Chapter 166
Chapter 166: Shielding Luo Ning
Old Madam was shocked, her face going pale.
Suddenly someone rushed in and threw herself in front of Luo Ning, shielding her tightly. Madam Bai’s hairpin stabbed into the woman’s arm.
Luo Chong Ye kicked Madam Bai away with great force. She fell to the side and lost consciousness.
It was Madam Wen who stood in front of Luo Ning.
Luo Ning’s eyes trembled. She set down the incense burner and steadied Madam Wen as she asked: “Sister-in-law, are you alright?”
Madam Wen drew in a sharp breath from the pain.
She pulled out the hairpin. It had not gone very deep and probably had not touched bone, but the pain was fierce.
Blood gushed out, soaking a large patch of her light purple robe.
Enduring the pain, she said to the Marquis of Zhen Nan and Old Madam: “Blood has been spilled in the Buddha hall. It is all my fault.”
The Marquis of Zhen Nan had been cold and indifferent all his life. Other than respect and love for his Mother and his fondness for Madam Bai, his feelings for concubines, children, brothers, and other clan members were all very faint.
He could sacrifice anyone except his Mother.
Yet at this moment, he was strangely moved. All at once, he felt that Madam Wen was quite pitiful.
Old Madam’s eyes were already filled with tears. She said: “Silly child, you are hurt. Who cares whether blood was spilled or not. Quickly, quickly send someone to call a physician.”
Luo Ning picked up the incense burner again and handed it to Luo Chong Ye: “Father, this matter is for you to decide. Whether you wish to investigate it or cover it up and never mention it again, we will all follow your lead.”
Luo Chong Ye was silent.
This was a fine move of retreating in order to advance.
Even if he did not want to investigate, he now had no choice but to do so.
After handing over the incense burner, Luo Ning instructed the maidservant: “Call in two burly maidservants to help Madam back.”
Then she added: “Everyone in the East Main Courtyard is to be confined.”
The maidservant agreed at once.
Madam Wen stayed for the time being in Old Madam’s West Main Courtyard. They invited a female physician to treat her wound. It was already very late, and little Luo Li Qin was sleepy, so the wet nurse took him to sleep first in Old Madam’s warm pavilion.
After everyone else withdrew, only Luo Ning, Old Madam, and Madam Wen remained in the room. Old Madam held Madam Wen’s hand.
“Good child, what are you afraid of?”
Madam Wen’s eyes stung, but she did not let her tears fall. She only sighed softly.
She said: “Grandmother, I do not know how Lord Marquis will arrange Ah Qin’s future.”
Old Madam glanced at Luo Ning.
Luo Ning said: “Sister-in-law, if you have any ideas, you can tell Grandmother.”
Madam Wen said: “I want to stay with the Luo family, but I do not plan to stay in the Marquis Manor.”
Old Madam was a little surprised: “Where will you go?”
Madam Wen said: “Is A’Ning not going to Shaoyang for three years? The clan members over there are good, and the residence is nice. I want to take Ah Qin to Shaoyang.”
Old Madam and Luo Ning did not answer right away. They only looked at her.
So Madam Wen explained on her own: “Ah Qin will certainly not want the Luo family’s property, and he has no interest in any noble rank. This is how I think, but I cannot decide my child’s heart. When he grows up, if someone with an agenda goads him on, will he still be willing to give it up?
“Even if he is willing, there will always be people driven by profit. Someone may be dissatisfied with Second Brother, or may want to plot something. I cannot be sure whether Ah Qin will be pushed into doing something foolish.
“I want to take him away. He is still young; it is not too late to teach him. Once we are far from the Marquis Manor, even if some lowly servant tries to stir up trouble around him, it will be too far away to touch the matters of the Marquis Manor.
“In this way, I will still be Madam Luo, with the Marquis Manor as backing. No one will covet my dowry, and I can raise Ah Qin in peace.”
The most important point, which she did not say aloud, was this: once she was far from the Marquis Manor, Luo Li Qin would no longer be an eyesore to the Marquis of Zhen Nan.
As for what others thought, Madam Wen could not guess, but she was sure the Marquis of Zhen Nan could not tolerate even a grain of sand in his eye. He simply had not yet found the time to deal with it.
Luo Li Qin was Luo Yin’s son.
In the future, if Madam Bai or the remaining Qiu clan members refused to give up their evil intentions, would they try to use Luo Li Qin again?
Luo You might have no problem with his nephew now, but could his future wife and children truly feel at ease?
Dangers piled up on every side.
When the young Concubine Mei came over to sow discord, Madam Wen had not been afraid. But in that instant, she had thought of many things.
She and her son did not want to become anyone’s long spear, charging ahead to fight for others.
Luo Li Qin needed a quiet environment in which to study, learn his characters, and grow up.
He would always be a descendant of the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s household. As long as the Marquis Manor did not fall, Luo Li Qin would have a future.
Old Madam listened quietly. After a moment of silence, she said to Madam Wen: “I will discuss this matter with Lord Marquis. For now, you should stay here and put your mind at ease.”
Then she added: “Even if you wish to leave, you must at least wait until after the New Year.”
These words were like a calming pill for Madam Wen.
Old Madam was willing.
Luo Ning also said: “Shaoyang truly is a good place. When Sister-in-law and Ah Qin go there, they will certainly feel at home. The Clan Head is a very fair person.”
She added: “We will be going there as people from the Capital City Marquis Manor. The clan members will only have reason to curry favor with you.”
A longing rose in Madam Wen’s heart. She knew that this idea of hers was reliable.
“…However, all the connections in the Inner Capital will be cut,” Luo Ning added. “In the future, Ah Qin will have to make his way from Shaoyang back to the Capital City. That road will probably be harder for him than for others.”
Their ancestors had struggled to move from Shaoyang to the Capital Region. It had taken several generations of effort.
Going back to the starting point meant beginning again from the very beginning.
Of course, it would not be as difficult as it had been for the ancestors. After all, he still held the reputation of being the Marquis of Zhen Nan Manor’s eldest young master.
Madam Wen said: “Everyone’s future is already set by fate. There are countless spoiled good-for-nothings among the prestigious clans of the Inner Capital.”
Not everyone living in the Capital City led an easy life.
Luo Ning nodded slightly.
In Grandmother and Luo Ning’s hearts, this matter was as good as settled.
Luo Chong Ye did not tell the Second Madam to summon the family doctor. Instead, he went to find a physician he knew well. He said to the physician: “The Marchioness absolutely must not die. Princess Consort Yong’s wedding is just around the corner.”
The physician wanted to curry favor with him and said respectfully: “My lord, Madam has not yet reached the point where the oil in the lamp has run dry. Please rest assured.”
“But she also cannot be lively and bouncing around, adding to the trouble every day,” Luo Chong Ye said softly.
On hearing this, the physician nodded slightly: “With some medicine and quiet rest, it will be no problem for her to stay like that for a few years.”
Luo Chong Ye nodded.
Madam Bai was confined to her courtyard and was not allowed to go out.
Luo Ning went to find Luo Chong Ye and briefly told him about Madam Wen’s plan.
“…Go to Shaoyang?” he repeated.
“She will not need us to pay for her living expenses,” Luo Ning said. “Let her go.”
When Madam Bai had tried to stab Luo Ning with the hairpin, Madam Wen had stepped in front of her without any hesitation. Because of this, Luo Chong Ye felt that this woman was loyal.
The Wen family were civil officials. In the future, they might very well have a chance to prosper. Marriage ties were meant to build alliances, and the Wen family was a noble household that Luo Chong Ye had carefully chosen back then.
“It is good that she can think this way. But if her father and brothers in her maiden home learn of it, will they misunderstand?” Luo Chong Ye asked.
“Sister-in-law is, after all, only a woman of the inner residence, and she is still young. She might not be able to think that far ahead. In my view, this is most likely a plan her father and brothers from her maiden home helped her come up with,” Luo Ning said.
She added: “Once Sister-in-law goes to Shaoyang, it will also be easier to explain Luo Yin’s matter in the future. Luo Yin cannot remain ‘missing’ forever.”
This step, if taken correctly, would give both Madam Wen and the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor a way out.
“What you say is very true,” Luo Chong Ye said. “Tell her to feign illness. When she has been ill for a long time and does not recover, we will send her to Shaoyang.”
“Thank you, Father,” Luo Ning said. “Sister-in-law and the Wen family will surely be grateful to you.”
Luo Chong Ye smiled.
This matter was settled within three days.
When the Marquis of Zhen Nan finally thought of going to the inner courtyard to rest, he then learned that his two concubines had disappeared.
The servants in the concubines’ courtyard had originally wanted to report it. But when they heard that the Marchioness had fallen ill and stabbed the eldest Young Madam, they did not dare go and bring more bad luck.
In the end, they kept it hidden.
“Where did they go?” Luo Chong Ye was surprised. When he thought it over, his anger rose. “They ran away?”
He sent people to investigate.
The old maidservant in charge of the side gate by the rear garden said fearfully that she had fallen asleep in the night, and the lock on the gate had been smashed. She had not dared to report it, afraid of being punished.
Luo Chong Ye was furious.
“Why not report it to the authorities?” Luo Ning said. “Aunt wanted to tell you two days ago that the back side gate had been opened by someone.”
Luo Chong Ye only heard the first part and immediately opposed it: “We cannot report it to the authorities. Family scandals must not be spread outside. We will search slowly.”
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