Chapter 5
Chapter 5: How About Making Her Princess Consort Yong?
Luo Ning was very curious about the feelings between Prince Yong and Empress Zheng, but she did not dare to be rude and ask.
She lowered her gaze and let Empress Zheng take her hand and lead her to sit down.
Empress Zheng, still holding Luo Ning, looked at the black dog lying in one corner of the hall and said: “This dog is really scary.”
Prince Yong did not answer.
The black dog bared its teeth at Empress Zheng, but the look in its master’s eyes scared it back. It lay down on the floor again, only whining now and then.
Empress Zheng looked away and praised Luo Ning for her loyalty, for risking her life to block the knife for the Empress Dowager.
When she spoke with feeling, her voice even choked up a little.
The Empress Dowager smiled and comforted her.
Prince Yong did not say a word.
Empress Zheng asked: “Imperial Mother, has Miss Luo discussed any marriage yet?”
The Empress Dowager did not know, so she asked directly: “A Ning, do you have a betrothal?”
“Not yet,” Luo Ning answered.
Empress Zheng smiled and said: “I would like to be matchmaker for Miss Luo.”
“Do you have someone in mind?” the Empress Dowager asked.
“There are many choices,” Empress Zheng said with a smile. From the corner of her eye, she glanced at Prince Yong, who was calmly drinking tea beside them.
The Empress Dowager also looked at him.
Luo Ning noticed that something was off, so she followed the Empress Dowager’s gaze and looked over too.
Prince Yong wore dark robes, and his eyes were deep. He sat with a calm, noble air, but a violent streak hid between his brows, and a slight frown was enough to let a bit of it show.
Luo Ning quickly looked away.
The Empress Dowager smiled and said: “This matter needs to be discussed slowly. Girls are shy. Don’t talk about it in front of A Ning.” She changed the subject.
Empress Zheng also felt she had spoken too carelessly, so she turned to ask Luo Ning instead: “I heard that in the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor there is a cousin of yours, very talented and extremely beautiful, said to be the top noble young lady in the capital. Is that true?”
That was the only topic she could think of.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan was a newly granted title. In Shengjing, where powerful clans were everywhere, he really did not stand out, so Empress Zheng had little reason to pay attention to that family.
But the story of that cousin had spread widely. Even the Empress had heard of her, though the comments were mixed, some praise and some blame.
There were people outside spending money to win hearts and build reputation for Bai Ci Rong.
Luo Ning’s mother’s Bai family lacked money least of all, and the person who truly cared about Bai Ci Rong’s future had even more wealth than they did.
What they wanted was status.
Using the Marquis Manor’s position, they wanted to help Bai Ci Rong marry into a high-ranking military aristocratic family.
Luo Ning smiled and said: “Your Majesty, I have only just returned to the capital. I know far less than the inner palace about such news. But my cousin is indeed gentle and clever. Everyone in the manor loves her.”
Taking this as a start, they began to talk about other young ladies of good family in the capital.
Luo Ning sat for a while. When it grew late, she rose to take her leave.
The Empress Dowager asked Eunuch Wei to see her out.
Empress Zheng also had matters to handle in the Imperial Palace, so after Luo Ning rose, she also took her leave.
She even walked a short way with Luo Ning.
Empress Zheng said: “Come to the Imperial Palace often and keep Imperial Mother company so she will not be bored. I manage the Six Inner Palaces and am busy with many small matters, often unable to fulfill my filial duty. If you can make the Empress Dowager laugh, that is the greatest filial piety in the world.”
Luo Ning answered that she would.
Empress Zheng had no bad intentions toward Luo Ning.
Luo Ning did not come from a very high background. The Luo family had only been granted a title three years ago. They were not quite “new nobility,” but calling them “upstarts” was not too much of an insult. In front of Empress Zheng, she was very small.
Luo Ning was like a little favorite pet that the Empress Dowager doted on.
No one would see the pet beside the mother-in-law as a threat or fear it.
They would only toss the pet a few benefits and praise it as clever to please the mother-in-law.
Empress Zheng’s kindness to Luo Ning was also just like that.
Empress Zheng asked again: “What do you usually like?”
Luo Ning said: “Besides reading, I just play with a whip.”
“You can use a whip too?” Empress Zheng was very interested, her smile bright. “Then you are talented in both letters and martial arts.”
“I don’t deserve such praise, Your Majesty. I just play with it,” Luo Ning said.
They talked for quite a while before they finally let Luo Ning go.
Inside Shoucheng Palace, the Empress Dowager, Madam Cui, was asking her son whether he was going to get engaged.
She said: “You are twenty this year. You should have a princess consort. The Censorate is pressing the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Rites keeps bothering His Majesty. Otherwise, the Empress would not have rushed over to bring this up and help share His Majesty’s worries.”
“We can talk about it later,” he said.
“What about Miss Luo?” the Empress Dowager asked. “Just by looks, she is beautiful. Her temper is steady and quiet, and she does not show off. When she stood beside the Empress, she did not lose in the least. She is a rare beauty.”
Prince Yong’s frown grew deeper: “Imperial Mother is praising her too much.”
The Empress Dowager fell silent.
She had not exaggerated.
When Empress Zheng was still in her maiden home, she was already famous among the powerful military families for her beauty and grace.
Among women of her age, no one was qualified to be compared with her looks.
Luo Ning was elegant and pure. She wore simple clothes and only a little powder. When she sat hand in hand with Empress Zheng, her features and bearing did not lose out at all.
The Empress Dowager was also surprised.
Only when there was a comparison could one see how unusual Luo Ning was.
Luo Ning was too quiet, like a pearl covered by a thin veil, her light hidden by her lowered eyes.
The Empress Dowager asked: “What about that cousin at her house? She is very famous in the capital.”
“For a cousin to stir up such a big reputation, her ambition is not small,” Prince Yong said coldly. “She only wants to climb up. Her character is doubtful.”
She was still not as good as Luo Ning.
The Empress Dowager said: “If you stay stubborn, I will ask His Majesty to issue an imperial edict for the marriage. Then you will have no say.”
“Then I’m afraid we will have to trouble Miss Luo to die early, reincarnate, and be a good person in her next life,” Prince Yong said in a cold tone.
The Empress Dowager was helpless and a little angry: “How rude. She is your Imperial Mother’s lifesaving benefactor.”
Prince Yong said: “Pushing her into a fire pit is turning kindness into revenge. Is this how Imperial Mother repays her benefactor? I do not like her and cannot treat her well.”
He added: “Since she is a benefactor, why are you so stingy with money? She doesn’t have a single new dress on her, and she doesn’t have many pieces of jewelry either.”
The Empress Dowager said: “I have already rewarded the Marquis Manor.”
“Did those rewards really end up in her hands?” he asked.
The Empress Dowager said: “The Marquis of Zhen Nan is her father. She is the legitimate eldest daughter and a cherished child. She should be held in his palm.”
As she spoke, she frowned a little.
Had she misjudged?
The Empress Dowager knew that the Marquis of Zhen Nan had three children born of the principal wife, two sons and one daughter.
That daughter was Luo Ning.
As the only legitimate young lady of the eldest branch, Luo Ning should not be poor.
But she came into the palace wearing clothes that were half old and not quite new. That did not really fit her careful way of doing things. If she only wanted to be low-key and modest, she could have worn new clothes in plain colors.
Prince Yong stood up and said: “Imperial Mother, instead of planning a marriage for her, it would be more useful to give her some things directly during the New Year.”
He called out, and the black dog hopped up and followed him out, tail wagging.
The black dog was huge, and no one knew what breed it was.
After he left, thinking of his words, the Empress Dowager fell into thought.
Luo Ning was an unmarried young lady. She only had face because her family still had some dignity.
Any reward had to be sent to the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor. It would not be proper to skip the Marquis Manor and give it straight to her.
Luo Ning never complained, and there was no sorrow on her face, so the Empress Dowager could not see how her life at home truly was.
She had come into the palace twice and had not brought her grandmother or her mother with her.
This was especially strange because her mother had been granted the title of First-Rank Titled Madam when Luo Ning’s father was made a marquis. She had the right to enter the palace and ask to see the Empress Dowager.
“Attend,” the Empress Dowager called to a palace lady.
The palace lady answered at once.
The Empress Dowager said: “Prepare one hundred taels of gold, three thousand taels of silver, and some new fabrics and jewelry, and send them to the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor. Issue a special imperial edict stating that they are for Eldest Miss Luo, A Ning.”
The palace lady agreed.
The Empress Dowager thought for a moment and then said: “Also bring out the Shimmering Jade Brocade that was sent as tribute from the Southern Region, and send it to Miss Luo A Ning.”
Shimmering Jade Brocade had been sent as tribute two months ago, twelve bolts in all. The Empress Dowager had kept two and given the rest to the Empress. The Empress had rewarded the Noble Consort and some married noblewomen and kept only two bolts for herself.
In the end, six bolts of Shimmering Jade Brocade went into the noble households of prestigious clans, bringing a flood of praise. The Empress Dowager’s bold, spoiled niece from her maiden home had even asked her for some.
The Empress Dowager had not given her any.
Now she took it out for Luo Ning. With such precious goods, she could test the Marquis Manor’s attitude toward Luo Ning.