Chapter 717 She Wants to Stay in the Piaoyun Courtyard
Old Madam asked Nanny Xi to stay for a talk and told the four sisters to go back to prepare for the course of the rules and etiquette in the imperial palace, which was going to begin tomorrow morning.
The four sisters agreed and left. When they arrived at the gate of the courtyard and were about to separate, Shao Yanru said with a smile, “Third Sister, Fourth Sister, and Fifth Sister, why don’t you go to my place for a small talk? It’s rare that we are all here today.”
“Thank you for your invitation, Big Sister. But my mother doesn’t feel well, so Fourth Sister and I have to go back early to look after her.” Shao Caihuan refused without hesitation.
She had never been close to Shao Yanru. Besides, it could actually be said that since three years ago, the third branch and the second branch had never been close to each other.
They just showed some respect to each other.
“Third Sister and Fourth Sister, since you need to go back to look after Third Aunt, you can leave now. I’ll have a chat with Fifth Sister!” Refused by them, Shao Yanru did not insist on inviting them to her courtyard and said with a smile.
The two sisters left after bowing to her and saying goodbye to Shao Wanru.
“Fifth Sister, you should be available at the moment, right?” Shao Yanru turned to Shao Wanru and asked.
“I’m available indeed, but just have some trivial things to handle!” Shao Wanru said with a smile. She knew that Shao Yanru’s target was her.
“Since they are just trivial things, just leave them to be handled by your servants! I happen to want to have a talk with you!” Shao Yanru said with an increasingly friendly smile.
“Big Sister, what do you want to talk with me about?” Shao Wanru raised her eyes to look at Shao Yanru with deep eyes and asked.
Seeing them standing at the door and talking, several old maids at the gate of Old Madam’s courtyard all lowered their heads and tried to make as few sounds as they could at work, for fear of disturbing the two Misses.
Smart servants all knew that neither the First Miss nor the Fifth Miss was a master to be trifled with.
“Let’s go to my courtyard for a talk. Now that I’ve been to the imperial palace more often than you have, I might know some things and taboos that you don’t know. We are going to represent our whole mansion in the consort selection, so the four of us are a whole. I’m not worried about Third Sister and Fourth Sister, but I’m really worried about… you, Fifth Sister.”
Shao Yanru said calmly, not giving up because of Shao Wanru’s unkind expression.
“I didn’t enter the imperial palace often indeed, so I almost got into trouble the last time I entered the imperial palace. However, Big Sister, if you give me some instructions, I will definitely get into trouble in the imperial palace. Thank you for your kindness, but the etiquette instructor will give me advices teach me the rules and etiquette in the imperial palace.”
Shao Wanru spoke.
“Fifth Sister… since you are so displeased with me, just forget it and ignore my words!” Shao Yanru said with a sigh and turned to walk out.
She just quitted persuading Shao Wanru to go to her courtyard.
Yujie, who was beside Shao Wanru, looked at Shao Yanru, who had gone far away, in surprise and wondered why the First Miss Shao did that. It was impossible for Shao Yanru, who had come to an open break with Shao Wanru, to be so kind to give Shao Wanru instructions. Needless to say, Shao Yanru must have set a trap. But why did Shao Yanru leave after a short conversation?
Could it be that Shao Yanru thought that Shao Wanru would not take the bait, so she gave up?
Thinking of this, she found something wrong, because the First Miss Shao definitely would not give up easily.
“Miss…”
“Let’s go back!” Shao Wanru interrupted Yujie indifferently.
“Yes!” Yujie said with a nod and then followed Shao Wanru back to the Piaoyun Courtyard. As she walked, she looked back, only to see that the First Miss Shao stopped at the corner and was looking at them with deep eyes. She was shocked and said subconsciously, “Miss!”
“What’s wrong?” Shao Wanru asked without looking back.
“The First Miss is watching us over there!” Yujie turned back her head, took two steps to catch up with Shao Wanru, and whispered.
With a sparkle in her eyes, Shao Wanru said with a smile, “Ignore it, and let her do that!”
“Miss, what does the First Miss mean by doing that?” Yujie agreed and didn’t look back again, but she couldn’t help asking as she walked forward behind Shao Wanru.
“She deliberately did that in front of the nanny sent by the Empress!” Shao Wanru said lightly. She, who had been a little confused at the beginning, now realized why Shao Yanru did that.
Nanny Xi was not the only one sent by the Empress, and she came here with two palace maids. Just now, the two palace maids were standing at the door, not far from the entrance of the courtyard. All the servants in the courtyard were uneasy to see the two Misses argue at the entrance of Old Madam’s courtyard. They were not supposed to watch it. However, it was very quiet in the courtyard, which enabled the two palace maids to hear the conversation between the two Misses clearly.
Their conversation gave the two palace maids the impression that the two Misses of Duke Xing’s Mansion not only did not get along well with each other but also were hostile to each other!
The two palace maids would probably think that the First Miss was gentle, while the Fifth Miss was unfriendly. As soon as the servants sent by the Empress entered the mansion, Shao Yanru began to play tricks.
“It is obvious that this Nanny Xi is an evil person!” Yujie curled her lip and spoke. When she stood behind Shao Wanru a moment ago, she got so furious that she almost came forward to refute the remark of the nanny, who was obviously up to no good. “Why did the Empress send her here? The First Miss just doesn’t need to play any trick, because this nanny is on her side!”
Shao Wanru smiled slightly, stopped walking and looked at the intersection in front of her. One of the roads led to her Piaoyun Courtyard, while the other led to the ancestral hall of the mansion.
“Miss, are we going to the ancestral hall?” Yujie also stopped walking, looked forward in the same direction and asked in confusion.
“We don’t need to!” Shao Wanru shook her head and said, looking at a figure coming from the other side of the road. Although the figure was a little far away, Shao Wanru recognized that it was Nanny Sheng, who was a little plumper than ordinary old maids. However, Nanny Sheng seemed to have also seen Shao Wanru from a distance and hid behind the rockery beside her.
Shao Wanru stepped forward and continued moving forward, as if she didn’t stop just now. After returning to the Piaoyun Courtyard, she sat down. But before she had time to take a sip of tea, she suddenly heard a maid’s voice from outside, “Fifth Miss, Old Madam has sent someone here!”
“Let her in!” Shao Wanru put down the teacup in her hand and said with gloomy eyes. Nanny Xi was not to be trifled with indeed. It had been less than a day since Nanny Xi entered the mansion, but Nanny Xi had caused so much trouble. It seemed that Nanny Xi, who came from the imperial palace, became more eager to humiliate her after having a talk with Old Madam.
Old Madam had talked much about her in front of Nanny Xi from the imperial palace, so they became partners because of their common hatred against her. Now she didn’t know what kind of trouble they were going to cause her., but one thing certain was that they were definitely up to no good!
Qu Le led a maid serving Old Madam to her.
The maid bowed to Shao Wanru and said respectfully, “Fifth Miss, I’m sent here by Old Madam. She said that you have the largest courtyard, so it’s most suitable to let Nanny Xi stay here. However, for fear that it’s inconvenient for you to let her stay here, Old Madam sent me to ask if you can let Nanny Xi stay here?”
Let Nanny Xi stay in her courtyard?
Shao Wanru took a deep breath with an angry look. Since she was not Nanny Xi’s only student, why did Nanny Xi have to stay in her courtyard? Moreover, this Nanny Xi was hard on her. If Nanny Xi moved here, Nanny Xi would definitely stir up trouble here. When the time came, she would be the one to be blamed.
“Miss, Old Madam thinks that if Nanny Xi lives here, it will be more convenient for her to teach you. Your maternal grandma is Rui’an Great Elder Princess. With such a maternal grandma, no matter whether you can be selected in the consort selection, the rules and etiquette in the imperial palace are necessary for you. Old Madam made this arrangement for your own good. Fifth Miss, do you think it right?”
The maid was smart. Seeing that Shao Wanru fell silent, she knew that Shao Wanru was displeased with it, so she hurriedly mentioned something else Old Madam had said in order to persuade Shao Wanru to let this Nanny Xi stay.
Shao Wanru picked up the teacup at hand, took a sip slowly, and then put it down heavily and said, “Go back and tell Old Madam that I don’t need the etiquette instructor from the imperial palace, because I have an etiquette instructor, who has taught me for a long time. If Nanny Xi wants to educate someone, she can educate the other three Misses and live in the courtyard of one of the other three Misses!”
She said with cold eyes.
If Nanny Xi moved in, it would definitely be a bad thing. Nanny Xi would not only mess up her courtyard, but also cause other trouble. If Nanny Xi sent by the Empress became her etiquette instructor, Nanny Xi would be able to take control of her easily, and she could not resist.
As a servant from the imperial palace, Nanny Xi could not be simple. Neither Nanny Xi nor the Empress behind her wanted Shao Wanru to attend the consort selection, but she had to do so.
If Nanny Xi moved to her courtyard, it would be impossible to guard against her. She was better off rejecting it directly at the beginning, so as not to cause a lot of trouble in the future.
After working this out, Shao Wanru said decisively. Although she didn’t introduce Nanny Zheng to the other members of Duke Xing’s Mansion when Nanny Zheng moved in, Nanny Zheng was indeed an etiquette instructor from the imperial palace on the record. It was impossible for the servants sent by the Empress to deny it.
Chu Liuchen had told her before that if someone from the imperial palace meddled too much with her affairs, she could ask Nanny Zheng to come forward to deal with the person. Although she did not know why an etiquette instructor in distress could deal with those from the imperial palace, she could only seek help from Nanny Zheng at this time.
She could not allow Nanny Xi to move in and stir up trouble. Nanny Xi could even make use of the Empress’s power to suppress her trusted servants and accuse them of something When the time came, even her maternal grandma would not be able to save her trusted servants, let alone her!
The maid sent by Old Madam was stunned for a moment and looked up at Shao Wanru in surprise. She didn’t expect that Shao Wanru would turn down Old Madam and Nanny Xi’s request. No one could refuse Old Madam nor Nanny Xi casually.
“Fifth Miss, this is Old Madam’s idea, as well as Nanny Xi’s idea. Nanny Xi said that she found you agreeable at your first meeting and wanted to live with you during this period of time. In the future, she will take care of you in the imperial palace!” The maid quickly restrained the shock on her face and spoke.
“What’s your name?” Shao Wanru, who turned her attention to the maid, asked. It was rare to see such a smart maid.