Chapter 49
Chapter 49: A Despicable Man
Luo Ning’s childhood sweetheart was named Yu Zhuo.
Yu Zhuo’s father was Luo Chong Ye’s colleague. In their early years, the two families had lived next to each other. They had been close for three generations.
He was three years older than Luo Ning and the same age as her brother. He often came to the Luo family’s home to play.
He had a very close relationship with Luo Yin.
He had trained in martial arts since childhood. His father had arranged a small post for him early on in the Western Garrison Camp. He was brave and came from a family of generals. His superior thought highly of him and carefully trained him.
He treated Luo Ning very well. Every time he went to the market, he bought small gifts for her. He always asked after her and took care of her in every way.
His temper was not exactly gentle. He was impulsive and liked to fight, full of hot blood.
The two families’ wish to form a marriage tie was very clear, and Yu Zhuo himself was willing. He had even asked Luo Ning for a pair of shoes as a token of their engagement.
They only waited for Luo Ning’s hairpin ceremony. After that, the two families would exchange Eight-Characters Betrothal Cards and discuss the marriage.
Luo Ning had not had time to make the shoes before she was injured and sent south to recover.
In her last life, by the time she returned, Yu Zhuo had already met Bai Ci Rong.
Yu Zhuo was Luo Ning’s brother Luo Yin’s close friend. Under Luo Yin’s deliberate pushing, Yu Zhuo treated Bai Ci Rong as his “dear little sister” and took special care of her.
In the first year after Luo Ning went south to recover, Yu Zhuo’s father died.
Yu Zhuo already had a post in the army. As a military general in mourning for his father’s hundredth-day memorial, he did not lose his position, but he stayed at home for a time. During that idle period, he fell in love with Bai Ci Rong.
Soon after, chaos broke out in Nanzhao. The king of Nanzhao asked the imperial court for help to put down the rebellion.
Yu Zhuo followed Great General Cui to the south.
He had a stubborn, unwilling-to-lose drive and excellent martial skills. His superior valued him highly.
His luck was even better. He captured the rebel leader, defeated him, and cut him down from his horse.
When the Emperor received the victory report, he was overjoyed and decided to grant Yu Zhuo a title.
So Yu Zhuo rose from an unremarkable minor officer to become a Valiant Cavalry General, a third-rank official.
Usually, to reach the military rank of third-rank general, an ordinary person would need at least twenty years of slow promotion. Yu Zhuo had gotten it easily.
When he returned to the capital, his whole aura had changed. When Luo Ning met him again in her last life, she almost did not recognize him.
He had become arrogant and full of himself.
At that time, Luo Ning had not been back home for long. She had suffered many wrongs and had quarreled several times. She lost every time. The masters and servants of the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor all said she had “gone mad.”
Under Luo Yin and Bai Ci Rong’s stirring, Yu Zhuo said many harsh things to Luo Ning and pushed her even further.
Luo Ning still remembered him saying: “Miss Bai is only a guest here. How could you treat her so cruelly? Your heart has become narrow.”
He also said: “A’Ning, are you jealous that Miss Bai is prettier than you and better at dealing with people, so everyone likes her more? You should reflect on yourself. This is not her fault. It is yours.”
“A’Ning, if you still cannot calm your heart, you should enter the Buddhist order for two years. Only that can save you,” he also said.
Luo Ning had a quick temper. In rage, she questioned him: “To enter the Buddhist order, I would have to give up my good household status. Without good household status, what do you expect me to do in the future, be a nun for the rest of my life?”
“A’Ning, you can come with me. As long as you are truly obedient and respect Miss Bai as the household mistress, there will be a place for you in the general’s manor,” he said.
He went on: “Miss Bai understands the ways of the world. She can handle all the social dealings. She is smart and wise, so the accounts can be handed to her too.
“You can live a small, easy life, just eating and drinking. Even the child can be raised by the household mistress. You can spend your days chanting sutras and praying. Only then can you get rid of your inner demons.”
He actually wanted her to become his concubine.
He even wanted her to give up her good household status on her own and give up her position as the eldest young lady of the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor.
How could he say such things?
Luo Ning drew her soft whip and struck him.
He took two lashes without fighting back and only said: “Everyone says you are mad. So it’s true.”
When his mother, Madam Yu, saw the whip marks on his body after he came home, she went to the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor and made a huge scene.
Madam Yu said: “A Zhuo is going into the palace to see the Emperor in a few days. How can he appear with whip marks like this? Your young lady has gone mad. Lock her up!”
Looking back, Luo Ning realized they had used cruel words on purpose to provoke her.
Those words were like sharp knives stabbing into her heart. When she screamed in pain, screaming until her heart felt torn apart, they simply said she was “crazy.”
Madam Bai, Bai Ci Rong, and Luo Yin were the main culprits. Yu Zhuo was their helper.
In her last life, Luo Ning could not understand how he had been able to say such monstrous things.
She only understood after she died. He had fallen in love with Bai Ci Rong but could not let go of Luo Ning either. He wanted both.
He leaned more toward Bai Ci Rong.
Perhaps he really had been bewitched by beauty. Or perhaps the people behind Bai Ci Rong had promised a rich dowry and told him to copy the Marquis of Zhen Nan, Luo Chong Ye, and marry a merchant’s daughter so that he too might gain a Noble Rank in the future.
No matter what the reason, his heart had been moved.
He was sunk in it and could not pull himself out.
But he shared a bond with Luo Ning from childhood. They were true childhood sweethearts. Luo Ning’s feelings for him were different. He was not willing to watch Luo Ning marry someone else.
If he did not force Luo Ning to enter the Buddhist order, how could a young miss of the Marquis Manor have any reason to become his concubine?
If he did not trample on Luo Ning and tear down her worth, how could he make her lose all face and have nowhere to go, until she saw him as her only lifeline?
He clearly knew that Luo Ning was already covered in wounds.
Yet for his own goal, he added fresh cuts to those wounds and then sprinkled salt on them.
After Luo Ning’s rebirth, she had almost never thought of this man.
What brought him back to mind was the news that he would soon return to the capital, which reached the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor.
Nanny Kong knew that the Yu and Luo families had planned to form a marriage tie, so she went out of her way to ask around. She came back and told Luo Ning: “Young General Yu will return to the capital tomorrow. He will first present the captured enemies at Zhaoyang Gate. In another two days, you will be able to see him.”
She also said: “To be made a Valiant Cavalry General at twenty in the current dynasty, and without being one of the imperial relatives and nobles, Young General Yu is the very first. It is truly amazing.”
Luo Ning thought of the past.
Her body curled slightly, and she began to tremble. It was not something she did on purpose, just like the last time she faced the Marchioness and her chest kept tightening.
Nanny Kong noticed and grew worried. “Eldest Miss, what is wrong?”
From her look, she seemed to be in great pain. She did not look excited or happy at all. Nanny Kong supported her and helped her breathe slowly.
Luo Ning breathed in and out, as if she were clearing out all the leftover pain from her body.
“I don’t want to speak of this person,” Luo Ning said to Nanny Kong and the others.
The maidservant Qiu Hua and Qiu Lan both answered: “We won’t mention him. Please don’t worry.”
Nanny Kong also said: “It was only this old servant being too talkative. Eldest Miss, please don’t blame me.”
“I don’t blame you. It’s my fault for not saying it earlier,” Luo Ning said.
In her last life, Yu Zhuo had not married Bai Ci Rong. He had only been a stepping stone for Bai Ci Rong to steal Luo Ning’s title of County Princess.
After she got the County Princess title and had the Marquis Manor behind her, Bai Ci Rong aimed even higher.
Sadly for her, it did not work out.
The truly great households looked down on Bai Ci Rong’s background as a merchant’s daughter from Yuhang. Even a bestowed title was as light as a feather in their eyes.
And those from noble households equal to her own level, Bai Ci Rong looked down on them.
Yu Zhuo’s devoted pursuit failed. He turned back and tried to go after Luo Ning again.
Luo Ning screamed at him like someone truly mad, telling him to get out.
Maybe he felt that Luo Ning was half-mad and half-simple, not fit to be a household mistress. His mother did not agree either, so he left for the Northern Frontier to take up a post.
There was no news of him after that.
Even after Luo Ning died and became a ghost, she never saw him again. Maybe becoming a Valiant Cavalry General had been the brightest moment of his life, and he never achieved anything more later on.
“We will just watch the fun,” Luo Ning said.
The next day, the whole city of Shengjing was indeed talking about Yu Zhuo being granted the rank of third-rank Valiant Cavalry General.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan could not help feeling jealous. When he himself had been promoted to Valiant Cavalry General, he had already been forty. Even then he was praised as extremely capable and outstanding.
He had never imagined that Yu Zhuo was only twenty.
“…Go talk with Sister-in-law Yu and exchange Yu Zhuo and A’Ning’s Eight-Characters Betrothal Cards as soon as possible,” the Marquis of Zhen Nan said to Madam Bai.
The “Sister-in-law Yu” he spoke of was Yu Zhuo’s mother.
Madam Bai was also surprised. “Yu Zhuo is a young hero. The first in the current dynasty,” she said.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan, a bit jealous, praised Yu Zhuo in a sour tone.
Madam Bai then went to Hui Fu Courtyard. She looked at Bai Ci Rong, who was drooping her head and sewing embroidery with no spirit at all, and whispered with a smile: “Your good fortune has come. Yu Zhuo has returned to the capital.”
She told Bai Ci Rong all about Yu Zhuo’s great achievements.
“A year ago, when he left for Nanzhao, didn’t he give you a token?” the Marchioness asked.
Bai Ci Rong pulled herself together. “Yes.”
But she was still a little unwilling. “Aunt, do I really only get to marry a third-rank military general?”
“At his age, your uncle was only a junior fourth-rank official. Even then, all of Shengjing praised him. Do you know how hard what Yu Zhuo has done is?” the Marchioness said.
Bai Ci Rong thought that this man had to be used first.
She smiled sweetly. “Aunt is right.”
She added: “Let’s first see if he can help me restore my reputation. Once I have a chance to rise again, I must not give it up so easily. If there is truly no other way, I can marry him.”
“A’Ning has deep feelings for him,” Madam Bai said. “But what use is a woman’s devotion? A man’s heart is very broad.”
Thinking of this, Bai Ci Rong was even more fired up.
Even if she did not particularly want him, watching Luo Ning suffer losses and feel pain would make her very happy.