As everyone took their leave, Yining finally breathed a sigh of relief. She asked Xuezhi to remove the gold necklace from her neck.
Old Madam Luo leaned against her pillow and raised an eyebrow as Yining approached.
Yining asked curiously, “Grandmother, how come I never noticed before that Third Brother is left-handed?”
Old Madam Luo gave her granddaughter an odd look before replying, “He wasn’t born left-handed. His right hand was injured, making it less dexterous than his left. He had to painstakingly learn to write and eat with his left hand. At first, he struggled, but now he uses his left hand as skillfully as his right.”
Yining’s curiosity grew. “What kind of injury did he sustain?”
Old Madam Luo spoke slowly, “You don’t remember? When you were five, you mischievously climbed up to the roof beams to play. As you fell, your Third Brother caught you. He was only twelve at the time. The small scissors you were holding pierced his hand…”
“Your Third Brother cushioned your fall, so you weren’t hurt. But his right hand never regained its full dexterity. You cried so hard then that no one dared to scold you.”
Young Yining had no recollection of this incident.
Yining was impressed by the little girl’s actions, yet she still treated Luo Shenyuan poorly. No wonder he was cold towards her. She could imagine that if young Yining had grown up normally, her poor relationship with the future Grand Secretariat would have caused her significant trouble.
A maid brought a cup of tea for Old Madam Luo to soothe her throat.
Yining wanted to persuade the old lady not to punish Luo Shenyuan further, but she wasn’t sure how to approach the subject.
She couldn’t simply tell Old Madam Luo that the son she was punishing would become a powerful minister in the future, wielding immense influence over the court. It wouldn’t be wise to say they should stop punishing him to avoid future retribution.
After much consideration, Yining cleared her throat and said sincerely, “Grandmother, it seems Third Brother has been quite good to me. Perhaps we shouldn’t punish him anymore…”
Old Madam Luo was taken aback by Yining’s words. She sighed softly and asked, “Is that truly how you feel?”
The old lady stared at her granddaughter intently. For a moment, Yining felt as if she could see right through her thoughts.
Yining nodded firmly. “Yes, Third Brother has treated me well. As you saw, Grandmother, if not for his rescue, I might not have survived.”
A maid brought in a plate of freshly washed cherries. Old Madam Luo offered them to her granddaughter before continuing, “I’ve never liked your Third Brother. Don’t think your grandmother is being biased; it’s just that he’s quite cunning. He won’t grow up to be a kind person.”
Old Madam Luo’s assessment was accurate. In the future, Prime Minister Luo’s actions could hardly be considered benevolent.
The old lady wasn’t unreasonable. She considered Luo Shenyuan’s cunning nature and Yining’s careless fall into the water. Having navigated the inner court’s intrigues herself, she understood these tactics well.
That’s why she was so angry.
However, Luo Yining knew this wasn’t the case. The incident truly had nothing to do with Luo Shenyuan. Moreover, a man capable of controlling the court in the future wouldn’t target a young girl; he’d surely have more wisdom than that.
Suddenly, she felt a chill. If young Yining had died, Luo Shenyuan would never have been able to shake off the suspicion of killing his legitimate sister.
Yining continued, “I don’t know how cunning Third Brother is. But I do know that you’re punishing him to kneel for half a month just because I had a high fever. If I had died, who knows how severely you would have punished him!”
Old Madam Luo smiled slightly. “Alright, making him kneel in the ancestral hall was just to warn him. He does bear some responsibility as your elder brother. Since Meimei feels he shouldn’t be punished, we’ll lift the punishment.”
She then instructed Mama Xu to send someone to the ancestral hall with the message. Moments later, Mama Xu returned to report, “…I conveyed the message, saying that considering Third Young Master’s past sincerity towards Seventh Young Miss, Old Madam has decided not to punish him. Third Young Master didn’t say anything upon hearing this; he simply stood up and left. The servants guarding the ancestral hall said that he came regularly every day and never uttered a word of complaint.”
Old Madam Luo nodded upon hearing this and dismissed Mama Xu.
Not wanting to discuss Luo Shenyuan further, Old Madam Luo asked Yining, “I noticed you didn’t eat much at noon. Are you hungry now?”
Yining was indeed hungry.
However, looking at the little girl’s chubby face in the mirror, she felt she should try to control her appetite.
Old Madam Luo, on the other hand, believed that a plump girl was more adorable and called for lunch to be served. After the meal, there was a cup of rock sugar and white fungus soup, followed by desserts arranged in a five-compartment box: golden crab roe pastries, glutinous rice balls, snow-white peach slices, all exquisitely presented in layers of different colors and shapes, whetting one’s appetite.
It seemed Old Madam Luo truly thought she had lost weight and wanted to restore her granddaughter’s double chin.
Yining ate until her stomach was full and round, then downed a cup of melon seed tea, feeling too stuffed to move.
After the meal, Madam Chen arrived with Yining’s two older sisters, followed by Lin Hairu and Luo Yilie.
Concubine Qiao, despite her high status, couldn’t frequently visit Old Madam Luo’s quarters. Thus, Luo Yilie always came with Lin Hairu.
After they were seated, Luo Yilie presented a sachet to Yining, saying gently, “Seventh Sister, it’s filled with lilies. I made it especially for you.”
Young Yining had treated this sister with the same disdain she showed Luo Shenyuan, behaving arrogantly and willfully.
Yet Luo Yilie never resented her, always showing care and concern. Even when Yining provoked her, Yilie would respond with gentle forbearance. News of these interactions would eventually reach Luo Chengzhang’s ears, causing him to shower Yilie with more affection while being stricter with his legitimate daughter.
Luo Chengzhang had even told young Yining, “Although Yilie is your elder sister, she has a gentle nature and frail health. Despite being the younger sister, you should be more considerate towards her.”
How could young Yining not feel upset hearing such words from her father?
Yining studied Luo Yilie carefully, thinking that she indeed looked delicate and pitiful. With her pointed chin and snow-white complexion, she would surely grow into a beauty.
“Thank you, Fifth Sister,” Yining smiled, as Xuezhi accepted the sachet on her behalf.
Lin Hairu and Chen Lan paid their respects and took their leave. The girls stayed behind to practice needlework, a lesson arranged by Old Madam Luo with a specially hired matron.
Luo Yuyu, now thirteen and approaching marriageable age, studied diligently. However, Luo Yixiu was restless, growing tired after a short while. Seeing her fidget as if sitting on pins and needles, the instructing matron smiled and said, “Fourth Young Miss has studied for a while and must be tired. Why don’t you take a break?”
Delighted, Luo Yixiu grabbed Yining, wanting to go out and feed the fish.
Old Madam Luo immediately cautioned, “You can only play by the small pond. Don’t wander off too far.”
Yining, still lying in bed digesting her meal, was thus dragged out.
The two girls, accompanied by their maids, walked to the rockery where a small pond housed many koi fish. Luo Yixiu sent her maid to fetch fish food, then wrinkled her nose and said, “They didn’t even invite me last time. I heard your Third Brother took you to Daci Temple. Was it fun?”
Yining replied somewhat irritably, “I almost didn’t make it back. What do you think?”
Luo Yixiu leaned in mysteriously and said, “Speaking of your Third Brother, I overheard my mother talking with her maid the other day.”
Yining had nothing to say to this irresponsible Fourth Sister who would reveal what she’d overheard from Madam Chen. But Luo Yixiu continued, “It was about your Third Brother’s birth mother. Aren’t you interested?”
Yining finally looked up at Luo Yixiu, who grew even more pleased with herself. “You want to hear it now, don’t you?”
Being impatient, she immediately leaned in to whisper in Yining’s ear: “I heard that your father originally had two servant girls in his chambers. Later, one of them became pregnant. The other, jealous, poisoned the pregnant one’s tonic soup. Our grandmother discovered this and was furious, ready to have the poisoner beaten to death. But then they found out the poisoner was also pregnant—with your Third Brother.”
“They couldn’t beat her then, and your mother, being kind-hearted, even took good care of this girl. She said if the child was truly a boy, they would spare the mother’s life. Who knew she would die in childbirth? Because of this incident, no one likes your Third Brother, not even your Second Uncle. They say with such a vicious birth mother, how could the child be any different?”
Yining was stunned after hearing this. So this was Luo Shenyuan’s background. No wonder.
She had found it strange that even a child born to a common servant girl wouldn’t typically have such a low status. This also explained why Old Madam Luo disliked him so much.