Chapter 146
Chapter 146: Bai Ci Rong’s Good Fortune
Grandmother came back to the residence, and it felt as if the house suddenly had a backbone again.
Luo Ning got up early to pay her respects to Grandmother and stayed with her to chant sutras and do the morning lessons.
Second Madam came early as well.
She brought the menu from the West Main Courtyard for Grandmother to look over and asked if anything needed to be added or removed.
Second Madam said: “Now that I am in charge of the kitchen, you and Third Sister-in-law have just come back from outside, so I wanted to ask about your tastes. If nothing has changed, we will keep everything the same as before.”
Asking was just a matter of courtesy, so no one could pick on her.
Old Madam nodded in satisfaction and said: “The West Main Courtyard will stay the same. Do things as before.”
She could not eat much and also had a small kitchen of her own.
As long as she did not change anything, Third Madam would not dare to make trouble and put Second Madam in a difficult spot.
Second Madam understood that Old Madam was protecting her and said gratefully: “Mother, you are saving me trouble.”
Old Madam said: “Our family should put harmony first. But this harmony is not about pretending to be blind and having the Grand Master act as if nothing is wrong. It means that I must set an example and not stir up trouble for no reason. If there is real conflict that you cannot handle, come tell me. When there is a sore, we treat the sore. We must stop problems while they are still small.”
Second Madam answered respectfully.
Luo Ning ate breakfast with Grandmother. After that, she went back to Wenqi Courtyard and started on her lessons for the day.
The two nursemaids, He and Yin, had already taught her everything they could. Now they only tested Luo Ning from time to time, to help her review so she would not forget.
The rest of the time, they just stayed with Luo Ning and chatted about small things.
Luo Ning was talking with Nanny He about the Marquis of Jian Ning, the Wang family, when Second Madam came.
It was still late in the morning, close to lunchtime. Luo Ning did not know why she had rushed over all of a sudden.
Had they not just seen each other in the West Main Courtyard that morning?
Second Madam said: “A’Ning, the gatekeepers just received an invitation from the Marquis of Jian Ning Residence. They invite the womenfolk of our household to a banquet.”
Luo Ning thought of what Cui Zheng Qing had said yesterday.
She asked: “Is it about Bai Ci Rong?”
Second Madam said: “I asked the Madam from the Zhou family next door. Their family also received an invitation. It really is about your cousin. She has become the Wang family’s adopted daughter. The Marquis of Jian Ning Residence thinks very highly of her and is holding a big banquet. They have invited all the meritorious aristocratic families in Shengjing to come and congratulate her.”
Luo Ning looked at the invitation.
It said that on the twenty-third day of the eighth month, the Wang family’s Fifth Miss would hold her hairpin ceremony.
Luo Ning said: “A hairpin ceremony usually only invites relatives and friends. Only for weddings and funerals do people send invitations all over the capital city. The Wang family is really overbearing. For the hairpin ceremony of just one adopted daughter, they cast the net so wide.”
Second Madam said: “They really are overbearing. If we do not go, we will offend the Wang family. Other than Madam Cui, almost no one dares offend Madam Wang. Even Madam Pei and Madam Zheng have to keep up polite appearances.”
Luo Ning said: “This time, Cousin really has climbed onto a high branch.”
In her heart, she had already made a quick plan.
She remembered very clearly that this Emperor would pass away next year in the twelfth lunar month.
The Marquis of Jian Ning Residence had taken in Bai Ci Rong and was making a huge show of her hairpin ceremony to build up her reputation.
Qiu Shi Dong had surely spent a lot of money. As for the Wang family, they probably planned to send her into the palace. Only then could they make the best use of Bai Ci Rong’s value.
This was not just Luo Ning guessing. When Bai Ci Rong had lived in the East Main Courtyard, the servants had gossiped that she wanted to become a Noble Lady.
Luo Ning had always remembered this rumor.
A Noble Lady was clearly a palace concubine, not a Young Madam of the Marquis of Jian Ning Residence.
[Enter the palace?]
This idea stayed in Luo Ning’s mind.
The Emperor did not have many days left.
Many things were changing, but the fact that his health was getting worse day by day could not be changed.
If they could delay it for a year, and Bai Ci Rong entered the palace when the Emperor was on his deathbed, then after Luo Ning worked things behind the scenes, perhaps the Marquis of Jian Ning Residence and Bai Ci Rong could be made to take the blame.
Then some prestigious clans that had stood for a hundred years could be uprooted early as well.
This matter was too big for Luo Ning to do alone. She would need Prince Yong’s help.
Second Madam said worriedly: “A’Ning, you must be very careful. This cousin hates you to the bone. Now that she has borrowed the power of the Marquis of Jian Ning Residence, she will be bad for you.”
Bai Ci Rong not only hated Luo Ning. She also hated the Luo family.
She had lived a good life in the Luo family for almost three years, but she had forgotten all of that. She only remembered the shame and suffering of the past nine months.
Bai Ci Rong would do everything she could to stomp everyone in the Luo family to death, including Luo Ning.
“I will,” Luo Ning nodded.
Second Madam then asked: “Will you go to the banquet?”
Luo Ning said: “Yes.”
Second Madam said: “A’Ning, how about you do not go? I will take A’Wan and your aunt instead. You are a young lady waiting to marry. If you stay at home, no one can find fault with you.”
Luo Ning shook her head and said: “I want to go and take a look.”
She also wanted to trip Bai Ci Rong and force her to “rest and recover” for a while.
If Bai Ci Rong and the Marquis of Jian Ning Residence really planned to send her into the palace, then Luo Ning hoped the timing could be dragged out until the second half of next year.
If they could find someone else to take the blame for the Emperor’s death, it would be better for Prince Yong’s future.
It would also help Luo Ning become a Commandery Princess earlier.
Maybe the Empress Dowager would even be grateful to Luo Ning for helping the Imperial House solve a problem.
Luo Ning told Second Madam to go back and give their answer. She also asked Second Madam to help prepare the gifts. She planned to go with the Luo family’s womenfolk to congratulate Bai Ci Rong.
When she lay down for her nap at noon, Luo Ning’s head was full of this matter.
She turned over and thought: [I will need the right time, the right place, and the right people.]
Even if it did not work, there was no need to panic.
The Emperor’s body was too weak. He did not have much energy to dote on any new concubines who entered the palace. Even if Bai Ci Rong really was lucky, she could never get out of the Empress Dowager’s palm.
At worst, Bai Ci Rong would just sink into the deep palace. And once Luo Ning became Princess Consort Yong, it would not be so easy for Bai Ci Rong to deal with her.
If things did not go well for Bai Ci Rong, the Marquis of Jian Ning Residence would run faster than anyone else. They would never support her for long.
So no matter if Luo Ning’s plan worked or not, it would not harm her or the Luo family much.
Thinking this way, her heart calmed down.
Two festival lanterns still hung at the head of Luo Ning’s bed. It had only been one day since the Mid-Autumn Festival, and yet life already felt like it had turned a new page again.
It felt a little strange and wonderful.
The news that Bai Ci Rong had become the adopted daughter of the Marquis of Jian Ning Residence spread through the Luo family in just one night. The servants all started to talk about it.
It had probably been spread from Madam Bai’s courtyard.
No one was happier than Madam Bai. People said she could eat a lot in the morning now and sleep soundly at night.
She was probably waiting for Luo Ning to lose her temper and fall apart.
Grandmother comforted her and said: “Do not worry. In another half a year, you will be Princess Consort Yong. The Prince and the Empress Dowager both care about you. That cousin of yours will never become a real threat.”
Luo Ning nodded.
Her voice was very soft as she said: “In our family, only two people’s hearts will change right away. The others more or less feel that this has nothing to do with them.”
Old Madam knew that Luo Ning was talking about Luo Chong Ye and Madam Bai.
Luo Chong Ye was like a small boat on a lake. At the smallest ripple, he would rock back and forth.
Old Madam could do nothing about the temper and nature of her eldest son.
She and her late husband were not like that at all. Instead, the eunuch in her family had a reckless, arrogant way of acting, and Luo Chong Ye had inherited that.
Madam Bai, on the other hand, treated Bai Ci Rong as her last straw.
Grandmother said: “As for your father, I will try my best to hold him back. I will keep reminding him that being Prince Yong’s father-in-law is his greatest chance for the future. He must not try to grasp too much.”
Luo Ning smiled and said: “Thank you, Grandmother.”
Luo Chong Ye would still want more. The more power, the better.
While Luo Ning was talking with Grandmother, the two of them stayed together for more than half the day and did not part. Then a maid from the second gate came in to report that a guest had come to visit Old Madam.
The visitor turned out to be someone they knew.