Chapter 159
Chapter 159: Luo Ning’s True Support
Luo Ning stayed in Prince Yong’s residence for a short while.
Xiao Huai Feng, for once, showed some kindness and allowed Luo Ning to play with Chang Ying Grand General for a while.
Luo Ning felt very relaxed when she was with the dog. During the long years when she had been a ghost, only this dog had been able to see her and keep her company.
While she played with the dog, Xiao Huai Feng stood under the eaves, his gaze falling quietly on them. He did not say anything, but he did not leave either.
He watched them for quite a long time.
When Luo Ning looked back, she saw that his face had no expression at all. She could not tell what he was thinking in that moment.
“Prince, it is getting late. I will go back now,” Luo Ning said first.
Xiao Huai Feng nodded: “Go ahead.”
The stir caused by Yu Zhuo’s death slowly calmed with time, and Luo Ning kept herself shut in for half a month and did not go anywhere.
During this time, something happened in the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s residence: Concubine Song gave birth to a daughter.
When her labor pains began, Luo Ning went to Grandmother’s small shrine and quietly chanted scriptures.
When the baby was born safe and sound, tears suddenly rolled down Luo Ning’s face.
“Are those tears of joy or of sadness?” Grandmother asked her.
Luo Ning said: “They are tears of joy, Grandmother.”
In her previous life, Concubine Song’s child had been lost, and not long after she was sent to the country estate, she died of illness. In this life, the child had been born.
This new life gave Luo Ning a strange kind of comfort. It told her: her rebirth was not only for destroying old enemies, she had also protected new life.
The tiny life was like a tender sprout pushing up from broken walls after a great fire. It told Luo Ning very clearly that she had successfully opened a new path.
Two days later, Luo Ning asked Nanny Kong to find, from her jewelry box, a gold longevity lock and two small gold bracelets to send to Concubine Song.
Concubine Song was in very good spirits.
Second Madam was there as well.
Concubine Song was talking with Second Madam, saying that she wanted to nurse the child herself and did not need a wet nurse.
“Our family has it hard too. We should save money where we can,” Concubine Song said with a smile. “She is just a little girl. There is no need to spend too much on her.”
Second Madam smiled and patted her hand: “I have already asked Lord Marquis and Old Madam.”
Children were a big matter, and Second Madam could not make this decision on her own.
When they saw Luo Ning, Second Madam stood up and walked a few steps toward her to welcome her.
Luo Ning came in and handed over her gift for the third-day bath ritual. The steward nanny carried the baby over so Luo Ning could see her.
The baby was so small. She was only three days old and still wrinkled all over.
She was too tiny. Luo Ning did not dare to hold her, afraid that she would hurt her.
“Tomorrow is the third-day bath ritual. Lord Marquis said we will just set out two tables of wine at home,” Second Madam told Luo Ning.
She had also come to pass on this message.
In a great noble family, for a child born of a concubine, the only time they had the right to hold a big banquet was when they got married. Everything else was reduced.
Even on very important days like the third-day bath ritual, the one-month celebration, and the hairpin ceremony, there would be no large feast. This was the usual rule in great noble families.
“So it should be,” Concubine Song added from the side.
Second Madam went on: “Lord Marquis has given her a name. The eighth miss is called Luo Yan, and her pet name is Qiu Qiu.”
Luo Ning smiled.
Concubine Song liked it very much and said: “It sounds nice.”
After the gift was given and the message passed on, Luo Ning and Second Madam left Concubine Song’s courtyard together.
“This Concubine Song is quite well-behaved,” Second Madam said.
She had not started making trouble or asking for this and that just because she had given birth to a baby.
Second Madam was not the true household mistress of the marquis manor. She only managed the household in place of the Marchioness. Concubine Song was a concubine of the Marquis of Zhen Nan. If she used this chance to make many requests, Second Madam would have to put a lot of effort into dealing with her.
Luckily, Concubine Song did not ask for anything.
“She rarely does wrong and has always known the rules,” Luo Ning said.
Second Madam went to see Old Madam and spoke of Concubine Song’s request: “She wants to nurse the child herself. Normally, a miss should not be raised by a concubine. But Lord Marquis had this daughter late in life. It is all right if he spoils her a little.”
Her unspoken meaning was that the children born of the principal wife in the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s family were already grown. They did not have to worry much about a concubine and her children stirring up trouble anymore. At this time, there was no need to be too guarded. They could be a bit more lenient.
Old Madam said: “Send someone to ask Lord Marquis. Then assign two young daughters-in-law to serve her, so she will not be too tired. Babies are small and very tiring.”
This meant she agreed.
Second Madam sent someone to tell the Marquis of Zhen Nan. She told him Concubine Song’s request and that Old Madam had agreed, so the Marquis of Zhen Nan naturally did not object.
Holding the child, Concubine Song was full of joy. Now in her eyes and in her heart, there was only her daughter.
Her trusted maidservant said: “It is a pity she is a young lady. If she were a young master, you would have someone to rely on in the future.”
“A young lady is better. The Marchioness’s imperial honorary title was not earned by her husband or her son. It was earned by her daughter,” Concubine Song said.
The old maidservant was startled and said: “Concubine, keep your voice down.”
Concubine Song hugged the child and said: “I do not want any imperial honorary title. It is enough just to have a child by my side.”
Even if the Marquis of Zhen Nan died one day soon, Concubine Song could still stay in the Luo family forever, and after a hundred years her spirit tablet would be placed in the Luo family ancestral hall.
She now had a child of the Luo family’s blood. She had a true place to belong.
She had quietly looked into the young masters and misses of the Luo family and found that the daughters were all thoughtful and caring, but few of the sons were promising. They were either average or too naughty.
Perhaps the Luo family’s ancestral tombs favored daughters more. Concubine Song held the child, pressing her cheek to the baby’s soft little face, and mother and daughter fell asleep sweetly together.
Days passed one by one. Concubine Song and her daughter closed their courtyard door and lived a quiet life. Gradually, people stopped talking about them.
Luo Ning made herself stay shut in for a full half month before she entered the palace again to visit the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager told Luo Ning that the matter of the Valiant Cavalry General’s death had been settled at court. It was indeed Yu Zhuo who had joined forces with bandits and then been killed by them.
“A’Ning, in the future, when you act, you must think about your own safety and your reputation,” the Empress Dowager said.
Luo Ning agreed.
Sure enough, the Empress Dowager, as a woman, understood Luo Ning better.
Prince Yong always said that her methods were too soft.
But how could she not be soft?
Being decisive in killing and cutting things off was a privilege of men. Luo Ning did not have that right at all. If she acted too fiercely, she might bring death upon herself and also give rise to criticism.
“Thank you for protecting me, Imperial Mother,” Luo Ning said.
The Empress Dowager said: “A’Ning, I used to think that in the future Huai Feng would be the one protecting you. Now it seems that you can be a good help to Huai Feng inside the house.”
“I will definitely do my best to manage the inner courtyard well for the Prince,” Luo Ning said.
The Empress Dowager nodded.
The two of them talked for quite a while before Luo Ning left Shoucheng Palace.
When she returned to the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s residence, the servant boy at the gate told her: “Grand Princess Jia Hong’s residence sent you gifts.”
“Where are they?” Luo Ning asked.
“They were sent to Wenqi Courtyard. Sister Qiu Lan has taken them,” the servant boy Ping An said.
Luo Ning walked slowly back to Wenqi Courtyard and indeed saw the gifts.
“They are all things from Shaoyang. There are lychees and dried longan, and also silks, porcelain, jewelry, and a few little trinkets. Oh, and two guqin music scores,” Qiu Lan said.
Luo Ning went to look at the silks.
The weaving seemed to be a special craft from Shaoyang. The patterns were finer and plainer. They were not very popular in the Inner Capital.
“Did Madam Feng send these to us?” Luo Ning asked. “Was there a letter?”
“They did not say Madam Feng sent them,” Qiu Lan said. “The old maidservant who delivered the gifts said they came from Shaoyang, and that the Princess divided some and sent them to you.”
Luo Ning: “…”