Chapter 50
Chapter 50: Luo Ning’s Sharp Tongue
On the ninth day of the early third month, a light rain fell. The spring drizzle, wrapped in the soft east wind, fell in a fine mist over the tender grass and blooming flowers in the courtyard.
In the dim light, the spring chill was still sharp, so Luo Ning put on a thin cloak.
Qiu Lan said: “Yesterday it was so hot I almost wanted to change into summer clothes, and now it’s so cold it feels like winter again.”
Qiu Hua also said: “Should we take out the brazier?”
They were making small talk to coax a smile out of Luo Ning, because she had woken from a nightmare before dawn and had not slept since. She had been quiet ever since she got up in the morning.
Anyone could see she was in low spirits.
Luo Ning answered: “No brazier.” There was no smile on her face, but her voice was light and not very heavy. “I want some black tea. Let’s boil some tea to drink.”
“Alright!” Nanny Kong said at once.
Luo Ning added: “Don’t add salt. Add some milk and sugar.”
Nanny Kong was a little surprised: “You can do that? We only ever add salt.”
Qiu Hua and Qiu Lan both laughed: “You can add it.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Nanny Kong said.
“You listen to me,” Luo Ning said.
Nanny Kong went to do as she was told.
For a pot of tea, they still followed the usual steps: roasting, grinding, then sifting the leaves. When the water in the pot came to a boil, they added milk and brown sugar.
Out of habit, Nanny Kong added only a little sugar and milk, just as she would only add a little salt when boiling tea. But Luo Ning liked the way they drank it in Shaoyang and poured in half a cup in one go.
They let it boil and thicken.
Luo Ning asked Nanny Kong to taste it.
After tasting it, Nanny Kong was amazed: “The tea flavor hasn’t changed, the milk smell hasn’t faded, and it’s sweet. It’s good.”
“When we were in Shaoyang, Madam Feng’s maidservant sent this to us twice. We all thought it tasted very good, so we asked her maidservant for the recipe,” Luo Ning said. “The flavor of black tea is strong. It has to be made like this to taste good.”
Qiu Hua and Qiu Lan both nodded.
She also called in two young maidservants and two rough-serving maids, letting each of them taste a small cup.
In Shengjing City, it was not tea that was expensive, but milk and sugar. Servants rarely had a chance to taste such things.
They all praised how good it was and strongly complimented Nanny Kong’s skill.
Then Nanny Kong said: “Miss, should we send some for Old Madam to taste?”
“Old Madam is old now. I’m afraid she might not be able to handle it,” Luo Ning said.
This small matter washed away the faint sadness clinging to Luo Ning.
On this day in her previous life, the high-spirited Yu Zhuo had also come to visit. It had been the same light rain. The weather had turned cold again, and both wind and rain were chilly.
Luo Ning had suffered too many grievances. The marchioness had been harsh with her in food, clothing, housing, and travel, and distant with her in affection. She stepped on Luo Ning everywhere in order to raise her cousin up.
With her impatient temper, how could she bear it? The more she fussed and argued, the more she began to suspect she was going mad.
When she heard that Yu Zhuo had arrived, she had been wild with joy.
She wished he would marry her on the spot and take her away from this hell.
But Yu Zhuo had been even more ruthless than the people in her family. As soon as they met, he had scolded her harshly.
The last string in Luo Ning’s heart snapped, and she fell into an ice cellar.
Her heart had turned cold as ash.
Grandmother had still tried to protect her. But Grandmother had never suspected that Madam Bai, this birth mother, would harm Luo Ning. In the places she could not see, Luo Ning had still been tormented.
Luo Ning had always remembered this day.
After she died and became a ghost, without rest or sleep and living at ease, she would still think back to this day.
[Why had she pinned her hopes on Yu Zhuo?]
If one was trapped in hell, the only way out was to claw upward with all one’s strength. Even if all five fingers were worn to the bone, one still had to grab the vines that grew high above and climb them in order to escape the sea of suffering.
Not sit in self-pity, hoping that a hand reaching down into hell would save her.
The person who reached out to her at that time was very likely to press her down and keep her in that hell forever.
In this life, Luo Ning had done it.
She no longer wished for anyone to pull her out.
She had risked being beaten to death by Prince Yong to go to him and bargain, and had seized that chance with a firm grip.
People only added flowers to brocade and rarely sent charcoal in the snow. Yu Zhuo was the same.
In Wenqi Courtyard, the master and servants drank tea together, full of laughter.
Someone knocked on the door.
A young maidservant put on a rain cape and went to open it. A maidservant in a peach-pink short vest came in, smiling as she curtsied: “Miss, there is a guest. Madam asks you to come meet them.”
Luo Ning asked: “Who is it?”
“It is Madam Yu, General Yu’s mother,” the maidservant said.
Luo Ning understood and nodded.
She counted the days in her mind.
Last time, Prince Yong had sent her a message, saying that the day the imperial edict granting the marriage would arrive was in the first ten days of the third month.
Today was the ninth.
If not today, then tomorrow.
[No need to be cautious anymore. Today I’ll just flaunt borrowed power,] Luo Ning thought as she straightened her clothes.
She said to the maidservant: “Go back first. I will change and come at once.”
Luo Ning simply changed into another lined robe and cloak, slipped on the wooden clogs the maidservant had prepared, and went to the East Main Courtyard.
Fine rain swayed in the wind, and the hem of Luo Ning’s skirt was misted with moisture. The crabapple blossoms embroidered along the hem, damp and about to drip, looked vivid as if alive.
When she entered the East Main Courtyard, she heard chatter and laughter.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan was there as well.
The woman in a rose-purple patterned robe, eyes and brows full of pride, was saying: “…Everyone at court praises A Zhuo’s courage.”
She continued: “General Cui is Prince Yong’s uncle. A Zhuo says he is willing to recommend him to serve under Prince Yong. Now Prince Yong commands two hundred thousand troops, and all the generals in the realm are under his direction. Only if he gains Prince Yong’s favor will A Zhuo truly make his way.”
The Marquis of Zhen Nan said: “A Zhuo has already been granted the title of Valiant Cavalry General, a subordinate third-rank official, at such a young age. Prince Yong might really take him in.”
Madam Yu’s joy showed on her face: “Then it is truly the Bodhisattvas’ blessing and the ancestral spirits showing their favor.”
It was at this moment that Luo Ning came in.
She folded her hands in her sleeves and bowed: “Father, Mother, Aunt Yu.”
Madam Yu looked at her, paused for a moment, then said in a slightly exaggerated tone: “Is this A’Ning? You’ve grown even prettier.”
The marchioness called Luo Ning to sit beside her and told the servants to serve her tea.
Madam Yu did not talk about Luo Ning, but instead began speaking of Bai Ci Rong: “Just now, in the corridor by Chuihua Gate, I ran into Miss Bai.
“She is like a fairy from the heavens, as if a goddess descended to the mortal world. I said that whichever family gained her would have great fortune.”
The Marquis of Zhen Nan was slightly taken aback.
He had not expected Madam Yu to say that, and his brows knit slightly.
The marchioness only laughed and said: “You flatter her. A’Rong is just a bit better looking. Nothing else about her is worth mentioning.”
“For a girl before marriage, looks matter most. Good looks are a blessing that bring prosperity and harmony to a household,” Madam Yu said. “From what I see, Miss Bai is truly a first-rate girl.”
The Marquis of Zhen Nan already understood.
The Yu family had changed their minds. They no longer wanted to marry Luo Ning, but Bai Ci Rong instead.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan, having married a merchant’s daughter himself, had often been secretly mocked by his colleagues. But he knew very well how valuable merchant daughters could be.
Their only flaws were low birth and slightly weaker social connections. In terms of dowry, gentle attentiveness, and managing a household, many noble-born ladies could not compare.
After the Yu family’s general died, Yu Zhuo had become the man of the house, in charge of the household.
Compared to forming an alliance with the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s residence, Madam Yu wanted more practical benefits.
Luo Ning’s dowry could not compare to Bai Ci Rong’s wealth. Short-sighted Madam Yu wanted money.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan was a little displeased.
Yu Zhuo had only just gained an official status, yet now he dared to pick and choose with the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s residence. How outrageous.
He glanced at Luo Ning again.
After hearing Madam Yu’s words, Luo Ning should have been angry enough to cry. Yet she sat there calmly, sipping her tea, the corners of her lips carrying a faint smile the whole time.
“…A’Ning, you have been in Shaoyang for three years. Why did you return to the capital?” Madam Yu suddenly asked Luo Ning.
It was as if Luo Ning should have stayed in Shaoyang forever. Perhaps the marchioness, Madam Bai, thought the same.
Without waiting for Luo Ning to answer, Madam Yu went on: “The mountains and rivers there are so fine. Why didn’t you find a match there?”
Luo Ning smiled and said: “Finding my own marriage? What kind of logic is that? Aunt Yu, please teach me, so I can learn the family style of your Yu family.”
Madam Yu was stunned, then her face sank: “What do you mean by that, A’Ning? You are insulting me.”
“Weren’t you the one who started it?” Luo Ning said.
Madam Yu shot her a cold sideways glance, then looked toward the marchioness, putting a label of disrespect to elders on Luo Ning at once: “Sister-in-law, do you have some complaint against me?”
The marchioness turned on Luo Ning angrily: “A’Ning, what kind of manners is this! It’s bad enough you contradict elders at home, and now you even offend our guest!”
“The guest came to our home and said words that insulted me. Mother, do you think the guest looks down on me, or looks down on you and Father?” Luo Ning said.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan, sitting at the side: “…”