Chapter 137
Chapter 137: Chance Encounter
Xiao Huai Feng thought of what Luo Ning had said.
Luo Ning had said that private Salt Merchants made huge profits and harmed the Imperial Court.
She knew.
She was a girl who had been raised deep in the inner residence, yet she knew about this.
At the time, Xiao Huai Feng had felt very complicated, but he had not let her see it.
“…By rights, even in the Jiangnan Region this matter is secret, and very few outsiders know of it. But my Princess Consort is very clear about the inside story,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Prince Chen and Cui Zheng Qing both changed expression.
“We want to be the ones who profit in the end. But since even she knows, does Imperial Mother know as well? Are we the ones with slow news, or quick news? Exactly how many people know?” Xiao Huai Feng continued.
Cui Zheng Qing stood up.
He checked the doors and windows again, then told his trusted aide to guard the front and back of the room, as well as the roof.
“Huai Feng, I promise you, this matter has always been top secret!” Cui Zheng Qing said, his face serious.
Prince Chen said: “At first we only meant to use the output of the Salt Lake to make a move. You have managed the people in charge of the Salt Lake for almost ten years. Its output only soared in the last few years. How could this news spread everywhere?”
He went on: “Did you ask your Princess Consort?”
“She is rather quick-witted. If I ask, she might start to suspect me. I only want to observe how much she knows and where she heard it from,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
“Did you find anything?”
“We never spoke about this topic again,” Xiao Huai Feng answered.
The three of them fell silent.
“Huai Feng, can you trust her?” Prince Chen asked again.
“Of course,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Her Deed of Sale was still in his hands. As long as he wished, she could disappear from this world at any time.
Naturally he trusted her.
“What do you suspect in your heart?”
“It cannot be that her family found it out. The Luo Family does not have that kind of ability. Even if they did, Luo Chong Ye would have used it to curry favor with someone else. There are only two ways she could know,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
“First, she overheard Salt Merchant Qiu Shi Dong talking and guessed the general outline. She is very smart.
“Second, she said she is skilled at Divination. She has done it twice and both times were right. She is Peeking at Heaven’s Secrets. Because she can do Divination, she understands a lot of things too clearly and says them without any guard.”
Prince Chen and Cui Zheng Qing both froze for quite a while.
“…It may be both,” Prince Chen said.
She might have overheard a few vague hints first, then done Divination herself.
She probably never thought that the Salt Merchant only took a small piece of profit. The real profit, through a quiet Substitution Ruse, went into Prince Yong’s manor.
Prince Chen and Cui Zheng Qing could hardly remember when they had first started working for Xiao Huai Feng.
Back then, the two of them were openly members of the Prince Yong faction.
The one who allied them was not Xiao Huai Feng, but the late emperor.
The late emperor had been eager to change the Crown Prince.
But he knew very well that both Court Officials and Prestigious Clans feared a change of Crown Prince. The resistance would be too great.
The first time the late emperor showed a firm attitude and insisted on doing this, he fell ill soon after.
That illness almost drained him dry. He fell while still in his prime and later no longer had the strength to stir things up.
The plan to “depose the eldest and set up the worthy” was completely set aside.
Xiao Huai Feng knew very clearly how guarded his Imperial Elder Brother was against him, as if he wished Xiao Huai Feng would die at once. As for his Mother, her first concern was the larger situation, not her sons.
He respected his Mother, because what she wanted was not power, but peace for the people of the world.
If the situation changed, the world would fall into chaos, and the commoners might not recover for ten years.
The Empress Dowager had lived through that great unrest in the Capital City. She knew too well what the commoners needed, and how to choose in order to keep the realm stable.
She was more clear-headed than the late emperor, and more cautious.
Xiao Huai Feng respected her. So he was willing to step back and not push the mother and son to a dead end.
“…Huai Feng, your Princess Consort may not be a Highborn Lady, but she is clever and sharp. That is rarest of all. She only needs to be of one heart with you,” Prince Chen said, pulling Xiao Huai Feng from his thoughts.
“This much loyalty she does have,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Luo Ning was like a young hawk.
She was weak now because her own strength was too small and she had not yet grown up. But from small clues, one could already see the nature of a fierce bird of prey.
Given time, she would surely soar in the nine heavens.
Xiao Huai Feng was very patient in training subordinates with potential.
He had found a soft whip for Luo Ning and hired a Female Instructor for her. He hoped she would stand tall as soon as possible and become a sharp spear.
It was getting late. Xiao Huai Feng was going back to the manor.
As he left, he reached out and yanked out the flower pinned in Cui Zheng Qing’s hair.
“…Was it in your way?” Cui Zheng Qing asked.
“It offends this prince’s eyes,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Prince Chen lifted his tea and took a sip: “This prince’s eyes feel much better too.”
Cui Zheng Qing was speechless.
Luo Ning, once home, first handed the Warm Jade bracelet to Nanny Kong and told her to store it carefully.
After a simple wash, she changed into her inner clothes. She could not sleep yet, so she said to Qiu Hua: “You do not need to keep watch tonight. Go to sleep too. I will read for a while.”
Qiu Hua agreed.
She set out the warm water kettle, poured clean water into the bronze basin, and put Luo Ning’s teacup in place. She set a small lamp on the kang table and lowered the lampshade so only a thin, weak light showed and did not shine into the bed curtains.
After everything was ready, she went out.
Luo Ning read alone and thought back over everything that had happened today.
It seemed there had been nothing big.
Xiao Huai Feng was the same as usual, cold and proud. Prince Chen was steady and courteous, gentle and quiet. Cui Zheng Qing liked to dress up. He was very handsome, and he was pleasing to look at whether walking or sitting. His sister Cui Zheng Lan was just passing the days, yet she imitated a Young Lady of Good Family quite well.
Even the enchanting and handsome Young Master she had met on the pleasure boat and again on the street did not stay in Luo Ning’s mind for long.
What she could not forget was only Lady Liu’s comment.
Through Lady Liu’s words, it was as if Luo Ning had replayed her last life. How she grew up, how she amused herself, and how she was broken bit by bit.
She had always thought that after her rebirth, she could stand at the highest point and look down at her past life. But her soul was still inside her own body. She could never really step out of it.
Not until what Lady Liu said did she seem to move to a different place and watch it again.
Watching again, she was shocked at how brutal and bloodcurdling the process of her being torn apart had been.
When Luo Ning set her River Lantern on the water, she had wished for peace.
[If blood debts cannot be repaid with blood, her soul will never be at peace.]
[Bai Ci Rong is locked in the Marquis Manor for now, but they will have to let her out someday. Qiu Shi Dong and Bai Yu Lin are still in contact with the Marquis of Jian Ning’s manor.]
[The maidservants said Bai Ci Rong dreams of becoming a Noble Lady. This Noble Lady cannot mean marrying into the Marquis of Jian Ning’s manor, can it? Could it be the Imperial Palace?]
Luo Ning decided she would enter the palace again.
She could complain a little to the Empress Dowager.
She had to plan ahead and cut off Bai Ci Rong’s path to the Palace Gate.
Thinking this, Luo Ning blew out the lamp and lay down.
She did not lower the bed curtains. On the small table by the window, a tiny dim lamp was still burning. The room seemed covered in a thin layer of moonlight. She slowly fell asleep.
A few days later, Bai Yu Lin came.
Several carriages followed behind him. The gatekeeper handed in his Visiting Card.
At the second gate, a young maidservant who served in Wenqi Courtyard came in to pass the message: “The Young Master from the Marquis of Jian Ning’s manor is here to pay his respects to Lord Marquis. Eldest Uncle is at the gate.”
Luo Ning thought for a moment and said to Qiu Hua: “Bring my soft whip. I will go take a look.”
Nursemaids He and Yin heard and gently reminded her: “Princess Consort, do not let others catch hold of this as a handle against you.”
“I am only going to look,” Luo Ning said with a smile. “Do not worry. I will keep the soft whip inside my sleeve. Unless it is absolutely necessary, I will not take it out.”