The little Ling Ling, who was holding Qi Yuning's thigh, saw Lin Ze in a red official uniform and her eyes lit up. She wiped away her tears with her little hands, "Daddy! Mommy, daddy is back!".
When Lin Ze saw the three-year-old child hugging Qi Yuning's thighs, his usually calm face showed a moment of daze and confusion. Why was this child who called Qi Yuning "mother" so similar to him?
Lin Ze asked, "Princess Qi, you have a daughter? Is this child Lin Yun's?"
Princess Pingrou snorted and said, "Lin Ze, your brother is not even seventeen yet, how could he have given birth to such a big daughter? Lingling looks exactly like you, she must be your daughter!"
They look similar, so they could be siblings. Lin Ze looked at the green willow hairpin in Princess Pingrou's hair and thought carefully. His father has always been timid and would definitely not have the courage to do such a thing.
Qi Yuning sneered when she saw that Lin Ze was suspicious of others and unwilling to admit that Lingling was his child.
"Lingling called Prince Lin daddy as soon as she saw him. Did Prince Lin dare to give birth to a child but not acknowledge it? I never thought that the men in the Lin family are more irresponsible than the others!"
Lin Ze said: "Princess Qi, this child is indeed not my daughter."
Qi Yuning said worriedly: "Lu Yiling looks exactly like Master Lin. Master Lin should admit his romantic debt now that he has committed it."
Princess Pingrou nodded and said, "That's right, Ze'er, this Lingling looks exactly like you when you were a child, how could she not be your daughter?"
Little Lingling blinked her eyes and started to cry, "Daddy, don't you want Lingling anymore?"
Lin Ze looked down at the crying little girl. He was not a heartless person and he couldn't bear to see such a tender little girl crying, but he was definitely not Lingling's father.
Princess Pingrou saw her granddaughter crying so hard that she picked up Lingling and said, "Don't cry, dear. Your father doesn't recognize you, but your grandmother does."
Lingling was sobbing in Princess Pingrou's arms.
Seeing Lingling crying sadly and aggrieved, Qi Yuning said to Lin Ze unhappily, "The child is innocent of the debt incurred by Prince Lin's affair. You can't be the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple and not even recognize your own flesh and blood, right?"
Lin Ze frowned as he looked at the little girl in Princess Pingrou's arms and said in a cold voice, "It's impossible for me to have a child."
Qi Yuning glanced at Lin Ze's belly provocatively and chuckled, "It's impossible to have a child? Prince Lu is well-dressed, could it be that he is ..."
Lin Ze's face turned pale, "Princess, please respect yourself."
Qi Yuning said: "Since you are not born in heaven, how can you not have children?"
Lin Ze's face darkened: "Because I have never had a woman by my side. I have never touched any girl. It is impossible for me to have such a big child."
Qi Yuning heard what Lin Ze said and did not doubt it. "That's strange. Where did this child come from?"
Lin Ze said: "This child was brought by Princess Qi. Princess Qi really doesn't know the origin of this child?"
Qi Yuning said: "I don't know."
Princess Pingrou looked at the two people in front of her suspiciously. She did not believe her own son, nor did she believe Qi Yuning: "Children will not lie. Since she calls you father and mother, you are her father and mother."
Lingling nodded in Princess Pingrou's arms and said fiercely, "Yes, you are Lingling's father and mother, you can't abandon Lingling!"
Lin Ze rubbed his temples. It seemed that his mother had not given up on letting him marry Qi Yuning. "Mom, give me the child first. I will ask about her background."
Princess Pingrou handed Lingling to Lin Ze and said threateningly, "Don't make my granddaughter cry again."
Lin Ze carried the child to the study. Qi Yuning didn't dare to trust Lin Ze completely. Lin Ze didn't want to use the interrogation method he used in the Dali Temple on the child, so Qi Yuning followed Lin Ze into the study.
Lin Ze carried Ling Ling to a wooden chair and Ling Ling raised her head and looked at Lin Ze and said, "Daddy, can I play with the ring?"
Lin Ze frowned and asked, "What ring?"
Lingling opened the wooden drawer and took out the nine-linked ruby ring. "This ring!"
Lin Ze narrowed his peach blossom eyes, stared at Ling Ling and asked, "How did you know there was a nine-linked chain here?"
Lingling said: "Daddy told Lingling."
Qi Yuning said to Lin Ze, "Prince Lin, are you still unwilling to admit that Lingling is your child?"
Lingling even knew what was hidden in the private area of Lin Ze's study.
Lin Ze said to Qi Yuning, "Princess, can you please let the servants behind you go out?"
Qi Yuning said to Guyu Linchun and the others, "You all go out."
After Lin Ze and the others left, he spoke slowly, "Princess, I have never touched any woman, and it is impossible for me to have a child. It was my Lin family that was wrong for Lin Yun to become a monk yesterday. You are angry and want to take revenge on the Lin family. The Lin family has nothing to say, but you can't teach a three-year-old child to lie in order to ruin the reputation of the Lin family."
Qi Yuning said: "My Qi family is full of heroes and have always been upright. We disdain the slander of others! If I want to take revenge on your Lin family, I will do it in an upright manner. I disdain to use such despicable means to ruin the reputation of others.
Besides, if this child calls me mother as soon as he sees me, I won't slander your Lin family and ruin my own reputation."
Lin Ze pursed his lips and said, "I misunderstood the princess."
Qi Yuning snorted softly.
Lin Ze looked down at Lingling, who was concentrating on playing the game of Nine Rings, and asked with a voice that was softer than ever before: "Lingling, what's your zodiac sign? How old are you?"