Chapter 141
Chapter 141: Stepping on the Marchioness Again
The Empress Dowager favored Luo Ning, and Luo Ning knew this very well. She had not let the Empress Dowager down.
That was why Luo Ning told her about this first, so the Empress Dowager would not hear it from somewhere else.
She stayed in the imperial palace and kept the Empress Dowager company for most of the day.
When the Empress Dowager took her nap at noon, Luo Ning even helped by copying Buddhist sutras.
When it was getting late, she finally left the palace.
The maidservant following her was Qiu Hua. Qiu Hua could not help asking: “Miss, why did you let Bai Ci Rong go?”
If Wenqi Courtyard had wanted to stop Bai Ci Rong, it would have been as easy as turning a hand.
But Luo Ning had done nothing, only kept people from letting her use the main gates or the side gates, forcing her to crawl out through a dog hole and making her lose face.
Even so, Bai Ci Rong had still run away.
She was a troublemaker. Now that she was out, who knew how much trouble she would bring to the young miss. Qiu Hua was worried.
Luo Ning said: “If she didn’t go out, what would we do if Qiu Shi Dong and Bai Yu Lin really left?”
If Madam Bai and Bai Ci Rong were both locked up in the manor, what would they use to hold Qiu Shi Dong back?
They were not enough as leverage.
Only profit could keep those two tied up. Once Bai Ci Rong was out, they would naturally think they had prospects again and would not leave easily.
Since they had come to the capital, how could they leave untouched?
Especially Qiu Shi Dong.
Luo Ning said: “…Let her go. It’s fine. It won’t hurt us.”
Qiu Hua said no more.
When Luo Ning got home and night had fallen, she did not even stop to eat but went straight to the East Main Courtyard.
The Marchioness had just taken her medicine and gone to bed early.
Perhaps Bai Ci Rong’s escape had given her a bit of hope and comfort. Her spirits seemed a little better.
When she saw Luo Ning, the Marchioness’s eyes were full of wariness. “You still dare to come?” she said.
Luo Ning smiled. “This is my mother’s courtyard. I came to see you. Why wouldn’t I dare to come?”
When the Marchioness saw her, the anger in her heart could not be held back. Her face changed again and again. “Aren’t you afraid that Nanny Zhen will come to claim your life?” she said.
“I wasn’t the one who killed her,” Luo Ning said calmly. “It was you, Mother. You killed her. She will come to you first.”
Then she added, “I’m vicious. If she dares come to me, I’ll scatter her soul so she won’t even be able to be a ghost.”
The Marchioness shuddered.
She seemed not to recognize Luo Ning. “How did you become so terrifying? You are not my daughter!” she cried.
Luo Ning asked: “Then who is your daughter, Mother? The cousin?”
The Marchioness clenched her fingers so hard that nail marks appeared in her palms.
“Mother, have you heard about Cousin crawling out through the dog hole? I have already told the Empress Dowager. Before long, the whole city will know,” Luo Ning said.
As she spoke, she had already stood up.
Just as Luo Ning had expected, when the Marchioness heard this, her expression changed drastically. She could no longer keep up appearances and grabbed a teacup and hurled it at Luo Ning.
“You… you won’t be satisfied until you drive us to our deaths, will you? You disaster, you animal, I should never have given birth to you back then! You want to cut off every path we have…”
She cursed as she struggled to grab at Luo Ning.
Luo Ning had already turned around and walked out of her inner room.
Behind her, the Marchioness screamed curses until her voice was hoarse and coughed violently.
She coughed up another mouthful of blood.
All the servants in the East Main Courtyard were trusted aides of the Marchioness, Madam Bai.
These people were all starting to have their own thoughts.
Some blamed Luo Ning for being too cruel, striking so hard at her birth mother again and again, unable to bear seeing the Marchioness’s condition improve.
Others felt that Luo Ning simply hated Bai Ci Rong. She used Bai Ci Rong to hurt the Marchioness in hopes that the Marchioness would slowly give up on Bai Ci Rong.
Yet whenever the Marchioness heard that Bai Ci Rong was in trouble, she would fly into a rage. In this way, the conflict between Luo Ning and Madam could never be solved, and the East Main Courtyard would never know peace.
“Should we leave?”
“Where could we go? Besides Madam, no one would be willing to hire us.”
Bai Ci Rong’s successful escape had raised the Marchioness’s spirits, and now Luo Ning had shattered them again.
The East Main Courtyard was full of unease.
Luo Ning returned to Wenqi Courtyard, ate a simple bowl of noodle soup, and slept well.
After an autumn rain, the morning wind carried a hint of coolness. The summer heat had faded, and Luo Ning planned to bring Grandmother home.
Luo Ning said: “Pack up. We will also go stay at the Summer Retreat Villa for a couple of days. Grandmother should come back to spend the festival.”
Qiu Lan answered that she would.
The next day, Luo Ning took Qiu Hua, Qiu Lan, and Lin Zhao and set out early for the Summer Retreat Villa.
The sun was still strong in the late morning, but when Luo Ning reached the villa in the hills, the cool breeze was gentle, and it felt more comfortable than mid-autumn.
Qiu Hua said enviously: “Let’s come here to escape the heat next year too.”
Luo Ning said: “We might not have time.”
Once she became Princess Consort Yong, Luo Ning and the head maids would be very busy. Besides managing the household, which would take a lot of time, there was another thing: socializing.
Before marriage, every day she only needed to “study.” Other than practicing with the whip and attending lessons with her two nursemaids, she just practiced her writing.
She had plenty of free time.
It was only because the two most troublesome and time-consuming tasks, managing the household and socializing, had not yet fallen on her.
“…That’s a pity then,” Qiu Hua said.
Luo Ning only smiled.
There was nothing to regret. After she was busy for three years and they moved to Shaoyang, the rest of her life would be days as peaceful as this.
She had to pay a price for her future.
The carriage could only go so far. They had to walk the rest of the way up the mountain.
Luo Ning then met a group of people. They seemed tired and had stopped to rest.
It was a young woman with several maidservants around her.
A rough servant woman carried a bundle on her back.
The young woman glanced at Luo Ning.
Most of the people who could come to stay at this Summer Retreat Villa were powerful nobles from Shengjing, and their precious young ladies all more or less knew each other.
Luo Ning was a strange face. The noble young lady seemed never to have seen her and stared at her several more times.
A lively young maidservant asked: “Miss, are you also going up the mountain?”
“Yes,” Qiu Lan answered for Luo Ning.
The young maidservant said: “Which residence is Miss staying in? This is the third young lady of the Marquis of Jian Ning’s manor. We live in Songmei Courtyard.”
Qiu Lan’s expression changed slightly as she looked at Luo Ning.
Then she replied, “We are guests.”
She added: “Miss, let’s hurry, so we don’t keep people waiting.”
This was Luo Ning’s first time seeing the Wang Family’s third young lady, the future secondary consort of Prince Yong.
The other girl looked at Luo Ning, and Luo Ning looked back at her.
As they passed each other, Luo Ning led her maidservants and Lin Zhao on ahead.
Behind them, the Wang Family’s young maidservant was still muttering: “Whose guest is that? So rude.”
Luo Ning pretended not to hear and kept walking.
Qiu Hua spoke up: “Miss, they introduced themselves first. We didn’t say who we are. Doesn’t that make us look petty?”
Luo Ning said: “A few days ago, when Young Master Wang was beaten at our gate, that Third Miss Wang was sitting in the carriage, peeking out.
She already knew who I was and deliberately had her maidservant ask us. Since she was pretending not to know, why can’t we pretend too?”
Qiu Hua: “…”
Lin Zhao laughed and said: “Princess Consort sees things clearly.”
When they arrived at the villa, Cousin Luo Wan was already waiting at the gate. A house guard had ridden ahead to report their arrival and bring up Luo Ning and the others’ luggage.
Luo Wan smiled and said: “Big Sister, you finally came. I’ve been waiting half a day for you.”
Luo Ning asked: “Is Grandmother well?”
“Very well. She has been waiting for you,” Luo Wan said.
Life on the mountain was very comfortable, but after a long time, it felt a little lonely. With the food being so light as well, Luo Wan could not wait to go home.
With the Mid-Autumn Festival coming soon and Luo Ning arriving, they would be able to go home in the next couple of days.
That was why, when Luo Wan saw Luo Ning, she was almost moved to tears from happiness.
On Luo Ning’s second day at the Summer Retreat Villa, Prince Yong arrived.