Chapter 190
Chapter 190: The One in His Heart
Grand Princess Jia Hong had a sheep slaughtered to treat Luo Ning.
There was roast sheep, stewed sheep, and more.
They made more than ten dishes.
There was also a pot of sheep.
Xiao Huai Feng stayed for the meal.
At the table, he talked with the Princess about the pastures in the north.
“Aunt’s people want to interfere in the hay trade? Will Imperial Elder Brother tolerate that?” Xiao Huai Feng asked.
This was very taboo.
The Princess’s face changed, and wariness filled her cheeks as she said: “It may be an evil servant using my name. I had no such intention.”
“That is good then. I have already cut off his head, so he will not ruin Aunt’s name. The head has been packed in lime. Does Aunt want to see it?” Xiao Huai Feng asked.
Pei Ying looked at Xiao Huai Feng and said: “No need. Let the Prince handle it himself. My mother has never seen things like that. It would frighten her.”
His tone was unfriendly.
“Then I will burn it,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
The Princess nodded slightly: “Burn it.”
Then she looked at Luo Ning and forced out a smile: “A’Ning, eat more.”
Luo Ning: “…”
[You are all talking about heads preserved in lime. How am I supposed to keep eating?]
She forced down a few bites. The whole table of fine dishes was hardly touched before Luo Ning stood up to take her leave.
The Princess also had no heart to keep her and said: “Come visit another day. I have something to tell you.”
Luo Ning agreed.
Xiao Huai Feng asked: “Aunt cannot say it now?”
“It is a woman’s private matter. It is not proper to tell you,” the Princess said.
Xiao Huai Feng said nothing more.
When they were about to leave, he asked Luo Ning about that food box: “Aunt asked people to take the pastries out. Do not forget to take the food box back.”
“There is no need…” Luo Ning said.
“That was a gift from me to you,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Luo Ning: “…”
She had forgotten that he was almost “able to remember everything he saw.”
So when she had made that bet at the door just now, saying that this pair of earrings was sent from Prince Yong’s manor, had she guessed right by accident?
Was it really sent from his side?
Carrying the food box, with several kinds of pastries the Princess Manor had sent back in return inside it, Luo Ning left together with Xiao Huai Feng.
[This food box should be one of the ‘betrothal gifts’ from his side,] Luo Ning thought.
Prince Yong’s betrothal gifts, besides money and goods, also included all kinds of daily items.
After Luo Ning looked over these things, she had them put away in the storeroom. She remembered the very eye-catching ones. Small things passed in front of her eyes and were soon forgotten.
On the way back, she rode in Prince Yong’s carriage.
“Aunt is very deep-minded, and you do not guard yourself against these old madams. Be careful not to fall into their trap,” he said to Luo Ning.
“Yes,” Luo Ning said.
Her attitude was respectful and proper.
Luo Ning accepted what he said. After all, he understood the Princess better.
She herself did not like to get involved in trouble.
Last time, when Pei Ying had wanted to recommend Luo You to Chunshan Academy and Luo Ning refused, the Princess showed her forceful side. That made the way she looked in Luo Ning’s heart deeper and clearer.
The two of them, in both her past life and this life, had no special kindness between them. They were only casual acquaintances. In the last life, when the Princess killed Bai Ci Rong, it was only because Bai Ci Rong had touched the Princess’s own interests, not because of Luo Ning.
Even though Luo Ning had benefited.
In this life, her situation had changed, and Luo Ning was also Prince Yong’s intended consort. In her heart, she had already been on guard.
“Prince, is the Princess trying to reach her hand into the western border army?” Luo Ning asked.
“You are not stupid,” Xiao Huai Feng said. “She has not reached in yet. There are just some signs. I killed one of her stewards first to give her a warning.”
“Prince, Madam Pei is also very ambitious, is she not?” Luo Ning asked.
When people talked about great clans, they always mentioned Madam Cui, Madam Zheng, and Madam Wang, saying how their power covered the sky, usually with a tone of fear.
But when they spoke of Madam Pei, they only said she was ‘pure and noble.’
Once someone was called pure and noble, she seemed very kind and gentle, living in harmony, not fighting or grabbing.
But think about it. The Pei family’s Old Master held the title of “teacher of the realm.” With one word he could summon all the civil officials, and his reputation was very good. How could people like that really be harmless?
It showed how important a reputation was.
Even after living two lives, Luo Ning would still, without noticing, feel that the Pei family could be trusted.
She had felt quite grateful to Grand Princess Jia Hong before. Only when the Princess showed her attitude over a tiny matter did Luo Ning suddenly realize how naive she had been.
“So you thought Madam Pei had no ambition?” Xiao Huai Feng asked her in return.
“It was foolish of me,” Luo Ning said.
“Indeed,” Xiao Huai Feng said. “But it does not matter. You are still young.”
Then he said: “From now on, come to Aunt’s place less.”
Luo Ning agreed.
After she left, the Princess lost her temper and cursed Xiao Huai Feng fiercely.
“Mother, did you really place people at the pastures?” Pei Ying asked her.
“I was only doing a bit of business and trying to see the way,” the Princess said.
“Mother, lime keeps a body from rotting for years. Xiao Huai Feng came in person to warn you. Your handle has always been in his hand,” Pei Ying said.
“He is very hard to deal with,” the Princess said.
“Which of those brothers is easy to get along with?” Pei Ying said.
The Princess felt comforted and said: “It is very good that you can see things so clearly.”
“Mother, do not reach into the army. That is not what the Pei family is good at,” Pei Ying said. “Madam Zheng, Madam Cui, and Prince Yong are the ones who control it.”
“I am only worried that one day we will fall into a weaker position,” the Princess said.
“We have Lushan Academy. How could we ever be in a weaker position? Since ancient times, the ones who rule the Imperial Court have been the civil officials. Military generals are always one rank lower,” Pei Ying said.
The Princess looked at him in surprise.
Pei Ying said: “No matter who recommended those officials, they are all scholarly youth from Lushan Academy, Grandfather’s students.
The spears of the civil officials will never dare point at the Pei family. That would be betraying their teacher and their ancestors. Mother, we are the people standing on the highest peak. The pen is sharper than the blade.”
Slowly, more and more joy showed in the Princess’s expression.
“So it seems you are willing to enter the world and no longer wish to be a monk?” the Princess asked.
“I only like Buddhist dharma,” Pei Ying said.
Besides, he also had his own attachments.
Since he was young, he could get anything he wanted. Because of that, he had a little less respect for this world.
Two years of life in Shaoyang had almost changed him.
He liked to sit in the courtyard and quietly play a tune on the flute. He liked to ask what herbs could treat a cough, so the neighbors’ old illnesses would not flare up on days when the weather changed.
He searched out many recipes for healing with food.
He would also go out.
He would sit for half a day in the teahouse across the street, watching her walk past with the maidservants.
After that, the old illnesses she had left behind slowly all got better.
When he returned to the capital, she gave Pei Ying a bamboo flute.
What Pei Ying had wanted most was a bamboo flute. He felt it was a bridge.
It landed right in his heart.
“Do you still have A’Ning in your heart?” the Princess asked.
Pei Ying suddenly fell silent.
After a long time, he said: “Mother, I was the one who knew her first.”
The Princess’s heart ached badly.
“Do not worry. She will not become Princess Consort Yong. There are still several months. We will think of a way,” the Princess said. “The person you have set your eyes on, no one can take away.”
“Do not hurt her.”
“Of course,” the Princess said with a smile. “Your mother still has that bit of skill.”
Pei Ying stayed silent.
He was thinking of Luo Ning’s expression when she met Prince Yong.
Her whole body had gone tense.
She should also dislike Xiao Huai Feng and be afraid of him.
Luckily, everything could still be changed.
Luo Ning being granted in marriage to Prince Yong was the first bolt of thunder in Pei Ying’s life. He had never been so shocked and helpless before.