Chapter 234
Chapter 232: A Chance Meeting with Wang Tang Yao
Early in the morning, a light rain fell.
In March, the peach-blossom rain was thin like mist, fine as threads of silk. It washed the faint dust from the branches in the courtyard. Everything looked fresh and bright, and spring was at its peak.
“Today the weather is nice,” Lin Zhao said to Luo Ning.
Luo Ning was going out, and she had to take not only Qiu Hua, but also Lin Zhao.
Lin Zhao dressed as a head maid and followed at her side, guarding her closely.
“Spring rain is as precious as oil,” Nanny He said with a smile as she combed Luo Ning’s hair.
Luo Ning could not help saying: “Spring in Shao Yang has a lot of rain. I really like rainy days. The air has a very nice smell when it rains.”
She added: “It’s not like the smell in the capital city.”
In the capital city there was little rain. When the spring rain fell on the ground, it brought up a bit of muddy, earthy smell.
After the spring rain in Shao Yang, the air was fresh, damp, and a little cool. It seemed to soak into one’s heart.
“Someday when we go to Shao Yang, you’ll understand,” Luo Ning said to Lin Zhao with a smile.
Nanny He laughed and said: “Shao Yang is so far away. Princess Consort, when could you ever go there? It will be hard for you to get away.”
Luo Ning fell silent.
Lin Zhao glanced at Luo Ning, smiled, and did not speak.
After the Secondary Consorts came to pay their respects, Luo Ning kept Cui Zheng Lan behind to eat breakfast with her. Then they went together to the Cui family.
Madam Cui came from a powerful prestigious clan with many descendants.
“Madam Cui’s family has seven branches. Only your second branch has the fewest people,” Luo Ning said to Cui Zheng Lan in the carriage.
“You already found all that out?” Cui Zheng Lan asked.
“Before my wedding, Nursemaid He and Nursemaid Yin told me about each family. Madam Cui was the most important one,” Luo Ning said with a smile.
She not only knew how many branches the Cui family had and how many people were in each one, she also knew the background of each Madam in the Cui family.
“For example, your mother is from the Li family, and she is also a daughter of a great noble family,” she said.
“Our second branch really does have few children, only because my father started ascetic cultivation when he was still young,” Cui Zheng Lan said.
Luo Ning did not ask more.
They called it “ascetic cultivation”, but in truth he could no longer do what a man should. So the two concubines in the second branch were only for show. Cui Zheng Lan’s mother had only given birth to two children and never became pregnant again.
Her aunt, on the other hand, had given birth to six.
“In Madam Cui’s eyes, our branch is an odd one,” Cui Zheng Lan added.
“The only legitimate son, Cui Zheng Qing, has only three beautiful concubines in his rooms. He has no children and doesn’t take a wife. Yet no one says much about it, because his father doesn’t manage the household and his mother can’t control him.”
As for Cui Zheng Lan herself, she could secretly follow her uncle to the borderlands for several years.
“When you were little, did you feel it was stifling or happy?” Luo Ning asked.
“Happy, I guess,” Cui Zheng Lan said. “Both my parents are pretty good, especially my father. He hardly ever puts on the airs of an elder. Only in front of my uncle does he barely act like a father. In private, the number of times he gets scolded by my mother is about the same as my older brother.”
Luo Ning: “…”
“But my father is very learned,” Cui Zheng Lan went on. “He runs the Cui clan’s academy. His poems have been collected into books, and they sell very well.”
“I know about that. Nanny Yin told me too,” Luo Ning said.
In the Imperial Court, besides the Master of the House, the Cui family also had the fourth and fifth masters. The Master of the House was a Military General, and the other two were civil officials.
This banquet was held quite grandly, because the guest of honor was Princess Consort Yong.
Many guests came out of respect for Prince Yong and also out of curiosity about Luo Ning.
Luo Ning was more familiar with them than they had expected. From the start, she held herself with proper dignity, and no one tried to pick a fight with her.
When someone mentioned Grand Princess Jia Hong, one glare from the Cui family’s Senior Madam shut her up at once and left her silent with fear.
Luo Ning noticed that in front of her own mother, Cui Zheng Lan was a bit impatient, like a spoiled little daughter. But in front of her aunt, she was very proper and even spoke in a tight, careful voice.
Luo Ning thought: [Among all the household mistresses of the great noble families, Madam Cui is probably the most impressive.]
The Cui family’s Senior Madam did not come from a great noble clan, but from the imperial clan. Her father was the late Prince Xu.
After this banquet, Luo Ning was in a pretty good mood.
She knew that she had put on a good show and had not let anyone look down on Princess Consort Yong. And the Cui family had treated her with special care, letting her feel a bit of their sincerity.
When the banquet ended, it was still early. Luo Ning and Cui Zheng Lan took their leave first.
At parting, Luo Ning said to the Madams of the Cui family: “Aunt, you can often come to the Prince’s Manor as a guest. I am not very busy yet and still young. I hope you can guide me.”
The meaning could not be clearer. The Prince did not allow Cui Zheng Lan to go out as she pleased. But as her aunts, they could come to visit. If they missed her, they could go see her in person.
Rules are dead, but people are alive.
As expected, Senior Madam Cui was very pleased and agreed again and again.
Cui Zheng Lan did not care about any of this and quietly followed behind Luo Ning. With Luo Ning as a shield, she did not have to deal with her aunt.
After they got out of the carriage on the street, Luo Ning asked her: “So, what do you want to buy?”
There were many jewelry shops on this street, and also some silk stores.
But Cui Zheng Lan said: “Let’s go buy two daggers. I’ll pick a good one for you, so you can use it to protect yourself.”
Luo Ning: “…”
Fine then. Money had to be spent anyway.
Luo Ning and Cui Zheng Lan strolled around, with Lin Zhao, Qiu Lan, and Cui Zheng Lan’s maidservant following behind them.
They bought two daggers.
Luo Ning picked one up and said to Cui Zheng Lan: “The sheath of this dagger is quite interesting. You can set gems into it. Last time the Prince rewarded me with a ruby, and I was just worrying about having nowhere to use it.”
Cui Zheng Lan: “…”
At that moment, Luo Ning saw on her face the same disappointed, “why can’t you do better” look she had seen on Prince Yong’s face.
Luo Ning’s thinking was that she could not take things with her anyway, so she might as well have some fun with them. It would be a pity to let the ruby and the dagger just sit there unused.
While the two of them were choosing daggers, someone walked into the shop.
This shop was deep inside the street, with a silk store in front of it as cover. It was like a black market, but the officials did not really control it.
If it had been up to Luo Ning alone, she would never have found such a place. It was only because Cui Zheng Lan knew these doors so well.
Truly good daggers would not be sold in normal blacksmith shops, and they were also somewhat regulated. So they were sold in this half-hidden way: as long as the common people did not report it, the officials would not investigate.
Because the shop was so hidden, when Luo Ning and her group came in, they chose for a long while without any other customers, until this person came in.
Lin Zhao quietly poked Luo Ning and said softly: “Princess Consort, it’s Vice Minister Wang.”
Luo Ning turned her head and saw a man standing not far away, wearing a long purple robe. His face was as white as jade, without any extra expression. His gaze swept around once and then met hers.
“Princess Consort,” he spoke first.
Luo Ning nodded slightly and replied: “Vice Minister Wang.”
Cui Zheng Lan looked over and at once frowned. She thought: [A pale-faced scholar as annoying as my brother.]
Cui Zheng Lan had been raised deep in the inner quarters and was not as well informed as Luo Ning. There were many people she did not know. Madam Cui and Madam Wang also hated each other, so the two clans did not marry or associate with each other.
So she did not know Wang Tang Yao at all.
At first glance, he looked like a delicate young lord with a face that was too pretty to be pleasing. Looking again, his stance was quite unusual. He was actually someone trained in martial arts.
In this way, he was also like Cui Zheng Qing.
Cui Zheng Lan grew alert and quietly shifted her position so she could protect Luo Ning.
Wang Tang Yao noticed at a glance how Lin Zhao and Cui Zheng Lan had changed their positions. His expression turned cold as he said: “Princess Consort, are you so jumpy? Why do you bring so many bodyguards when you go out?”
“There are too many petty villains, so I have to be on guard,” Luo Ning said.
“Bodyguards with clumsy, half-baked skills really can only guard against petty villains,” Wang Tang Yao said. “It seems birds of a feather flock together. Princess Consort, you must run into petty villains a lot.”
Luo Ning’s face darkened.
She thought: [What is wrong with him? I even called him Vice Minister, which was polite enough. Why is he picking on me? He is talking nonsense!]