Chapter 46
Chapter 46: Kicking the Playboy
The riverbank was wide and open.
Young ladies walked in small groups of twos and threes, side by side, most of them carrying flower baskets on their arms.
Some already had one or two flowers in their baskets.
Luo Ning’s cousin Luo Wan did not care where the young masters stood or who was sending her flowers. She only rushed to gossip.
She said to Luo Ning: “Just now, Bai Ci Rong made a huge fool of herself.”
Luo Ning nodded.
“She and Aunt actually managed to talk Great Master Hui Neng into it…” Luo Wan said.
Thinking of something, Luo Wan shook her head and said: “No, she has always had a good relationship with Great Master Hui Neng. Back when Aunt let her live in your Wenqi Courtyard, that was also on Great Master Hui Neng’s advice. He said that courtyard could suppress malevolent spirits.”
After Bai Ci Rong invited a renowned physician to save the eldest young madam and her child, no one in the Luo Family forgot her kindness. Even the Marquis of Zhen Nan approved of her.
Later, when she asked to live in Wenqi Courtyard again and said that it was the order of an eminent monk like Great Master Hui Neng, no one in the Luo Family objected.
Now it seemed that monks also had feelings. This Great Master Hui Neng was very involved in worldly matters.
“Don’t worry about her,” Luo Ning said with a smile.
“She is so strange,” Luo Wan said. “Even if she wore the same dress as Master Yi Yi and no one laughed at her, she still made a scene herself.”
Luo Ning smiled again.
Sure enough, when fighting back, aiming at the heart was the best move. Anyone else would not have lost control the way Bai Ci Rong had.
Inside the princess’s curtained pavilion sat more than a dozen enfeoffed ladies, all household matriarchs from noble prestigious clans. The news would soon spread among those families.
The money behind Bai Ci Rong had built up her good name for two years, and it was all ruined in one day.
From now on, her path to rising high was cut off.
“…After this fuss, she will be a joke at every Spring Viewing Banquet on the Third Day of the Third Month. She should hurry back to Yuhang and stop embarrassing herself in the Inner Capital,” Luo Wan added.
“She probably cannot bear to leave. But this time she really fell hard,” Luo Ning said.
Seeing that Luo Ning was not annoyed, Luo Wan talked even more happily.
The two cousins rarely felt this close.
Luo Wan was two years younger than Luo Ning. Luo Ning had gone to Shaoyang to recover from illness when she was fourteen.
Before that, when they were still little, the Luo Family had hired private tutors to teach them basic studies, reading and writing, as well as zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
Before their Hairpin Ceremony they were not allowed to go out and attend social events. Shut inside the inner residence, there had not seemed to be much gossip to share, so they had never chatted this freely.
Talking as they walked, they went farther and farther, and soon reached a wooden bridge.
Luo Wan wanted to sit down and rest her feet.
“…A’Wan, if Bai Ci Rong does not come looking for trouble with you, do not go against her on purpose. You know your marriage is still in the Marchioness’s hands,” Luo Ning said.
She spoke like an outsider. Even in front of her cousin, she did not call that woman Mother.
“I cannot stand watching Bai Ci Rong bully people,” Luo Wan said. “She clearly wants to take your place.”
“I know,” Luo Ning said.
“What right does she have? And Aunt is really something, not knowing who is close and who is not,” Luo Wan added.
As they were speaking, someone walked over from far away.
With one glance, Luo Ning saw that it was someone she knew.
They had already clashed twice before.
Luo Ning pulled her cousin up, wanting to turn back, but Zheng Jia’er had already seen her.
“Stop!” Zheng Jia’er shouted.
She was also carrying a basket. It held seven or eight flowers, piled full.
The basket and flowers were light, but they showed a young lady’s worth and charm, so Zheng Jia’er carried them herself.
Four or five other young ladies followed beside her. Each had one or two flowers in her own basket. None of them had more flowers than Zheng Jia’er, and none could walk side by side with her.
There were also a few young masters with them.
Among them was Zheng Jia’er’s brother, Zheng Xiao, the one Prince Yong had beaten during the New Year’s Day court audience.
After three months of rest, his injuries had healed. He still wore a bright red robe and had his hair gathered with a jade hairpin. He looked rich and carefree.
He was quite handsome, but his eyes were frivolous.
“You also came to the Spring Viewing Banquet?” Zheng Jia’er looked Luo Ning up and down and said: “What, are you here just to embarrass yourself?”
“Not even one flower? That cannot be. You are at least the Young Lady of the Marquis Manor,” another young lady said.
They all burst out laughing.
Luo Wan was about to get angry, but Luo Ning held her back.
“Miss Zheng, the last two times you met me, you suffered heavy losses. If I were you, I would stay far away right now,” Luo Ning said calmly.
Zheng Jia’er raised her brows and said: “Nonsense, I should avoid you? What are you supposed to be?”
“Prince Yong is also here today,” Luo Ning said.
Zheng Jia’er immediately looked over.
She really did see Prince Yong among the crowd.
The men around Prince Yong all held great power: Prince Chen, Cui Zheng Qing, and several other members of the Cui clan.
Zheng Jia’er started walking toward them and said: “I will settle with you later.”
She turned to the people beside her and said: “You are not allowed to follow.”
She walked alone toward Prince Yong.
As soon as she left, Zheng Xiao, holding a peony in his hand, smiled and asked Luo Ning: “Miss, would you like a flower?”
Among Zheng Jia’er’s companions, someone even showed envy.
“No need,” Luo Ning said.
“I can give it to you,” Zheng Xiao said. “But you have to return the favor. How about giving me one of your earrings?”
The people beside them started to jeer and cheer.
Luo Ning turned to leave.
As Zheng Xiao spoke, he actually reached out to grab her earring.
His hand almost touched Luo Ning’s face. Luo Ning quickly turned to face him.
She could not dodge in time, so she simply raised her leg and kicked.
She was wearing a silk skirt with wide pleats, so she could lift her leg very high.
She used a very crude move.
Because of that, she landed a solid kick on Zheng Xiao.
She had learned this move from Qiu Hua’s father.
Zheng Xiao was not prepared. Pain shot through his lower belly, and he dropped to his knees at once.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
The seven or eight men and women present all stared with wide eyes, including Luo Ning’s cousin.
No one had expected this.
Who would dare to strike the Zheng Family’s third young master?
For a young lady of good family, having a Zheng Family young master speak to her was already a chance.
If he clearly said he would give her a flower for the Third Day of the Third Month Festival, it meant he might ask to marry her. That was an even greater honor. Hearing such words, young ladies would only be wild with joy, hearts beating fast. It was not Zheng Xiao himself who had that charm, but the family behind him.
Among the top great clans, in terms of power, the Cui clan firmly held first place. The Zheng, Pei, and Wang clans were about equal and all far beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Yet Luo Ning did not feel the least bit happy. Instead, she used such a move, one that a young lady of good family was not supposed to know, and made Zheng Xiao kneel facing her.
Many people around them turned to look.
“Is that Young Master Zheng? Why is he kneeling?”
“Who is that young lady? Is she a princess?”
There were only three unmarried princesses in the Imperial Palace, and they usually did not go out.
Besides, none of these three princesses were born to the Empress Dowager. They did not have so much power that they could make the Zheng family’s third young master kneel to them.
The scene was lively.
“Huai Feng, Huai Feng!” Cui Zheng Qing shoved Prince Yong twice.
Prince Yong’s dark eyes were cold. He glanced at him lightly and said: “What, has the King Yan of the Underworld come to take you? Why are you in such a rush?”
“…Look, Third Young Master Zheng is saluting your princess consort,” Cui Zheng Qing said.
Prince Yong turned his head and saw the scene from afar.
He strode over.
As he walked over, he happened to meet Zheng Jia’er face to face.
Zheng Jia’er’s face lit up with joy: “Prince…”
Prince Yong walked right past her.
“Prince… Prince, where are you going?” Zheng Jia’er asked.
Prince Yong’s steps were fast. Before Zheng Xiao could catch his breath and order his servants to seize Luo Ning, Prince Yong had already reached them.
He looked over Luo Ning quietly.
Everyone else hurried to bow respectfully: “Prince!”
Prince Yong ignored them. He only asked Luo Ning: “What happened?”
Zheng Xiao had already struggled to his feet. He was in so much pain that his eyes were full of tears.
When he saw Prince Yong, he remembered the pain of having his nose bone broken and his arm snapped, and he shivered.
“Prince, she kicked me first. I did not offend her,” Zheng Xiao said quickly, afraid that Prince Yong would beat him again.
Most of the time, Prince Yong did not even care to beat people.
This was Shengjing. If he could not beat someone to death, what was the point?
Anyone he could not kill was a waste of effort. He had great strength, but he was not a foolish brute who would work hard for just anyone.
He only asked Luo Ning: “Well?”
Luo Ning told him the truth: “This young master wanted to take my earring. That is my private belonging. If he suddenly grabbed it, it would look like we were secretly passing gifts, and I would not be able to explain. I panicked, so I kicked him.”
Prince Yong glanced at Zheng Xiao.
Hearing the word “kick,” he understood.
His brows still drew together.
“Go back and change your clothes and shoes. You kick any filthy thing and do not even worry your feet will rot,” he said coldly.
The words were harsh.
Luo Ning faintly felt that they were aimed at her.