After recording the family genealogy that evening, Old Lady Luo summoned Luo Shenyuan to her study.
Meanwhile, Yining, freshly bathed and dressed in a cool silk robe by Xuezhii, sat on the arhat bed. Songzhi was teaching her to make tassels. Yining lifted her head, hearing the summer night’s insects through the open latticed window as cool breezes wafted in.
However, she couldn’t hear anything from the study.
Yining recalled Luo Shenyuan’s piercing gaze earlier, her heart still unsettled. She realized for the first time that Luo Shenyuan wasn’t just her gentle, steady third brother, but also the future Prime Minister. His true thoughts remained a mystery to all but himself.
She set aside her tassel and asked Xuezhi for some sour plum soup.
In Old Lady Luo’s study, silence reigned, not even insect sounds penetrating.
In the candlelight, Luo Shenyuan’s figure loomed large, his profile stern, his eyes unmasked coldness.
In truth, he disliked Old Lady Luo. Years of silent endurance should have warmed even a stone, yet her wariness of him never changed. If not for Yining, she would likely still suppress him.
Standing before Old Lady Luo, he asked, “Grandmother, what exactly are you planning?”
Old Lady Luo caressed her cool beads. It had been long since she’d seen Luo Shenyuan face her with such coldness. The last time was after he saved Yining when she punished him by making him kneel in the ancestral hall.
Then, kneeling, he’d raised his head upon hearing her words, his gaze equally cold.
“Like Yining, you grew up motherless,” Old Lady Luo said slowly. “But your treatments differed vastly. You had no one, while she had my love. I know you liked Yining when you were young. You thought you’d be close, both lacking mothers. But Yining disliked you, even despised you.”
Luo Shenyuan’s hands, hidden in his sleeves, slowly clenched.
“You endured Yining until that day she fell into the water—”
Old Lady Luo paused briefly. “Of course, I knew you wouldn’t harm her, your beloved sister. Even when she injured your hand, jeopardizing your first provincial exam, you didn’t blame her. But when you saw her fall into the pond, you hesitated, wondering whether to save her. If you didn’t, this sister would cease to exist.”
Luo Shenyuan looked at Old Lady Luo, his grip tightening, nails nearly piercing flesh.
“You saw Yining struggling in the water and rescued her. But you didn’t expect that after waking, Yining’s attitude toward you would change. Though you didn’t say it, I could tell you were pleased. You became increasingly doting towards Yining, after all, she was the only one truly kind to you… Who else genuinely cared for you?”
“But Yining doesn’t know that when she fell in the water, her third brother considered letting her drown.”
Old Lady Luo smiled faintly. “Luo Shenyuan, am I correct?”
After a moment of silence, Luo Shenyuan slowly smiled. “Grandmother’s perception is keen. Indeed, it’s true. Everyone in this Luo household disgusts me,” his voice lowered slightly, “except for Yining. Which of you truly likes me? I’m of concubine birth, and my birth mother was so vicious. Grandmother, do you know what kind of malicious words I grew up hearing?”
Old Lady Luo sighed deeply. She gazed at Luo Shenyuan’s calm face, reflecting on his years of enduring humiliation and keeping a low profile—a wise move for self-preservation. But now things were different. Regardless of Luo Shenyuan’s true nature, she hoped he would rise to power immediately.
“Others say you’re mediocre, even your father thinks so,” Old Lady Luo said. “Surely you don’t want to continue like this forever?”
Luo Shenyuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. He replied coolly, “Father’s abilities are ordinary. Without your and Uncle’s support, he’d likely struggle in officialdom. His opinion of me doesn’t matter.”
“What about Yining? Do you care about her?”
Luo Shenyuan remained silent, just looking at Old Lady Luo.
“Your patience all these years… to say you have no ambition, even I don’t believe it,” Old Lady Luo smiled. “Shenyuan, I won’t be here forever. Do you think your stepmother Lin Hairu can protect Yining with her temperament?”
Luo Shenyuan walked behind Old Lady Luo, pondering for a moment. His hand brushed over some fallen incense ash beneath the censer in the main hall.
“Grandmother’s censer is too small. A slightly larger one would be better,” Luo Shenyuan said. “I’ve already made my decision. You’ll see.” With that, he excused himself and moved to leave the study.
Old Lady Luo sighed in relief, but couldn’t help a wry smile. She never imagined she’d one day speak to a young man like this.
As Luo Shenyuan left the study, he paused and said softly, “About the incident in the water, please don’t tell Yining.”
Old Lady Luo nodded in agreement. When she looked up, Luo Shenyuan had already gone.
When Old Lady Luo emerged from the study, Yining was already asleep in the gauze tent, with Xuezhi fanning her. Seeing Yining sleeping soundly, Old Lady Luo retired to her inner chamber to rest.
Within two days, the entire Luo household knew of Luo Shenyuan’s elevation to legitimate son status.
Chen Shi, upon hearing this, was puzzled. She rarely paid attention to Luo Shenyuan, and this came so suddenly.
The second branch had no legitimate sons. She had thought Old Lady Luo would give Xuan’er to Lin Hairu to raise but instead chose Luo Shenyuan.
After some consideration, Chen Shi felt choosing Luo Shenyuan was better than choosing Xuan’er. Luo Shenyuan had no birth mother and was already grown—how could he become close to Lin Shi?
Thinking of her daily visits to pay respects to Old Lady Luo, where the old lady’s face showed clear displeasure, Chen Shi felt uncomfortable. She couldn’t say anything and could only smile to please the old lady.
She called in her maid and said, “Making Luo Shenyuan legitimate couldn’t have been the Second Master’s idea. It must be Old Lady Luo’s wish. Since it’s her wish, we should show our support to please her.”
Chen Shi decided to send two maids to Luo Shenyuan.
She had heard that Luo Shenyuan had no maids serving him, and placing two people by his side would also keep her informed of any developments. Who knew what Old Lady Luo was thinking, suddenly elevating Luo Shenyuan?
After much thought, Chen Shi felt sending maids was an excellent idea. She immediately instructed her maid to select two attractive girls to send over.
Luo Shenyuan moved from his small courtyard into Fengxie Hall.
Lin Hairu also selected a few elderly women from her staff to serve him. She hesitated about whether to send maids as well.
Those serving Luo Shenyuan were all young male servants and elderly women, but maids would serve him better. However, Luo Shenyuan was nearly of age, and sending maids to serve him would be inappropriate. Luo Huaiyuan had two beautiful maids serving him, already his concubines.
She went to consult Old Lady Luo but found Luo Shenyuan teaching Yining. Luo Shenyuan called her “Mother,” which still made her uncomfortable. She coughed before responding.
In a few days, Luo Shenyuan would go to Baoding Prefecture’s examination hall for the provincial exams. While his two elder brothers were studying hard, he seemed relaxed, supervising Yining’s studies instead. Yining didn’t dare go play with Luo Yixiu when she came looking. Luo Shenyuan had her reciting the Book of Poetry, which she stumbled through.
Luo Shenyuan held a book on evaluating ancient artifacts, correcting Yining when she made mistakes, and having her repeat the correct versions.
Yining had been reciting for half the afternoon. She was happy to see Lin Hairu, smiling and inviting her to sit while she went to find her grandmother in the small Buddha hall.
But Luo Shenyuan looked up and said to Yining, “Come sit down and continue reciting. Let Xuezhi go find her.”
Whether it was the Yining of her past life or the young Yining of this life, neither enjoyed studying. Perhaps due to a lack of talent, Yining didn’t force herself in areas where she lacked aptitude. She compensated for her weaknesses by focusing on needlework and similar tasks, trying to appear gentle and modest, which had earned her some favor from her original grandmother.
Now was indeed a good opportunity to study more. As Yining sat down to continue reciting, she thought that while others had stories of studying diligently by hanging their hair from the ceiling or jabbing their thighs with awls to stay awake, she had her third brother supervising her studies—which was about the same.
Xuezhi left to find Old Lady Luo.
As Yining recited “Climbing that barren wall, to look towards Fuquan. Fuquan not in sight, tears flow in streams,” Old Lady Luo returned. She saw Yining holding her book, obediently sitting cross-legged on the arhat bed, her soft white face like a porcelain doll. Luo Shenyuan was reading his book nearby, while only Lin Hairu sat there, understanding nothing and looking rather bored and uncomfortable.
Old Lady Luo, supported by Xu’s mama, walked over and asked Lin Hairu why she had come to see her.
With Luo Shenyuan present, Lin Hairu found it difficult to speak.
She gestured for Old Lady Luo to speak in the inner chamber, but Old Lady Luo sipped her tea and said, “They’re both your children. There’s nothing you can’t say. Go ahead.”
Lin Hairu glanced at Luo Shenyuan, thinking that according to Old Lady Luo, he would be taking the provincial exams in the future. She then said, “Now that Shenyuan has moved to Fengxie Hall, I wanted to assign some people to serve him. Times have changed, and since he’s now a legitimate son, his status is different.”
Old Lady Luo nodded, “That’s good. Go ahead and do it, no need to ask me.”
“That’s true, but I’m unsure about what kind of people to send,” Lin Hairu hesitated before continuing, “Shenyuan is sixteen this year, and I heard from the old nannies that the eldest young master had maids serving him at this age…”
Yining understood at this point why Lin Hairu had come.
Old Lady Luo’s lips tightened slightly, not expecting Lin Hairu to come to her about this matter. She hadn’t considered it before.
Before Old Lady Luo could speak, Luo Shenyuan, still looking at his book, said, “Mother, that won’t be necessary. Aunt has already sent me two maids.”
Lin Hairu was stunned. “You say your aunt sent you two maids?”
When did this happen? Why hadn’t anyone told her? She knew nothing about it.
Luo Shenyuan looked up at Lin Hairu and asked leisurely, “Mother, you didn’t know?”
Lin Hairu felt suddenly nervous. She glanced at Old Lady Luo and saw her watching as well. Chen Shi, a distant aunt, had sent two maids to Luo Shenyuan. She had never paid attention to Luo Shenyuan before! What was Chen Shi’s intention?
“Aunt sent them over last night, and I accepted,” Luo Shenyuan said calmly. “So you don’t need to send any.” He had long known this stepmother lacked cunning, but today he had a new assessment. This happened right under her nose, and she knew nothing about it. She was likely unaware of many other occurrences elsewhere.
No wonder Old Lady Luo didn’t trust her to protect Yining.
Yining, observing Luo Shenyuan’s calm expression, recalled Old Lady Luo’s story about the maid killed by vicious dogs. At the time, only Old Lady Luo knew it wasn’t an accident.
She noticed her third brother’s right hand holding the book, curled somewhat unnaturally. Suddenly, she remembered a story she had once heard about a lame general on the battlefield who was exceptionally fierce and ruthless in combat. It was said that people with defects could be particularly cruel…
Unfortunately, Aunt was unaware of that incident.
Old Lady Luo finally came to her senses and nodded to Lin Hairu, saying, “Since your sister-in-law has already sent maids, you need not concern yourself.” Then, addressing Luo Shenyuan, she added, “Tomorrow, your father will take your eldest and second brothers to meet Supervisor Song. You should go too. Although Supervisor Song isn’t overseeing the provincial exams, he’s a good friend of Hanlin Academy’s Zhang, who will be supervising. You should seek his advice when you can.”
Luo Shenyuan stood and agreed.
Old Lady Luo seemed uninterested in how Luo Shenyuan would treat the two maids.
Yining wondered silently if this could be considered Grandmother’s tacit approval…