Chapter 148
Chapter 148: Luo Ning’s Warning
On the twenty-first day of the eighth month, the early morning wind was cool. The air was filled with the rich, heavy scent of sweet osmanthus. The sky was high and far, the blue vault clear and bright, and it made people’s hearts feel more open.
Lin Zhao went out at dawn and only came back after a long while.
She handed the item to Luo Ning and said: “His Highness said this one is genuine. There are no fakes in his residence.”
Luo Ning: “…”
Holding it carefully in both hands, she asked Lin Zhao: “Can we use the real one to make a fake copy?”
She would feel terrible if it was damaged.
Lin Zhao said: “We don’t have time. To make a proper copy would take at least three to five days. But from what I saw, His Highness doesn’t care. Prince Yong’s residence is full of good things.”
Prince Yong really was rich and generous.
He had even told Luo Ning the secret about smuggled salt. Just that alone showed how amazing his money and power were.
“Then let’s protect it as much as we can,” Luo Ning said.
Lin Zhao said: “Princess Consort, can I take another look? I have never seen something like this before.”
Luo Ning could not help laughing: “You can hold onto it. Just give it back to me when we go to the Wang family.”
Lin Zhao thanked her.
Soon, the day of the banquet at the Marquis of Jian Ning’s estate arrived.
Her cousin Luo Wan came to look for Luo Ning.
“Second Sister is going too. Her maid told my mother to get her carriage ready,” Luo Wan said.
The Second Sister she meant was Luo Ning’s younger half sister, Luo Xuan.
In the past, Luo Xuan had been the Marchioness’s advance pawn, rushing around to fight for her. Later she hurt her leg in a fall and was left disabled. She now walked with a slight limp.
After that, Luo Xuan lost heart and almost never left her room. The Marchioness kept failing again and again and was often punished and grounded. Since Luo Xuan no longer went to see her, she could not use Luo Xuan anymore.
Now the Marquis of Jian Ning’s residence was holding a grand banquet, and Luo Xuan actually wanted to go.
“My mother will surely go too, right?” Luo Ning asked.
Luo Wan said: “Yes. Aunt is having eight carriages with ornate canopies prepared.”
“This show is going to be interesting,” Luo Ning said.
Luo Wan looked at her with curiosity and suddenly said: “Elder Sister, I keep feeling that Cousin is going to bully you, and she has already made plans.”
“I think so too.”
Luo Wan was speechless.
The two sisters looked at each other and laughed.
Then Luo Wan asked: “Are you scared?”
“Not really.”
“If it were me, I would rather not go. For this kind of bad-luck situation, I would let them have it first. I have my own future anyway,” Luo Wan said.
Luo Ning said: “I used to think that way too. But later I found that when I take a step back, the other side doesn’t step back with me. She only pushes harder and harder.
If I give way this time, next time she’ll climb all over me. Bai Ci Rong has become the Wang family’s adopted daughter. How could she possibly stop there?”
With Qiu Shi Dong’s money and the status of a Miss of the Wang family, Bai Ci Rong had finally gotten what she most wanted. Coming to the Luo family had always been for this goal.
In her previous life, she had succeeded too.
If she had not been so greedy and had not gone to provoke Grand Princess Jia Hong, Luo Ning felt she could have had an even better future and lived rich all her life.
In this life, Bai Ci Rong was walking the same road again, still putting her greed first.
She wanted everything.
“Elder Sister, you are right. Do you need my help?” Luo Wan asked.
“Yes,” Luo Ning said.
She asked Luo Wan to bring her ear close. Luo Ning whispered a few words to her and told her to do exactly as she said. Then she told Lin Zhao to hand the real item they had brought from Prince Yong’s residence to Luo Wan.
She did not tell Luo Wan what it was or how valuable it was. She only told her how to act.
Luo Wan took it carefully and promised she would handle it well.
Luo Ning could not help reminding her again: “A’Wan, you must be careful of your two concubine-born younger sisters.”
“All right.”
Seeing that she did not seem to take it very seriously, Luo Ning gripped her hand tightly and said: “A’Wan, I dreamed of something very bad. In my dream, your oldest concubine-born younger sister killed you.”
Luo Wan was stunned: “I have hardly even seen her.”
“She was sent into the house by the Bai family. She is also Bai Ci Rong’s knife,” Luo Ning said. “You say you want to help me. What if Bai Ci Rong starts to hate you too? Wouldn’t that match my dream?
If you are careless about this, I would rather not have your help, so I do not drag you down with me. If anything happened to you, I would remember that dream for the rest of my life and never feel at peace.”
Luo Wan was speechless.
She felt as if Elder Sister was cursing her.
But she also really wanted to help Elder Sister.
She promised again and again that she would be careful and stay fully on guard.
Only then did Luo Ning let go of her hand.
On the twenty-third day of the eighth month, when the women of the Luo family set out, they ran into the people from the Zhou family next door.
The Zhou family had also been invited to the banquet.
The Zhou family’s Senior Madam came over to greet them and chat.
She said: “I heard the Wang family has set out more than a hundred tables. Every noble household in Shengjing with a title and every official of fourth rank or above has received an invitation.”
Luo Ning’s aunt laughed and said: “That is truly lavish.”
Zhou Senior Madam said with disdain: “That Miss Bai has caused no small number of scandals. The Wang family wants to use this banquet to stop people from talking. I am just afraid things may not go as they wish.”
Aunt said: “It is a bit like wiping away her past, cutting Miss Bai off from it so that those ugly stories will not drag down her new identity. That is why they want to introduce this adopted daughter in such a grand way.”
Zhou Senior Madam said: “It may work. Miss Bai really is beautiful. If a few powerful nobles praise her, everyone else will follow and praise her too. Then her reputation will rise.”
Luo Ning and the others stood to the side and did not cut in. They only listened to Zhou Senior Madam and Aunt chatting.
They waited until the Marchioness, Madam Bai, came out.
Today Madam Bai wore jewelry inlaid with kingfisher feathers, rich and luxurious. She had on a deep blue jacket and an apricot-white silk skirt, with a light sky-blue overcoat on top.
But her cheeks were swollen, and her steps were unsteady, so she did not look imposing.
Even so, one could still see a trace of her former grace.
Zhou Senior Madam glanced at Madam Bai, then at Luo Ning, said nothing, and got into her carriage first.
In the carriage, she spoke to her sisters-in-law: “That cousin might turn her life around yet. She really looks good.”
Madam Bai and Luo Ning were both outstanding beauties.
Looking at the Marchioness, even with her sick and tired face, she still had some charm. Luo Ning, dressed simply, also shone.
Bai Ci Rong looked a lot like the two of them…
Thinking of this, Zhou Senior Madam also remembered the fuss at the Thirty-li Post Station last time and could not help cursing in her heart: [Could it be that something big has happened to the Luo family?]
She had always been careful with her words and actions, and they were neighbors, so there was no need to offend the Luo family.
Besides, the Zhou family was already going downhill, while the Luo family’s daughter was Prince Yong’s intended consort. They might need to rely on their neighbors in the future, so there was even less reason to make careless remarks.
Among the Luo family’s carriages, the Marchioness’s carriage left first.
When Luo Ning’s carriage was about to leave, it suddenly stopped.
“Elder Sister, may I ride in your carriage?” Luo Xuan asked.
Luo Ning did not have a good impression of her.
But after what happened last time, when Chun Tao framed her, Luo Ning’s mindset had changed a lot.
Everyone put themselves first, and Luo Ning was the same. How could she demand that others help her first when they were in trouble? They were not loyal servants like Qiu Lan and Qiu Hua.
“Come up,” Luo Ning said.
Luo Xuan thanked her.
She said many grateful words and then added: “The Wang family’s banquet will be so big. I am very scared. Elder Sister, may I stay with you the whole time? Don’t worry, I will never cause trouble for you.”
“You may,” Luo Ning said.
Luo Xuan brightened at once.
Then Luo Ning said: “Second Sister, last time you did things for Mother and Bai Ci Rong. After the accident, did they go to visit you even once?”
Luo Xuan was startled.
“…Elder Sister, that time I was wrong. I did not do it on purpose.”
“I am only reminding you. Losing a leg is already a terrible price. If you still refuse to wake up and keep holding onto a tiny bit of hope while following Bai Ci Rong’s orders, then that is foolish,” Luo Ning said.
She added: “A foolish person cannot be cured. Maybe there is only one road left, and that is death.”
Luo Xuan’s face changed at once.