Chapter 142
Chapter 142: Prince Yong’s Secret Meeting
Luo Ning ran into Prince Yong at the mountain villa.
He had not come there on purpose to look for her.
That day, in the late afternoon, the sun leaned toward the west, and the wind on the mountain path was cool. Luo Ning wanted to go out for a walk.
Her cousin Luo Wan told her: “The osmanthus flowers on the back mountain have bloomed.”
Luo Ning said: “The weather here is cool. Shouldn’t the osmanthus bloom later?”
Luo Wan laughed and said: “I asked Grandmother. Grandmother said the back mountain gets more sun, and the temperature is a bit lower, so the osmanthus blooms half a month earlier than in the city.”
It blooms later than other flowers, but it also withers later.
Luo Ning said: “All right then, let’s go pick a couple of branches of osmanthus.”
She went out with Luo Wan, a soft whip hidden in her sleeve, and only brought Lin Zhao along.
The path up the back mountain wound in curves. Lin Zhao saw a man and a woman standing on the mountain road not far ahead. She pointed them out to Luo Ning and said: “That man looks a bit like our Prince.”
Luo Ning and Luo Wan also looked over.
The man wore a dark robe, with only a few golden cloud patterns embroidered along the hem. He was tall and straight but not bulky. From the back, he looked like a pine tree standing upright.
His hair was held up with a jade crown, and his black hair shone a little in the sunlight.
Luo Ning felt that even standing there at ease, he carried an air of pressure. He really did look a lot like Prince Yong.
She looked again at the woman beside him, who happened to be facing their way. It was the Wang family’s Third Miss they had seen yesterday.
The third young miss had an uncommon beauty and a calm nature. The tip of her nose was slightly upturned, adding a touch of lively charm to her soft prettiness. Once you saw her, it was hard to forget.
Luo Ning started to say: “He really does…”
Before Luo Ning finished speaking, the man turned his face.
He was not just similar. It was really him.
Xiao Huai Feng’s gaze swept over Luo Ning and the others at this end of the path, and he walked toward them.
Luo Ning and Lin Zhao bowed and said: “Prince.”
Luo Wan was very surprised. She did not know if she was more surprised that Prince Yong was here, or that he was meeting with Miss Wang. She was a beat late before she added a folded-sleeve salute.
Xiao Huai Feng said: “Rise.”
Luo Ning stood up and looked over there.
Third Miss Wang only stood where she was. From a distance, she nodded slightly to them, but did not seem to mean to come over.
Luo Ning curved her lips in a small smile and nodded back in greeting.
Luo Ning asked: “Prince, do you have business here?”
Xiao Huai Feng said: “Just a small matter.”
Luo Ning said: “We ate a lot of snacks this afternoon and came out for a walk to help digest. If you are busy, Prince, we will head back now.”
Xiao Huai Feng said: “I am done.”
After he spoke, he did not move his feet and did not say another word.
He never started a topic on his own.
[If you are done, you should go do whatever you need to do. What are you standing here for?]
While Luo Ning was busy complaining about him in her heart, Lin Zhao and Luo Wan also stood still. The air went completely cold. For several moments, the only sound was the mountain wind rustling through the leaves, and the awkwardness hit everyone in the face.
Lin Zhao looked at Luo Ning, and Xiao Huai Feng also looked at Luo Ning.
They were all clearly waiting for her to speak.
Luo Ning finally asked: “Prince, now that you are done, will you stay here for a while, or go back down the mountain?”
Xiao Huai Feng said: “I will stay for a short while.”
Luo Ning asked again: “Do you have another villa here?”
He said: “Yes.”
Luo Ning said: “Then do you need some osmanthus for a vase? We are out for a walk and plan to pick some branches anyway.”
Xiao Huai Feng said: “There are osmanthus trees in the rear courtyard of my villa. They have already bloomed.”
Luo Ning asked: “Ours have not bloomed yet. The sun is better over there. May I go pick a few branches?”
Xiao Huai Feng said: “You may.”
Luo Wan let out a heavy breath.
Such stiff, dead silence had actually been brought back to life by her elder sister.
Only someone who would become a princess consort could handle things like this. Luo Wan felt that if it were her, her tongue would be even stiffer than the rocks on the mountain.
Luo Wan said: “Elder Sister, we will head back first.”
She did not want to go to Prince Yong’s villa.
Lin Zhao looked at one person, then the other. She also did not want to sink into another silent moment with nothing to say, so she decided to go back with Luo Wan. She said: “Prince, Princess Consort, I will not disturb you further.”
Xiao Huai Feng gave a slight nod.
Luo Wan and Lin Zhao turned around at once and went back.
Luo Ning walked forward with him.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could still see Third Miss Wang strolling slowly along.
Miss Wang seemed to glance in their direction.
So Luo Ning took the lead and asked Xiao Huai Feng: “Prince, did you come today to meet Miss Wang?”
Xiao Huai Feng also glanced that way.
In a calm voice, he said: “No. We just happened to run into each other.”
Luo Ning understood.
He had given a qin to Empress Zheng, so he should not be secretly meeting Miss Wang on purpose.
It was not that he was faithful to only one woman.
It was just that a secret meeting like this was something done by mutual choice, as equals.
Other than a noble-born lady like Empress Zheng, whose looks and talents were both outstanding, Xiao Huai Feng likely found it hard to take any other woman seriously.
No one else had the right to stand as his equal.
Miss Wang even less so.
Luo Ning understood in her heart. If in the future there were ever two masters in this household, the other one would only be Empress Zheng, and certainly not Miss Wang.
Then, when Miss Wang entered the prince’s residence, she would be treated the same as the other secondary consorts. Luo Ning would be able to hold herself like the principal consort in front of her.
“Here we are.” Xiao Huai Feng stopped in front of a residence.
This villa was more luxurious than the one he had given to Luo Ning. The plaque over the front gate was made of white marble, carved with fine detail.
Luo Ning followed him inside.
The courtyard here was wider, the decorations more tasteful, and the upkeep clearly done with care.
The path was paved with stone tiles, and there was not a speck of dirt in the gaps between them.
Xiao Huai Feng led Luo Ning to the rear courtyard to pick osmanthus.
As they walked along the stone path, he asked Luo Ning: “I heard some rumors about your family recently.”
Luo Ning asked: “Is it about my cousin stealing gold and crawling out through the dog hole to escape?”
Xiao Huai Feng neither agreed nor denied it. He said: “Tell me the details.”
Luo Ning was a little puzzled.
She suspected a little that he was just using a big topic as an excuse to draw her out.
But she did not hesitate and briefly told him what had happened.
Xiao Huai Feng asked: “That Huzhou salt merchant has not left yet? Can your father stand that?”
Luo Ning said: “He has ties with the Wang family. We have no reason to drive him away.”
Xiao Huai Feng said: “How much more do you know about him? For example, about smuggled salt.”
When Luo Ning had been a ghost, she had heard many things.
She told Xiao Huai Feng everything she knew, one thing after another.
She always needed to look for topics to talk about. Since he had given her one ready-made, Luo Ning naturally followed along, not letting his words fall flat.
After that, Xiao Huai Feng picked a few of the best blooming branches from the top of the tree for her.
Luo Ning held the osmanthus in her arms. He did not see her off himself, but told one of his bodyguards to escort her back.
Luo Ning thought: [Why did he come just to ask about smuggled salt? What does that have to do with him?]
When Luo Ning had been a ghost, she had not really known him, and her attention had not been on him.
Other than his black dog, and the way he offered sacrifices to heaven when he ascended the throne and made Madam Zheng empress, Luo Ning had not paid attention to anything else about him.
She felt a bit puzzled.
Luo Ning did feel some respect for Xiao Huai Feng. In the future, she would have to rely on him to gain a title and land. Besides respecting him, she also feared him, because her future was in his hands.
With both respect and fear mixed together, Luo Ning felt she did not need to worry too much about his affairs.
She only needed to do her own duty well.
She brought the osmanthus back, arranged a vase of it and sent it to Grandmother first, then gave a branch each to Luo Wan and Lin Zhao.
Grandmother also said: “Let us go back early. I really miss home a little.”
On the third morning, the whole Luo family packed up and went down the mountain together.
Before leaving, Luo Ning went to bid farewell to Prince Yong. Servants had been left to watch over his courtyard, and they told her: “The Prince has already gone down the mountain.”
Luo Ning turned back.
A faint scent of osmanthus floated in the carriage. Luo Ning had brought her branch with her instead of leaving it in the courtyard like Grandmother and the others.
She thought it smelled very good.