Filial piety: the supreme emperor

Looking at the extremely elegant and exquisitely decorated room in front of him, Lu Ran looked at Qu Qirong: "Is this my room?"

Qu Qirong bit her red lips gently and asked with great concern: "Ran'er, do you like it here?"

It turned out that she had been busy all night last night just to create a warm home-like feeling in this room.

"I like it!" Lu Ran looked away and replied with a smile, "This was arranged by Aunt Rong herself, right?"

Obviously, this wing room was decorated with great care. For example, the tables, chairs, incense burners, and landscape paintings were all brand new and spotlessly clean.

Who else except Aunt Rong could treat him so attentively?

"Yeah!" Qu Qirong nodded after hearing a satisfactory answer, and her smile became even brighter.

To her, Lu Ran was a beloved younger generation and the only close family member she had at present. Therefore, she hoped to give him all the warmth he lacked before, including family affection and maternal love.

A warm feeling surged through Lu Ran's heart: "I'm sorry to trouble you again."

"I'm your aunt. If I don't worry about you, who else should I worry about?" Qu Qirong looked at him tenderly, held his hand and said, "I just hope you know that even if your mother is gone, I will still be by your side."

"I understand."

Lu Ran felt the slender palm was slightly cold, but he felt the meticulous care from it.

At this time, Lu Ran seemed to remember something and took out an item from his ring: "By the way, Aunt Rong, do you like this stone carving?"

What appeared before Qu Qirong's eyes was a stone book made of extremely thin stone paper.

Qu Qirong stretched out her slender white fingers and gently stroked the object, feeling a soft and comfortable touch: "What is this?"

"This is called a cloud-carved stone book, and it's carved using a special carving technique - cloud-carved stone carving." Lu Ran explained.

He had acquired this skill when he accidentally entered a secret realm while leading his sect disciples in training not long ago. If it weren't for that coincidence, I'm afraid this long-lost skill would have disappeared forever.

Out of interest, Lu Ran studied [Cloud Carving Stone Carving]. This carving technique does not use wood, but common stones, of course, the stones must be larger. After a little research, Lu Ran fell in love with the simple and soft lines.

In order to make up for his previous broken promise, he made this stone book and intended to give it to Aunt Rong as a gift of apology.

"What's engraved here is - me?" Qu Qirong turned to the first page and immediately saw a figure who looked exactly like herself.

The first page of the stone carving depicts a mature lady walking down the street with a string of candied haws in her hand. In the picture, the pedestrians are blurred, but the lines of the beautiful lady are particularly clear.

"Is this the scene we saw when we were enjoying the night view in Xuancheng before?" Qu Qirong immediately found a similar scene in her memory.

Lu Ran smiled and responded: "Aunt Rong, you can continue reading."

Qu Qirong turned to the next page, and what appeared before her was a scene of a mature and beautiful lady placing lanterns by the river. The lanterns were beautiful, but the smile of the beautiful lady in the stone carving was even more moving, like a poem or painting, captivating!

In the subsequent scrolls, there are scenes of her guessing riddles at Xiangqiao, walking under the beautiful moonlight, painting in the pavilion, and listening to music and watching operas at Yinyue Pavilion. Page after page, all the characters are her.

Qu Qirong's eyes sparkled, and she admired them carefully, and her heart gradually began to ripple. From these stone carvings, she felt a feeling called "all eyes are filled with myself" spreading in her heart.

In addition, Qu Qirong also discovered a very thoughtful detail. Every time she went out with Lu Ran, she would change her appearance in disguise to prevent her identity from being exposed. Although this can indeed prevent her identity from being exposed, it also makes her feel uncomfortable that she cannot show her true face to others. However, in this stone carving, her appearance has been perfectly restored!

Qu Qirong stopped turning the pages and couldn't help asking, "Ran'er, how did you restore my appearance?"

Lu Ran shook his head: "Actually, there is no need to restore it."

Qu Qirong frowned slightly: "Why?"

"Because in my heart, Aunt Rong is like this."

“So when I carved it, it naturally presented Aunt Rong’s truest appearance.”

Indeed, during the carving process, Lu Ran did not deliberately replace Aunt Rong's image, but just slowly carved it according to the image of her in his mind.

"So this is ah!"

A hint of shyness flashed across Qu Qirong's eyes, and she couldn't help but tighten her grip on the stone book. Although she didn't understand the specific techniques of [Cloud Carving Stone Carving], she knew that it would be impossible to do this without occupying an important position in the other person's heart.

In other words, her nephew had already engraved her image deeply in his heart.

"Aunt Rong, you can turn back to the first page."

"Then press your thumb on the edge of the stone paper and let it slowly turn the pages, and you will see different pictures."

Seeing that Aunt Rong was almost finishing reading the entire stone book, Lu Ran said mysteriously.

"Different pictures?" Qu Qirong followed his instructions with anticipation.

The next moment, her eyes widened. The cloud-carved stone book in her hand seemed to come alive, jumping onto the paper like a movie. Her gestures, smiles, and frowns in the painting were like flowing clouds and water, seamlessly connected.

In this way, the previous scenes reappeared before his eyes, as if he was there personally, dispelling the discomfort of not being able to be with Lu Ran in his true form in the past.

Qu Qirong was stunned!

Is this the gift Lu Ran gave her?

"Aunt Rong, do you like it?"

Suddenly, a familiar and gentle voice sounded, bringing her back to her senses.

"Of course Aunt Rong likes this unique and lifelike cloud-carved stone book very much!"

"but……"

Lu Ran was a little confused: "But what?"

Qu Qirong tried hard to suppress the strange emotions that kept coming up, raised her head and looked at Lu Ran, and said softly: "But why is there only me in the stone carving, and not you, Ran'er?"

Lu Ran smiled bitterly and replied, "Because this stone book was given to Aunt Rong, the only person depicted in the stone carvings is naturally Aunt Rong."

"Then can Raner teach me [Cloud Carving and Stone Carving]?"

"Since you carved me, let me carve you."

"This way, each of us carves half, and this set of cloud-carved stone books will be complete."

Qu Qirong took a deep breath and said with her red lips slightly opened. She really liked the cloud-carved stone book in front of her, but for some reason, she had a strong desire in her heart to carve Lu Ran's image on it, and she had to do it herself.

Of course, Lu Ran had no reason to refuse the request made by his elders: "Aunt Rong has asked, so of course it's okay.