Chapter 7
Chapter 7: Winning Against Her Brother
Inside Wenqi Courtyard, everyone was happy.
In the Empress Dowager’s reward, there were three thousand taels of ready silver and gold leaf ingots weighing one hundred taels.
That amount was enough to cover more than two years of expenses for the hundred-some people in the entire Marquis Manor.
It eased Luo Ning’s money troubles.
“…Eldest Miss, Senior Madam is not very happy. She is your birth mother and of course would not harm you. Maybe you should listen to her orders,” Nanny Kong said carefully.
These words came from good intentions and were kindly meant.
But Luo Ning knew her birth mother too well.
Not only would she harm Luo Ning, she would even get her killed.
“My mother has a cousin by her side. She is biased toward her,” Luo Ning said in a very calm tone.
Nanny Kong said: “In the days when you were gone, Senior Madam always talked about you. She missed her daughter so much that she used your cousin to ease her longing. In her heart, you are still the most important.”
“These things, did you see them with your own eyes, or did you hear them from others?” Luo Ning asked.
Nanny Kong paused for a moment: “I heard the old maids in the kitchen say so.”
“All the old maids in the kitchen are my mother’s trusted people. What they say is on purpose, for everyone in the manor to hear. Otherwise, for a cousin who has no proper reason to lodge in the manor, would others not talk behind her back?” Luo Ning said.
Nanny Kong was stunned.
“If she missed me so much, why did she not go to the country estate in the southern region to keep me company? Even if she did not go stay there, she could have gone to visit me once, sent people often with letters and gifts. That is what a mother should do,” Luo Ning said with a small smile.
Her tone was very gentle. “But she did none of that. Saying she misses me is just an empty line.”
Yet she had kept trying to convince herself to believe it.
“Look at me. I was far away, badly wounded and healing, truly missing home so much I could not sleep at night. In the end, I was only a stepping stone for that cousin to take root in the Marquis Manor,” Luo Ning said.
Nanny Kong turned these words over in her mind and was deeply shocked: “This…”
Luo Ning waved her hand: “Do not talk about it anymore. Pack up our things. We have the Empress Dowager supporting us and we have money. What is there to be afraid of? I earned this Marquis Manor back, after all.”
Nanny Kong agreed.
She vaguely remembered hearing people say that the Empress Dowager did not like others to show off their merit and felt a bit worried that the eldest miss might put on too much air and be disliked.
However, when she thought carefully, this kind of talk did not really make sense.
She could not figure it out and simply put it aside, choosing only to follow Luo Ning’s orders.
Luo Ning rewarded Nanny Kong with ten taels of silver, Qiu Hua and Qiu Lan with six taels each, and the two rough-work maids with one tael each. That was two months of their regular pay.
Everyone was delighted.
But by the next day, they were no longer happy.
Wenqi Courtyard had no small kitchen of its own, and the food sent over from the main kitchen was careless and tasted awful.
Yet on the surface, there was nothing they could point to as wrong.
There were weed seeds in the rice, the vegetables were too old and tough, the soup tasted far too plain, and the braised duck was so greasy that a layer of oil pooled at the bottom of the bowl.
Luo Ning knew something was wrong, but she could not take it to complain.
Otherwise, Senior Madam would turn things around and put the labels of “picky eater” and “too fussy” on her, and Luo Ning would again end up at a disadvantage.
She picked the weed seeds out of the rice, dipped the duck meat in hot water to remove the oil, and slowly finished a bowl of rice.
In the blink of an eye, it was the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Luo Ning would always remember this day. In her past life, it had been her worst day after returning to the manor. She had almost died.
The weather was cold but not especially so. Only a thin layer of ice covered the ground.
The Luo family did not have to greet the Old Madam every morning and evening. Instead, they went to pay respects every fifth day.
Luo Ning sat before her dressing mirror and thought of her past life. She did not shrink back, but instead said to the maid Qiu Hua: “Bring me my long whip.”
Qiu Hua practiced martial arts and had a decent level of skill. She usually kept Luo Ning’s long whip for her.
When Luo Ning had been in the southern region, she had learned how to use the whip from Qiu Hua’s father.
“Eldest Miss, let this servant hold it for you,” Qiu Hua said.
“It is fine. I will carry it myself,” Luo Ning said.
She then took out a piece of gold leaf ingot and handed it to Qiu Hua: “Go to Concubine Song’s courtyard and see if my father has gotten up yet.”
Then she leaned close to Qiu Hua’s ear and whispered a few words, instructing her what to do.
She told Qiu Hua to slip the gold leaf ingot to Concubine Song.
Qiu Hua agreed.
Luo Ning put on a big cloak. The sleeves were wide enough to cover the backs of her hands, and the soft whip could be hidden under them.
Just like in her past life, by the small lake beside the West Main Courtyard, which had been dug by the servants, she met her brother and sister-in-law bringing their child to pay respects.
Brother Luo Yin had a sword at his waist. Later he would go out to have fun with his friends.
He had been recommended to work at the Ministry of Personnel and held the post of a sixth-rank official. At his age, that already counted as a high position. He was also the heir apparent of the Marquis Manor, and his future prospects were limitless.
Although he came from a military noble household, he did not like martial training. The sword at his waist was only for show.
Before Luo Ning even got close, he seized the chance to pick a fight and shouted at her: “You see your brother and sister-in-law and act like you did not?”
It was the same as in her past life.
In her past life, Luo Ning had cried and made a fuss to win back Wenqi Courtyard. Their mother had been unhappy and had vented to her son, so her brother was full of resentment toward Luo Ning.
In this life, his resentment was even greater, because their mother had lost even more badly.
“Brother, Sister-in-law,” Luo Ning said.
“How rude. Do I have to call you out before you know to greet us?” her brother said coldly.
Even before she was injured, Luo Ning had not been very close to her brother, because he had spent several years studying at an academy away from home.
In those years, her brother’s heart had long since flown far away. He had not shown Luo Ning even a trace of brotherly affection.
“Brother, I only just saw you. Why are you being so harsh with me? What did I do wrong?” Luo Ning asked him.
Luo Yin gave a cold laugh: “You ask me? You even dare go against Mother. What do you think you have done right?”
“I do not quite understand that. Mother never said I was unfilial. Brother, could there be some misunderstanding?” Luo Ning said calmly.
“Such clever words and fawning looks. How did the Luo family end up with something like you?”
Her sister-in-law wanted to smooth things over.
“Brother, why are you picking on me for no reason?” Luo Ning asked.
Luo Yin said: “How bold. I only scolded you a few words and you dare to question me? From the way you act, you think you are the very sky above the Marquis Manor.”
He added: “Kneel. If I do not teach you a lesson today, you will not know how high the sky is or how deep the earth is, and you will cause trouble sooner or later. I will discipline you on behalf of our parents.”
Luo Ning looked back at him: “You want to punish me for no reason at all? Brother, you are overstepping. Our parents have not said anything yet. Do you still see Father as your elder?”
“You still dare talk back?” Luo Yin took off the sword at his waist.
He pointed the sheath at Luo Ning: “Kneel, or do not blame me for using force.”
Luo Ning calmly looked at him.
He was furious.
Thinking of Mother’s red eyes as she talked about how Luo Ning had embarrassed her and bullied her and the cousin, Luo Yin grew even angrier.
He raised the sword sheath and was about to hit Luo Ning.
In her past life, Luo Ning had been caught off guard by her brother’s bullying. She had been stunned and deeply wronged, not knowing what to do. She had taken the blow, could not keep her balance, and slipped into the small lake beside them.
The small lake had been dug by hand. It was not deep, and only a thin layer of ice had formed on top, but the water was icy to the bone.
Luo Ning had fallen into the water early in the morning. When she climbed out, her whole body was shaking. Then her brother had dragged her into arguing about whose fault it was, and she caught a chill.
She had been sick for five days with a high fever that would not go down.
The medicine the physician prescribed had not worked very well. Later, Grandmother had stepped in and taken her to the West Main Courtyard to recover, and only then had she gotten better.
That illness had left behind a chronic weakness. Her old sickness came back again and again. Sometimes she coughed all night long, and she became very thin.
She had also gained a reputation for “being disrespectful to her brother.”
No one had felt sorry for her. They said she had brought it on herself.
As Luo Ning thought of all this and saw her brother pulling the same trick again, she flicked the long whip hidden in her sleeve.
The whip curled around her brother’s sword.
The sword dropped to the ground.
Her brother was shocked and furious: “You dare attack me?”
“Unfilial son!” someone nearby said in a stern voice. “You were the one attacking first!”
Father had arrived.
He had heard that something was happening here and had hurried over, seeing clearly how Luo Yin was bullying her.
Not only was he making things hard for his sister, he wanted to hit her. Was this how a brother should act?
And then his sword had been taken away by his sister. He was useless.
Father was a military general with a fiery temper. Seeing his eldest son so useless and so mean, his anger surged. He raised his foot and kicked his son, sending him into the small lake.
“Father-in-law, Father-in-law, please calm down!” Sister-in-law was so frightened that she knelt down to beg for mercy.
Luo Ning looked at her brother splashing in the icy water, her eyes calm.