Chapter 228
Chapter 226: A Short Separation After Marriage
Work at Prince Yong Manor was busy and tiring, but it was not hard to do.
There were no vicious servants making trouble.
Tao Bo and Nanny Shi, the two stewards, were very loyal and helped Luo Ning with great care. Whenever she fell short in something, they would point it out to her.
Before marriage, two nursemaids had taught Luo Ning many things. She knew how to run a household and had some talent for it. Once something was explained to her, she understood right away, so managing things was not difficult.
Xiao Huai Feng had not been back in the capital for long, so Prince Yong Manor was as if it had just been set up. There were no tangled old relationships and favors to deal with. The work itself was not hard; getting along with people was the truly troublesome part.
At night, when Xiao Huai Feng was not in the bedchamber, Luo Ning’s three head maids, Qiu Lan, Qiu Hua, and Tao Ye, took turns sleeping on the foot-bed to keep watch. Her days passed light and easy.
On the fifteenth day of the third month, Luo Ning entered the palace to visit the Empress Dowager.
As a daughter-in-law, this was her duty of filial piety. She took the initiative to enter the palace once every ten days.
The Empress Dowager’s spirit was much better than in the previous days.
The Empress Dowager asked: “Huai Feng is not at home. Has anyone in the manor been making things difficult for you?”
Luo Ning said there was no one.
The Empress Dowager then asked about the secondary consorts.
Luo Ning told her about confining the two secondary consorts to their courtyards.
The Empress Dowager said: “Good. There must be rules.” She frowned a little and added: “That Madam Zheng is really too headstrong. I fear simply confining her will not tame her.”
Luo Ning said: “Imperial Mother, I will manage her. Please rest assured.”
The Empress Dowager said: “I am afraid you will be too hesitant because of Madam Zheng. Next time she offends you, have her beaten with thirty strokes first, so she cannot get out of bed for half a year. If she ends up disabled, she will behave herself.”
Luo Ning was speechless.
There were rules even for beatings with the board. For someone to be crippled by thirty strokes meant the executioner had been truly ruthless.
Only now did Luo Ning understand what Xiao Huai Feng meant when he had said, “If she should be beaten, then beat her.”
He and the Empress Dowager meant the same thing: they wanted to see blood.
Only fresh blood could forge prestige.
And prestige, whether in the army, the Imperial Court, the Inner Court, or the inner quarters of a prince’s manor, was extremely important.
Luo Ning said: “Imperial Mother, I will remember.”
The Empress Dowager said: “A’Ning, you are still young. ‘Kindness and compassion’ are not things you should fight for at your age. You must make people respect you.”
These words were like teaching her step by step.
If Luo Ning still could not learn, both the Empress Dowager and Prince Yong would probably be disappointed.
She was not the mistress of an ordinary noble household. She was an imperial prince’s consort.
Luo Ning said seriously: “I will not fail to live up to Imperial Mother’s teaching.”
The Empress Dowager nodded with satisfaction.
Then she said: “A’Ning, there is still something you have not done yet in the prince’s manor.”
“What is it?” Luo Ning asked.
The Empress Dowager said: “Those secondary consorts, relying on the fact that the Imperial Court granted their titles and the Emperor himself arranged their marriages, brought their dowry maidservants and old maidservants with them into the manor.”
“By the rules, that is proper,” Luo Ning said.
Secondary consorts were not concubines, so they could bring dowry maids.
Their rank was just lower than that of the principal consort.
The Empress Dowager said: “There are many people and many eyes in the inner residence. Besides your own people, each great family has its own spies. You must find a chance to send away all the secondary consorts’ dowry maids.
“In such a messy inner residence, not only you will suffer, but sooner or later it will drag Huai Feng down as well. Of course, you must do it with good reason, so that no one can use it against you.”
Luo Ning’s heart trembled.
So the Emperor had assigned four secondary consorts not only to involve the powerful families, but also with this extra meaning.
Right now, the inner residence of Prince Yong Manor was indeed a mess.
Luo Ning said: “Imperial Mother, when the prince returns, I will discuss it with him and take care of it as soon as possible.”
The Empress Dowager gave a slight nod.
This visit to the palace had benefited Luo Ning a great deal. The Empress Dowager had begun to teach her real skills, instead of only showing light, harmless concern.
The Empress Dowager did not keep Luo Ning for lunch, because the Emperor came.
After paying her respects, Luo Ning took her leave.
It was still early, so she returned to the Marquis of Zhen Nan Manor to visit her grandmother.
Her grandmother was in good health.
But many bits of news had spread inside the marquis manor.
Grandmother said: “…The Censorate is fiercely scolding the prince and wants Your Majesty to rebuke him. They also want the prince to compensate the four secondary consorts and even have them go with the prince to offer ritual sacrifice at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.”
Luo Ning asked: “Did the great families come up with this rotten idea?”
“If they really offer sacrifice at the Imperial Ancestral Temple,” Grandmother said, “I am afraid your days in the future will be hard.”
That would be even more honorable than entering the manor through the main gate.
Luo Ning said: “Grandmother, don’t worry. The Emperor and the Empress Dowager will not agree.”
“But this marriage was arranged by the Emperor himself. The prince has slapped his face. How could he…” Grandmother trailed off.
Luo Ning said: “The Censorate dares to scold like that only because the Empress Dowager allows it. Even if the Emperor wants to make trouble for Prince Yong, he will not agree to this right now. Besides, this time the Empress Dowager should not just sit by and do nothing.”
It was unheard of for secondary consorts to perform ritual sacrifice at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
The Empress Dowager allowed the Censorate to speak in such a shocking way only so she could use an even more alarming claim to shift everyone’s attention and cover the Emperor’s embarrassment.
Luo Ning reminded Grandmother again and again not to worry about anything.
The prince’s power was much greater than anyone had imagined.
If the Emperor really dared to tear his face with the prince, he would not be using such foolish tricks against him.
When Luo Ning returned, all the family had gathered in the West Main Courtyard.
The room was full of people.
Grandmother was happier than she had ever been.
The Luo family had not been this lively in many years. The elders sat together, everyone calm and at peace, no longer each hiding their own schemes.
Grandmother also told Luo Ning: “At the start of the fourth month, your sister-in-law will take A Qin to Shaoyang.”
Luo Ning was happy for her sister-in-law. Holding her hand, she said: “Write to me often. If there is anything tasty or fun, send some to me too.”
Her sister-in-law laughed and said: “Of course.”
Her aunt took the chance to tell Luo Ning: “A’Xuan will also marry in the fourth month.”
She would marry into a family in the town where Second Aunt lived.
Luo Ning told her: “You won’t be that far away, only a few days’ journey. If anything is hard, send someone to the prince’s manor to find me. Don’t let anyone bully you.”
Luo Xuan laughed and said: “Don’t worry, Eldest Sister. I am the young miss of the marquis manor and the sister of Princess Consort Yong. Not only will my husband’s family try to please me, even the county magistrate and the prefect will have to give me some face.”
That was no lie.
“You really have figured things out,” Luo Ning said.
Luo Xuan said: “A’Wan told me.”
Luo Wan laughed on the side and said: “Actually, it was Miss Chen who told me. What would I know?”
The room was full of laughter.
The marquis manor now had a different air.
Luo Chong Ye was still the same as always, but the others all had a new look about them.
It was as if their backs had straightened and they now had confidence.
Because the Luo family now not only had a noble rank, but also an imperial prince’s consort.
When Luo Ning left the marquis manor, her mood was light.
In less than ten days, Xiao Huai Feng returned from the Southern Region.
He came back dusty and travel-worn.
The main courtyard of the prince’s manor suddenly grew busy. They prepared hot water for his bath and made several dishes he liked to eat.
After bathing and changing, without even waiting for his hair to dry, Xiao Huai Feng said: “A’Ning, I’ll talk with you later when I come back. I brought gifts and told Deputy General Zhou to deliver them to you. I have to enter the palace.”
“Yes,” Luo Ning answered.
She thought Xiao Huai Feng was in a hurry to go report to the Emperor.
She did not expect that he would not come back even by late night.
The local specialties he brought back filled two big chests. Luo Ning counted them one by one.
She divided them up: some for the Empress Dowager, some for the secondary consorts. She kept a few things for herself, and the rest were to be given as rewards to the stewards with higher status.
In the second half of the night, Xiao Huai Feng still had not returned to the manor. The gates of the Imperial City should have been locked by then, so he was probably staying in the Imperial Palace. Luo Ning fell asleep.
Someone got into bed in the middle of the night, but she did not notice.
Only when she got up in the morning did she find him sleeping beside her. Without knowing it, she had leaned against his shoulder, and the two of them were very close.