Chapter 70
Chapter 70: Luo Ning Plans Ahead
Madam Wen, Luo Ning’s sister-in-law, sent a trusted maid to deliver a secret letter to Wenqi Courtyard.
After Luo Ning received the letter, she went to Grandmother’s West Main Courtyard. Just then, her sister-in-law also came, holding the child, to pay respects to Grandmother.
Grandmother was teasing the child, and Luo Ning said to her sister-in-law: “I brought some cherries. Sister-in-law, do you like them? I meant to give them to Grandmother, but she said her teeth feel sore.”
“I do like them,” her sister-in-law said with a smile.
A maidservant washed the cherries. Luo Ning and her sister-in-law sat in the east side room, eating as they spoke in low voices.
To prevent anyone from overhearing, her sister-in-law spoke in an especially soft voice: “…That is all I heard.”
The information was rather fragmented.
“So it was just the two of them talking? Does my mother know?” Luo Ning asked.
“She probably does not. Cousin used the excuse of sending something to Yuhang and came to look for him on purpose. At the time I already felt something was wrong. Usually, when something is sent to Yuhang, the stewards arrange it and it is decided from Mother-in-law’s side. Why would she look for Luo Yin? That was going out of her way, so I went to eavesdrop,” Madam Wen said.
Luo Ning said very sincerely: “Sister-in-law, thank you.”
Madam Wen gently held her hand: “A’Ning, you must be careful.”
Luo Ning squeezed back: “I will.”
After eating a few cherries, Madam Wen returned to her own courtyard with the wet nurse carrying the child.
When she sat alone in silence later, she was still thinking about this.
She no longer held any hope for Luo Yin.
Luo Yin had a smooth tongue, but he did not have a bit of true feeling for Madam Wen.
As for the Marquis Manor’s family property, even if it fell into Luo Yin’s hands in the future, Madam Wen’s son might not receive very much of it.
Luo Yin would have many children born of concubines. Madam Wen and Luo Li Qin would have to fight those children for everything. But Madam Wen had no outstanding talent, and Luo Li Qin was a bit like her, soft and gentle by nature, not good at fighting.
Because of that, Madam Wen soon made up her mind.
She would stand on Luo Ning’s side.
She was betting that Luo Ning would win.
From the way the servants in Wenqi Courtyard were treated, it was clear that Luo Ning was someone who repaid kindness. As long as she gave true loyalty, she could gain Luo Ning’s true heart in return.
When Luo Ning became Princess Consort Yong, with just a flick of her fingers she would be able to help her nephew.
Madam Wen did not hope for much of the family property. She only hoped that her son could study well, get into Lushan Academy in the future, and then, with Prince Yong as his uncle to support him, be recommended for an official post.
His future would have to depend on himself. Madam Wen did not plan to rely on Luo Ning for everything. She was just looking for some security for herself.
When Luo Ning and Luo Yin were fighting for power, if Luo Yin happened to meet with misfortune…
If that day really came, with the child in Nan Xi the concubine’s belly still of unknown sex and she herself living outside, Madam Wen could beg Luo Ning and the Old Madam not to allow that mother and child back into the residence. Then Luo Li Qin would be the only surviving heir.
Once everything was settled, that would be better for the child.
When Madam Wen thought of this, she squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to stop.
She could not let herself keep thinking about it.
If she did, all the malevolent spirits in her heart would come crawling out.
[I’m not wishing for his death. He brought this on himself. He can reap what he sowed. A’Ning has never wronged him, she has not even gone looking for trouble with him.]
That day, Luo Yin did not come home.
He went to stay with Nan Xi again.
Madam Wen felt very calm. She raised the child and, in her free time, embroidered flowers and read books.
Her dowry stewardess could not help feeling wronged on her behalf: “Your looks are better than Concubine Nan’s, and your temper is gentler too. But the Eldest Young Master does not know how to cherish you.”
Madam Wen turned a page of her book.
He not only failed to cherish her, he even openly hid Nan Xi’s undergarments under the pillow of their bed and called her an “old hag” to humiliate her.
She was just over twenty, in the prime of her beauty. How was she “old”?
Did he do that because he thought it was exciting and fun?
Or maybe he simply wanted to insult her to get some twisted comfort in his heart.
In front of her, Luo Yin would also speak ill of Nan Xi, saying: “She is from a small, humble family and has never seen the world. She really is unbearably vulgar.”
Then he would bring up a few of Nan Xi’s embarrassing stories to laugh at.
He had once belittled a pretty maidservant who served Mother-in-law like that too. Afterward, that maidservant disappeared.
At the time, Madam Wen had only felt vaguely uncomfortable and could not say why.
Now she understood. As the Eldest Young Master, Luo Yin clearly could have kept quiet and not commented on the maidservant serving his mother, instead of belittling her to please Madam Wen.
The maidservant’s disappearance was probably similar to Nan Xi’s “leaving”. The Marchioness had quietly taken care of it.
Luo Yin did not love anyone. He did not even have the slightest respect for anyone.
Thinking of these things, Madam Wen no longer had any wishful thinking in her heart. She had been blinded by his sweet words for the past few years of marriage, but now the clouds had finally cleared.
She saw clearly how base and shameless Luo Yin was.
In the blink of an eye, it was mid-April. The early summer roses were in bloom, rich and beautiful with a strong scent.
The morning breeze was warm and mild.
Luo Ning went to see Grandmother and saw that she was already up, telling Nanny Sheng, the steward in charge, to arrange a carriage. She was going out.
“Where are you going?” Luo Ning asked with a smile.
Grandmother very rarely went out.
“You may not remember the Wan Family Residence. The Old Madam of that house is a close friend of mine. I heard that her illness has grown very serious, so I am hurrying over to see her,” Grandmother said, sounding a little sad.
Luo Ning’s heart gave a slight chill: “How old is she?”
“She is the same age as I am.”
Grandmother put on a dark blue jacket. She did not wear many ornaments in her hair, only used a single hairpin to pin it up.
Since she needed a carriage to go out, she had someone inform the Marchioness early.
The Marchioness sent a young maidservant to the carriage house to make the preparations.
In this way, Bai Ci Rong found out.
She and Luo Yin had been waiting for a chance. They were waiting for the Old Madam to go out.
The Old Madam often went out to worship Buddha and burn incense, and sometimes visited noble households she knew well.
Bai Ci Rong and Luo Yin had thought that she would surely go to Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple soon to pay respects to the Bodhisattva, but they had not expected that she would only be going to visit a friend.
“Heaven is helping me,” Luo Yin said excitedly, clapping his hands.
After Grandmother left the house, Luo Yin and Bai Ci Rong went out one after the other.
Luo Ning had been on guard about this all along. She had bribed a servant boy at the gate and told him to watch Bai Ci Rong.
When Luo Yin and Bai Ci Rong both left within less than half an hour of each other, Luo Ning knew that something was wrong.
She immediately gave orders: “Qiu Hua, take this food box and go make the arrangements first. Qiu Lan and Nanny Kong, go report this to the authorities. Remember to tip the yamen runners and tell them to wait nearby.”
The three answered at once.
They slipped out quietly through the side gate of the Old Madam’s West Main Courtyard, without alerting the Marchioness’s people.
Luo Ning stayed behind and practiced with the whip together with Lin Zhao.
Nanny Yin and Nanny He were a bit curious about their whispering and sneaking around, but did not dare to ask rashly.
Lin Zhao was more straightforward: “What did Qiu Hua and the others go to do?”
“Making preparations before anything happens,” Luo Ning said with a small smile. “If nothing comes of it, then they will have just been busy for nothing and will be back soon.”
Lin Zhao said: “…That sounds very interesting.”
Luo Ning only smiled again.
They went on practicing with the whip.
By mid-afternoon, the maidservant who had gone out with the Old Madam, a girl named Xiang Ran, rushed to Wenqi Courtyard, asking to see Luo Ning alone.
“The Old Madam went to the Wan Family Residence to visit the sick, and unexpectedly the Eldest Young Master also came as a guest. On the way back, when the Eldest Young Master and the Old Madam passed by Cousin’s silk shop, they went in and stayed for quite a long time.
“I waited and waited, but the Old Madam still did not come out, and I grew very anxious. Big Miss, could something have happened?” Xiang Ran’s voice was urgent.
Luo Ning looked at her quietly.
There were quite a few of the Marchioness’s spies around Grandmother, and Luo Ning had not been sure who they were.
Now she knew that Xiang Ran was one of them.
Luo Ning pretended to panic and stood up: “Where is it?”
“I know the place. Please come with me,” Xiang Ran said.
Then Luo Ning left with her in a show of great haste.