Luo Shenyuan hummed, signaling the driver to leave. He opened the letter, read it expressionlessly, and then slowly folded it up.
After reading it, the guard handed over a candlestick, and Luo Shenyuan burned the letter. Then he said, "The letters sent to the Duke of Ying's mansion didn't get in, right?"
"The Duke of England forbids the Luo family's letters from being delivered," the guard said awkwardly. "There's nothing we can do. Anything delivered to the young lady must be inspected by the Duke of England. The Duke of England's mansion is no ordinary residence, and we can't get in."
"Forget it." Luo Shenyuan said, "There's no need to send the letter in." Yining wouldn't receive it anyway, so it was enough to know that she was okay in there.
"Aren't you going to see Miss Seven..." the guard asked hesitantly, "I thought you came so early just to see Miss Seven."
Luo Shenyuan closed his eyes to rest, then said, "Not now."
He had raised Yi Ning, from a little girl to a young woman. He gradually developed other feelings for her. Of course he wanted to see her, but he was worried she'd be bullied in the Duke of Ying's mansion. He was also afraid the people there would be so kind that she'd forget about him, her third brother, who had been with her since childhood... But now wasn't the right time.
Arriving at the mansion in the capital, the servants had already packed everything. As Luo Shenyuan entered the main hall, someone came over and said, "...The Second Madam has sent a letter asking you to take something to Miss Seven. She's already sent someone to deliver it."
Lin Hairu had just given birth to a little boy, and the entire Luo family was delighted. Only Aunt Qiao, upon hearing of the birth, stood in the hallway for a long moment, unable to recover, her face as pale as paper. Lin Hairu had asked him to write a letter to Yining overnight, but Luo Shenyuan knew the letter would likely end up in Wei Ling's hands. But seeing Lin Hairu's joy, he wrote it anyway.
Now she sent someone to deliver something again. She must be thinking about Yi Ning very much.
"I understand." Luo Shenyuan said lightly.
He was quietly writing a letter to Luo Chengzhang in the main hall, and for a while there was no other sound in the room.
Yi Ning waited for a long time, but no letter arrived from the Luo family. She didn't even know whether her stepmother had given birth to a boy or a girl, or whether both mother and child were safe. December was approaching, and the Lunar New Year was almost here. She calculated that if the baby was full-term, it would be two months old. She even went to the post office to confirm, but there was indeed no letter.
Since Ting'er moved in with her, the place has become much more lively.
Ever since she coaxed Ting'er to sleep one afternoon, he'd bring his little quilt over to sleep with Yining every afternoon. Yining, a bit annoyed by him, had even put a bed for him in the gauze cupboard. Ting'er, however, became even more demanding and simply took up residence with Yining, sharing her meals and lodging, never returning to his own west wing.
When Yi Ning suggested that he go back to his room and sleep, he said confidently, "I live here anyway! I'm going to sleep here."
Even a five-year-old with all the energy can be quite annoying. Yi Ning dismissed him, but Ting'er ran over to her eagerly. If she was practicing calligraphy, he'd be grinding ink beside her, and if she was sewing, he'd come over and disrupt her work. Yi Ning grabbed him and tried to hit him, but he looked at her with his deer-like eyes, innocent yet stubborn.
One time, while practicing calligraphy with Yining, he even broke a half-man-high vase she had just brought out of the warehouse. Yining had been planning to use it to display some wintersweet blossoms, and she was furious. She grabbed Ting'er and spanked him several times. It was the first time Ting'er had been spanked by Yining, and he sobbed. When Yining asked him why he had broken the vase, he remained silent for a long time.
Yining then asked him, "Do you want me to play with you? That's why you broke the vase." So that she would notice him.
Tingge nodded after a while.
Yining was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, he still had the heart of a child!
She took Ting'er to play in the yard. She had taken care of her stepmother's younger siblings when she was very young, and had also taken care of little Cheng Lang after marrying into the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion, so she was pretty familiar with them. There was snow still piling up in the yard, and Ting'er wanted to make a snowman. Yi Ning retorted, "What's so fun about snowmen?" She asked a maid to bring some cattail grass, and she made Ting'er a dragonfly. Ting'er watched her delicate hands fiddle up and down, and a dragonfly gradually took shape, his eyes widening in surprise.
Ting'er treasures this bamboo dragonfly very much. He hangs it on the basket he uses to go to school and doesn't want anyone else to touch it.
One day, Zhao Mingzhu came to play with Ting'er and saw him hanging out with Yining. Yining wanted him to read, but he was distracted by the orchids growing nearby. Yining then struck him on the back of his hand with a ruler. Ting'er touched his hurt hand and pouted, but said without a care in the world, "You've hit me three times already..."
Zhao Mingzhu's smile was a little stiff. She had thought that Ting'er didn't like Luo Yining. She walked over and said, "Ting'er, I brought you some snacks."
Ting'er called her Sister Chengzhu, but was afraid that Yining would scold him, so he turned back to his book.
Zhao Mingzhu lived in the West Garden, and Yi Ning lived in the East Garden. They didn't usually interact with each other. Yi Ning simply pointed to the side and said, "Put it there. I'll ask him to eat it later."
Zhao Mingzhu then said, "This is what my grandmother asked me to bring to you. There's also a portion for you."
Yi Ning just smiled slightly and didn't want to talk to her much. Ever since the incident with Ting'er, she didn't like Zhao Mingzhu very much. Zhao Mingzhu sat with her for a while, not even drinking a cup of tea, and returned to the West Garden. When she complained to Mrs. Wei about Yi Ning, she said, "Yining doesn't respect me at all, and the maids in her room are also cold to me..."
Mrs. Wei looked at her strangely after hearing this. After a long pause, she said slowly, "She is Wei Ling's biological daughter, but you are fostered here with me. How can she respect you?"
She, Yining, is the lady of this mansion, and she has the final say on how to deal with Zhao Mingzhu, and no one else has the right to interfere.
Wei Ling would not let others control her.
Zhao Mingzhu was stunned. This was the first time the old lady said such words to her.
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