Chapter 68
Chapter 68: Why the Prince Was Angry
Xiao Huai Feng’s face looked extremely dark.
Luo Ning still held the long whip in her hand. She looked at him, a little at a loss.
The Deputy General brought over a cloth. Xiao Huai Feng pressed it against the base of his thumb.
Fresh blood ran all over his hand, but he neither hissed nor frowned. His tolerance for pain was very strong.
His gaze swept toward Luo Ning. In those pitch black eyes, a storm was brewing.
He said coldly: “Very good, Princess Consort. You repay kindness with hatred and even launch a sneak attack.”
Luo Ning’s back went stiff.
She said softly: “Please forgive me, Prince.”
He said: “And what if I do not forgive you? Should I beat you too?” His face grew even gloomier.
Luo Ning could only stay silent.
Prince Yong looked at Lin Zhao and said: “Have the Princess Consort practice an extra hour every day. We will test her again next month. For her to hit like this, I will only punish you.”
Lin Zhao bowed and said: “Yes, Prince.”
Luo Ning felt very ashamed.
Prince Yong went back to the inner courtyard and had his hand simply bandaged.
Luo Ning and Lin Zhao were still at the training ground and were about to return when the Chief Steward came to invite them to wait in the flower hall.
Luo Ning said: “Sister Lin, I think I was a little nervous just now. Usually we hit trees, and trees do not stab at me.”
Lin Zhao lowered her voice and told her: “It is fine, as long as you won. The Prince is very competitive. If your whip had been knocked aside by his long spear, you would probably get scolded. Now he will not.”
Luo Ning was surprised: “Really?”
He would rather take a lash himself than see his subordinate lose?
Lin Zhao said: “You will see.”
After changing his clothes, Prince Yong actually kept Luo Ning to stay for lunch.
Luo Ning: “…”
Lin Zhao had been right. Prince Yong was a bit angry, yet it was rare for him to keep someone to eat with him. That showed he was still satisfied with her.
Luo Ning finally relaxed.
They went to the flower hall, but at the courtyard gate they ran into the big black dog.
Lin Zhao instinctively took half a step back.
Luo Ning, however, was delighted. She walked forward, and the black dog had already rubbed up against her hand. She quickly scratched its chin and ran her hand along its back.
“It is quite well behaved.” Luo Ning looked at the black dog already lying on the ground, waiting to be scratched, then turned to say this to the tense and stiff Lin Zhao.
Lin Zhao could not even smile. She said: “This is Chang Ying Grand General.”
How was it well behaved?
It was extremely fierce.
“Why does it have such a name?” Luo Ning asked curiously as she scratched the black dog’s belly and neck.
Lin Zhao stared, her eyes going wide.
She could hardly believe this was Chang Ying Grand General. Right now he was as gentle as a little puppy.
Lin Zhao told Luo Ning: “No one picked that name. It was conferred by The Late Emperor. It is an imperial Grand General. Its official rank is higher than many people’s.”
Luo Ning was stunned.
She really had not expected that.
No wonder last time, when it bit a house guard from the Zheng family to death, the Zheng family did not dare come to Prince Yong for justice.
Chang Ying Grand General had that right.
No wonder everyone feared it. If it hurt someone, it did not matter much. But if someone hurt it, that would be a crime that could doom their whole family.
While Luo Ning and the dog were happily playing together, Prince Yong entered the flower hall.
Seeing this, he frowned deeply. His face, which had just softened a little after taking a whip strike, turned ugly again.
A sharp, urgent whistle pierced the air. Luo Ning’s eardrums buzzed, and her heart gave a little tremble.
The black dog sprang up at once and, looking very unwilling, ran to its master’s feet.
Prince Yong was furious with its lack of spirit. The more he looked at it, the more annoyed he became. He knocked it on the head again and said: “Get out.”
The black dog understood. With its ears drooping, it left, whimpering pitifully.
Hearing that sound, Prince Yong grew even angrier and gave a cold snort.
He said to Luo Ning: “Next time you are not allowed to treat Chang Ying Grand General like that, do you hear? It is not a pet.”
Luo Ning answered: “Yes.”
She also felt a bit unwilling and thought: [I like it and it likes me. Why do you have to stop us? It does not get in your way.]
But she did not dare say it out loud.
Prince Yong seemed to notice her displeasure. His gaze swept over, and Luo Ning lowered her eyes at once.
Lin Zhao was sent off to eat elsewhere. Luo Ning stayed to dine with Prince Yong.
His wound was bandaged, and it was hard for him to use chopsticks, so he ate very little.
Prince Yong finally could not hold back and asked: “What trick did you use on Chang Ying Grand General to make it obey you like this?”
He had probably been curious about this for a long time.
Luo Ning said: “I did not use any trick. You were there every time, Prince.”
Prince Yong felt she was not being honest.
He did not mention the dog again and changed the topic: “You need to spend more effort on your whip technique. Why did it look worse than last time?”
Luo Ning said: “I was a bit nervous facing you.”
Prince Yong frowned and said: “Do I eat people?”
She said: “No. It is because the Prince has great prestige. I was afraid I would not control myself well and would disappoint you. I never thought that the more I worried, the more mistakes I made.”
Prince Yong said: “There is no need for that.”
Then his voice turned sharp: “Once you become Princess Consort Yong, if you still act so rashly and keep making mistakes, I will be the first not to spare you. If a small matter makes you scared and flustered, you will never achieve anything great.”
Luo Ning answered: “Yes.”
Prince Yong said: “Practice more. If you still hit like that, I will punish you. When the time comes, I will take back all your silver banknotes and gold ingots.”
Luo Ning: “…”
That was too harsh.
Luo Ning nodded carefully and said: “I will practice hard and definitely will not let the Prince down.”
Prince Yong let out a breath.
Luo Ning felt like he was about to die of anger. During the meal, she stayed silent and did not eat much either.
When the meal was over, Luo Ning asked to take her leave.
Prince Yong did not ask her to stay and did not see her out.
On the way back, Luo Ning told Lin Zhao about what had happened.
Lin Zhao had guessed that the Prince would not be angry, but Prince Yong had actually been quite angry.
Lin Zhao said: “Maybe he does not like you teasing Chang Ying Grand General. It is the Prince’s subordinate. You made it act like a little puppy, so the Prince loses face.”
Luo Ning said: “It is a dog.”
Lin Zhao said: “In the eyes of the world and the Prince, it is a fierce beast. The Prince has carefully trained it. He hired people to feed it and teach it. After all that effort, in the end it is just a dog begging to be scratched. Of course the Prince is angry.”
Luo Ning said: “So that is how it is.”
She finally understood why Prince Yong had been so angry.
It was a bit like an old father watching the son he had raised with great care fall into a woman’s hands and turn clingy and fawning, with no manly bearing left, like a spineless coward.
No wonder he wanted to beat both Luo Ning and the dog.
“I will not play with Chang Ying Grand General next time,” Luo Ning said.
It was hard to blame her.
Every time the black dog saw her, it would pitifully beg her to scratch its chin and insist on rubbing against her.
Luo Ning could not bear to let it down.
She said to Lin Zhao: “Prince Yong really should have a son.”
So he would not keep treating the dog like a son.
Lin Zhao could not help laughing: “Is that not about to happen?”
Luo Ning: “…”
That was not what she meant.
Two days later, the Chief Steward from Prince Yong’s manor came to see Luo Ning. Outwardly he was bringing newly ripened cherries, but in truth he was delivering a letter to her.
The letter listed four names.
Because of the earlier reminder from Ping Yang Princess, Luo Ning knew that these four were the secondary consorts the Ministry of Rites had chosen for Prince Yong.
Sure enough, there was one girl each from the Zheng, Cui, Wang, and Pei families.
Among them was Fourth Miss Zheng.
Luo Ning handed the list to her two nursemaids and asked them to tell her about the four young ladies. She could not help voicing her doubt: “The Empress’s own younger sister will only be a secondary consort to Prince Yong?”
Nanny Yin said: “Fourth Miss Zheng has always been infatuated with the Prince. To marry Prince Yong as a secondary consort is a great honor for the family. Of course the Zheng family is willing to give such a chance to Fourth Miss.”
Luo Ning said: “Prince Yong’s Manor will be lively from now on.”
That day, the two nursemaids told her about each of the four young ladies.
When they spoke of Zheng Jia’er, they did not use a single insulting word, yet still made her character clear.
They said she was straightforward and sharp.
Luo Ning had met her three times and had a rough idea of her nature. She understood that Nanny Yin actually meant she was arrogant and ruthless.