Chapter 180
Chapter 180: Didn’t Wear the Prince’s Jewelry
Nanny Kong made a tray of red bean cake and packed it neatly in a food box.
Lin Zhao carried the food box and went with Luo Ning to Prince Yong’s manor.
“Is the Prince at home?” Luo Ning asked.
The Chief Steward invited her to sit in the Ming Hall of the Inner Courtyard and said with a smile: “The Prince is at home today. But he has some matters in the Outer Study. Please wait a moment.”
Luo Ning quietly let out a breath.
He was willing to see her.
She sat up straight. A maidservant served her tea. Luo Ning kept her eyes forward and went over what she wanted to say in her mind, drafting it first.
She had only taken two sips of tea when a pale blue figure appeared at the door.
Today he wore a light-colored robe, but the strict air of a military general around him did not lessen at all. His brows and eyes were cold. It made people ignore the gentle look of his clothes and feel only the frost that wrapped around him.
Luo Ning stood up and bowed to him: “Prince.”
Xiao Huai Feng looked her over a few times before he spoke: “Sit.”
Luo Ning thanked him.
Xiao Huai Feng also sat down. A maidservant served him tea. As he lifted the cup, he asked: “Did your brother go back?”
“Yes. He has lost quite a bit of weight and finally learned his lesson. He is not yet thirteen. He has to go through some things before he can grow up,” Luo Ning said.
She added: “Thank you, Prince, for taking revenge for the Luo family.”
Xiao Huai Feng’s face did not change: “So now you see clearly?”
Luo Ning said: “…Prince, my words were rude last time. I beg your pardon.”
Xiao Huai Feng said: “If you were blind once in a while, I will not argue with you about it.”
“The Prince is generous.”
Then she handed over the food box: “Nanny Kong made some pastries. Please try them, Prince.”
“Also to apologize?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you not make them yourself?” he asked. His tone was cool, as if he was displeased.
Luo Ning said: “I am not very good at it, and what I make does not taste good. What is served to the Prince should of course be the best. Nanny Kong’s skills are very good.”
Xiao Huai Feng said nothing.
He looked at her again.
Luo Ning did not know what he was looking at and kept her face calm.
Xiao Huai Feng stood up and said to her: “The room is cold. Outside there is sunlight. Let’s walk in the rear garden.”
Luo Ning agreed.
The two of them walked out of the courtyard gate and strolled slowly. Xiao Huai Feng led her around the rear garden of the prince’s manor.
They checked each other’s information.
Luo Ning had asked First Madam Dou to help her spread, among the common people, the story of Zheng Xiao forcing a maidservant of the Luo family to her death. She had planned to kill Zheng Xiao but was half a step too late.
“…The news spread so fast. Did the Prince help?” she asked.
“Mm.”
“What about Zheng Xiao’s attendants, were they all dealt with?” Luo Ning asked again.
Xiao Huai Feng said: “They deserved a thousand deaths.”
“And Zheng Xiao?”
“My men killed him. As the matter was peeled open layer by layer, when the time was ripe, he had to die,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
His gaze swept over Luo Ning: “Were you planning to do it yourself?”
“Yes. Sister Lin and I were checking his tracks and planned to kill him at the wine shop. He is most relaxed there. When he gets drunk, he sleeps there,” Luo Ning said.
She added: “The owner of the wine shop is a servant of Madam Zheng’s family and often bullies others by using their power. I planned to make him take the blame.”
Xiao Huai Feng nodded: “Not bad.”
Luo Ning asked: “Prince, what is not bad?”
“Your timing was good,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
What he had thought of, Luo Ning had only been half a day slower.
Luo Ning had a good sense of timing.
“You are quite a smart person,” Xiao Huai Feng said. “So I have a question.”
“Please ask, Prince.”
“Why did you think that I would abandon the Luo family to protect Madam Zheng?” he asked. “That idea of yours does not follow common sense.”
Luo Ning was stunned by the question and could not answer for a moment.
When he saw her silent, he went on: “This time you handled matters very quickly, and your methods were rather forceful.
“With your temper and your cleverness, you should not have said such a stupid thing. Tell me honestly what you were thinking at the time.”
Luo Ning said: “…”
She could not say that she knew about the relationship between Prince Yong and the Duke of Shen. She also could not say that she had found out about his feelings for Empress Zheng.
Luo Ning clenched her fingers and looked at him again.
Xiao Huai Feng’s eyes darkened: “Even if it is hard to say, you still have to say it. Do not forget your identity.”
Luo Ning answered that she understood.
Of course she remembered that she was his slave.
“I thought the Prince would consider Her Majesty the Empress and press this matter down. The Duke of Shen is also worth winning over. Sacrificing Madam Luo would benefit both the Prince and the Zheng family,” Luo Ning said softly.
Xiao Huai Feng’s brows were already tightly knit.
He studied Luo Ning.
Luo Ning lowered her eyes and did not meet his.
After quite a while, he finally spoke: “An unbelievable idea. If you were not being foolish, you could not have come up with such a reason.”
Luo Ning said: “…”
After the two of them had talked for a while, they reached a pavilion. Xiao Huai Feng sat down, and Luo Ning sat beside him.
A maidservant served them tea again.
“Prince, if Imperial Mother asks about this, how should we answer?” Luo Ning asked.
Xiao Huai Feng said: “You can tell the truth.”
Luo Ning said: “I am afraid Imperial Mother will be angry. As for Her Majesty the Empress…”
She stopped mid-sentence.
“Do you think that, in Imperial Mother’s heart and in mine, the four words ‘Her Majesty the Empress’ can wipe out everything about you?” Prince Yong’s voice also turned cold.
Luo Ning lowered her head again.
“Stupid and not aware of it. Lady Luo A’Ning, I am very disappointed in you.” His voice was as cold as frost.
Luo Ning said nothing.
Maybe things were not quite the way she had expected.
In the matter of Luo You going to prison, from beginning to end Prince Yong had not favored Madam Zheng. He had even taken the lead and killed Zheng Xiao for Luo Ning.
He had not secretly protected Empress Zheng.
Maybe he had his own reasons. Luo Ning still looked at everything with the eyes she had when she was a ghost, always afraid that she and the Luo family would become sacrifices.
She did not know at what moment Prince Yong’s feelings might show and from then on ignore everything else, determined to lift Madam Zheng to a high position.
And as for the Empress Dowager…
Luo Ning did not actually think there was anything wrong with the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager’s words had been neutral.
It was just that the scene of Empress Zheng leaning on the Empress Dowager and crying was always in Luo Ning’s mind.
Like a daughter acting spoiled with her mother.
After she went back, Luo Ning kept thinking that, compared to herself, Empress Zheng seemed to trust the Empress Dowager more.
In the years that followed, the two of them, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, supported the court together. Their understanding of each other was far deeper than what Luo Ning had with the Empress Dowager.
And it was not only in feelings.
In every way.
They were both from high noble families and both managed the inner court. They had the same status and the same stance. This kind of mutual understanding was hard to break.
Luo Ning did not want to test human nature.
She knew the Empress Dowager treated her very well, and that was enough.
This was also why, in this matter, Luo Ning had first wanted to take a step back. Because Madam Luo and she herself were both too small.
She needed “goodwill,” the goodwill of Prince Yong and the Empress Dowager, so that she and Luo You would have the chance to slowly grow.
“Prince, I know I was wrong. From now on I will act according to your orders and will not foolishly guess your thoughts again,” Luo Ning said.
Xiao Huai Feng was silent.
He drank a cup of tea. The coldness in his eyes slowly faded, and he said lightly: “After all, you have not yet married into my manor. It is normal for you to think like this.
“I do not harshly blame anyone. This matter is over. If you make the same foolish mistake again, I will not let you off lightly.”
Luo Ning answered that she understood.
Xiao Huai Feng looked at her again.
Luo Ning asked: “Prince, did I do something wrong today?”
He had looked at her with that kind of gaze several times.
“The kingfisher feather inlay jewelry I gave you, you do not like it?” he asked.
“I like it. The workmanship is excellent. It is much better than what is sold outside and very expensive,” Luo Ning said.
“Then why are you not wearing it?” he asked. “Are you not here to apologize? You always know how to please people. Why did you not use that skill this time?”
Luo Ning said: “…”