Chapter 24
Chapter 24: Luo Ning Wins People’s Hearts
Luo Ning’s clothes were finally all finished.
The Old Madam took out three sets of hair ornaments she had treasured and rewarded Luo Ning with them. She even used her own private savings to order two more sets of hair ornaments for Luo Ning at the gold shop.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan and his mother rarely had time to sit together and talk in private.
“Ever since A Ning came back to the capital, the house has not been very peaceful,” the Old Madam said.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan nodded: “A Ning, she…”
“It is not A Ning. It is your daughter-in-law, and that cousin,” the Old Madam said.
The cousin lived in the inner courtyard and did not get involved in any interests linked to the outer courtyard. She gave generous gifts, and because of that, the Bai family had received many benefits, so the Marquis of Zhen Nan had no complaints about her.
She also had a sweet tongue and was very good at pleasing people. In the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s heart, she was even a little more lovable than his concubine-born daughter, and he felt some real affection for her.
In the three years she had lived here, almost no one disliked her.
“No matter how good she is, she is only a cousin. How can she replace A Ning as the young lady of the Marquis Manor?” the Old Madam said. “No wonder A Ning did not even dare to say she had no proper clothes.”
The Marquis of Zhen Nan did not take women’s jealousy and fighting to heart: “A Ning is too cautious.”
“We did not do well, so she is uneasy inside. That is why she is cautious,” the Old Madam said. “You should talk to your daughter-in-law. The cousin has already had her hairpin ceremony. She should be sent back to Yuhang soon to marry.”
The Marquis of Zhen Nan thought for a moment: “Madam Bai wants to find a marriage for A Rong here in the capital.”
“Everyone wants to climb higher. Your daughter-in-law and the Bai family are not wrong in that. Their ambitions are just too big. I do not object to finding her a match, but to seek a marriage equal to the young lady of the Marquis Manor, that is impossible,” the Old Madam said.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan laughed: “The Bai family would not dare to be that delusional.”
Compete with the young miss of the Marquis Manor?
Madam Bai was not that shameless.
Even if she had her own narrow view as a woman, the Bai family would not be so foolish and ignorant.
What right did Bai Ci Rong have to compare herself to the young miss of the Marquis Manor?
A few years of life in the Marquis Manor had given her a thin layer of gold powder, but it could not change the truth that she was born to a merchant family.
“That would be best,” the Old Madam said. “Tell your daughter-in-law to settle this quickly.”
The Marquis of Zhen Nan thought it over: “A Ning is older than A Rong. We should choose a husband for A Ning first. Only after that is it A Rong’s turn.”
“A Ning is the legitimate miss of the Marquis Manor. Her marriage has to be arranged slowly. The noble household and the man’s character must have no flaws at all,” the Old Madam said.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan still did not care much.
Luo Ning had been injured and delayed her marriage. For the sake of the Marquis Manor, she had exchanged that for a noble rank. Her greatest value had already been used.
All that was left was ashes.
She was now useless. In the eyes of the Marquis of Zhen Nan, she was something that could be taken or left.
Now that she was already seventeen, her age was considered big. It would be hard to find a very high match for her. They might have to look a bit lower.
And the Marquis of Zhen Nan was more snobbish than most people. A son-in-law not as good as the Marquis Manor was not even worth a second glance to him.
“Mother, let Madam Bai take care of these inner residence matters,” the Marquis of Zhen Nan said.
The Old Madam asked: “You do not care at all about A Ning’s happiness?”
The Marquis of Zhen Nan replied halfheartedly: “Let Madam Bai handle it. She is A Ning’s birth mother. She will not harm A Ning.”
He added, “Lately A Ning has been too defiant toward Madam Bai. This is a struggle between mother and daughter. When a child does not listen, she needs to be tamed. Madam Bai knows what she is doing. Mother, you should not interfere too much.
“Once you stand behind A Ning, she will rely on your favor and become spoiled. When she marries, her husband’s family will blame the Marquis Manor for not teaching her well.”
The Old Madam was silent.
She did not say anything more.
Because of one thing, she was sure of it: Luo Ning was indeed born to the Marchioness, Madam Bai.
A mother might be dissatisfied with her child and, in a fit of anger, might feel like beating her to death.
But in the end she was still her own flesh and blood. The feelings were there.
The Old Madam felt that her worries had been nothing but useless fear.
Luo Ning sat in Wenqi Courtyard, slowly turning a page of her book.
At the gate of the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s residence, the gatekeepers had received more invitation cards than they could count.
On New Year’s Day at the court audience, Luo Ning had sat beside the Empress Dowager. This had stirred up the prestigious clans and made them treat her like a prized cake. They rushed to invite her.
They invited her, but whether they would treat her with proper courtesy was another matter.
What they wanted was not Luo Ning herself, but to flatter the Empress Dowager.
“Eldest miss, more invitations have come. The Old Madam asked you to pick some,” the maidservant Qiu Hua came in and said.
Luo Ning put down her book and picked up the invitations to look through them.
In her last life, during the first lunar month, the Marquis Manor had not received even one tenth of the invitations they had now. Even so, the Marchioness had still seized the chance to let the cousin steal all the attention.
If in this life the Marchioness had not been confined, the cousin would still have had a chance to shine.
The cousin was very beautiful. She was lively and cheerful, and her beauty was bright and bold. Luo Ning would not have been able to completely press her down.
Watching her borrow Luo Ning’s east wind had always made Luo Ning unwilling.
Luckily, the Marchioness had lost her temper and exploded, and instead cut off the cousin’s path.
Luo Ning thought: [In my last life I was forced into madness like this too. So this is how I lost, step by step.]
Luo Ning picked out a few invitations from noble households that were about the same level as the Luo family and also had some promise.
As for those great clan families, like the Cui family and the Zheng family, Luo Ning also received their invitations, but she set them to the side.
They invited her because of the Empress Dowager. If she fawned over them and stuck to them, it would only make her look like she was currying favor, and that would make the Empress Dowager lose face.
“These two invitations. Give the Hu family’s invitation to Aunt and ask her to take A Wan. The Hu family has a young master who has not yet settled on a marriage. Give this Qin family invitation to Aunt too. Madam Qin and Aunt are both from Qinzhou Prefecture,” Luo Ning said.
Besides these, she also picked a few other good invitations. They were good enough for her aunts to show off about, but still within their reach. She had them go to these banquets as well.
Luo Ning also chose some invitations for her sister-in-law, Madam Wen, and told her to attend. The young madams of those households were about the same age as Madam Wen.
As for Luo Ning and the Old Madam, they picked invitations from noble households whose ladies had been the Old Madam’s close friends when she was young. It was not to form new ties or to climb higher, but simply to attend and catch up on old times.
Besides going out to banquets, the Luo family also held a three day spring banquet.
They invited their relatives and friends, and also the madams and misses from the noble households they had visited before, as a return gift.
With proper manners, neither humble nor arrogant, they made it through all the spring banquets of the first lunar month.
The second and third branches were very pleased. The two aunts each gave Luo Ning some jewelry. Her cousin Luo Wan sent Luo Ning a box of delicate pastries.
The Old Madam praised her: “A Ning handled everything very well. When you marry out, your grandmother will not have to worry about you running the household.”
Luo Ning only smiled shyly.
In a flash, it was the fourteenth day of the first lunar month. The spring banquets were almost over when Madam Bai and Bai Ci Rong finally appeared in public.
Madam Bai’s confinement was lifted. She first went to pay respects to the Old Madam.
She apologized to the Old Madam, saying she had not thought things through and had let Luo Ning suffer wrongs.
Then she said to Luo Ning: “A Ning, do not be angry with your mother. Look, even while I was reflecting on myself, I did not forget you. I had four sets of jewelry made for you and used my treasured rubies and pearls.
“The jewelry is already finished and has been sent to Wenqi Courtyard. You will see it when you go back. If there is anything else you want, just tell Mother.”
She showed no resentment. As soon as she came out, she started throwing money around.
Luo Ning had to admit that she could not compare with this kind of confidence.
She also saw the faint look of relief in the Old Madam’s eyes.
Luo Ning even thought that if Madam Bai were her stepmother, it might be better. At least then Grandmother would not relax her guard so easily.
A birth mother was very easy to use against Luo Ning. Because she was Luo Ning’s real mother, no one in the world would suspect her.
“Mother, you spent so much,” Luo Ning said.
The Marchioness smiled with relief: “Everything I have will one day be part of your dowry. It is all yours. Giving it to you early, how can that be called wasting money?”
She took Luo Ning’s hand. “Do not blame me. If there are things I did not do well, you have to say so. If you say nothing, I will have no way to explain myself, and then your father will be angry again.”
She would then turn around and accuse Luo Ning of putting her in the wrong.
Her tongue was really sharp.
Luo Ning quietly smiled.