Chapter 85
Chapter 85: Even in Death, He Is Smeared
At daybreak, Luo Ning returned to the corner gate of the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor.
Nanny Kong and Qiu Lan had been keeping watch at the corner gate, waiting nervously.
Nanny Kong asked: “Eldest Miss, how did it go?”
Luo Ning said: “Very smoothly.”
They closed the corner gate. The few of them quietly went back to the inner room.
When the sky was fully light, the noise at the gate alarmed Wenqi Courtyard.
Nanny He, Nanny Yin, and Lin Zhao all woke up. Hearing the commotion, they all listened carefully.
A rough-serving maid went out to see what was going on.
She came back and said: “Eldest Miss, the steward’s people are here.”
“Eldest Miss hasn’t washed and dressed yet,” Qiu Lan went out and answered. “What is it?”
“The corner gate was open. Sister Feng slept at the gate all night and still didn’t notice. The steward wants to ask if the Eldest Miss is safe.”
Qiu Lan said: “What do you mean the corner gate was open? We also slept through the whole night.”
She hurried out.
In less than a quarter of an hour, all the masters of the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor arrived at the gate of Wenqi Courtyard.
Luo Ning had changed into a plain apricot jacket and a light green silk skirt. She stood at the gate. Her hair was still uncombed, long crow-black strands hanging down her back. Her face looked as if she had been frightened and was a little pale.
Sister Feng was already awake.
“…This old servant didn’t know anything. It feels like someone hit me,” Sister Feng said, touching the back of her head. “There’s such a big bump. It’s not like I slept and made it myself.”
She said she felt uncomfortable and dizzy.
Even after waking up, her whole body was sore and stiff.
The Old Madam looked at the corner gate that had been left open all night and felt very frightened: “There have been bandits around these days. Did the manor lose anything last night?”
Nanny Kong from Wenqi Courtyard stepped forward at once: “Old Madam, the gate of our courtyard was not moved at all. Wenqi Courtyard didn’t lose anything.”
The Marchioness frowned as she looked at her, then at Luo Ning.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan also thought for a moment and said: “Maybe only the corner gate was open.”
He then said to the Marchioness: “From now on, let the people from Wenqi Courtyard lock this corner gate. They live closer and will pay more attention.”
The Marchioness was unwilling.
But something had happened, and the maidservant she had assigned had left the gate open all night. This was her responsibility.
If thieves had taken the chance to sneak into the Marquis Manor, the loss would have been huge.
“Yes. In the next two days we’ll bring the key and the tally over,” Madam Bai said. “A’Ning, from now on you’ll have one more heavy duty. If anything happens to this corner gate, I will ask you about it.”
Luo Ning had always wanted the key to the corner gate.
She was not scared by the Marchioness’s words. She nodded and said: “Mother, I’ll do my best.”
The Marchioness said nothing more.
The Second Madam, Third Madam, and the others also came and talked over each other.
Because Ping An was safe and sound, the Grand Master only felt like he’d had a fright, then told everyone to disperse.
At this time, the Young Madam, Madam Wen, came with her child.
“…A’Yin wasn’t home last night,” Madam Wen said to everyone.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan’s face darkened: “Where did he go? I told him to come home and study. How could he not come back at night?”
The Marchioness forced a smile: “Lord Marquis, don’t be angry. Maybe he slept in the outer study.”
She glanced at Madam Wen, the look carrying a warning.
This matter could be left alone for now.
But Madam Wen was soft and timid, always looking afraid of trouble.
Even when the Marchioness glared at her, tears almost fell from her eyes. Her gaze was full of water as she said: “Mother, we’ve already looked. He isn’t in the outer study.”
Madam Bai was speechless.
The Old Madam’s face had already changed: “Go and find him! Useless thing. He said he would come back to read, and then go stay a while in the rear garden. Did he?”
Madam Bai hurried to explain: “Mother, he might have gone to the rear garden last night. There must be some reason.”
She then said to Madam Wen: “Don’t trouble your grandmother with such small matters.”
Madam Wen answered softly.
But the whole manor already knew.
The news spread, saying that the Eldest Young Master had knocked out the old maidservant on duty and run out through the corner gate last night to have fun. People said that right now he was probably sleeping in some brothel.
The story was told with plenty of detail.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan was furious and ordered people to go out at once to search for Luo Yin.
He said that once they found him, they were to beat him first.
He also lost his temper at Madam Bai: “He still hasn’t recovered from his madness. I told you to let him stay at the country estate for a few months, but you had to bring him back!”
Madam Bai had a bitter feeling in her heart and could not argue.
She had not thought Luo Yin would be so useless. She also hated Madam Wen for spreading the matter so early. If the Lord Marquis and Old Madam didn’t know, they could have taken their time looking for him.
“Aunt, Brother might have gone to Concubine Nan,” Bai Ci Rong whispered. “You should send someone there first. If he really is there, we can ‘force’ Concubine Nan to move her fetus.”
“Once Brother gets the message that Concubine Nan is bleeding, he’ll have to come out. Then the Lord Marquis and Old Madam won’t be able to keep scolding him,” she said.
Madam Bai listened and felt it made good sense.
“You really think things through,” Madam Bai said, gratefully holding her hand.
Bai Ci Rong said: “Aunt, you only seem confused because you care.”
Madam Bai at once sent people to make preparations.
She didn’t care about Nan Xi or the child in her belly.
Luo Yin’s future was what mattered. She had to help him escape this blame.
However, things did not go the way Madam Bai had planned.
Madam Bai sent people to give Nan Xi medicine to make it look like she was going into early labor, and at the same time sent people to search for Luo Yin.
She thought he would definitely be found in a day or two.
They searched for five days.
Nan Xi couldn’t stand the medicine. The fetus came out. It was already formed and male, but the time was still early. When it came out, it never opened its eyes.
Nan Xi cried in complete collapse and made a huge scene.
But Luo Yin still wasn’t found.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan grew even more angry.
The Old Madam was also furious. She kept saying that Luo Yin only cared about pleasure, and even asked: “Did he run off to Yuhang to find his uncle?”
She also said: “He used to study in the Southern Region. I heard he lived a very carefree life then. Later, when he took the exam for Lushan Academy, he didn’t even pass the first test.”
Somehow, word got out that Concubine Nan Xi had hanged herself because she had lost her child.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan’s headache grew worse.
Madam Bai and Bai Ci Rong were also at their wits’ end.
Then one of Luo Yin’s servant boys tried to run away and was discovered.
They caught him and brought him in for questioning.
Once they questioned him, the Marquis of Zhen Nan, the Old Madam, and Madam Bai were all scared half to death.
“The Eldest Young Master kidnapped the Eldest Miss. He drove the carriage himself,” the servant boy said. “This humble servant and A’Fu helped the Eldest Young Master that night. A’Fu ran away that very night.”
“What nonsense are you talking? The Eldest Miss is right here at home!” the Marquis of Zhen Nan said angrily.
Madam Bai felt her chest tighten again and again.
“Maybe we grabbed the wrong person. Chu Shuang from the Eldest Miss’s courtyard hasn’t been seen these last few days,” the servant boy said through tears.
Madam Bai’s hand trembled slightly.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan went to Wenqi Courtyard.
He was anxious and angry as he questioned Luo Ning: “Where is your maidservant Chu Shuang?”
“She went to Fahua Temple to burn incense and pray for me,” Luo Ning said.
“Why would you need prayers when you’re perfectly fine?” the Marquis of Zhen Nan did not believe her.
Luo Ning said: “I’ve felt uneasy. Lately everything has been unstable.”
“Call her back at once!” the Marquis of Zhen Nan said.
Luo Ning agreed and told Nanny Kong to go to Fahua Temple.
But they found that Chu Shuang had never gone there.
Very soon, the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s manor reached a conclusion about this matter: the Eldest Young Master had actually run away with a young maidservant.
“I’ve seen him talking to Chu Shuang several times.”
“He even took the handkerchief Chu Shuang gave him.”
“He left through the corner gate at midnight. He must have been giving in to Chu Shuang.”
The Marquis of Zhen Nan was furious to the extreme.
Then they heard another piece of news: an Earth God Temple had burned down. Even though no bones were found inside, there was a burned carriage nearby that looked like it belonged to the Luo family.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan hurried over to check.