Chapter 201
Chapter 201: Pei Ying Reveals His Identity
Luo Ning received the bamboo flute.
The purple bamboo flute showed signs of use, but it had been carefully maintained. There was not a single scratch on it; even the tassel was clean, without any stain.
Holding it was the same as holding evidence.
Pei Ying was her neighbor.
Her ordeal this time had indeed been caused by Grand Princess Jia Hong. The goal was to ruin her marriage.
Luo Ning carried the bamboo flute into the inner bedroom and closed the door.
In Shaoyang, at first her health had been poor, and her days were dull and boring. Later, as she slowly recovered and moved out of the main house to live alone with her maidservants and a few others, life became very pleasant.
Those were the best two years of Luo Ning’s two short lifetimes.
She always remembered the flowers in the courtyard, blooming in a blaze of color; the fruit in the rear courtyard, full of sweet juice; and the sunlight that slipped through the window lattice in the late afternoon, light and warm.
At night, when she played the zither, a flute would join in.
She also had moments of sorrow and homesickness. The sound of that flute held her, like an elder sister, gently leading her out of her gloom.
Luo Ning’s fingers gently stroked the bamboo flute.
“…A’You, send an invitation to Pei Ying for me and ask him to come as a guest. I have something to ask him,” Luo Ning said after she found her younger brother.
Luo You agreed without a word: “All right.”
Then he asked: “Should we meet in the outer study at home, or at a teahouse outside?”
“At home.”
Luo You sent a trusted pageboy to deliver the calling card to Grand Princess Jia Hong’s residence.
A reply came quickly.
Pei Ying’s servant boy came and said that the Heir Apparent would come the next day.
The next day, the weather was cold, and the twisted branches in the courtyard were covered with a thin layer of frost from the night before.
Pei Ying arrived in the morning.
Someone from Luo You’s side sent word to Wenqi Courtyard. Luo Ning took a hand warmer, put on a very thick cloak, and walked slowly to the outer study.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan was not at home.
Luo You hosted Pei Ying with only a cup of hot tea. The two of them sat in silence, neither speaking. Luo You did not know what to say, and Pei Ying’s thoughts were heavy.
Luo Ning’s light footsteps disturbed them, and both looked up at her.
In an instant, a trace of sorrow that could not be wiped away appeared in Pei Ying’s eyes.
He watched with open eyes as she walked toward him step by step, yet he knew she was slowly going farther and farther away from him.
He could not catch her or hold on to her.
“A’You, go to the inner room and read. I have a few things to say to the Heir Apparent,” Luo Ning said.
Luo You nodded.
The inner room of the study was very small. The voices from outside could be heard clearly inside.
She told him to avoid them only because she was afraid Pei Ying would feel embarrassed, not because she meant to hide anything from him.
“Heir Apparent, I have taken back the bamboo flute,” Luo Ning said as soon as she opened her mouth.
Pei Ying’s fingers were long and even, and in such a cold season they looked even paler. When he heard Luo Ning’s words, the hand resting on his knee curled slightly: “It should be returned.”
“Please tell me what happened in the past,” Luo Ning said again.
Pei Ying was silent.
He did not lift the tea to drink, only sat there in silence. After a few breaths, he finally spoke: “My cousin went overseas.”
Understanding dawned in Luo Ning’s heart: “I guessed that too. So it was true.”
“She moved into the elegant residence for a short stay and asked me to cover for her for a while. At that time, I had been traveling for more than a year and planned to copy and sort my drafts. I needed about two months,” he said.
So he stayed there.
He often heard her play the zither. The music was beautiful and sad.
At first, he only wanted to lend her a hand.
Later, after seeing her once on the street and then hearing her music again, he felt something unusual.
Perhaps sorrow, when played by a beauty, carried an extra charm.
He stayed and found that he could no longer leave.
Vines seemed to grow in his heart, twining and pulling, binding him there.
“…I never thought that a single bamboo flute would almost cost me my life,” Luo Ning said softly, breaking Pei Ying’s train of thought.
Her words sounded at first like the clear chime of a small bell in a mountain temple, but the echo rolled through the valley, deep and vast, and in an instant everything fell silent.
Pei Ying’s heart gave a hard tremble.
He stood up, bent at the waist, and gave Luo Ning a formal bow: “In every way, I am in the wrong.”
Only after a long moment did he straighten.
He stood there, blocking the bit of sunlight that came in from the doorway.
Luo Ning did not ask him to sit down.
She also did not say anything ruthless, nothing like, “If the Grand Princess plots against me again, we will both go down together.”
She only stayed silent.
“Heir Apparent, you have returned the bamboo flute, and I escaped with my life. Are we even now?” Luo Ning asked him.
Bitterness spread over Pei Ying’s tongue.
“Yes,” he said.
Luo Ning said: “A’You, the Heir Apparent is leaving. See him out.”
After a moment, Luo You came out from the inner room.
He had not yet grown to full height, but his every move already carried the air of a young lord: “Heir Apparent, please.”
As he walked Pei Ying to the door, Luo You kept silent.
There were many things Luo Ning would not tell him, but he was not a fool.
His sister had just had an accident and had almost suffered a relapse of her old illness.
When they reached the front gate, the cold wind suddenly rose under the shadow of the gate plaque.
“Heir Apparent Pei, is the Luo family so easy to bully?” Luo You said suddenly.
Compared to half a year ago, his voice was much clearer. As a boy’s voice-change slowly passed, he had grown taller, and his voice had become louder.
Pei Ying was left speechless by the question.
“The Imperial Court cannot do anything to you people, so my sister can only swallow the insult,” Luo You said. “But I will remember this debt. I will not let people like you bully us forever.”
He turned and strode back inside.
Luo You was full of anger, and his steps were quick. But when he reached the outer study, his temper had already been reined in.
Luo Ning was still drinking tea.
A cup of hot tea, the tea fragrant and warm. She had said quite a few things and planned to finish her tea before leaving.
“…Are you unhappy?” she asked, looking at her brother.
Luo You said: “No.”
Silence fell.
Luo Ning was not used to coaxing children. If he had something to say, he should say it instead of stewing on it by himself.
She went on drinking her tea.
Luo You stared at the tips of his shoes: “Elder Sister, will our family become successful?”
“Successful how?”
“Like Madam Cui and Madam Zheng,” he said.
“It will be very hard,” Luo Ning said.
Not to mention that for a great clan to rise takes great luck. Just look at how, after Prince Yong ascended the throne, the first thing he did was weaken the great clans.
During the days when Luo Ning was a ghost, there were high officials in Shengjing with power that reached the heavens, but none could surpass imperial authority.
If they could not make appointments to office on their own and could not suppress the emperor’s power, they were not qualified to be called a great clan.
The good days of those great clans were gone forever.
The way of the world was fixed. No one could change it; hard work alone could not.
“No matter how high the mountain is, you can climb it with enough effort,” Luo You said, unwilling to accept it.
A young man always has the ambition to reach the sky.
Having ambition was good. It would make him work hard and strive upward and revive the family. In the future, when Luo Ning left to become a Commandery Princess, Luo You would also be able to protect everyone in the household.
“I believe you,” Luo Ning said with a smile.
After she finished her tea, she walked to her brother’s side and reached out to rub his head: “To climb, you must focus. If your heart holds too much anger, you will not be able to concentrate.”
Luo You was still young and not yet mature. Luo Ning hoped she could remind him from time to time.
He would surely live up to expectations. He was a clever child.
Luo You seemed to shiver.
“Yes,” he said solemnly. “I will remember, Elder Sister.”
Luo Ning nodded in relief.
Luo You asked again: “Are we just going to let the matter of Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple go like this?”
“Of course not, but there is no need to rush,” she said. “A’You, right now I am only waiting to be married. Once I become Princess Consort Yong, you and everyone in the Marquis Manor will have real backing. Then we can think about what comes next.
When the Imperial Court sentences someone to death, it still waits until after the autumn assizes to carry out the execution. You see, even the Imperial Court is not in a hurry to finish things,” Luo Ning said. “A’You, we have no elders to guide us. You should study the law.”
The complicated statutes were extremely boring to read and required great patience. Perhaps they could cure a young man’s impatience.