Chapter 80
Chapter 80: Luo Ning Sets a Trap
Luo Yin returned to the manor and went back to his own courtyard first.
He treated Madam Wen very gently.
When night fell, he held Madam Wen in his arms, but Madam Wen excused herself, saying she did not feel well. Her monthly time had come, so she told Luo Yin to go sleep with the bedchamber maid.
Luo Yin was helpless. He smiled and pinched her nose: “You really have no luck.”
Madam Wen’s smile was soft: “Let Cui Qiao serve you.”
“I do not like Cui Qiao. She is such a vulgar girl. She cannot compare to you even half a bit,” Luo Yin said.
Madam Wen said: “Then you will have to wait five days. My body will not be clean for five days.”
Luo Yin rubbed against her and tried to get her to serve him in another way.
Madam Wen only lowered her head in shame and refused.
In the second half of the night, Luo Yin came back from Cui Qiao, the bedchamber maid, and returned to the inner room to sleep.
The husband and wife each used their own quilt.
Madam Wen could not fall asleep. He lay on the bed, and she could faintly smell the scent on him. It was not the soft fragrance of a woman, but the clear, sharp smell of soap.
It was not unpleasant, but Madam Wen’s stomach suddenly felt sick.
She turned toward the inside, trying to get a bit farther away from him. Only then did her churning stomach quiet down.
Madam Wen thought: [When will he go live in the small building in the rear garden? Didn’t he say he was going there to study? He made that promise in front of Grandmother. How can he break it on the very first day? He does not keep his word. Grandmother no longer manages things, and Father-in-law has no time to control him. Will the matter of his studies just end like this?]
Madam Wen really wanted to turn over, but she held back.
She thought again: [If I go and complain, I am afraid I will anger him. Even if he does not come at me, he will beat my maidservants to vent his anger.]
[Could I ask A’Ning for help? From the look on A’Ning’s face, she is also very discouraged. Her status is different now, and she said the Empress Dowager and Prince Yong both questioned her because of Luo Yin. She probably does not want to cause more trouble. Forget it. I should not make A’Ning feel awkward. I will slowly think of a way myself…]
Madam Wen had a quiet nature. She did things slowly but carefully and never fought a battle she was not sure of.
With this kind of sadness in her heart, she did not fall asleep until the second half of the night.
Luo Yin got up early. He pretended to go read in a pavilion at the entrance to the rear garden, making sure all the maidservants who passed by saw him.
In truth, he could not take in a single word.
He had served as an official for almost three years. In these three years, he had hardly even practiced writing, much less read these dry, boring books.
His mind wandered, and he saw two maidservants.
Luo Yin recognized at a glance that one of them was from Luo Ning’s courtyard, named Qiu Lan.
“Sister Feng, please try these snacks. Miss especially told me to bring them to you,” Qiu Lan said. Beside her was also a young maidservant holding a food box.
The maidservant took the box and smiled happily: “Miss is so thoughtful.”
“You work hard on duty,” Qiu Lan said. “Do you take duty on odd days or even days?”
The maidservant said: “Odd days.”
Qiu Lan chatted with her for a few more sentences.
Beside them, the young maidservant in dark green coarse cloth stuck out her head and looked around. She was a bit bored while Qiu Lan and Sister Feng made small talk.
She saw Luo Yin.
Luo Yin saw her too. She was a little plump, with a round, chubby face, big eyes, and fair skin. She was not a great beauty, but she was cute and charming.
[Luo Ning’s young maidservants eat so well?] Luo Yin could not help thinking.
He looked at the young maidservant and drifted off for a while.
Qiu Lan took the young maidservant and left.
They had both seen Luo Yin from the corner of their eyes, but on purpose did not go forward to greet him. Even if Luo Yin asked, they would use the excuse: “We did not want to disturb Eldest Young Master from reading.”
After the two left, Luo Yin waved at Sister Feng.
Sister Feng walked over and bowed respectfully: “Eldest Young Master, did you call this old servant?”
“The people from Miss’s side, what snacks did they send you?”
“They are flaky pastries that Nanny Kong made herself,” Sister Feng said.
Luo Yin took a deep look at the food box.
The food box was finely made, with black lacquer and carved patterns. It was not cheap.
Inside, the pastries were very delicate in shape and carefully arranged.
This was clearly a gift.
It was funny. Luo Ning giving gifts to a maidservant?
“What duties are you in charge of?” Luo Yin asked her.
“This old servant is in charge of the washing room. All the clothes from Miss’s side are carried by me to be washed. Also, I am on duty at the side gate next to Wenqi Courtyard,” Sister Feng said.
The side gate!
Luo Yin remembered that Luo Ning had mentioned to Mother several times that she wanted the key to the side gate, so it would be easier for her to go in and out.
Mother had said it was not proper for an unmarried young lady to go in and out through the side gate, as it would cause gossip.
Yet Luo Ning’s people were openly bribing the maidservant on duty there!
Luo Yin should have gone to tell Mother.
Let Mother discipline the servants and scold Luo Ning. That would have been the best plan.
But he did not want to study.
Luo Yin’s mind turned quickly. He said to Sister Feng: “You may go back to your work.”
Sister Feng answered, bowed, and withdrew. To go back to the servants’ quarters where she lived, she had to pass through the rear garden.
That day, Luo Yin put on a show of reading in the rear garden for quite a while. He had especially picked the pavilion at the entrance of the rear garden so that all the servants would see him and go tell Lord Marquis and Old Madam.
He then went back to his room, closed the door, and paced back and forth.
There was no one to discuss things with, so he had to think slowly on his own.
Luo Yin was at his wits’ end and thought: [There is no suitable chance. There has to be some kind of event. But what event…]
While he was worried to death, Luo Ning’s plan was going smoothly on her side.
“…The gardener saw Eldest Young Master asking Sister Feng questions,” Nanny Kong reported to Luo Ning.
Qiu Hua and Qiu Lan were both present.
Luo Ning was calmly practicing calligraphy. After she finished one stroke, she said to Qiu Hua: “We will start getting ready for the bandit trouble tonight.”
Qiu Hua answered and went out to carry it out.
Nanny Kong also went out to work, leaving only Qiu Lan to grind ink for Luo Ning.
“Miss, will Luo Yin really make a move? What if he is beaten into obedience this time and settles down to study? Then we would just have to watch him live comfortably and be left with no way to act,” Qiu Lan asked.
“If he really has that kind of mind, we can take our time,” Luo Ning said.
She had not planned to deal with Luo Yin this soon.
Luo Ning had been waiting for Qiu Shi Dong to come to the capital. When the time came, she would bring Qiu Shi Dong in front of everyone at Marquis Manor and let them look at the faces of Luo Yin, Bai Ci Rong, and Qiu Shi Dong together.
As a ghost, Luo Ning had seen Qiu Shi Dong countless times and remembered him very clearly.
However, there was also a small problem. In fact, Luo Yin resembled Madam Bai more, and he was only about fifty percent similar to Qiu Shi Dong.
If the likeness was not eight or nine parts out of ten, it would be easy for others to argue it away.
Luo Ning wanted to nail this matter down and still needed another way.
She suddenly realized she had let her thoughts run too far and pulled them back.
“Qiu Lan, you are my trusted aide. You cannot be impatient,” Luo Ning said with a smile as she dipped her brush in ink and went on writing. “In the things we do, we cannot force the results to turn out exactly the way we want.”
Qiu Lan’s face turned a little red. “This maid is too weak to carry such a heavy matter.”
“Not only can you not be impatient, you must also remind me at all times not to grow arrogant or rash,” Luo Ning said.
Qiu Lan answered in a low voice. In her heart, she thought: [Does Miss even need reminding? Miss is already so steady now.]
Young maidservant Chu Shuang came in, carrying tea.
“Miss, this morning when I was in the rear garden with Sister Qiu Lan, Eldest Young Master turned to look at me twice,” Chu Shuang said.
Luo Ning and Qiu Lan both looked at her.
Chu Shuang felt a little uneasy and also very worried. “Miss, you are not going to make this maid become a bedchamber maid, are you? I am only thirteen. I have not had my hairpin ceremony yet.”
Luo Ning could not help laughing: “Do you want to go?”
“Absolutely not!” Chu Shuang said, almost bursting into tears. “Miss, please save this maid’s life.”
She lowered her voice again. “In the past, the maids by Madam’s side, once Eldest Young Master touched them, Madam would have them beaten to death.”
Chu Shuang was still Luo Ning’s maidservant, and Madam disliked Luo Ning even more.
If the Eldest Young Master had bad intentions, Madam would not punish her son. She would just drag Chu Shuang out and have her caned to death.
Chu Shuang was young. In her eyes, Luo Yin was already a much older person, almost the same as Lord Marquis. A little young lady would only feel affection for boys her own age. Under normal circumstances, she would not have feelings for an elder.
She only wanted to follow Miss. In Miss’s courtyard, she could eat her fill and eat well.
As for being given in marriage, that would be at least when she was twenty. It was a very distant matter, and Chu Shuang’s heart and feelings had not yet opened to such things.
Luo Ning put down her brush and gently patted Chu Shuang on the head: “As long as you do not have a second heart, I will never send you away.”
Chu Shuang was moved to tears. She knelt before Luo Ning and solemnly swore that she was willing to follow Miss for her whole life.
Luo Ning told her to get up and said to her: “I need you to do something for me. If you do it well, I will promote you to be a second-class maid.
“For now there will not be any specific duties for you to manage, but your monthly pay will be several times higher, and you can have a side room of your own to live in.”
Wenqi Courtyard could have four second-class maids. At the moment, Luo Ning only had two.
This promise of hers was not empty talk.
Chu Shuang was overjoyed. “This maid will do her best.”