Chapter 35
Chapter 35: The Scandal Exposed
Lately, Marchioness Bai had been very busy.
After spring began, there were endless small matters in the marquis manor. Every day more than twenty stewards from the inner courtyard came in turn to report.
The general affairs of the outer courtyard were managed by Luo Ning’s third uncle. Every month he reported to the Marquis of Zhen Nan. The Marquis was a military general and did not like dealing with such things, so he also handed them over to the Marchioness.
With the matters of both inner and outer courtyards piled together, the Marchioness had no time to pay attention to Luo Ning.
She had already made up her mind to use the eldest young madam once to suppress Luo Ning, close down her small kitchen, and lift up Bai Ci Rong.
The Marchioness thought: “The Empress Dowager has not summoned A’Ning again these days. It seems the Empress Dowager has already done enough for the sake of face and will not bother with her anymore.”
She had not spoken of arranging a marriage either.
Even so, Luo Ning still held a favor. The Marchioness hoped there would be a chance to push Bai Ci Rong in front of the Empress Dowager.
This matter had to be planned carefully and carried out in one strike.
Right now it was best to lie low. As for Luo Ning, it would be best if she stopped going to see the Empress Dowager, so she would not use up that favor and leave Madam Bai with nothing to use.
Just when the Marchioness was so busy she could not spare a hand to deal with Luo Ning, something happened.
A young maidservant from Old Madam’s courtyard, one of the Marchioness’s spies, rushed over and cried: “Madam, Madam, something terrible has happened!”
“Speak slowly,” the Marchioness said as she lifted her teacup and took a calm sip.
The young maidservant said: “A husband and wife have come to the gate with their daughter. They say their girl’s belly is big and the child is the eldest young master’s. They happened to meet Second Madam, and Second Madam led them to Old Madam…”
The teacup slipped from the Marchioness’s hand. The warm tea splashed all over her, soaking a large patch of her luxurious rose-embroidered silk skirt.
She jumped to her feet.
Nanny Zhen hurried in and said: “Madam, something has happened. Lord Marquis has gone to the West Main Courtyard.”
The Marchioness’s hand trembled slightly.
She wanted to rush to Old Madam’s West Main Courtyard, but Nanny Zhen held her back: “Madam, please calm down. Your clothes are dirty. If you go like this, it will only make the eldest young master’s guilt look more certain.”
The Marchioness sobered up a little and gripped Nanny Zhen’s hand tightly: “What is going on? I don’t know anything about this.”
Nanny Zhen said: “This old servant does not know either. The eldest young master never mentioned it. It would be best if we did not admit anything.”
She added: “The eldest young master is still at the yamen. It would be better to send for him first and agree on what to say.”
The Marchioness nodded.
In Wenqi Courtyard, Luo Ning received the message Second Madam had sent.
She stood up and went to the West Main Courtyard.
In her previous life, her brother Luo Yin had met the daughter of a bookshop owner in the southern city district.
That young lady was named Nan Xi. She was stunningly beautiful. She was already seventeen and still not married, which showed her parents were ambitious.
The eldest young master of the marquis manor would one day be named heir apparent and become the Marquis of Zhen Nan. He was the most powerful noble a simple bookshop owner could ever reach.
So Nan Xi became Luo Yin’s bed partner and bewitched him completely.
After Nan Xi became pregnant, her parents took her, avoided Luo Yin, and went straight to the marquis manor.
In her last life, there had been rumors about this. Luo Ning only heard the truth by accident when she went to the Marchioness’s East Main Courtyard and overheard the Marchioness talking with Nanny Zhen.
The gatekeeper was one of the Marchioness’s own people. He directly brought Nan Xi and her parents into the inner courtyard and hid the news. But the sister-in-law still found out.
Luo Ning saw her sister-in-law crying bitterly.
“There are two personal servant girls at home. I said we could promote one as a concubine, but he refused. I thought he wanted to stay focused on his future. Who knew he just disliked those girls for being plain.
“If he really likes Miss Nan, he could openly take her as a concubine. Do you think I wouldn’t agree? Instead he sneaks around, and everyone will only think I’m jealous,” the young madam cried so hard that she could not stop.
The gentle, quiet eldest young madam kept repeating one sentence as she cried: “How could he deceive me?”
At that time, Luo Ning did not understand.
Only after going through many things did she realize that, after something happened, being kept in the dark only made the pain longer and deeper. It was a very heavy kind of hurt.
It was better to know the truth than to be kept in the dark.
Of course, the Marchioness comforted her.
Later, the Marchioness stepped in and took care of Nan Xi, hiding everything from the Marquis of Zhen Nan and Old Madam.
Naturally, she could not hide it from the gossip in the marquis manor. Luo Ning even heard Luo Wan mention it and ask her about it.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan and Old Madam might not truly have been unaware. It was just that since it was an ugly matter, and the Marchioness was willing to cover it up, the old master was happy to pretend not to see.
Afterwards, Luo Yin apologized to the eldest young madam: “I fell for a beauty trap. That is why I was tricked. Otherwise I would never have done such a thing and brought shame on the marquis manor and on you.”
He became even more gentle with the eldest young madam.
From then on, the eldest young madam relied on her mother-in-law completely and was endlessly loyal to Marchioness Bai.
She felt it was her mother-in-law who solved the problem for her and talked her husband around.
In truth, the Marchioness arranged a separate courtyard estate for Nan Xi so she could quietly carry the child to term, and spent a large amount of silver to buy off Nan Xi’s parents.
The Marchioness also advised Luo Yin that his father-in-law was a civil official who was moving up step by step, and he must not tear things open with the eldest young madam.
So the eldest young madam went on being fooled.
Back then she had stood in front of the Marchioness, every word like blood, asking, “How could you deceive me?” But the Marchioness did not take it to heart and simply kept on deceiving her.
She saw the young madam’s pain and still chose to look the other way.
When disaster later struck the marquis manor, the eldest young madam and her child did not meet a good end.
Luo Ning thought: [If back then she had known the truth and made plans early, could she have saved her own life and her child’s?]
When she reached the West Main Courtyard this time, the whole yard was in chaos.
There were cries and shouts, the noise never stopping.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan’s roar rang out above it all: “Go drag Luo Yin back! If I don’t see him soon, I’ll beat him to death! And Madam Bai, tell her to hurry here!”
Before Luo Ning could enter the yard, the eldest young madam, Madam Wen, arrived.
Her face was deathly pale, and one shoe was missing from her foot. It was as if she did not see Luo Ning at all. She rushed straight inside.
“Grandmother, Father-in-law, I heard…”
She looked at the old husband and wife kneeling on the ground and the pitiful Nan Xi, and her body shook.
Nan Xi lifted her misty eyes and looked at the eldest young madam.
“Eldest Young Madam, please be generous and kind. Let my daughter enter the manor,” the woman said, clutching Madam Wen’s leg. “She is already pregnant. You cannot let her go to her death.”
Madam Wen could hardly stand.
Luckily, an old maidservant held her up. Two sturdy old maidservants pulled the woman away.
“I did not know. A’Yin never mentioned it to me,” Madam Wen said to the elders. “It is not that I would not allow it. I truly knew nothing.”
Old Madam sighed and said to Madam Wen: “Sit down. This is not your fault.”
Madam Wen answered softly.
She sat down beside Second Madam, and her hands were still shaking.
Luo Ning came in.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan and Old Madam both saw her. She only gave a small bow, then sat beside her sister-in-law.
The Marchioness arrived a little later.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan immediately asked her if she had known about this.
The Marchioness really did not know, and she said so honestly.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan was furious: “It is all because of that unfilial son A’Yin! Prepare the family discipline!”
The West Main Courtyard was in total disorder.
In her previous life, this matter had not been completely hidden either. The servants gossiped in private, and it could still reach Luo Ning’s ears. It was only that, in front of the Marquis of Zhen Nan and Old Madam, a fig leaf had been kept in place.
Because it was covered up, the eldest young madam did not dare openly complain about her grievance.
Yet she was clearly in great pain.
Everyone had to sacrifice for the “face” of the marquis manor, everyone except Luo Yin.
He still enjoyed beauty as before.
The Marchioness sacrificed the eldest young madam and the marquis manor’s reputation to protect Luo Yin very well.
In this life, with the matter dragged into the open, at least the eldest young madam now had a position to stand on when she cried about her shame.
Luo Yin and the Marchioness would not be able to stand aside anymore.
When Luo Yin was brought back, the Marquis of Zhen Nan called for the family discipline and had him beaten with twenty heavy strokes.
The blows were harsh. Luo Yin’s skin split and bled.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan, having beaten his son, finally cooled his anger and said: “He works at the Ministry of Personnel. Even though he is only a minor official, he still holds an official status. If this matter spreads, he can forget about any promotion in the future.”
The solution was to take Nan Xi in as Luo Yin’s concubine and give the Nan husband and wife a sum of money to calm them.
They absolutely could not be allowed to take the matter to the authorities.
Once the Marquis of Zhen Nan made his decision, neither Luo Yin nor Madam Bai could change it.
The eldest young madam then asked Old Madam for permission: “Granddaughter-in-law would like to return to her maiden home and take A Qin to stay there for five days.”
Old Madam agreed.