Chapter 167
Chapter 167: Recognizing Her Wisdom
For several days, Luo Chong Ye searched, but found nothing.
He went to question Bai Yu Lin.
“Did they run back to Yuhang?” Luo Chong Ye asked.
Bai Yu Lin said: “Lord Marquis, the two of them were given to you. The deeds of sale are in your hands. Why ask me?”
“They are missing. I still have to find them.”
“You can report it to the authorities,” Bai Yu Lin said impatiently.
Luo Chong Ye hated his attitude and said coldly: “I will report it right away. They will arrest you first for questioning.”
In front of the Marquis of Jian Ning, Bai Yu Lin was always meek, fawning, and wagging his tail for pity. But he looked down on Luo Chong Ye very much.
He did not need to put on an act. In front of Luo Chong Ye he was very forceful: “Then go ahead and report it. There is no need to shout at me.”
Even his tone was off, with no trace of respect left.
At this moment, Qiu Shi Dong arrived.
Luo Yin had been dead for a long time, and Luo Chong Ye’s memory of his looks was already blurry. But the two of them were true father and son, and they resembled each other.
Because Luo Chong Ye had altered his own memories, whenever he saw Qiu Shi Dong, he felt that Qiu Shi Dong and Luo Yin looked as if they had been carved from the same mold.
His back itched faintly, as if a turtle shell were about to grow there. Rage surged up in Luo Chong Ye’s chest. He snapped: “Just you wait.”
Qiu Shi Dong was gentle and elegant as he said: “Lord Marquis, do not be anxious. Those two sisters came from low backgrounds. They probably ran away after being frightened by something.”
He added: “There are countless beauties in the Jiangnan region. Let Brother Bai send Lord Marquis a few more.”
Luo Chong Ye knew he was being mocked. His gaze grew dark: “I accepted the Bai family’s gift as a favor to you. If the two Mei sisters are not found, this matter will not end easily.”
He turned and left.
Bai Yu Lin had a headache and said to Qiu Shi Dong: “What should we do now?”
“He came on purpose to ask for benefits. He does not actually care that the concubines ran away,” Qiu Shi Dong said.
Bai Yu Lin did not want to give him any benefits.
Qiu Shi Dong advised him not to butt heads with Luo Chong Ye, but to yield a little so the Luo family would not look too closely into the Mei sisters’ disappearance.
“…Was this all planned by Luo Ning alone, or did she and Luo Chong Ye plot it together as father and daughter?” Bai Yu Lin asked Qiu Shi Dong.
Qiu Shi Dong said: “If she did it alone, then she is truly frightening.”
Qiu Shi Dong had been wondering for days what Luo Ning’s goal really was.
Maybe Luo Ning simply wanted to drive the two Mei sisters out so that Madam Bai would have no one left to support her in the inner residence of the Marquis Manor.
With Bai Ci Rong gone, Nanny Zhen dead, and the Concubine Mei sisters also leaving, Madam Bai was completely isolated.
Luo Ning could have dealt with the two sisters inside the inner residence, but she had not done that.
Instead, she had given them to Qiu Shi Dong.
She not only wanted to get rid of the two Mei sisters, she also wanted to bury a hidden danger for Qiu Shi Dong.
“I have seen her soft spot: what she feared most before was her marriage being changed,” Qiu Shi Dong said.
Luo Ning had not gone after Qiu Shi Dong, had not harmed Madam Bai, and had not let the Mei sisters die in the manor.
She wanted to avoid anyone dying.
She also did not wish to face Qiu Shi Dong head-on.
Her goal was clear and her will firm. No one would be allowed to stop her marriage.
In this, Luo Ning was a hundred times smarter and a hundred times more cautious than Bai Ci Rong.
“Are you not overestimating Luo Ning? She is just a girl. There is surely someone guiding her from behind. It is either Luo Chong Ye or that Old Madam,” Bai Yu Lin said.
Qiu Shi Dong glanced at him: “You should not underestimate her either.”
“I still do not believe Luo Ning did all this,” Bai Yu Lin said. “She is just a child.”
Yu Zhuo’s death might well have been Prince Yong deliberately killing him and using him to stir up a struggle between the two great clans.
And as for the two Mei sisters, maybe Old Madam had not been able to stand them and wanted to drive them out, so she sent Luo Ning and Luo You to charge ahead for her.
“…You also make sense,” Qiu Shi Dong said. He did not argue with Bai Yu Lin.
He was too lazy to argue.
Qiu Shi Dong had understood deep schemes and long plans since he was in his teens.
When he chose to marry into the Bai family, he valued his father-in-law’s wealth and connections, and his brother-in-law’s weakness and incompetence.
When Madam Bai had tried to climb into higher wealth, wanting to hook up with a junior fourth rank military general and abandon him, he had immediately started to act pitiful on purpose.
He had taken quite a loss, yet still took the initiative to break off the engagement to help Madam Bai onto her road to riches. Then he had cried to her in grievance, tugging at her heart.
Her prospective father-in-law really did feel guilty and supported him in many ways. Madam Bai had never forgotten him in all her life.
Now, his wealth was vast. His eldest son was dead, but his daughter was about to enter the palace as an imperial consort, and his son Luo You could still inherit the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor.
Back then, Qiu Shi Dong had only been the son of a wealthy farmer in a small place. He had not received much education and had relied on his own understanding for everything.
Luo Ning, however, had grown up in Shengjing as a precious daughter, with the Empress Dowager and Prince Yong supporting her.
The fact that she could be chosen to marry Prince Yong meant that she herself was very shrewd. Otherwise, why would it be her? The Empress Dowager and Prince Yong had many people they could choose.
With one look at Luo Ning, Qiu Shi Dong knew that they were the same kind of person.
Their wisdom was not limited by their age.
“Recently I have met two such people: one is Luo Ning, the other is Wang Tang Yao.”
They were sharp, clever, and so cool-hearted they were almost ruthless.
A mediocre person like Bai Yu Lin could not understand them. Only they themselves could understand each other.
At the end of the ninth month, the weather turned cold, and a biting north wind blew through Shengjing.
The maidservants took out all of Luo Ning’s cloaks and padded jackets.
“…Shaoyang is still better. Shaoyang is never this cold,” Qiu Hua said.
Luo Ning said: “Shaoyang really is very good. You can save quite a bit of silver on winter clothes.”
Lin Zhao was nearby, listening to their lively chatter, and said with a smile: “I have not been to Shaoyang yet.”
“You can go with us in the future,” Luo Ning said.
Lin Zhao glanced at her.
Luo Ning smiled: “Maybe it will not even take a few years.”
Qiu Hua and Qiu Lan gave Luo Ning a surprised look but said nothing. Lin Zhao’s gaze held deep meaning, and she did not ask further.
Thinking of Shaoyang, Luo Ning took out again the wutong-wood guqin Prince Yong had given her.
As she played the zither and let her mind wander, she again thought of “Madam Feng.” Whenever she thought of this person, the face that appeared in her memory naturally changed into Pei Ying’s.
Her guess was probably eight or nine parts correct.
If Pei Ying was willing to admit it, Luo Ning would not laugh at him.
After she married Prince Yong, they would still be relatives and could visit each other in the future.
However, Pei Ying was a man, had no interest in official career, and would not take a wife. Luo Ning guessed that she would not be seeing him very often.
Whether or not she exposed the matter seemed to have little meaning.
It was just that his company during those days had truly been reassuring.
Luo Ning did not even know how many delicacies and tonics she had eaten from his side, and she had not yet thanked him in person.
At the end of the month, Luo Ning and Lin Zhao made a trip to Prince Yong’s residence.
Her soft whip skills were already very good. She wanted to show her master the results and, at the same time, acknowledge Lin Zhao’s accomplishments and give her credit.
However, Prince Yong was not in the residence.
“…His Highness has gone into the palace. It has been cold these few days, and a noble lady in the Imperial Palace has fallen ill,” the steward told Luo Ning.
Luo Ning fell silent in thought.
[Could it be the Empress Dowager?]
Thinking this, she immediately went to the Imperial City with Lin Zhao. Her status was different now. By sending in her name plaque at the palace gate, she could go straight to Shoucheng Palace.
The Empress Dowager’s complexion was still quite good.
Luo Ning said: “The weather has turned cold, and I was afraid Imperial Mother might be unwell, so I came especially to see you.”
There was a trace of worry on the Empress Dowager’s face. She said: “I am fine. It is the Emperor and the Eldest Prince who have been unwell these two days. I have kept Huai Feng in the Imperial Palace to look after them.”
Luo Ning understood.
She did not ask much more and simply kept the Empress Dowager company to relieve her boredom.
While the two of them were talking, Empress Zheng arrived.