Chapter 140
Chapter 140: Bai Ci Rong Escapes Through the Dog Hole
Bai Ci Rong did not know about the commotion at the gate of the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor.
She received a letter brought back by the Marchioness’s small kitchen purchasing steward maidservant. It said that Bai Yu Lin would soon come to the Marquis Manor to pick her up.
It would be in the next few days.
But she waited and waited, and he never came.
Bai Ci Rong had not slept well for many days.
They had pasted yellow talismans on the walls and hung a peachwood sword in the room. She felt a bit calmer, but her nights were still full of messy dreams.
Bai Ci Rong kept telling herself: [I did nothing wrong. I was not the one who killed Nanny Zhen. Luo Chong Ye beat her to death.]
But Madam Bai was always dazed, clear one moment and confused the next, and Bai Ci Rong had no one to rely on.
The maidservants were best at flattering the strong and stepping on the weak. These days they had not stopped bullying her. It was hard for her to even drink a mouthful of warm water at night.
Bai Ci Rong had to leave.
If she did not leave soon, Nanny Zhen really would come to take her life.
She could not die here in such a pathetic way.
The Marquis of Jian Ning’s manor wanted to take her in as an adopted daughter and send her into the palace. She had a bright future ahead. How could she let it be ruined?
She cried to Madam Bai: “What should I do? How can I leave the Luo Family?”
Madam Bai was a little clearer than usual today.
Whenever she was clear-headed, she was especially sad. She truly could not bear losing Nanny Zhen.
Bai Ci Rong could not understand. A servant was still just a servant, no matter how long she had been with them. Why be so sad over that?
Nanny Zhen’s death had almost hit Madam Bai as hard as Luo Yin’s death.
Bai Ci Rong could not understand.
In Madam Bai’s heart, wasn’t securing her children’s future supposed to be the most important thing?
“…Miss A’Rong, if you really want to go, you can crawl out through this dog hole. Your shoulders are thin; you can just barely fit through,” a steward nanny whispered to Bai Ci Rong.
The dog hole had always been there. The previous owners had probably kept a dog.
After Madam Bai moved in, she had it blocked with bricks, but they could easily be moved.
Madam Bai lay there sick and weak and said feebly: “It is a way, at least.”
Bai Ci Rong was shocked and angry: “How could I do that? Who do you think I am, to crawl through a dog hole?”
Wouldn’t that be asking for humiliation?
She could not accept it, but Madam Bai no longer had the strength to worry about her.
“Aunt, please think of another way. You can’t just ignore me,” Bai Ci Rong said.
The stewardess looked a little displeased.
An old maidservant said: “Cousin, Madam is already this sick. You can’t make things harder for her.”
This old maidservant was also one of Madam Bai’s trusted aides, but she was not the same as Nanny Zhen.
She might guess at the most secret matters, but they had never been spoken aloud. She could not say them, and Bai Ci Rong would never say them in front of her.
“I’m making things hard?” Bai Ci Rong began to cry. “Who has it harder than I do? Is my bright future going to be ruined? How is this any different from being in prison?”
A made-up little golden Buddha statue had now become the reason for Bai Ci Rong’s confinement.
The Luo Family had an excuse to lock her up here.
Madam Bai was mentally and physically exhausted. She sank back against the neck bolster, unable to help Bai Ci Rong anymore.
Bai Ci Rong waited a few more days.
Luo You came back and stayed up late to write a memorial to the throne for Luo Chong Ye.
He really had read some books. His writing style was very average, but the memorial was clear, and he could still quote a couple of familiar classics.
It was much better than what Luo Chong Ye could write.
Luo Chong Ye said: “Your handwriting is not bad. If I had practiced more when I was young, my writing would be better than yours.”
Luo You: “…”
He praised him half a sentence only to lift himself up. Luo You was speechless at his father’s way of speaking.
Since they could not talk even half a sentence without clashing, he could not be bothered to waste words with Luo Chong Ye.
Luo Chong Ye handed in the memorial to the throne.
It was reasonable and well argued, and the Emperor really did question the Marquis of Jian Ning about it.
The Marquis of Jian Ning already knew what had happened. Before he could complain that the Luo Family had beaten his son, the Luo Family had rushed to accuse him first.
Many court officials already disliked the Marquis of Jian Ning. When he tried to defend himself, they argued back on the Luo Family’s side.
The whole matter was that the Wang Family’s son had come to provoke them. He wanted to see the Marquis of Zhen Nan without first sending in a visiting card. After being refused, he even tried to hit someone. He failed and instead was kicked down the steps by the Luo Family’s young son.
The Luo Family did not mention Luo Ning, and the Marquis of Jian Ning’s manor did not mention her either.
Luo Chong Ye and Luo You did not want to cause trouble for Luo Ning, and the Marquis of Jian Ning did not want to drag Prince Yong into it and add another obstacle.
In the end, the court officials and the Emperor concluded that the Marquis of Jian Ning’s manor had been “bullying others with their power” and ordered the Marquis of Jian Ning to personally go to the Luo Family to apologize.
The Censorate did harshly criticize the Marquis of Jian Ning and took the chance to attack the prestigious clans in general.
The Marquis of Jian Ning first gave Bai Yu Lin a thorough scolding, telling him to mind his own business and not drag the Wang Family down. Then he sent someone with a visiting card to go apologize to Luo Chong Ye.
Luo Chong Ye did not have much backbone and accepted it quickly.
Bai Ci Rong heard again that the Marquis of Jian Ning had gone to the Luo Family.
But Bai Yu Lin had not come.
The Marquis of Jian Ning’s manor had said they would take her in as an adopted daughter, yet when the Marquis of Jian Ning came to the Luo Family, he did not take her away.
[I have to get out. If I still don’t leave, I might be the next one to die,] Bai Ci Rong thought.
She really could not stand it anymore.
She could no longer worry about Madam Bai. Saving her own life came first.
They pried open the dog hole in the East Main Courtyard, and Bai Ci Rong curled up and crawled out. She had not expected the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s courtyard wall to be so thick. She felt as if she had been crawling for half a day before she finally squeezed herself out.
As soon as she emerged, her expression changed sharply.
A few people were standing right in front of her.
The Zhou Family’s madam had brought several daughters to visit Luo Ning and deliver some Mid-Autumn Festival melons and fruits to the Luo Family. Because the weather was hot, they had come along this side of the wall to stay in the shade.
They had never thought they would see Bai Ci Rong crawling out of a dog hole.
“Who are you? Are you a thief?” one Miss Zhou asked loudly.
“Hurry, hold her down,” she ordered her maidservant.
The maidservants were about to move.
A Luo Family maidservant crawled out right behind her. After straightening her messy clothes, she first curtseyed to the Zhou Family’s madam and misses.
“This is my family’s cousin. She…” she started.
“Why is a cousin crawling out of a dog hole?” Madam Zhou frowned. “This is improper.”
“It’s none of your business,” Bai Ci Rong said, both ashamed and angry. “Stop meddling in what doesn’t concern you.”
She turned around and ran.
Madam Zhou did not say anything more. She sent someone to inform the Luo Family’s Second Madam.
The Second Madam said: “Our family lost a golden Buddha statue worth a lot of money. We could not find it, and it is connected to the East Main Courtyard. The lord marquis said they had to hand the item over before they could leave, yet they chose to escape through a dog hole.”
Madam Zhou: “…”
The matter spread again.
People said that the Madam of the Marquis Manor of Zhen Nan’s niece had stolen something valuable while staying at the Marquis Manor, escaped through a dog hole, and was now nowhere to be found.
Luo Ning had arranged things on purpose so that this story would be passed back to Madam Bai.
Madam Bai was so angry that her illness flared up again. She had just become a little clearer, and now she was confused once more.
Bai Ci Rong fled and went looking for Qiu Shi Dong.
Bai Ci Rong said: “I don’t care what they say. I am not just someone’s cousin. I am a young lady of the Marquis of Jian Ning’s manor.”
She was full of confidence.
As long as she became a palace concubine, who would dare gossip about her?
She would be a woman of the Imperial House. Everyone would have to be careful around her. No one would dare expose her flaws.
Being down and out was the only real fault.
As long as she tried her hardest to climb up, there would be nothing wrong at all. Even crawling through a dog hole would count as enduring humiliation for the sake of the future.
She said to Qiu Shi Dong: “My good fortune is close, Father.”
Qiu Shi Dong smiled. “You can enter their household. The Wang Family will send someone to fetch you.”
Sure enough, that night the Wang Family came and took Bai Ci Rong back.
Luo Ning heard about this.
After thinking for a moment, she went into the palace the next day to ask to see the Empress Dowager. She did not beat around the bush and directly told the Empress Dowager that her cousin had escaped through a dog hole and then been taken in by the Wang Family.
Luo Ning said: “…I’m afraid they will use this chance to slander me, so I wanted to tell Imperial Mother first.”
The Empress Dowager said: “I know what to think. You can rest easy.”
Luo Ning agreed.