Chapter 219
Chapter 217: The Secondary Consorts Enter the Manor
In the darkness, Luo Ning heard a muffled groan.
She had hurt Xiao Huai Feng with the impact.
He did not know if it was because of the pain or because he was nervous, but he fumbled, trying to pull her up, and could not find a good way to do it. Her under-robe was loose and soft, and her hair was smooth, cool, and slippery.
He first grabbed her hair. He did not dare to pull hard, afraid of hurting her.
Then he grabbed the cloth at her shoulder. The collar was pulled loose by him.
He grew discouraged and let out a soft sigh.
It was not that he had no way to move her. He just did not want to hurt her. If he really wanted to, he only had to grab her hair and yank hard to pull her to the side.
At first, Luo Ning was extremely embarrassed when she heard that he was in pain. Then, when she saw him let go twice in a fluster and heard him sigh, she wanted to laugh.
She tried to scramble up quickly, but the satin quilt was too slippery. She could not manage it.
Suddenly inspiration came to her, and she turned over in one motion and rolled straight to the inner side of the bed.
Her hair covered her face. She sat up to straighten her clothes and smooth her hair.
Xiao Huai Feng did not move. He still lay flat and looked at her: “From now on, you are not allowed to wash your hair in the middle of the night.”
Luo Ning answered: “Yes, Prince. Did I hurt you just now?”
“You are not allowed to ask so many questions either. Sleep.”
Luo Ning finished combing her hair and moved it over her left shoulder before lying down.
The two of them did not speak again.
In the dark, she glanced over at him again. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she found that his eyelids were open. He was not asleep.
“Prince…”
“Speak.”
Luo Ning asked: “When the Secondary Consorts enter the manor tomorrow, are we going to hold a wedding feast?”
She had to find a topic to smooth over the earlier embarrassment.
Xiao Huai Feng said: “No.”
“Will Prince Chen and the others not come for a cup of wine either?”
Xiao Huai Feng said: “At the last grand wedding, they were drunk for two days before they woke up. It is better not to trouble them again.”
He did not turn his head. Lying on the pillow, he answered her in a calm, even voice, then said to her: “You can call him Third Brother now. He is already a married man.”
Luo Ning agreed.
She then asked: “Can I call Young Master Cui my cousin?”
“You can,” he said.
Luo Ning went on to say all kinds of random, unimportant things until she felt relaxed and slowly fell asleep.
Half-asleep, she felt the person beside her move.
She opened her eyes and saw Xiao Huai Feng remove the lampshade. A bit of light came into the bed curtains.
He glanced back and saw her squinting, and said: “I am going to see whether there is a morning court session today. You keep sleeping.”
Luo Ning answered vaguely.
He asked: “A’Ning, do you want fried dough cakes from outside this morning?”
Luo Ning said: “Yes.”
The lampshade came back down. The golden hooks on the curtains swayed slightly as he covered the lamp and lowered the curtains, then left.
At that moment, Luo Ning suddenly woke up completely.
Just now, he had actually asked her if she wanted to eat fried dough cakes…
Luo Ning could not sleep anymore and suddenly really wanted to eat fried dough cakes, so she called a maidservant in to help her wash up.
The one on duty was Tao Ye.
Tao Ye said: “Princess Consort, it is not even the proper hour of Yin yet. You are getting up already?”
Usually she did not wake up until the hour of Mao.
Luo Ning said: “Let us get up.”
There were many matters today. She guessed that Nanny Shi and Tao Bo would also come to ask for her instructions. She might as well finish everything early and then wait for Xiao Huai Feng to come back with fried dough cakes for her.
When the sun was just rising, Xiao Huai Feng really did return from the street.
His hair was damp with a bit of morning mist, and he held several fried dough cakes in his hand.
He told a maidservant to take them to the flower hall and set them out. They would eat there later.
He went to change clothes first.
After the serving maidservants withdrew, Luo Ning ate breakfast with him.
With rice porridge and fried dough cakes, Luo Ning ate in a very good mood.
In a low voice, Luo Ning asked Xiao Huai Feng: “So there is no morning court session today?”
Xiao Huai Feng also liked these fried dough cakes. He took a bite and had no time to answer her, only nodded.
Luo Ning said: “His body grows weaker by the day.”
Xiao Huai Feng still did not speak.
Once Luo Ning had her answer, she did not ask anymore. The husband and wife each ate two fried dough cakes.
The main gates of Prince Yong’s manor were tightly closed.
At noon, the Secondary Consorts arrived at Prince Yong’s manor under the escort of a Ministry of Rites official.
When they saw the closed main gate, they were all surprised.
Then Chief Steward Tao Bo came out and said to them with a smile: “The Prince has given orders. Please use the southeast side gate.”
Everyone’s faces changed at once.
The first to arrive was the third young miss of the Wang Family, Wang Jun. She sat in her bridal sedan chair, dressed in bright festive clothes. Her dowry procession was lively and bustling, just like a bride leaving her parents’ home.
Yet the front of Prince Yong’s manor was cold and deserted, and now she was told to enter through the side gate. She felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
Wang Jun’s maidservant said to the Ministry of Rites official: “Lord, my young miss is asking for you.”
The official walked over to the sedan chair.
Through the curtain, Wang Jun said in a low voice: “Lord, please go ask to see the Prince. If I cannot see the Prince, my sedan chair will not enter the gate.”
The official agreed.
He went to speak with Tao Bo.
Tao Bo kept smiling politely and said: “These are the Prince’s orders, Lord. If we delay any longer, we will miss the proper hour.”
The official turned pale with shock and said: “But she is not only a Secondary Consort, she is also personally appointed by Your Majesty. She holds an imperial appointment edict from the Imperial Court.”
The principal consort had a gold imperial appointment edict and an Imperial Seal bestowed by the Imperial Court. A Secondary Consort also had an imperial appointment edict, only it was not a Golden Investiture Book.
Letting a Secondary Consort who held an imperial appointment edict enter through the side gate like a concubine, who would be able to take responsibility if this caused trouble?
“Young Lady, these are the Prince’s orders. There is no morning court session today, and the Prince is afraid that making too grand a celebration will steal away good fortune.
“If you really cannot agree, then let the sedan chair return to the Marquis of Jian Ning’s manor first. After there is a morning court session tomorrow, we can discuss this matter again,” Tao Bo walked over and said in a low voice to Wang Jun.
Wang Jun understood.
After a long pause, she gave the order: “Use the side gate.”
The escorting procession turned and headed toward the side gate of Prince Yong’s manor.
Along the way, the onlookers pointed and whispered.
The second to arrive was Zheng Jia’er.
She made a huge fuss.
But right behind her was Cui Zheng Lan.
As soon as Cui Zheng Lan heard that they had to use the side gate, she cursed in her heart: [My brother did not even tell me ahead of time. These heartless wretches.]
She thought again: [Forget it, I will not stoop to their level. If the Prince does not give me a Frontier Governor in the future, I will curse him for the rest of my life.]
These thoughts only flashed through her mind. Then she said loudly to her maidservant: “Go in first!”
When Zheng Jia’er saw that she was about to enter ahead of her, she refused to give way.
The Zheng Family’s maidservant blocked the way, saying: “Our young miss must go in first.”
Cui Zheng Lan was baffled: “Then please go ahead.”
[What was there to fight over? Who would scramble to eat something so foul while it was still hot?]
[They all had to use the side gate. Who was nobler than whom? What difference did it make who entered first or later? The Prince did not see any of them as people anyway.]
A maidservant went to tell Zheng Jia’er that Cui Zheng Lan agreed to give way, which instead made Zheng Jia’er so angry she nearly fainted.
She did not want to use the side gate, but she also did not want to lose to Cui Zheng Lan, so she was stuck in a stalemate.
Cui Zheng Lan’s dowry maidservant grew anxious. She leaned close to the sedan chair and asked in a low voice: “What should we do?”
Cui Zheng Lan said: “Wait.”
[Our troops are strong and our provisions are enough. I can afford to drag this out.]
She had no intention of quarrelling with Zheng Jia’er.
If Zheng Jia’er wanted to block the gate, then let her block it. Cui Zheng Lan could not even be bothered to spare her another glance.
She might as well rest, close her eyes, and pretend to sleep to conserve her strength.
No one knew when the Prince would be able to accomplish great things, and Cui Zheng Lan also did not know when she could shed her identity as a Secondary Consort in the Prince’s Manor and go to the southern border.
[Life is long. Why rush for a moment?]
[It was not as if she was rushing to be reborn in the next life.]
Cui Zheng Lan had brought from home a very beautiful blood coral ornament and a lovely set of sapphire hairpieces that her aunt had given her. She planned to give them to Luo Ning.
Luo Ning would probably like such splendid things. She was very beautiful, and she looked even better when she was dressed up.