Chapter 118
Chapter 118: Luo Ning Wants Her Family Clear-Headed
With one sentence, the whole place fell silent.
Everyone’s heart gave a hard jump.
Madam Bai shouted in anger: “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Third Madam jumped as if she had been frightened by her and said: “Sister-in-law, what is wrong with you? It is normal for people to look alike. Besides, you broke off that engagement more than twenty years ago, and he has been in Shengjing. No one is gossiping about you.”
Madam Bai snapped: “Stop talking nonsense.”
The color drained from Luo Chong Ye’s face, leaving a faint green tinge.
Luo Ning said: “He really does look like my brother. I was wondering why this Master Qiu looked so familiar as soon as I saw him.”
Luo Chong Ye barked, his voice unusually loud: “Enough! It is getting late. A’You, you should go to the Academy. Set off.”
Behind them, the Zhou family members and Zhou Huai stood farther away. They had not heard what was said here and noticed nothing strange, so they were completely confused.
Had the Luo family come out in such force just to meet Old Madam?
Luo You nodded, cupped his hands in a bow, then got into the carriage.
Luo Chong Ye said to the steward: “Help Madam into the carriage. We are going home.”
Then he looked at Bai Yu Lin and said: “Your daughter has not seen you for a long time. You father and daughter should be together. Take your niece away as well.”
Bai Ci Rong said: “Uncle, I…”
Bai Yu Lin said: “Yes, A’Rong and I have indeed not seen each other for a long time.”
He took hold of Bai Ci Rong, and the two of them left first.
As for Old Madam, Luo Chong Ye could not go see her off himself, so he sent Third Master to escort her back to South Mountain to escape the summer heat. Everyone else returned to their own residences.
Everyone in the Luo family had their own thoughts.
Third Madam said to Third Master: “Does Sister-in-law often go back to Yuhang to visit her family? I remember she has gone back several times, and once she even stayed there for more than a year because of the war.”
She was in the same carriage as Third Master and Old Madam.
She said this on purpose for Old Madam to hear.
Old Madam lowered her eyelids and said nothing.
Third Master glared at her and said: “Going back to visit her family is normal. Mother and Eldest Brother both agreed to it.”
Third Madam said: “Yes. But that cousin is a bit strange. It seems she was born in that very year Sister-in-law stayed in Yuhang.”
Third Master said: “…Stop talking nonsense.”
If she kept talking, she would anger Old Madam to death.
Old Madam opened her eyes and gave Third Madam a calm look.
Third Madam quickly defended herself: “Mother, I only told the truth. The year Cousin was born is a real fact. It is not something we made up.”
Old Madam said: “Do not bring this up again.”
Third Madam agreed.
She thought: [If we are not allowed to talk about it, does that mean others will not think about it? That cousin looks like both Madam Bai and Qiu Shi Dong, and her birthday just happens to match. Madam Bai treats her like the apple of her eye and even hurt her own daughter A’Ning for her sake. How could there not be something fishy? If people still do not think more about this, are they not fools?]
Old Madam said, after being silent for a while: “Old Third, you and your daughter-in-law need to think this through. It is easy to speak idle words. But if it delays A’Ning’s marriage, will that do you any good?
“If you cannot become Prince Yong’s wife’s family, what power will you rely on to live by after the family splits, and how will your sons and grandsons be protected? You do not have a noble rank.”
These words hit Third Madam’s sore spot.
Third Madam was best at scheming.
She shivered and said: “Mother, I did not say anything!”
Old Madam said: “Do not say anything in the future either.”
Third Madam agreed.
When the carriage returned to the South Mountain summer retreat villa, they heard the servants say that Luo Ning’s carriage had turned back and followed them there.
Old Madam understood that Luo Ning could not set her mind at ease about her.
When Luo Ning arrived, Third Madam and Third Master both looked at her with pity.
But they did not say anything.
Luo Ning asked: “Grandmother, were you feeling too hot just now?”
Old Madam said she was fine.
It was indeed cool up the mountain. After Luo Ning settled Old Madam in, she helped her change clothes.
Old Madam sighed: “There will surely be rumors all over the manor. It will be bad for you. If it spreads out, your reputation will be harmed.”
What Luo Ning had done did bring her some short term benefits, but in the long run there were many harms.
Luo Ning said: “Grandmother, I did not act on impulse. That day I stood at the gate of the Marquis Manor, looking at how grand it was, and I thought to myself: [To get this place, what methods will Qiu Shi Dong and the Bai family use?]
“It is worth risking their lives and doing their best. They have money on hand, bright white silver, and they can buy many things.
“If no one in the Marquis Manor pays attention or stays on guard, maybe the people in our own family will be bought off first. Look at our family. How many of them have ever lived in real wealth and can withstand the test of silver?
“If we keep being afraid of this and that, hiding and dodging, others will be able to wipe us out in one net. Grandmother, staying alive is what matters most.”
Old Madam’s body could not help but tremble.
What Luo Ning said was right, very right.
Not to mention anyone else, Luo Chong Ye was the first who could not resist the lure of money.
One could not underestimate the greed and malice in human nature.
Besides, Madam Bai and Qiu Shi Dong had dared to have a child born in the Luo family and raised in the Luo family. Their hearts were vicious. How could the Marquis Manor not make preparations in advance?
Luo Ning said: “This time Qiu Shi Dong and Bai Yu Lin came to the capital for the Imperial Merchant position. They have spent at least three hundred thousand taels of silver on the Wang family of the Marquis of Jian Ning.
“Grandmother, such a huge amount is enough to buy the lives of everyone in the Marquis Manor. But they are destined to fail. They have already put in so much. If they cannot get benefits in return, how can they let it go? If they cannot get the Imperial Merchant title, they will take the Marquis Manor instead.
“When the time comes for blades and soldiers, if we still stay in a daze, we will just be sheep waiting to be slaughtered. I only want everyone in the Marquis Manor to be clear-headed, especially my muddle headed father.”
Tears slid down from the corners of Old Madam’s eyes: “You are right, A’Ning. It is Grandmother who did not think things through.”
She was already so old, yet she still did not fully understand how cruel the world was.
Grandmother cried as she said: “We should handle it this way. You did well. It is just a pity for you. In the future, you will not be able to shake off these bad names tied to your maiden home.”
Luo Ning smiled and said: “As long as my maiden home does not fall, there will be a day to turn things around. If the Marquis Manor and my family are all gone, what use is a good reputation to me?”
It was not only her family. There were also those loyal servants. They should not end up like they did in her past life.
Many people had been innocent.
Qiu Shi Dong and Madam Bai would use the blood of the Luo family to paint their glory and riches.
In the second branch of the Luo family, Second Master and his wife were also talking endlessly.
Second Madam asked: “Is that Qiu Shi Dong really very much like Luo Yin?”
Second Master said: “I do not quite remember what Luo Yin looks like now.”
As an uncle, Second Master only had a rough impression of his nephew’s features. He would not mistake him if they met, and he had a vague outline of him in his mind, but if he had to describe him in detail, he could not.
He had not seen Luo Yin for quite some time.
When he thought about Qiu Shi Dong’s face again, they did seem quite similar.
Second Madam said: “I think they look exactly the same.”
Luo Yin and Qiu Shi Dong did not look ten parts the same in the face. It was their build and bearing that were alike. Since Luo Yin had vanished and was not in front of them, the more people thought about it, the more similar they seemed in their minds.
Second Madam said: “Think again. Are they not exactly the same?”
At first Second Master felt it was vague, but seeing how sure his wife was, he also felt that they really did seem very alike.
Second Master frowned, feeling a bit stifled, and said: “This is bad. The eldest branch is going to turn the sky over, and Eldest Brother may be angry enough to kill someone.”
Second Madam said: “It is not only Luo Yin, there is also Bai Ci Rong. Sister-in-law has always valued that niece more than her own life. It makes no sense.”
Second Master said: “It is not that serious…”
Second Madam said: “How is it not? That time Bai Ci Rong called her Mother, we all heard it with our own ears.”
Second Master said: “What a mess this all is!”
Second Madam said: “It is a good thing! At least A’Ning’s grievances now have a source. Otherwise other people would keep saying that A’Ning misunderstood her birth mother.
“How could a birth mother value a niece more than her own daughter? They say A’Ning is petty, that she misunderstood and is making a fuss for nothing. She is the one who has suffering she cannot speak of.”
Second Master fell silent.
This matter was a tangled mess.
No matter how Madam Bai tried to explain or whether the Marquis of Zhen Nan believed her, everyone in the Marquis Manor already had their own scales in their hearts.