Chapter 65
Chapter 65: Prince Yong Hits Luo Ning
The recent unrest in the Marquis of Zhen Nan estate had all started because Luo Ning had been granted in marriage by imperial edict.
Half a month passed. The waves stirred by this matter slowly settled, and its power to intimidate the Marquis of Zhen Nan lessened a lot. The Marquis Manor began to “come back from the ashes.”
Luo Ning was very busy every day.
The lessons from Nanny Yin and Nanny He were heavy. Luo Ning had to remember them carefully, one by one, and even recite them. Every morning she rose early to pay her respects to Grandmother and chat with her for a while.
On the fifteenth day of the third month, the female instructor sent by Prince Yong arrived.
Her name was Lin Zhao. She was about the same height as Luo Ning, with a straight, upright back. Her skin was dark, which made her bright eyes stand out even more.
“…I am eight years older than the Princess Consort. In the future, when we move about in the inner residence, you do not need to call me Instructor. Just call me Sister,” Lin Zhao said.
She was not shy or fawning at all.
Instructors were a kind of master, a teacher and elder. She was worthy of being called “Sister.”
Before she came, Luo Ning had worried that she might be proud of her skills, cold and quiet, and hard to get along with. If Luo Ning was too familiar, she might offend her; if she was too distant, she might seem disrespectful.
Seeing how straightforward she was, Luo Ning relaxed and happily called out: “Sister Lin.”
“Sister Lin, do you know needlework or cooking?” Luo Ning asked.
Lin Zhao said: “I do not know needlework, but I can cook.”
Luo Ning went in person to tell the Marchioness that Prince Yong had sent her a cook.
The Marchioness said: “Bring her here so I can have a look.”
Luo Ning brought Lin Zhao over.
The Marchioness only guarded against great beauties. Lin Zhao had decent features, but her skin was too dark. Her movements were neat and crisp, like a servant used to hard work. She made people feel at ease.
The Marchioness nodded: “Since she is Prince Yong’s person, she is naturally the same as one of ours. Your courtyard should have one more cook. I will remember it. As for her stipend…”
“Her stipend will be like that of the two nursemaids appointed by the Empress Dowager. Their master pays one share, and I will pay one share from my side, as my goodwill. It will not go on the public accounts, so Mother will not be put in a difficult spot,” Luo Ning said with a smile.
The Marchioness nodded: “Since it is like that, we will do as you say. There are many people in this house and many eyes. We really should be careful with these small matters so we leave no handle for others to grab. If you lack money, tell me.”
They settled the matter very happily.
Luo Ning and Qiu Hua began learning whip work from Lin Zhao.
They started with how to hold the whip.
Luo Ning and Qiu Hua both studied very hard. Lin Zhao praised them for being diligent and having some talent.
In the last ten days of the third month, peaches came onto the market.
One morning, Nanny Kong went out with the purchasing steward to buy vegetables and came back with a basket of peaches.
They were soft and sweet.
Luo Ning sent some for Grandmother to taste.
She ate breakfast in Grandmother’s courtyard and chatted idly. Then someone came from Shoucheng Palace to summon Luo Ning to the palace.
Luo Ning hurried back to Wenqi Courtyard to redo her hair and change clothes.
She put on a silver-white jacket with a lilac over-robe and skirt embroidered with twining flowers. The fresh colors made her skin look whiter than snow and her hair black as a crow’s wing, making her both lively and quietly elegant.
She wore almost no jewelry. There were only two small pearl flowers in her hair, and on her wrist she wore the Buddhist prayer beads given by the Empress Dowager.
Maidservant Qiu Hua followed Luo Ning out.
When their carriage reached the palace gate, Luo Ning saw Grand Princess Jia Hong entering with Pei Ying. They went through the gate together.
Luo Ning got out at the palace gate and walked slowly toward Shoucheng Palace.
“Today is the Eldest Prince’s hundredth-day memorial. We are not holding a big event, just setting out wine in the imperial garden so the family can celebrate together,” the Empress Dowager told Luo Ning.
The Eldest Prince, Xiao Yu, was born to Beauty Chen and was also the Emperor’s only son.
The Emperor had few children. He had been married to the Empress for six years. There were more than twenty palace concubines in the inner court, yet there was only one imperial prince and two princesses.
“I did not prepare a gift,” Luo Ning said.
The Empress Dowager told Aunt Song to bring one out: “Send it to the Empress’s palace and say it is from Prince Yong’s intended consort.”
She said to Luo Ning: “The Eldest Prince is being raised in the Empress’s palace. Beauty Chen also lives in the Empress’s palace and is raising him together with her.”
Luo Ning understood.
When the Empress Dowager finished changing clothes, Luo Ning supported her to the imperial garden.
Many people had already arrived in the imperial garden.
Luo Ning recognized only a few of them, but she had been studying this kind of knowledge lately. As long as someone gave her a small hint, she could match the name and roughly know who the person was.
Aunt Song, the palace lady beside the Empress Dowager, quietly introduced them to her.
In the imperial garden, the seats were divided into two sections by a pavilion: the left side was for princes and imperial sons-in-law, and the right side was for princesses and princess consorts.
Not everyone had arrived yet. The Empress Dowager went to sit in the pavilion first, and many people came over to pay their respects.
“Imperial Mother.” Prince Yong and his brothers stepped forward to salute.
The Empress Dowager nodded, then asked Prince Yong: “Has Ping Yang not come yet?”
Princess Ping Yang was Prince Yong’s sister and also the Empress Dowager’s daughter.
“She will definitely come. She even said she brought a gift for Princess Consort Yong,” Prince Yong said.
Then he glanced at Luo Ning.
Luo Ning saluted him.
After he spoke, Prince Yong went to his seat and began talking with Prince Chen.
The Empress Dowager took Luo Ning’s hand and let her sit beside her.
Luo Ning sat calmly and with ease. With a few soft reminders from Aunt Song, she could recognize all the members of the imperial clan. The Empress Dowager was very pleased with her studies and nodded with a smile.
In the imperial garden, a hundred flowers were blooming. It was the height of spring.
Music floated from the distance.
Luo Ning heard the sound of a flute.
She looked over. In the back row, someone was playing the flute. He blended in with the musicians and did not stand out.
Yet Luo Ning looked back twice. She faintly saw Pei Ying holding a purple bamboo flute with a red tassel hanging from it.
The third time she turned her head, the back of her hand suddenly hurt.
Luo Ning lowered her gaze and saw that the back of her right hand had been struck by a tree leaf.
A leaf was light, but the person who had flicked it had used great force. His skill was strong. The small leaf had slapped the back of her hand red, and it stung for quite a while.
She looked toward Prince Yong.
Out of the corner of his eye, Prince Yong seemed to glance at her, or perhaps he did not. His face was cold.
Luo Ning sat straight.
Princess Ping Yang arrived soon. She looked very much like the Empress Dowager. Her temper was gentle, her manner graceful, and she matched her husband very well.
Her six-year-old son followed by her side.
“Sister-in-law is truly beautiful and matches my seventh younger brother very well,” the princess said with a bright smile as she took Luo Ning’s hand. “Next time you have time, please come visit me at the princess manor.”
Luo Ning agreed.
Not everyone had arrived yet. Over there, Pei Ying changed to another tune on the flute.
At some point, Prince Yong had come to stand beside Luo Ning. He was listening as she and Princess Ping Yang chatted.
“…Do you enjoy listening to the flute so much?” he asked Luo Ning.
Princess Ping Yang was still there, so Luo Ning did not know how to answer. She hesitated, then said: “I do not really understand the bamboo flute. I am just a little curious.”
“It sounds like ghosts crying.”
Princess Ping Yang could not help laughing.
Just then, her son rushed over. Luo Ning had seen that the princess and her husband were both quiet and modest, so she had not expected the princess’s son to be so playful and strong.
He bumped into Luo Ning.
Luo Ning stepped back twice and stepped onto some moss nearby.
It had just rained, and a puddle of water had collected under the moss. Luo Ning felt a chill under her feet. Her shoes were soaked.
Prince Yong glanced at her.
Then Luo Ning saw him give a few orders to a palace maid. That palace maid came over to Luo Ning and said: “Princess Consort, please come sit for a while in the corridor over there. This servant will measure your shoe size.”
Luo Ning: “…”