Inside Wenqi Courtyard, everyone was joyful.
The Empress Dowager's reward included three thousand silver taels and one hundred taels of gold leaves.
This amount was enough to cover the expenses of the entire Marquis's Mansion, with its hundred-plus residents, for over two years.
It alleviated Luo Ning's financial difficulties.
"...Miss, Madam is not very happy. She is your birth mother, so she would naturally not harm you. Perhaps you should listen to her instructions," Kong Mama said cautiously.
These words were well-intentioned and kind.
But Luo Ning knew her birth mother too well.
She would not only harm Luo Ning, but even kill Luo Ning.
"My mother has a Cousin by her side. She is biased," Luo Ning said, her tone very light.
Kong Mama: "During the days you were away, Madam constantly spoke of you. She missed her daughter so much that she used Miss Cousin to ease her longing. In her heart, you are still the most important."
"Did you see these things with your own eyes, or did you hear them from others?" Luo Ning asked.
Kong Mama was stunned: "I heard it from the old women in the kitchen."
"The old women in the kitchen are all my mother's confidantes. Their words are deliberately spoken for everyone in the mansion to hear.
Otherwise, with a Miss Cousin staying here without proper justification, wouldn't others gossip?" Luo Ning said.
Kong Mama was startled.
"If she missed me so much, why didn't she go to the southern estate to accompany me? Even if she didn't accompany me, visiting me once, and sending people to constantly send letters and gifts, that is what a mother should do," Luo Ning smiled.
Her tone was very gentle, "None of that happened. What talk of missing me, such an empty phrase."
Yet she had always convinced herself to believe it.
"You see, I was seriously ill and recovering, a thousand miles away, truly longing for home and sleepless at night. In the end, it was just a stepping stone for Miss Cousin to establish herself in the Marquis's Mansion," Luo Ning said.
Kong Mama pondered these words, utterly horrified: "This..."
Luo Ning waved her hand: "Don't mention it again, let's pack our things. We have the Empress Dowager backing us, and we have money, what is there to fear? This Marquis's Mansion, I earned it back."
Kong Mama assented.
She vaguely heard people say that the Empress Dowager disliked others taking credit, and was a little worried that Miss would be too arrogant and disliked.
However, this kind of rhetoric, upon careful consideration, was not entirely reasonable.
She couldn't figure it out, so she let it go and simply followed Luo Ning's instructions.
Luo Ning rewarded Kong Mama ten taels of silver, Qiuhua and Qiulan six taels each, and the two rough Servants one tael each—all equivalent to two months of their wages.
Everyone was joyful.
However, the next day, they couldn't be happy anymore.
Wenqi Courtyard did not have a small kitchen, and the food delivered from the main kitchen was perfunctory and unappetizing.
Yet, on the surface, no fault could be found.
There were weeds in the rice, the vegetables were too old, the soup was too bland, and the braised duck was too greasy, with a layer of oil at the bottom of the bowl.
Luo Ning knew something was wrong, but she couldn't go and complain.
Otherwise, Madam would accuse her of being "picky" or "too finicky," and Luo Ning would again be at a disadvantage.
She picked out the weeds, blanched the duck meat to remove the oil, and slowly ate a bowl of rice.
In a blink of an eye, it was the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Luo Ning would always remember this day. In her previous life, it was the worst day after her return to the mansion; she almost died.
It was cold, but not exceptionally so; there was only a thin layer of ice on the ground.
The Luo Family did not need to pay respects to Old Madam every morning and evening, but rather on days ending in five.
Luo Ning sat in front of her dressing mirror, recalling her previous life. She did not flinch, but instead told her Servant Qiuhua: "Give me my long whip."
Qiuhua practiced martial arts and had decent skills; she usually kept Luo Ning's long whip.
In the south, Luo Ning had learned to wield a whip from Qiuhua's father.
"Miss, this Servant will hold it for you," Qiuhua said.
"It's fine, I'll hold it myself," Luo Ning said.
She then took out a gold leaf and handed it to Qiuhua, "Go to Consort Song's courtyard and see if my father is awake yet."
Then she whispered a few words into Qiuhua's ear, instructing her on what to do.
She told Qiuhua to slip the gold leaf to Consort Song.
Qiuhua assented.
Luo Ning wore a large cloak with wide sleeves that could cover the back of her hands, allowing the soft whip to be hidden beneath her sleeve.
Just like in her previous life, by the small artificial lake next to the West Main Courtyard, she met her elder brother and sister-in-law, who were bringing their child to pay respects.
Her elder brother, Luo Yin, had a saber hanging from his waist; he was going out with friends later.
He had been recommended to serve in the Ministry of Personnel, holding a sixth-rank position, which was considered "high-ranking" for his age, and as the Marquis's heir apparent, his future was limitless.
Although he came from a military family, he disliked martial arts, and his saber was merely for decoration.
Before Luo Ning even got close, he found an excuse to make trouble, loudly scolding her: "You see your elder brother and sister-in-law, yet you pretend not to?"
Just like in her previous life.
In her previous life, Luo Ning cried and fussed to reclaim Wenqi Courtyard, which displeased her mother. Her mother complained to her son, and her elder brother was filled with resentment towards Luo Ning.
His resentment in this life was even greater, because his mother had suffered a more crushing defeat.
"Elder Brother, Sister-in-law," Luo Ning said.
"No manners! I have to point it out before you know to greet people!" Her elder brother's voice was cold.
Before Luo Ning was injured, she wasn't very close to her elder brother, because he had been studying at a college in another region for several years.
During those years, her elder brother's heart had long since flown far away; he had no brotherly affection for Luo Ning.
"Elder Brother, I just saw you. Are you being so harsh because I did something wrong?" Luo Ning asked him.
Luo Yin sneered: "You ask me? You can even defy Mother, do you think you've done anything well?"
"I don't quite understand that. Mother hasn't accused me of being unfilial. Elder Brother, perhaps there's some misunderstanding," Luo Ning said lightly.
Luo Yin: "Such glib talk, how could the Luo Family produce something like you?"
His sister-in-law wanted to mediate.
"Elder Brother, why are you deliberately looking for trouble with me?" Luo Ning asked.
Luo Yin: "Presumptuous! I merely pointed out a couple of things, and you dare to question me? Looking at you, you practically think of yourself as the ruler of the Marquis's Mansion."
He continued, "Kneel down. If I don't teach you a lesson today, you won't know your place and will cause trouble sooner or later. I will discipline you on behalf of our parents."
Luo Ning looked back at him: "You want to discipline me for no reason? Elder Brother, you've overstepped. Our parents haven't spoken yet. Does Elder Brother still have Father in his eyes?"
"You still dare to talk back?" Luo Yin unbuckled the saber from his waist.
He pointed the scabbard at Luo Ning, "Kneel, or don't blame me for taking action."
Luo Ning watched him quietly.
He was furious.
Recalling his mother's reddened eyes, telling him how Luo Ning had humiliated her and bullied her and Cousin, Luo Yin was seething with anger.
He raised the scabbard and was about to strike Luo Ning.
In her previous life, Luo Ning was very surprised and confused by her elder brother's bullying, and felt so wronged that she didn't know what to do. She took a hit, couldn't stand steadily, and stumbled into the small lake nearby.
The small lake was man-made and not deep, with only a thin layer of ice, but it was bitterly cold.
Luo Ning fell into the water early in the morning, and when she climbed out, she was trembling all over. Then her elder brother pulled her into an argument about whose fault it was, and she caught a cold.
She was ill for five days, with a persistent high fever.
The medicine the doctor prescribed for her was truly ineffective. Afterwards, her grandmother intervened, taking her to the West Main Courtyard to recover, and only then did she get better.
That illness left her with a chronic condition, a recurrence of an old ailment, causing her to cough all night from time to time, and she became extremely thin.
She also gained the reputation of "disrespecting her elder brother."
No one sympathized with her; they said she brought it upon herself.
Luo Ning thought of this, and seeing her elder brother resorting to his old tricks, she flicked the long whip from her sleeve.
The long whip coiled around her elder brother's saber.
The saber fell to the ground.
Her elder brother was surprised and furious: "You dare to commit violence?"
"Undutiful son!" Someone nearby said with a majestic voice, "You were the one who committed violence first!"
Father had arrived.
He heard that something had happened here and rushed over, seeing Luo Yin's bullying clearly.
Not only did he trouble his sister, but he also tried to strike her; how could he be considered a brother?
And he was disarmed by his sister, how incompetent.
Father was a military general with a fiery temper. Seeing his eldest son so useless and mean-spirited, his anger surged, and he kicked his elder brother, sending him into the small lake.
"Father-in-law, Father-in-law, calm down!" His sister-in-law knelt down, terrified, to plead for him.
Luo Ning watched her elder brother splash in the icy water, her eyes calm.