On the way to Cihua Courtyard, Zhao Luoning's mood changed significantly.
Zhao Luoning was a rational person. Only those close to her could make her lose control. Most of the time, she was extremely rational. Just like now.
In just a dozen steps, she had changed from being initially blinded by anger and wanting to rush into the old matriarch's room to smash things around to starting to calculate the pros and cons.
The thing had already happened. The worst outcome would be that the Ji family had made a fool of her and she had become a laughingstock.
What she had to do now was to take advantage of this situation to gain the best result for herself.
Thinking of this, Zhao Luoning stopped in her tracks. Looking up, she found that she had already arrived at the entrance of Cihua Courtyard.
Zhao Luoning took a deep breath.
Alone, like a warrior going to the battlefield, she strode into Cihua Courtyard.
At the entrance, Zhao Luoning ran into a group of nuns head - on.
They were walking while whispering to each other.
"Master, how many times is this this month? There have been a lot of things in the Zhao family recently."
The leading old nun admonished the young nun. "Too much talk leads to mistakes."
When the nuns saw Zhao Luoning, they all put their palms together in salutation.
Zhao Luoning returned the salute.
Mumian had just seen a few masters off and turned around. When she saw Zhao Luoning coming, she was a bit stunned.
"Second Young Mistress, why are you back? Didn't Second Master go to pick you up? Why isn't he back with you?"
Zhao Luoning didn't answer her. She coldly ordered, "I want to see the old matriarch."
Zhao Luoning was usually kind to them. Her current coldness made Mumian very uncomfortable.
She awkwardly asked Zhao Luoning to wait at the entrance for a moment and went in to announce her arrival.
Not long after, Mumian came out.
"Second Young Mistress, the old matriarch invites you in."
Zhao Luoning gave a cold "hmm".
When the old matriarch saw Zhao Luoning coming, her face was full of joy.
"Ning'er, you're back? You've been working hard these days."
Zhao Luoning was too lazy to be polite with her. She directly said, "I met Concubine Fourth at the entrance."
The old matriarch's expression instantly became a bit embarrassed.
"Ning'er, listen to me about this."
Zhao Luoning sat on the soft chair arranged by the old matriarch, saying nothing, just coldly staring at the old matriarch.
She wanted to see what excuse she could come up with.
The old matriarch knew she was in the wrong. In this awkward situation, she could only come up with some lame excuses.
"Lianxiang is pregnant. The descendants of the Ji family can't be left outside."
"We didn't mean to hide it from you on purpose. It just so happened that you weren't in the mansion at that time."
"Don't worry. I've seen your capabilities. Even if Lianxiang gives birth to the eldest son, no one can ever shake your status. Your child will still be the legitimate son and the heir of our Ji family in the future."
Hearing this, Zhao Luoning finally spoke.
She grasped the key point in the old matriarch's words and coldly asked, "How do you know it will be the eldest son?"
The old matriarch was speechless.
Looking at the old matriarch's expression and thinking of those nuns, Zhao Luoning instantly understood.
"You've had it divined, haven't you?"
She finally understood why the old matriarch was so eager to bring that woman into the mansion, afraid that she would harm the child. It turned out that it was because this was going to be the eldest grandson of the Ji family.
Although she thought it was quite unreliable to divine the gender of an unborn child, she knew that the old matriarch, who even had Buddha statues placed in her living room, believed in this.
The old matriarch was also stunned. She didn't expect that in just a few words, Zhao Luoning seemed to be able to see through her, leaving her nowhere to hide.
The old matriarch had been a powerful figure in her prime. She never thought that in her old age, she would be completely controlled by a junior.
She tried hard to regain her dignity as an elder of the Zhao family.
"Ning'er, it's normal for a man to have concubines. I don't think you'll object to this, right?"
Zhao Luoning answered seriously and word - by - word, "I will."
Facing Zhao Luoning, who didn't play by the rules, the old matriarch didn't know what to do.
Zhao Luoning said, "Old Matriarch, they say that a woman should follow her husband after marriage. Since I got married into the Ji family, I've regarded the Ji Mansion as my own home. But now it seems that the family doesn't treat me as one of them."
A look of guilt began to appear on the old matriarch's face.
"We were wrong not to tell you about this. Just tell us what compensation you want."
"Compensation?" Zhao Luoning looked up at the old matriarch. Before the old matriarch could reply, the voice of Mrs. Ji came from outside the door.
"Presumptuous! In this dynasty, there has never been a precedent of a woman preventing her husband from taking concubines. Shisu is just taking a concubine, and you come to make a fuss. What if there are more in the future?!"
Zhao Luoning stood up and still greeted Mrs. Ji according to the etiquette. She replied neither overbearingly nor humbly.
"I'm not making a fuss. I just came to ask for justice from Grandma."
Yes, she wasn't making a fuss, but she stared at the old matriarch silently, with a powerful aura that made people breathless. Moreover, it was the old matriarch and the others who were in the wrong first for bringing Lianxiang into the mansion.
Mrs. Ji said arrogantly, "We are your elders. We are justice."
Zhao Luoning smiled.
Her smile was cold and even a bit creepy.
"Mother - in - law, are you really going to do this?"
Mrs. Ji felt goosebumps all over her body because of her smile. But thinking that this was just her daughter - in - law, she couldn't show her fear. She said forcefully, "We are your elders. You just need to follow our arrangements. Why do you have so many words?"
"Okay."
Zhao Luoning stopped talking.
She sat back in her seat and still stared at the old matriarch.
The old matriarch felt suffocated under her gaze.
"Presumptuous!" Mrs. Ji scolded. "What kind of attitude is this towards your elders?"
Zhao Luoning pretended to look innocent.
"Although you don't really treat me as your daughter - in - law, I sincerely regard you as my elder. Mother - in - law taught me to keep silent. How could I go against your words?!"
"You... go back to your own room."
"I'm worried that next time you and the old matriarch want to take a concubine for Second Master, you'll have to hide it from me again and be busy with the wedding arrangements. I'll just stay here and watch over the old matriarch. If something like this happens again, I can help in time."
When the old matriarch heard the words "I'll just stay here and watch over the old matriarch", her legs went weak.
Mrs. Ji was also very annoyed.
Why did her status as a mother - in - law seem to be of no use here?!
Zhao Luoning neither fought nor made a fuss. She didn't even raise her voice.
But she just sat there upright, staring firmly at the two of them, as if she could see through them. It was more uncomfortable than if she had smashed things and lost her temper in the room.
"You..."
Just as Mrs. Ji was about to say something, Zhao Luoning gave her a sharp look.
It was sharp and cold.
It made people's hair stand on end.
Mrs. Ji immediately thought of the last time when Zhao Luoning had slit her wrist in front of her.
She was so scared that she hiccupped.
Seeing this, the old matriarch had to step forward to hold up the shaky situation.
"Zhao Luoning, the thing has already happened. Whether you agree or not, Lianxiang is going to enter the mansion. It's no use for you to block the way here."
"Oh~" Zhao Luoning looked up and coldly glanced at the old matriarch. "If the old matriarch wants your eldest grandson to be included in the family register, then Second Master has to divorce me."
"What do you mean?!"
"As long as I'm still Ji Shisu's wife, I won't agree to Lianxiang entering the mansion."
"The person is already in the mansion. Do you think you can stop it?"
"If you two don't believe it, we can give it a try."