Lu Liangwei nodded in agreement, then pointed at Chu Jiu and said to Yaoyao, "Yaoyao, this is your aunt." She repeated the word, "Aunt."

Yaoyao could not speak yet, but she was already able to understand words, and she stretched her tiny arms out to Chu Jiu.

Flustered by Lu Liangwei\'s teasing and surprised that Yaoyao was asking to be held, Chu Jiu hurriedly reached out and took her into her arms.

Yaoyao had already forgotten who Chu Jiu was as the latter had been away for too long. She kept studying Chu Jiu with shimmering eyes, intrigued by the strange feeling of being held by her.

Lu Liangwei turned around and picked up Ji\'er from the bed.

Chu Jiu looked around the room and, realizing that the Prince was nowhere in sight, asked, "Where\'s the Prince?"

"Yin\'er\'s learning the ropes in advance," Lu Liangwei replied wearily.

Chu Jiu stared at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Zhu Yu poured Lu Liangwei and Chu Jiu each a cup of tea, then smiled and explained, "The Emperor takes him to the imperial study every day."

Chu Jiu was dumbfounded when she heard the answer. "Isn\'t the Prince only four months old?" Was it not too early for him to learn how to manage state affairs?

Lu Liangwei shrugged. "Indeed, but Yin\'er\'s not exactly against it either, so I\'ll just let His Majesty do whatever he wants."

Hearing this, Chu Jiu decided not to make any further comments.

"By the way, has my mother come back too?" asked Lu Liangwei.

"Yes." Chu Jiu nodded.

Lu Liangwei was perplexed. "She wrote to me some time ago asking me and Grandmother to plan your marriage. Why did she come back by herself?"

"She missed the Prince and Princesses, so she decided to return early," Chu Jiu answered honestly.

Lu Liangwei could not help poking fun at her. "I think her main reason for coming back is to plan your marriage, though."

Chu Jiu was immediately ruffled. "That\'s not true. The Duchess really misses the Prince and Princesses because she\'s never met them ever since they were born. The Duke feels the same way too—if he\'d not been occupied with military tasks, I\'m sure he\'d have come back with us."

Seeing how flushed her cheeks were, Lu Liangwei stopped teasing her and grinned. "All right, relax. I was just kidding. I know the truth."